An alternative plan for the orchard.
Plan B. climate change solutions.
Same farmhouse: access driveway and verandah – NIGHT. Moonlight. On the verandah table, there is a candle burning.
The SOUND of crickets chirping. A moving,
flashlight appears on the driveway.
( Inna, wearing a caving helmet with flashlight, and using a hiking stick,
squelches up the driveway toward verandah in boots, sometimes struggling in the silt. Inna, wearing a
dark cloak, is holding a plate with cake on it.)
Cooee! Zsófi!
(Zsófi comes out dressed Like a Virgin.)
Brought you a plate.
Inna! You came!
(Zsófi fetches another candle and brings tea in a teapot, and then mugs.
The cake is on the table. Zsófi sits beside Inna,
leaning against her, her head on Inna’s shoulder.)
I'm not running the generator. Must live without gasoline.
Me neither. Lord knows when we’ll get anything for the emergency generator again.
My head’s in a whirl.
What’s going on?
(They share cake and tea.)
Plan A is to reinstate and rebuild.
But?
Money, and weather chaos. The
orchard’s munted for a few years to come.
(Zsófi puts her head in her hands.)
Long-term?
Who knows? Probably worse.
(Zsófi spreads out a map of Aotearoa on the table.)
I’ll show you, Inna. Cherries only keep ten days, even with refrigeration.
(Zsófi points to Te Matau-a-Maui.)
We’re here. Our main market is Tāmaki Makaurau a five-hour road-trip. There’s no rail.
So?
The cherries go by truck, diesel truck.
(Female)Understood, Zsófi: let’s work it out together. Right now.
(Zsófi leaves the kitchen, and comes back with laptop.)
By the way, since the last street protest, I’ve been getting all these hate-Emails.
Really? I haven’t had any.
(Zsófi sits beside Inna, close up, touching, comforted.)
( SCENE LIGHTING OFF : BLACK-OUT : Black-out)
(END OF SCENE)
SUBURBAN KITCHEN AS BEFORE – NIGHT
Lara is cooking. Tamara is standing there, her gaze on the floor.
(Lara is incredulous, with suppressed anger.)
Listen, you little harlot, thou shalt have no dealings with thy grandfather!
(Tamara looks suitably contrite.)
Ya know, it was an accident, Mom. It won’t happen again, eh.
It shall not.
(Lara closes her eyes.)
For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked shall be extinguished.
Ya know, God’s dead, Mom.
Wash your mouth out, you harlot!
You’re the victim of a conspiracy, Mom.
Don’t try and blind me with science, you slut!
A conspiracy that’s lasted two thousand years, eh.
(Overcome with anger, Lara closes her eyes and prays.)
The Lord maketh me lie down on green pasture. He leadeth me into still waters.
(Tamara tiptoes away. Lara breathes and calms down. Eventually, she continues in a husky voice.)
I shall not want. Thy rod shall comfort me.
( SCENE LIGHTING OFF : BLACK-OUT : Black-out)
(END OF SCENE)
WOMEN’S GYM - NIGHT. With door to the street outside.
Inna and Zsófi are using adjacent rowing machines. Delbee stands at the edge of stage.
A few weeks later. Inside a local gym for women.
(Female)They wouldn’t give me any finance. They said I’m too
young, too inexperienced, unqualified ...
Sweetheart, you’re intelligent and determined.
The man said I should appoint an estate manager to run everything.
And?
I can’t afford that. We’re not big enough. It’s a family-sized
orchard, not thirty hectares plus.
And what was the manager like?
Yucky.
(Zsófi speeds up, reliving her anger.)
(Female)Wish I’d worn trousers.
We’ve all been there, darling. Well, that's enough. I'll run you home.
(They stop rowing and start to leave and open the door onto the street. A man with a big camera and a night lens, starts taking photos of the two women.)
That man over there's taking photos of us. What the hell's going on!
Surveillance. We’re on someone’s radar.
(The photographer makes his escape. SOUND: a car door slams. Squeal of tyres.)
( SCENE LIGHTING OFF : BLACK-OUT : Black-out)
(END OF SCENE)
\
Same farmhouse: on verandah – DAY. Early morning.
Zsófi and Inna, in deshabille, are drinking coffee over
the table. There is a MAP on the table, too.
We have electric again. Hallelujah!
(Zsófi goes inside and brings out breakfast on a tray.)
And Plan B?
(Zsófi hesitates, and points to Cromwell in Otago.)
We move to Otakou, where the weather’s better in the long-
term.
And the marketing?
(Zsófia is not sure.)
Five hours by truck gets us to Otautahi. It’s a smaller
market, a third of the size.
But the operation’s more sustainable?
I think so. If they rebuild the old coastal railroad.
So what’s stopping you?
(Zsófi stops to ponder.)
Money. I’d have to find a buyer for this place here, and then some.
But, sweetheart, is moving to Otakou what
you want?
(Decisively.)
There’s a future there. Hope.
Go for it.
( SCENE LIGHTING OFF : BLACK-OUT : Black-out)
(END OF SCENE)
SAME CHERRY ORCHARD: AFTER CYCLONE - DAY. Some trees are
bent over, down. There is still silt over the grass in places.
Delbee stands at the front corner of the stage.
It is now June, the start of winter.
(Yuvan and Zsófi appear and walk around the orchard, inspecting the damage from the cyclone. )
What about Plan B then?
Plan B? What’s that?
I'll sell this orchard and buy another one in Otakou. The weather should be better there.
Sweetie, can you afford it?
No.
I can get you the money.
What?
I’ll buy this farm here. I brought the contract with me. You’ll be
free to buy an orchard somewhere better.
(Zsófi and Yuvan exchange a long stare, with mixed, uncertain, reactions.)
You’re so young, sweetie.
When I was twelve, Uncle Yuvan, you kept coming to see - my
father.
(Yuvan looks awkward.)
But now I’m nineteen. I can cook. I can ride. And cherries I know.
(Yuvan turns back toward the farmhouse.)
Then come to the house, sweetie, and sign the contract. It’s for the best.
(Zsófi follows, puzzled.)
What do you want my orchard for, Yuvan?
I can fix it up; sell it on. And I’ll help you find a better
orchard, sweetie. I promise.
( SCENE LIGHTING OFF : BLACK-OUT : Black-out)
(END OF SCENE)
PRIVATE GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE – NIGHT
Zsófi and Tamara, both with farm boots, are standing next to Yuvan, all facing the gravestones. Zsófi holds chrysanthemums. Yuvan stands holding three candles, Tamara a lighter.
It's Halloween, the day of the dead.
(Zsófi places a chrysanthemum for her grandmother.)
My grandmother Kata escaped after the uprising in fifty-six. Then, two years in a refugee camp. Then, a free ticket to Aotearoa. She jumped at it. Otherwise ...
(Zsófi wells up.)
Rest in peace, Granny.
(Zsófi places a chrysanthemum for her father.)
Rest in peace, Dad.
(Zsófi places a chrysanthemum for her mother.)
Rest in peace, Mum.
(Yuvan briefly touches Zsófi's shoulder.)
My own father was in the Polish air force. Then the British Royal Air Force. The big war. God rest his soul.
Men! All they do is fight: fight over territory and females.
(Yuvan squeezes Zsófi around the shoulders. Zsófi shakes him off.
Zsófi lights the candles, and places one on each grave. They stand there awhile.)
( SCENE LIGHTING OFF : BLACK-OUT : Black-out)
(END OF SCENE)
Same farmhouse verandah – NIGHT
Yuvan, Zsófi, and Tamara are returning from the memorial
plot.
(They come up the steps, and remove their muddy footwear. Zsófi is still pissed off.)
I can fix my last will and testament, so that Tamara becomes
the major beneficiary.
(Zsófi grunts, and goes inside. Then, she comes out again, with a teapot. Tamara goes inside and fetches mugs. Tamara puts a hand on Zsófi’s shoulder in an effort to calm her. Tamara then turns the radio on.)
In Tanzania, the government has declared an outbreak of the
Marburg virus disease.
(Yuvan turns the radio off.)
What about the graves?
Dis-inter the ashes and transfer them to the new orchard.
(Zsófi smiles.)
And a sweetener.
(Zsófi grunts.)
You go to Uni, Zsófi, and study something relevant to farming.
And I’ll pay your fees.
(Zsófi whispers with venom.)
It’s my fucking life.
Sweetie, get this weather nonsense sorted out once and for all.
I bloody decide what to bloody do with my life.
(Disconcerted, Yuvan looks at Tamara.)
And me? Your granddaughter?
You too.
And you’re payin’, eh?
(Yuvan lays the contract papers on the table. To Zsófi:)
I’ll leave the contract here, sweetie. You’ll sign in the
end, you know.
(Yuvan makes to leave. Zsófi goes inside. Yuvan pulls his boots on.)
How old are you now?
Seventeen, eh.
Old enough.
(Yuvan nods and wanders down the steps into the darkness. Yuvan starts his Ute, and all its lights come on. He toots the horn twice, and makes off down the driveway. Zsófi comes out. She’s calmer now.)
(Zsófi comes close to Tamara, wraps and holds Tamara’s arms behind Tamara’s back. Tamara lifts her lips toward Zsófi.)
You little minx.
We’re kin now, eh.
Yuvan’s my great uncle.
Ya know, relatives can kiss.
(Zsófi kisses Tamara on the lips. Zsófi’s mobile pings, and she checks the new message.)
It's from Ferenc, my cousin in Romania.
( SCENE LIGHTING OFF : BLACK-OUT : Black-out)
(END OF SCENE)