A Sketch by Jean-Pierre Martinez
The garden might have shrunk. Eve is seated. Ethan is pacing around.
Ethan – This garden is not very big, is it?
Eve – It’s big enough for the two of us.
Ethan – Wasn’t it a bit bigger before?
Eve – Before?
Ethan – Or maybe we’ve grown.
Eve – I don’t know.
Ethan – Sometimes, I wish there was a bit more space.
Eve – What for?
Ethan – To stretch my legs, for a start.
Eve – Fair enough…
Ethan – And, I don’t know… To have something left to explore. To still have things to discover…
Eve – ou could always look closer… discover the details.
Ethan – The details?
Eve – The little things.
Ethan – Hmm.
Eve – Things you don’t immediately see with the naked eye.
Ethan – What can’t you see with the naked eye?
Eve – Well, a four-leaf clover, for instance.
Ethan – Do four-leaf clovers even exist?
Eve – I don’t know. Probably.
Ethan – Sometimes I wonder if life’s worth living.
Eve – You could look for a four-leaf clover.
Ethan – But what for, for God’s sake?
Eve – To give it to me, for example.
Ethan – Hmm.
Eve – It’d bring us luck.
Ethan – You think?
Eve – At the very least, it’d keep you busy.
Ethan – I don’t know.
Silence.
Eve – Then again, maybe you’re right…
Ethan – About what?
Eve – Well… We’re bored, aren’t we?
Ethan – Yeah, that’s exactly what I was saying.
Eve – It’s true, we know this garden by heart…
Ethan – That’s probably why it feels smaller and smaller.
Eve – If only we could go on holiday sometimes.
Ethan – On holiday? Where to?
Eve – Somewhere else…
Ethan – But elsewhere is…
Eve – Yes… We’re surrounded by water, and we can’t swim.
A pause.
Ethan – Weren’t there more of us before?
Eve – Before what?
Ethan – I don’t know.
Eve – More of us? You mean three?
Ethan – Three, four… More, I guess.
Eve – More of you and more of me? I don’t know.
Ethan – Feels like there were more people.
Eve – Where?
Ethan – Around us!
Eve – Maybe.
Ethan – So where have they gone?
Eve – More people? Are you sure?
Ethan – I was just wondering if…
Eve – If what?
Ethan – Are we the first… or the last?
Eve – For now, at least, it’s just the two of us…
A pause.
Ethan –Sometimes I feel like I was all alone at the start.
Eve – At the start…
Ethan – I think you only came along later.
Eve – Oh, really?
Ethan – Yeah.
Eve – So you were the first.
Ethan – Yeah.
Eve – Then maybe you’ll be the first to leave too.
Ethan – Leave? Where to?
Eve – I don’t know. Where was I before I got here?
Ethan – That…
Eve – Maybe on the other side of the sea.
Ethan – Or at the bottom of it.
Eve – I don’t even know how deep it is.
Ethan – What’s certain is we can’t walk on water.
Eve – When we tried, we almost drowned.
A pause.
Ethan – It’s strange, though.
Eve – What?
Ethan – I’ve never known anyone but you.
Eve – Known, as in…
Ethan – You know what I mean!
Eve – Would you like to know someone other than me?
Ethan – Not especially, but… just to know it’s possible. Wouldn’t you like to know someone else?
Eve – I’ve never really thought about it. Maybe.
Ethan – To know we have a choice.
Eve – Not to settle for the first choice… but to prefer the second one?
Ethan – We didn’t exactly choose, did we? Since it’s just the two of us.
Eve – Of course.
Ethan – How can we know if we’re really meant for each other?
Eve – With just the two of us, we must be meant for each other.
Ethan – True, obviously…
A pause.
Eve – Imagine more of us in this tiny garden…
Ethan – Yeah, it’d be a squeeze with three of us.
Eve – We’re already so cramped.
Ethan – Three… I think I’d really lose it.
Eve – Go on, find me a four-leaf clover instead…
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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