A Sketch by Jean-Pierre Martinez
Ethan paces back and forth in front of Eve, who is seated. Finally, he decides to speak.
Ethan – Do you know something?
Eve – No.
He resumes pacing, then stops in front of her again.
Ethan – If you did know something, you’d tell me.
Eve – Of course… And you? Do you know something?
Ethan – Nothing. I know nothing.
A pause.
Eve – Not knowing anything… it’s unbearable.
Ethan – But if we did know, wouldn’t that be worse?
Eve – Who knows?
Ethan – You’re right. Maybe it’s better not to know too much.
Eve – Yes… But knowing absolutely nothing?
Ethan – It’s true… We know nothing.
Eve – Absolutely nothing.
Ethan – We don’t even know how to swim.
Eve – No…
Ethan – And we don’t know how to walk on water.
Eve – We don’t know how to tie our shoes.
Ethan – We don’t have any shoes.
Eve – We don’t know what time it is.
Ethan – We don’t know what day it is.
Eve – We can’t read.
Ethan – What good would it do? We don’t have any books.
Eve – If we wanted books, we’d have to write them ourselves.
Ethan – And we don’t know how to write.
Eve – And all that just to have one single reader.
A pause.
Ethan – What do we know?
Eve – We must know something, surely…
Ethan – Let me think… Ah, yes. We know how to count.
Eve – Oh, that’s true. We can count.
Ethan – Shall we count again? Just to make sure we haven’t forgotten?
Eve – OK. Go ahead, start.
Ethan – One.
Eve – Plus one.
Ethan – That makes two.
Eve – That’s right.
A pause.
Ethan – And after two, what comes next?
Eve – I don’t know.
Ethan – Two… That’s enough for now, isn’t it?
Eve – Yes. For now.
She stands slowly, her movement revealing her pregnancy.
Ethan – As long as it’s just the two of us…
Blackout.
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A sketch from the collection Ethan and Eve
Link to the collection for free download (PDF)
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