Play #20

Abel and Cain

__________________________

A short play written for

the 2018
31 Plays in 31 Days
Challenge

By Joseph Frost

Contact:
Joseph Frost
4550 Normandy Dr
Jackson, MS 39206
FrostJosephD@gmail.com
 Cain on his knees on the floor.

Behind him, is Abel.

ABEL
What kind of day was it?

CAIN
Kind of day?

ABEL
Bright and sunny? Rainy? Was it hot, cold, stormy?

CAIN
I don’t know.

ABEL
You don’t know.

CAIN
I don’t remember.

ABEL
You didn’t pay attention.

CAIN
It was... clear.

ABEL
Was it?

CAIN
I don’t know.

ABEL
I’m trying to help you remember.

CAIN
Because you don’t.

ABEL
How could I?
 2.

CAIN
I don’t know.

ABEL
What did you do?

CAIN
What did I do?

ABEL
Yeah.

CAIN
What did I do.

ABEL
You brought in some crops.

CAIN
Yeah.

ABEL
You did.

CAIN
Brought them in. First thing in the morning.

ABEL
Hard?

CAIN
Nah. Not hard. It’s work. But not hard.

ABEL
What did he bring?

CAIN
He? That’s what we’re saying?

ABEL
Yeah.

CAIN
He brought in a lamb.
 3.

ABEL
A lamb. Was it a good one?

CAIN
What’s a good one?

ABEL
Clean. Fresh. No marks. No broken bones. A good one.

CAIN
I don’t know the difference.

ABEL
You don’t.
(beat)
Was it hard for him?

CAIN
Wasn’t big. Wasn’t heavy.

ABEL
Was it special?

CAIN
Special.

ABEL
Yeah.

CAIN
What do I care?

ABEL
I think you care. You cared a lot. You know you did.
(beat)
Tell me what it felt like.

CAIN
What felt like what.

ABEL
What. It. Felt. Like.

CAIN
Bad.
 4.

ABEL
That’s all you’ve got?

CAIN
No.

ABEL
What you brought is rejected.

CAIN
Yeah.

ABEL
And?

CAIN
I don’t know.

ABEL
You were mad.

CAIN
Wouldn’t you be?

ABEL
It’s not something I have to worry about.

CAIN
No you didn’t.
(beat)
I still hear the words.

ABEL
Which?

CAIN
When it was rejected. Couldn’t believe it. I brought something, he brought something.
But here I am, basket of crops in my hand. What am I supposed to do with it now?
Picked more than I can use. Now it’s just gonna go bad. It’s a waste. I wasted my crops
for this. Ridiculous. So I... I just dumped it on the ground. Big heap on the ground and
walked away. Didn’t want it anymore. And I hear... I hear...
(beat)
If you do what’s right, you’ll be accepted. You don’t, sin is crouching at your door. It’s
already got you, you need to rule over it.
 5.

ABEL
Like an animal.

CAIN
Animal. I brought crops and we’re still talking about animals.

ABEL
So then...

CAIN
I go home.

ABEL
Did you sleep?

CAIN
No. I usually sleep good. Long day in the field. Working hard. I sleep very good.

ABEL
But not that night.

CAIN
No.

ABEL
No.

CAIN
Heard those words.

ABEL
If you do what’s right, you will be accepted.

CAIN
I thought I did right.

ABEL
You didn’t.

CAIN
How do you know.

ABEL
Not accepted.
 6.

CAIN
I brought my crops.

ABEL
Wasn’t right?

CAIN
How wasn’t it right? Work of my hands. My sweat. My muscle. Toiling hard. Every
day. And he...

ABEL
What about him?

CAIN
Brings a lamb. What? Follows it around all day.

ABEL
Shepherds it. Keeps it safe. Protects it. Guides it.

CAIN
Leave an animal in the field, it lives a natural life. While if I don’t pour myself into the
fields, there’s nothing. Nothing.

ABEL
Gets eaten by wild animals.

CAIN
You’re smart. Aren’t you.

Moment.

ABEL
Also had to slaughter the lamb.

CAIN
What?

ABEL
The lamb had to be slaughtered. Has to be done right. Can’t be rough. Can’t bash it.
Gotta do it right. Or it’s no good.

CAIN
Gotta do good.
 7.

ABEL
Yeah.
(beat)
So, next day.

CAIN
Sun comes up.

ABEL
He’s near.

CAIN
I see him.

ABEL
You call him over.

CAIN
Yeah.

ABEL
Away from his flock.

CAIN
Yeah.
(beat)
We go into my field.

ABEL
He goes with you.

CAIN
Yeah.

ABEL
Why?

CAIN
Because he’s him. And he does.

ABEL
He loves you.

CAIN
Sure.
 8.

ABEL
He does.

CAIN
Easy to love, when you’re accepted.

ABEL
He loves you. Makes you feel even more rejected.

CAIN
Maybe.

ABEL
That’s not what you’re thinking.

CAIN
No.

ABEL
You go out into the field.

CAIN
Not so far.

ABEL
How’d it work.

Cain gets up and goes behind Abel.

CAIN
He walked with me a ways. Kept looking back. To his flock.

ABEL
(looks out)
Kept his eye on them.

CAIN
Yeah.

ABEL
He didn’t see you coming?

CAIN
No.
 9.

ABEL
How’d you do it.

CAIN
Grabbed a rock.

ABEL
Big one?

CAIN
A handful. Big enough.

ABEL
Where’d you hit him.

CAIN
Back of the head first.

ABEL
And then.

CAIN
He fell to the ground.

ABEL
Face down or up.

CAIN
Down.

Abel kneels.

ABEL
That it? One hit?

CAIN
No.

ABEL
How many.

CAIN
I don’t know.

ABEL
How many.
 10.

CAIN
Three.

ABEL
Total of three? Including the first?

CAIN
Three more.

Abel lays down on his face.

ABEL
After the fall.

CAIN
Yeah.

ABEL
There was blood.

CAIN
Yeah.

ABEL
Lots of it.

CAIN
Yeah.

ABEL
More than you expected.

CAIN
More than I’ve ever seen.

A moment.

Cain steps away.

Abel leans to his side.

ABEL
Then?

CAIN
I hear it.
 11.

ABEL
What’s that?

CAIN
The question.

ABEL
The question?

CAIN
Yeah.

ABEL
What is it?

CAIN
I’m asked the question.
(beat)
Where is... your brother?

ABEL
Where were you?

CAIN
Huh?

ABEL
Were you still by him? The body?

CAIN
No. I was far enough away.

ABEL
So you got the question.

CAIN
Stupid question.

ABEL
Why’s that.

CAIN
Already knew the answer.

ABEL
Oh yeah? How do you know.
 12.

CAIN
I know.

ABEL
So you said...

CAIN
I’m not in charge of keeping track of him.

ABEL
You said that.

CAIN
Yeah.

ABEL
Like, you’re not his shepherd.

Moment.

Abel rises.

CAIN
Said... said his blood has seeped down into the ground.
(kneels to the ground)
Like it was a poison in the field. Like it’s spoiled the land. The Land has opened its
mouth and swallowed his blood. And now it is cursed. The land is cursed. From his
blood.
(abel comes up behind)
(abel does a silent scream )
His blood cries out. Cries out to the heavens. Cries for vengeance. Vengeance.
(abel reaches for Cain)
That his cries will make the land withhold from me. That my toil would be in vain, and
the land would no longer yield for me. That I would be a restless wanderer of the earth.
(abel is about to destroy cain)
But... but I... I said...

Abel holds

ABEL
What did you say?

CAIN
This punishment is too much for me. If I’m not destroyed now... If I’m sent away from
this land, from this place and presence...
 13.

ABEL
Yes.

CAIN
Whoever finds me, as I wander the earth...

ABEL
Yes.

CAIN
I will be killed.

ABEL
Killed.

A moment.

CAIN
Mercy.

ABEL
Mercy.

A moment.

CAIN
I was given... a mark.

Abel puts his hand on Cain’s face, from behind.

ABEL
A mark.

CAIN
That anyone who finds me would know.

ABEL
That anyone who kills you would have vengeance laid against them. Seven times over.

CAIN
Seven times.

A moment.

Abel lets go.

 14.

ABEL
So you left.

CAIN
I settled in the land of Nod.

ABEL
East of Eden.

CAIN
I took a wife. We have a son.

ABEL
A son.

CAIN
Enoch.

ABEL
A son.

Abel crosses away.

Cain stands.

ABEL
What kind of day was it?

CAIN
Kind of day?

ABEL
What kind of day?

CAIN
It was... dark.

ABEL
Clouds?

CAIN
No.

ABEL
But it was dark.
 15.

CAIN
Yes.

ABEL
In the day.

CAIN
It was the darkest day. It was the day I was rejected.

Lights down.

End.