MonkeyTales – Episode 12 – “Pumpkin Patch”
by Ella Watts
ANNOUNCER
You’re listening to MonkeyTales, a hopepunk anthology podcast.
ANNOUNCER #2
Today’s episode is Gardens, written by Ella Watts. Please see the content warning in our show notes. (Content warning in show notes is for gun violence.)
SCENE 1
SOUND: A HEAVY FLOW OF WATER BEING POURED INTO A WATERING CAN
SOUND: BREATH, CLOTHES RUSTLING, HEAVING THE CAN OFF THE GROUND
SOUND: THE GENTLE PATTER OF WATER INTO SOIL, ONTO CONCRETE
ELIZA:
OK. That’s…
SOUND: A SERIES OF RAPID BEEPS ON A HANDHELD COMPUTER
ELIZA: (CONT’D)
Plot 182, done. Well, if nothing else, come June we will have plenty of tomato plants
FAITH:
I hate tomatoes
ELIZA:
You hate canned tomatoes salvaged out of empty stores over two years past their sell by date. You’ve
never eaten a fresh tomato. There’s a difference
SOUND: OPENING A LARGE WINDOW. RUSH OF AIR, BIRD OF PREY CALLING IN THE DISTANCE.
SOUND: ELIZA CLIMBING UP ONTO THE WINDOW SILL, UNSCREWING A CLIP ON HER BELT
FAITH:
Are they red?
ELIZA:
(FUMBLING WITH HARNESS)
…Yeah
FAITH:
(COMING CLOSER)
Are they squishy?
ELIZA:
Yes but –
(HELPING FAITH ONTO THE SILL)
Come on, up you go. Where’s your caribinner?
SOUND: WIND RUSHING. THEY’RE STANDING 53 STOREYS ABOVE THE GROUND
FAITH:
Then I don’t see how it’s gonna be different.
ELIZA:
(BENDING TO SORT FAITH’S HARNESS)
It’s, kind of hard to describe. They have this…perfume. It’s, rich and sweet, but also sort of
savoury? It’s like…biting into a garden. Like the way the sun gets gold right before sunset. Like
freshly tilled earth and new hay
FAITH:
(SKEPTICAL)
Have you ever eaten a tomato?
ELIZA:
What – of course! Wait, ok, show me your caribinner?
SOUND: SPINNING METAL ON A SCREW, TIGHTENING
FAITH:
It’s tight, see. It’s fine.
ELIZA:
Ok, let me go first
SOUND: ELIZA JUMPS LIGHTLY, AND BEGINS TO ABSEIL DOWN THE SKYSCRAPER. SPINNING GEARS, RUNNING ROPE, SOFT BUMPS OF FEET ON CONCRETE
FAITH:
(CALLING FROM ABOVE)
Where are we going?
ELIZA:
(CALLING UP)
Floor 43! Faith! Be careful!
FAITH:
Look! The sun’s rising!
SOUND: BOTH ELIZA AND FAITH’S ROPES WHIRR TO A STOP. THERE’S THE SOUND OF BIRDS CALLING, AND DISTANT BELLOWS OF LARGE ANIMALS FAR BELOW
SOUND: A WHIRR AND SOFT THUMP AS FAITH COMES CLOSER TO ELIZA
ELIZA:
It’s beautiful, isn’t it?
FAITH:
(SOFT) Yeah
SOUND: THE WIND RUSHES PAST THEM AS THEY HANG OFF THE SIDE OF THE SKYSCRAPER.
SOUND: A RUSTLE OF CLOTH AS ELIZA KISSES FAITH’S HEAD
ELIZA:
Come on little one, we’ve got jobs to do
FAITH:
Can you sing the song?
ELIZA:
Sure.
SOUND: WHIRRING AGAIN AS ELIZA STARTS ABSEILING
ELIZA: (CONT’D)
(WINDED, ARRYTHMIC AS SHE KICKS OFF THE WINDOWS AND WALLS)
And I said to you Faith, come to the sun. Come to the sun, we’ve gotta run.
FAITH:
And I said to Eliza, run to the sky, run to the sky it goes so high
ELIZA:
And I said to you Faith, don’t be late, don’t be late ‘cos the sun won’t wait
SOUND: CREAK OF A WINDOW BEING PUSHED. THUMP AS ELIZA DROPS INSIDE.
FAITH:
(CLOSE, AS SHE’S LIFTED INSIDE BY ELIZA)
And I said to Eliza, it’s a brand new day. It’s a brand new day and I’m on my way.
ELIZA:
That’s my girl
SCENE 2
SOUND: FAITH AND ELIZA WALKING DOWN A CONCRETE STAIRCASE
FAITH:
Eliza
ELIZA:
Yes honey bee?
FAITH:
I thought you said that bears couldn’t come up this high
ELIZA:
That’s right
FAITH:
So…why do you have the gun?
SOUND: RUSTLING FABRIC AS ELIZA SITS, THEN JUMPS FROM BROKEN STAIRS, BEFORE TURNING TO LIFT FAITH DOWN
ELIZA:
Oop, there you go.
SOUND: SOFT THUMP AS ELIZA SETS FAITH DOWN
ELIZA: (CONT’D)
Well…There are all kinds of animals out there. Some of them climb. And some of them aren’t great at listening to reason. Have we done the carrots?
FAITH:
Yep. You wouldn’t kill them, would you?
ELIZA:
Not unless I really had to
FAITH:
I really hope you don’t have to
ELIZA:
Me too baby. Come on, those courgettes won’t water themselves!
FAITH:
‘Kay!
SOUND: RUNNING FEET DOWN A CONCRETE CORRIDOR. DRIFTING BRANCHES AND LEAVES IN A LIGHT BREEZE.
SCENE 3
SOUND: BUSY INSECT LIFE, DISTANT ANIMALS RUSTLING. WE’RE MUCH CLOSER TO THE GROUND NOW, AND IT’S BUZZING WITH NOISE
FAITH:
‘Liza?
ELIZA:
(DISTRACTED)
Hm?
FAITH:
Where did all the people go?
ELIZA:
(REFOCUSING HER ATTENTION)
Why do you ask bumble bee?
FAITH:
You said you’re not my mum
ELIZA:
No, I’m not
FAITH
So where did she go?
ELIZA:
Come on, sit down
SOUND: TEARING PLASTIC
ELIZA: (CONT’D)
Eat this
FAITH:
I’m not hungry
ELIZA:
Yes you are. You wanna know how I know?
FAITH:
(BEGRUDGINGLY)
…How?
ELIZA:
You always get philosophical when you’re hungry. Do you know what that means? Philosophical?
FAITH:
Yes
ELIZA:
Go on then
FAITH:
…Fine. No. What does it mean?
ELIZA:
It’s ok not to know things, you know
FAITH:
You always say that
ELIZA:
Doesn’t stop it being true
FAITH:
But I want to know this thing
ELIZA:
Ok. Here, drink some water. So Philosophy is a word that means thinking about the way we think
about things
FAITH:
That doesn’t make sense.
ELIZA:
Well sure it does. Why do you think you don’t like tomatoes?
FAITH:
Because they’re red and squishy and gross
ELIZA:
Right, but you’ve never eaten an actual tomato. You’ve never even seen one. You’re just imagining
what they’re like based on something you’ve seen that you think is similar to them. What do
you think this city looked like? Before the green?
FAITH:
I dunno. Grey? Quiet.
ELIZA:
Why quiet?
FAITH:
If there’s no green things then there’s no animals. The animals are noisy
ELIZA:
People are noisy
FAITH:
But there’s way more animals than people
ELIZA:
There didn’t used to be. Plus, when I was your age, there were so many machines in this city that you
could hear them from the sky.
FAITH:
Like cars?
ELIZA:
Yeah! Like cars. They used to growl and roar as loud as mountain lions. And they ran fast as wolves, all
over the city, taking people where they wanted to go.
FAITH:
Why don’t they do that any more?
ELIZA:
Well…they’re broken
FAITH:
Can we fix them?
ELIZA:
It’s complicated. They uh, they need fuel to eat? And I don’t know where to find that. It was all used
up, back at the end of the old world. I guess…you could say they died
FAITH:
That’s impossible
ELIZA:
Oh really. How come?
FAITH:
Machines can’t die. They don’t have souls
ELIZA:
Now, see, that’s philosophy
FAITH:
You’re weird
ELIZA:
Guilty as charged
(GETTING TO HER FEET, BRUSHING SOIL OFF HER PANTS)
Come on, you feeling better? We don’t have much daylight left
FAITH:
‘Kay!
SOUND: WE HEAR THEIR FOOTSTEPS RETREATING.
SOUND: SILENCE AND INSECTS FILL THE AIR OF THE GREENHOUSE
SOUND: SUDDENLY, A CRASH OF NOISE AS SOMETHING FALLS TO THE GROUND
SCENE 4
SOUND: SILENCE, INSIDE THE EMPTY CONCRETE CORRIDORS OF A BUILDING
SOUND: APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS
FAITH:
You didn’t answer my question, from before
ELIZA:
Which one?
FAITH:
Where did all the people go?
ELIZA:
(PAUSING FOR FAITH TO CATCH UP)
They…went away
FAITH:
Eliza! You said that before, I know that. I asked you, where did they go?
ELIZA:
(OPENING THE DOOR)
Um, well…remember the tomatoes?
FAITH:
(PROUDLY)
And philosophy
ELIZA:
Right, philosophy. So we use philosophy to imagine what things we don’t know look like, based on
the things that we do know
FAITH:
(SITTING DOWN AT THE ROOTS OF THE TREE)
Okay…
ELIZA:
So we know what Diana’s roots look like, because they’re a reflection of her branches
FAITH:
It’s symmetrical!
ELIZA:
Right! Good word! So…I don’t know where your Mum is. But I like to think, based on what I can see
here, that it’s some place green, and warm, and full of sunlight
SOUND: SILENCE, FILLED SOFTLY BY THE SOUND OF INSECTS AND WIND IN THE LEAVES
FAITH:
(HUSHED, SOLEMN)
Are we the only ones left?
ELIZA:
I don’t know. But, hey, look at me
SOUND: ELIZA CROUCHES TO FAITH’S LEVEL
ELIZA: (CONT’D)
(CLOSE)
Why do we grow flowers, bumble bee?
FAITH:
So that we can make food?
ELIZA:
(WARM)
Very good. But we can’t eat all of
this, can we?
FAITH:
We can’t?
ELIZA:
No.
FAITH:
Then why do we grow so much?
ELIZA:
So we can share it
FAITH:
With who?
ELIZA:
Anyone who passes this way. You want to know a secret?
FAITH:
Yeah
ELIZA:
I have a big, crazy, stupid dream. And in that dream, the last people left in all the world find our
city, and they see the flowers in the skyscrapers, and they know they’re not alone any more.
FAITH:
I don’t want to be alone
ELIZA:
I know baby. I don’t either.
SOUND: RUSTLE OF CLOTHES, SNIFFS AND SIGHS AS THEY EMBRACE
SOUND: WE SWITCH PERSPECTIVE, HEARING FAITH AND ELIZA FROM A DISTANCE
SOUND: A TWIG SNAPS, VERY CLOSE, VERY LOUD
SOUND: WE RETURN TO THE GARDENERS
FAITH:
Eliza? What was that?
ELIZA:
Faith, baby, get behind me
FAITH:
Eliza?
SOUND: ELIZA COCKS A GUN
FAITH: (CONT’D)
Is it a bear? Are you going to
shoot it?
ELIZA:
Not if I can help it. But I need you to run, ok? I need you to run as fast as you can, right now.
Don’t look back.
FAITH:
But what if –
ELIZA:
Shh, shh buttercup, it’s ok. Just go to the meeting place, and then I’ll come meet you, ok?
FAITH:
Under the stars?
ELIZA:
Under the stars. Now, you take a deep breath, and you concentrate on all that sunshine inside of you,
and you turn and you run as fast as you can. Ok?
FAITH:
Okay. Eliza?
ELIZA:
Yes bumblebee?
FAITH:
I love you
ELIZA:
I love you too, sunflower. Now go
SOUND: WE FOLLOW FAITH AS SHE RUNS, AS FAST AS SHE CAN. SHE BURSTS OUTSIDE, AND SOMETHING JUMPS INTO THE UNDERBRUSH. SOUND: FAITH STOPS RUNNING, GASPING FOR BREATH, AND WAITS, LISTENING. A LONG MOMENT PASSES.
SOUND: THERE IS ONE RESOUNDING GUNSHOT
SOUND: FAITH GASPS AND STARTS TO RUN AGAIN, CRYING. BIRDS BURST UP OFF THE STREET AND INTO THE SKY.
SCENE 5
SOUND: WE’RE OUTSIDE, IN A QUIET, SAFE PARK. THERE ARE CICADAS AND THE SOUND OF RUNNING WATER. THERE’S A SMALL FIRE CRACKLING
FAITH:
(CRYING, SINGING SOFTLY, A MADE UP TUNE)
And I said to Eliza, come to the moon, come to the moon don’t go too soon. And I said to Eliza come to the stars, come to the stars, don’t go too far.And she said to me Faith, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid I’m on my way.And she said to me Faith, don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid, I’m on my way. I’m on my way. I’m on my way.
APRIL:
(COMING OUT OF THE UNDERBRUSH)
That’s a lovely song
FAITH:
(JUMPING TO HER FEET, BRUSHING AWAY TEARS)
Who – who are you? Where’s Eliza?
APRIL:
Oh I’m sorry sweetheart. Your friend’s right here. I’m afraid we gave her an awful fright
JOSHUA:
Apparently she thought I was a bear
ELIZA:
Normally people use their words
JOSHUA:
You must not have met many people recently
FAITH:
ELIZA!
ELIZA:
Faith!!
SOUND: A RUSH OF FABRIC AS THEY EMBRACE, ELIZA MAKES A SOFT
SOUND OF PAIN
FAITH:
What happened? Are you hurt? Who are these people? I heard the gunshot and and and –
ELIZA:
Shh, shh, it’s ok. Just, me being an idiot and forgetting to factor in ricochet in a car park
JOSHUA:
Yeah, you’re definitely the least lethal survivor I’ve met so far in this apocalypse
ELIZA:
I’m taking that as a compliment
JOSHUA:
You should. I didn’t think people like you still existed
APRIL:
People like us. He means people like us.
SOUND: ELIZA GRUNTING IN PAIN AS SHE SITS DOWN
FAITH:
You ARE hurt! Are you going to be ok?
APRIL:
She’ll be fine
FAITH:
Eliza?
ELIZA:
She’s right. Faith, baby, this is April and Joshua. They’ve travelled a very, very long way to get here.
FAITH:
Why?
APRIL:
Well, we weren’t looking for you, exactly.
FAITH:
What were you looking for?
JOSHUA:
Honestly? Anyone who didn’t shoot first and –
APRIL:
(CUTTING ACROSS)
Hope. We were looking for hope.
FAITH:
Did you find it?
JOSHUA:
(BEAT, LOOKING AT HER)
Yeah. I think we did.
SCENE 6
SOUND: A HEAVY FLOW OF WATER BEING POURED INTO A WATERING CAN
SOUND: BREATH, CLOTHES RUSTLING, HEAVING THE CAN OFF THE GROUND
SOUND: THE GENTLE PATTER OF WATER INTO SOIL, ONTO CONCRETE
ELIZA:
Where are we up to bumble bee?
SOUND: HIGH PITCHED BEEPS ON A HANDHELD COMPUTER
FAITH:
Three hundred and sixty five –
SOUND: BEEP ON A WALKIE TALKIE
ELIZA:
Joshua? Come in, Joshua?
SOUND: STATIC, THEN –
JOSHUA:
(DISTORTED)
Come in, Eliza. That is plot one hundred and eighty two done for the morning. And may I say these are
starting to look like some mighty fine tomato plants
ELIZA:
Permission granted. You can compliment my horticulture any time.
JOSHUA:
(WARM)
Noted. See you at Grand Central?
ELIZA:
Sure. Give us 45.
JOSHUA:
Alright. Over and out.
SOUND: OPENING A LARGE WINDOW. RUSH OF AIR, BIRD OF PREY CALLING IN THE DISTANCE.
SOUND: ELIZA CLIMBING UP ONTO THE WINDOW SILL, UNSCREWING A CLIP ON HER BELT
FAITH:
So, what do we do now?
ELIZA:
Let me see your caribinner?
FAITH:
Done!
SOUND: WIND WHISTLING, BIRD OF PREY CALL BELOW
ELIZA:
Now? We reap the fruits of our labour.
SOUND: GEARS SPINNING, ROPE RUNNING. WIND WHISTLING AND DISTANT LAUGHTER. BIRDS, INSECTS, WIND IN THE TREES.
(The episode ends.)
ANNOUNCER:
Gardens was written and directed by Ella Watts. It was produced and sound designed by David Devereux of Tin Can Audio, who also composed the score for this episode. They co-composed Faith’s Song with Socks Whitmore. Gardens starred Gabrielle Adkins as Eliza, Socks Whitmore as Faith, Chiara Santella as April and Brandon Nguyen as Joshua.
MonkeyTales cover art is by Cora May. Our theme song is “Follow the Muse,” by Deborah Linden.
You can find more information on our website monkeymanproductions.com, or on Twitter under Monkeyman Productions or MonkeyTales. Our Patreon backers make the show possible – join them at patreon.com slash MonkeymanProductions.
We’ve made it through to another new year, continuing to find our way together. If there’s any way we can support you or make your life better, we’re always here, sharing the light we find. Take care and keep safe.
MUSIC
(lyrics)
Follow the muse
Follow the muse
Whenever the storyline starts to get confused..
(NOTE – there may be an ad inserted at this point after the episode)
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