Pollinate
February 10th, 2021
Starring: Aunt (female, mid 30’s), Uncle (male, mid 30’s)
Uncle stands somewhere, folding laundry. Aunt walks in from the other room, getting off the phone:
UNCLE
Who was that?
AUNT
My brother.
Dee’s pregnant again.
UNCLE
Sheesh. What a turnaround.
Was it intentional—?
AUNT
He sounded thrilled.
UNCLE
Well good on ‘em.
…
…
That’s never going to be us, is it?
AUNT
Two babies in fourteen months? My uterus just dry-heaved.
UNCLE
I meant having babies at all.
…
AUNT
...is that a request?
UNCLE
An observation. That we’re drifting towards the latter end of the window, and it’s not a conversation we’ve ever had seriously.
AUNT
Uh
I mean I thought we always had an implicit understanding…
UNCLE
I guess I’m still unsure which way that understanding goes.
AUNT
Well...which way do you want it to go?
UNCLE
Whichever way you want it to go.
AUNT
Ditto.
UNCLE
But...I’m not the hypothetical carrier of—
AUNT
Get over that. Level playing field.
What do you want?
UNCLE
Whatever you want.
AUNT
You’re killing me, smalls—
UNCLE
Honestly. I see a world in which we are proud and loving parents to homosapiens, and a world in which we are proud and loving parents to a menagerie of plants and a small, safely kept colony of bees in the shed. Both worlds sound equally wonderful.
…
AUNT
Bees?
UNCLE
They’re going extinct. I thought they could be a good alternative.
AUNT
Because you think I don’t want a baby?
UNCLE
It’s preparing for the scenario—
AUNT
You can’t start assuming scenarios—
UNCLE
Well I don’t know what you want!
AUNT
Well I don’t know what I want!!
It’s not clear-cut. It’s not a no-brainer. I want it, and at the same time, I don’t.
…
It’s weird. But I’ve enjoyed the indecisiveness.
UNCLE
Make that we.
…
We don’t have to decide now—
AUNT
We aren’t. But we have to decide to decide. Right now.
UNCLE
Ok...
Is it decided?
AUNT
Yes. We’ll decide.
…
…
Bees are going extinct?
UNCLE
Yeah. It’s tragic, because they’re essential. Life doesn’t work without them.
AUNT
Then we’ll get some. Either way, I want life to work.
UNCLE
Yeah. Me too.
...
But no matter what, you’re still the queen.
AUNT
Ha.
So long as you know.