Photo by Rachel Claire from Pexels
When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me…
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it Be, the Beatles (1970)
Late summer, 2020’s. In the far corner of a yard outside a convent JAKE (wearing a straw hat) and RATTLER (with a limp – a young dog at his feet) are standing, admiring four micro houses that they (along with JOE YA-KNOW and MOLLY DEE) have just finished building.
JOE enters, carrying a pillow case in his hands, carefully holding it shut. He walks past JAKE and RATTLER to the front of the stage and releases a bat into the audience. Then he walks back to them.
RATTLER
[more of a statement than a question] Caught it, did ya, Joe?
JOE
Sure did, Rattler. Piece of cake.
JAKE
Then why let it go?
JOE
What should I do with it? Kill it?
JAKE
What else?
JOE
[surprised] Why? Why do something like that?
JAKE
To protect people…. Out there.
JOE
That’s crazy, Jake.
JAKE
Why? Why is that crazy?
JOE
Bats help people, not hurt them.
RATTLER
Like how? Name one way bats help people?
JOE
The insects each one eats. Every night. You wouldn’t believe.
And that helps farmers not lose crops.
RATTLER
And that’s supposed to impress me?
JOE
A lot cleaner than insecticides.
JAKE
They carry rabies, you know.
And suck people’s blood.
JOE
They. Do. Not. Suck. People’s. Blood.
It’s mosquitos that suck people’s blood.
And bats kill mosquitos, up to a thousand an hour. At night.
RATTLER
Bats suck people’s blood in Transylvania.
JOE
You’re kidding me.
Aren’t you, Rattler?
That’s a Frankenstein story.
Just a myth.
JAKE
A pretty damned good one, I’d say.
RATTLER
Hello Dracula, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its mark while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my veins still remains
JOE
The sounds of ignorance….
All urban legend.
JAKE
I still don’t like them.
Bats creep me out.