Samuel Levinger
Miami, FL
2024, Senior, Creative Writing

Lights up. 14th century feudal Europe. Town square. A chiseled brown podium rests on a semicircular wooden platform. An adolescent runs downstage of the platform.

JEST, shouting, like a newsboy, with haste
Urgent! Urgent! Come to the Town Hall! The Speaker wants to speak! Make your way swiftly, ladies and gents! Town Hall, the Speaker will speak! Urgent! Urgent!

As he shouts, passersby are lured slowly but surely until a proper crowd is accumulated. Murmurs fill the crowd, full of anticipation. Some members of the crowd begin to chat with each other.

ARTHUR, baffled, finds LIAM standing next to MARIE and FRANCIS
Hey! Liam! What’s going on? You know why we are being gathered?

LIAM
You haven’t heard? The fire – it’s spread to the neighboring towns. Look near the forest: the trace of black smoke. It’s the Flood all over again.

FRANCIS
Eerily similar, Liam. I hope our Speaker has a plan.

ALEX, coming up from behind, arrogantly
You lot, always harping about the Flood. What a joke! I doubt there even is a fire…

ARTHUR, pointing in the distance
What is that then, Alex? If there is no fire, how do you explain the smoke?

XAVIER, joining ALEX
Alex is right. No need to linger on the past. What happened happened. What’s important now is to keep focusing on our own serfdom. That “haze” is not smoke. It’s nothing but a dark cloud.

LIAM, to ARTHUR
Don’t waste your breath on their nonsense. You know how they are. Alex and Xavier cannot see the forest for the trees.

MARIE, under his breath
Or the smoke for the fire. The Flood was all their fault in the first place.

THEODORE
Alright, let’s not start up again. We’ve had enough fighting in our serfdom.

JEST, interrupting
Folks, the Speaker is here. Quiet down. Quiet down! The Speaker will now speak.

LIAM, ushering ARTHUR and FRANCIS away
Come! Ignore them.

A young charismatic man wearing humble clothing steps behind the podium. Silence.

SPEAKER, with an air of false gravity, as if an actor
My dear folksmen. Thank you for coming here today. I stand before you bearing unpleasant news. I’ve been told from various and reliable sources from around the land that a terrible danger fast approaches. A hellfire devastates our land, destroying serfdom after serfdom, engulfing the trees and the lands and the animals, villages and people alike. This fire desecrates, devours, and destroys every single thing in its path and is still hungry for more. We’ve seen this kind of destruction before with the Flood. It nearly tore us apart, ending our way of life as we know it. Now another disaster is at our doorstep. The fire should arrive in less than an hour.

The audience is in utter shock. Chatter full of stress and anxiety erupts in the square.

ALEX, shouting and interrupting
LIES! DIRTY, DIRTY LIES FROM THIS PIG’S MOUTH!

XAVIER, to the SPEAKER
MORE CONSPIRACIES. HE WANTS NOTHING BUT TO CAUSE HAVOC AMONG US!

LIAM, irritated
Do you not hear what he’s saying? They have facts. This isn’t up to debate.

SPEAKER
Gentlefolk, please. Now, I know, this is terrifying. I know the odds are stacked against us. But so too it was with the Flood. And yet we were able to pull together to outlast the devastation. We grew as a collective. We are stronger now, and much wiser. We learned something, something valuable from that catastrophe. I like to think that we are able to respond to the fire more swiftly and preemptively. I have a solution to help us do just that. A solution that will ensure the security of our serfdom and unite us in protecting our village:

The crowd waits with rapt attention.

We must draft a resolution.

The crowd is confused, members look at each other, like puppies with cocked heads.

We are short on time, are we not? We must not delay in our purpose. We must decide a single course of action before we set off to our purpose. There are myriad ways of protecting ourselves from falling victim to this fire: we could build a moat, a wall, or migrate elsewhere. If we were just to start, we would be disorganized, have different visions, which would lead to absolute chaos, and we don’t want that, now do we? A detailed, well-considered resolution on how to deal with the fire will help us be more efficient in preventing catastrophe. The document shall hang in our townhall once we conquer this enemy. It will stand as a beacon of enlightenment and swift action. We shall all be the guardians of this mandate, a resolution to protect ourselves, to safeguard our homes, and to stabilize the future of our children. May God guide us all.

FRANCIS
Yes, let’s draft a resolution. We have no time to spare.

At FRANCIS’ ushering, the crowd forms itself into a circle. As each member speaks, they step into the center of the formed circle.

ARTHUR, confused
Hey, does anyone know where the Speaker is? I thought he’d come and, you know, lay his plan out for his resolution.

XAVIER
Of course, he isn’t here. He’s done his job, wreaking havoc on our peaceful, autonomous society, and now he’s fled. This whole fire ordeal is just a distraction; it’s just some fog in the distance.

LIAM
Why our Speaker isn’t here, I don’t know. He probably has bigger problems to deal with. What I do know, however, is that if we keep bickering we will get nowhere. So for the love of God let’s please start somewhere. Anyone have any ideas? Any plans to begin with?

Just as a member begins to walk toward the middle of the circle, expressing a potential idea, ALEX pushes him out of his way to talk. Members are troubled.

ALEX
How about we end this fairytale of togetherness and each be left alone. As Xavier said, this supposed “fire” is just another tactic to divide us; rather, let’s just all go back to our houses and keep on living our lives independently.

MARIE
How can we even begin to defend ourselves if some in our own community question the very basis of the problem? I mean, it’s a fire, Alex, for crying out loud!

As Liam begins to formulate an answer, a few villagers begin to cough. The trail of smoke in the distance has now become a bold coral light; a fire. Smoke begins to cloud their circle, but they seem to ignore it.

THEODORE
Marie, I agree with you, but I would like to re-emphasize the point that arguing will bring us nowhere. And, since no one seems to want to volunteer a solution for the resolution, I think we should build a moat. We have had a thorough system of irrigation ever since the Flood, and if we let some of that water fall into the moat, we’d have enough of a defense system to protect ourselves from the fire, even if it ends up surrounding our town.

LIAM
Water was the culprit during the Flood. Why would we then trust water to solve the fire? Water is still our gravest enemy, not the fire. We mustn’t forget the past. There is only one choice we can make and that is to build a wall.

MARIE
I agree with Liam. We should innovate rather than relying on systems of the past. Building a strong wall made with solid and trustworthy material would give us a much stronger defense.

XAVIER
Oh so now you want to build a wall!? I’ve suggested a wall for decades, but that was to keep invaders from trying to come here and prostitute our land or swarm this village. Walls are good for communities, they bring us together, they keep us safe from outsiders. A wall is needed, but not for fake weather events. Can’t you all see? (He gestures in the direction of the fire.) It is just the sun rising.

ALEX
Fine then, let’s build a wall, but to keep our town pure, not for your fake fire or your fake flood.

MARIE, reconsidering, almost disgusted
On second thought, maybe a wall is a bad idea.

LIAM
I changed my mind, too. Walls are terrible.

ARTHUR
I mean, what about the other serfdoms? I’m sure many have already fallen from the fire. Imagine if some remaining villagers need help and shelter? How would they reach safety if a wall was in place? We’d be denying them their lives!

XAVIER and ALEX, together
That’s precisely why we must build the wall!

FRANCIS
There’s no time for a moat or a wall! What if we just leave, pack our things and go? Maybe we could go somewhere else, far from the fire, where we could find new fertile land and start again?

LIAM
We mustn’t build a wall. But we also cannot flee. The flames would rage onward, chasing us wherever we went. We must face the fire ourselves. Make a control line by digging ditches that would set the parameters of the fire and prevent it from spreading further. Then, we could burn the crops at the edge of the trees to starve the flames of food.

THEODORE
Fighting fire with fire? Are you mad? If anything, we should run to our crops right now and gather as much food as we can before it’s too late.

By now, everyone in the circle is coughing, covering their eyes and mouths with handkerchiefs, sweating profusely, with visibility way down.

MARIE
God, it’s quite hot, isn’t it? It’s suddenly so hot. Good grief!

ARTHUR
It’s so hazy, too. I can hardly see. And yet it’s also so bright. And hot.

ALEX
Well which one is it? Hazy or bright, for God’s sake. You’re contradicting yourself.

XAVIER
They thrive on contradictions. It’s not hazy or bright. I hardly notice a difference. It’s entirely pleasant to my eye.

As he speaks, XAVIER wipes his eyes with a handkerchief. ALEX’s face is now fully wrapped in a scarf.

ALEX
Yes, yes, entirely pleasant.

One villager suddenly collapses onto the ground. Gasping for air, she dies. THEODORE, on his knees, begins to vomit violently. He stands back up.

THEODORE, between fits of coughing, weakly but with conviction
Now is a good time to draft this resolution. I am happy to pen it.

FRANCIS
Let’s take a vote. It’s the best way to get this done. Our options are: 1) Moat, 2) Wall, 3) Flee, or 4) Control Line.

They vote. A perfect tie because ALEX refuses to vote. They ask him to participate and then they vote again. Some members change their votes, in the hope of coming up with a solution, but in the end, it still ends up being a tie. ALEX once again refuses to vote. They decide one last time to try a vote, all irritated with ALEX’s behavior.

LIAM
You must vote, Alex.

ALEX
I will not.

FRANCIS
But you must!

ALEX
Your process is absurd. I will not.

MARIE
He’s sewing discord like he did post Flood. He’s doing it all over again.

LIAM
Vote now, Alex! Otherwise, we cannot draft the resolution.

ALEX
Damn your resolution! I will do what I must to survive. Alone. Like we all should.

ARTHUR
Doing what you must to survive? You took half the town during the Flood.

FRANCIS
And all the food.

LIAM
Me and Marie had to take in those villagers in our own home after you stormed their houses.

ALEX, sarcastically
Poor things. (He laughs.)

LIAM, in shock and rage
I hereby propose a new resolution: to expel Alex from our midst. I think before any resolution on the fire happens, we must rid ourselves of this criminal actor.

XAVIER
Don’t you need him to vote, you fools?

MARIE
His vote will go to the majority.

Members are divided: most in favor, a few against, and some confused, but all of them assured that this is the most important topic of conversation. The vote takes place, and ALEX is expelled. XAVIER walks toward LIAM, arguing, as two scrawny guards arrive, put ALEX in handcuffs, and take him to the corner of the stage. The arrest has taken place.

XAVIER, angered
This was never about protecting this town. This is about humiliating us. Another chapter in the revisionist history you teach in your books. Let’s hope the bloody fire consumes the school first.

ALEX, in his corner
There is no fire!

XAVIER
The fake fire, I mean. Metaphorical fire.

Just then, the roar of the fire and the collapsing of buildings and the screams and cries of villagers are so loud that the circle can no longer hear each other; they can no longer hear themselves. Their ears are deafened, voices muted, eyes blinded by the ferocious smoke and flames and heat surrounding them. Without words, they resort to fists. FRANCIS punches XAVIER. They begin to fight. The whole circle is a mess. ARTHUR tries to separate the two whilst LIAM and MARIE cheer for FRANCIS, just like ALEX cheers for XAVIER from his corner. Chaos has ensued. Suddenly:

THEODORE, screaming, teary eyed
Oh for God’s sake! ENOUGH!
(Everyone is quiet for a while. He continues.)
Shame on us! Shame! Look at us! Look at how we are acting. Our lives are on the line, our children are on the line, and yet we’re behaving like them. If we don’t value our own lives, or if we don’t hold our way of life in high regard, that is one thing. But what we do now matters! For our children, damn it! And their children. We must give them a chance, right? If nothing else, we must drop our cynicism and our doubt for their sake. We mustn’t stand still and act only once our own feet are aflame; instead we must let go of the past, the great tragedies and the petty grievances, for the children. Can we not forgo our political expediences, our personal hunger and ambitions, our clutching of ideals, or even the tired overworked narratives of our lives, to find common ground in one place: that we love our kids and that their lives are a gift worth protecting? Right? Let us dwell there together, where our hearts are pure and gentle. Let us conquer this great challenge with our love for them as a guiding light!

Utter silence fills the stage. The serfdom is truly dying. All those sounds of panicked citizens, the screaming, crying, vomiting, all fade into this silence. Some villagers sit, lay, even sleep. Some, who had stayed in their homes, walk out. Some are fighting for survival, pushing and shoving each other. Others who were resting have taken their final breaths, before suffocating or being engulfed by the fire. One mother stays still, cradling her child, protecting him. All the while, THEODORE scribbles on a piece of paper, dropped onto the floor once he’s finished. The whole village is in flames. The time for action has long passed. The fire finally engulfs all the remaining villagers. Everything is dead. (This should be staged as a slow death, let the audience sit in the unfolding of the horror.)

—

The fire has left. The village is now in ashes, full of smoke. In dirty, ragged clothing, the SPEAKER finally returns. Out of the ashes, the SPEAKER pulls a piece of flaming paper.

SPEAKER, pleased with himself
Yes! They drafted a resolution!

He holds the paper, waving it around in joy, but he realizes he’s all alone. He pauses, looking at the devastation the fire caused. As he holds the paper, it burns in his hand, turning to ashes. He looks forward, disappointed. Hope is dead.

Blackout.

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The Resolution