Best Friend Forever By Ral Carpentier

1. BEST FRIEND FOREVER There are two office settings. One on SL and one on SR. The sets can be an elaborate or simple study or office. Only one set is lighted at any one time, as letters are read. At rise there is a man sitting at his desk, SR. He is going through his mail, and discarding it one by one. He finally opens one letter, which captures his attention. He begins to read, as we hear the voice of the woman who sent the letter. All the dialog are voice-overs from actors backstage. CHRISTINA To whom it may concern, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Christina Bryant, volunteer for the Cancer Treatment and Research Facility of Brooklyn, NY. Im writing this most important letter to let you know that weve made great strides towards learning more about the killer disease that takes thousands of lives each year, just in the U.S. alone. We still have a long way to go before we can eradicate cancer totally, or at least minimize the number of victims we see with each passing year. Despite the success our researchers have had in finding new ways of approaching new and exciting treatments, federal funding for our facility is now in jeopardy. Although funding will not be cut totally, the cuts will impact our operations drastically. I am asking you to please consider donating to this very worthy cause, as many people will be affected by our being able to continue operations. It is people like you who can make a difference between life and death. Please be confident that 100% of all donations will be used to fund further research for this important cause. Thank you. Sincerely, Christina Bryant, operations volunteer. (He puts the letter down, and begins writing back) REUBEN Dear Ms. Bryant... Lighting changes to show the office SL. We see Christina reading his reply. She appears to have a cough during the reading. Her cough and her appearance get progressively worse throughout the play. Also, her voice weakens as the play progresses.

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Thank you so much for writing, and being a part of this wonderful effort of finding a cure for cancer through research. Enclosed with this letter you will find a check to support your operation. How sad it is that funding for such a worthy cause has been decreased. My sister is a cancer survivor, and it pains me greatly to know that funding can be funneled in all directions except where it is most needed. Please know that I will contribute to your organization as long as Im able to. Is the organization in danger of closing down any time soon? That would be a tragedy. Thanks again, and wishing you the best of luck. Sincerely, Reuben Steinem. (She pulls out a check from the envelope and looks at it. She picks up a paper and pen, and begins to reply) CHRISTINA Mr. Steinem... Lighting changes, as Reuben reads her reply. Just wanted you to know that your contribution and concern over this deadly disease is very well appreciated. As for the organization, were all hoping that it will be able to be sustained by charitable donations. We have a campaign in its early stages for generating funds. I hope its successful. Im sorry to hear about your sister. I hope shes clean and feeling better. Ive been a cancer patient myself and I know how it feels. Not a day goes by that I dont appreciate every moment of life. The world can be a lonely place, but when you have a condition like that you feel the loneliness a lot more. Also, it would be nice to laugh more. The doctor always tells me to laugh. She says its the best medicine. Maybe shes right. Well thanks again, and I hope youre able to spend some time with your sister. Warm regards, Christina. (He ponders to himself, and begins to reply) REUBEN Dear Christina... Lighting changes, as Christina reads his reply. Her cough is still present. I guess if were going to be responding back and forth, you might as well call me Reuben. Thank you for your concern about my sister. Yes, shes clean after months of treatment, but she went through hell. Im sorry to hear about your condition. I hope youre clean as well. I cant imagine what it must feel like to be told you have an (MORE)

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REUBEN (contd) illness that can take your life. My God, it must be awful. I hope you have family you can be with. If ever you dont have anyone to talk to, Ill be happy to correspond with you. Do you have email, or messenger? Id like to know more about what you went through and maybe share some of the things my sister had to put up with. P.S.: If you need to laugh, let me know. Ive got a few good jokes I need to try out. I hope we talk again, soon. Reuben. (She smiles when done reading, and begins to respond) CHRISTINA Reuben... Lighting change. Im sorry Id rather not correspond using the computer. I hope thats ok. But Id love to keep receiving your letters. Thats great news about your sister. I hope she keeps it up and takes care of herself. As for my family, Im afraid they live far enough away that I dont see them very often. Every once in a while, I take a flight to see them, but its very difficult to do that these days. (beat) So, youre a jokester, huh? My brother was very good at telling jokes. Its a special talent that people really appreciate. Dont ever lose your sense of humor. Its very important to be able to laugh. It makes life easier to handle when times are tough. (beat) I hope you dont mind, but Id like to know whether or not youre married. Please dont take it the wrong way. I just would rather not correspond with someone whos married. Even if she knows about our correspondence. I believe that its not right for a married man to continue writing or talking to another woman. Im sorry if Ive made you feel uncomfortable, but thats the way I feel. Take care, Christina. (He smiles and begins to respond) REUBEN Hi Christina... Lighting change. worse. Her cough is

You dont have to worry one bit about being the other woman. I happen to be single. But I do have to warn you that I have to fight them off pretty aggressively...lol, just kidding. (she laughs) And its ok if we correspond this way. I think hand-written letters are more personal anyway. Last thing we need is for our conversations to wind up in the hands of some hacker, or much worse, in the hands of the government. Sorry to hear (MORE)

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REUBEN (contd) that your family is far away. Why is it so difficult for you to get away now? Are you ok? By the way, I hope you dont consider me too forward if I tell you that you have a lovely name. I always loved the name Christina. That was the name of my first born. I especially love its meaning. As for my sense of humor, I guess I have the ability to make people laugh because life is funny. Think of all the things we go through: (she laughs with each of the following scenarios) Pimple on the end of your nose just in time for your first date; mosquito bite where you cant scratch in public; guys who think theyre impressing a girl by being disgusting. All of these things are funny and they happen everyday. Of course, non of these things have ever happened to me. (laughs again) Anyway, I can tell by the way you write that youre mature enough to be cautious, which is something that not everyone appreciates. However, I do appreciate it. You cant be too careful these days. If youre wondering, Im over 40 and as you can tell by the postmark, Im from Atlanta. I would very much enjoy meeting you face to face someday. But please dont feel pressured. I love the friendship that we have now, and wouldnt want to do anything to jeopardize it. Thats it for now. I look forward to your letter. P.S.: Ive enclosed a picture of me so you know who youre writing to. Reuben. (She takes the picture out, looks at it and smiles. She begins to write back) CHRISTINA My dear Reuben... Lighting change. getting weaker. Her voice is

Thank you so much for the photo. If I may say so, youre not too hard on the eyes. I hope you dont mind if I dont reciprocate. I dont photograph very well and I just dont feel comfortable showing my photos. But your last letter made me laugh out loud. I want to thank you for that. And thank you for understanding my concern over your marital status. (beat) Reuben...I greatly appreciate your sweet offer to meet, but at this time Im afraid its out of the question. I dont want you to think for one minute that its because of you. I have my reasons, which Id like to keep private for now. If the time comes when were able to meet, theres nothing Id like to do more. You seem to be a wonderful person and I very much love receiving these letters from you. I hope you feel the same. Im also much in need of a friend right now, so dont go thinking that (MORE)

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CHRISTINA (contd) this is just a casual correspondence. Ive even referred to you as my BFF to one of my colleagues. I just wish certain circumstances were different. But keep the letters coming and tell me more about yourself. I want to know more about you, your sister, and all about what makes you who you are. What kind of movies do you like, etc? By the way, theres nothing you could say that would jeopardize our friendship. Im afraid youre stuck with me now...lol. Ill be looking for your letter soon. with hugs from your BFF, Christina. (He responds) REUBEN My Dearest BFF... Lighting change. Her cough is very bad, and she appears very sick. She stills responds with laughter when appropriate. Ive never been someones BFF before, and never thought I would ever be. But its wonderful that two individuals can become friends in such an improbable manner. I want you to know that Im ok with not seeing your picture and I respect the fact that youre sensible enough to not send pictures to just anyone. This is why I also understand your decision to not meet face to face...at least for now. Anyway, I have a great imagination and I can picture you just by what you write. They say beauty is only skin deep (I hate stupid quotes, dont you?), but I believe that beauty can be found in the eyes and in the smile of a person. Those are the two most revealing parts of a persons character. If the character is beautiful, so is the person. Dont get me wrong, I still like "ugly" jokes. But humor is a separate entity and should be taken lightly. Im happy to hear that my last letter made you laugh. As for my favorite movies you asked about, Ive always liked horror movies. I never knew why they were my favorite, but I finally figured out why the other day when I was watching A Nightmare on Elm Street...I like to hear women scream. (she laughs) Speaking of nightmares, I ran into a friend of mine the other day. He confided in me for the first time that he used to be a woman before his sex-change operation. I asked him why he didnt want to be a woman anymore. He told me he got sick of driving like a maniac (she laughs) lol...woman driver joke. And before you start thinking that Im some kind of stalker, I want you to know that I am but I only stalk myself. Not only do I know everything about me, but I also know where I am at all times. (she laughs)