A one-act dramedy for young audiences by Inda Craig-Galván

THE BOY WHO CRIED DRAGON A one-act dramedy for young audiences by Inda Craig-Galván This script is for evaluation only. It may not be printed, photocopied or distributed digitally under any circumstances. Possession of this file does not grant the right to perform this play or any portion of it, or to use it for classroom study. www.youthplays.com info@youthplays.com 424-703-5315

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CAST OF CHARACTERS TRAVIS DAVIS, 12, he is a book-smart, bored boy. CYNTHIA DAVIS, 32, she's the mother of Travis. A diner waitress. PRINCIPAL WITHERS, 35, she is the school principal. LOIS, 50, she's a diner waitress who works with Cynthia. OFFICER BILLIG, 40-50, he's a Village of Park Forest police officer. One of a handful. It's a small village. DRAGON, age unknown. A dragon. Gender-neutral. SETTING Park Forest, Illinois. A small suburb technically a Village. The Davis kitchen. The Diner. Roosevelt Elementary School. The park. Present. Fall. NOTE Like Travis, please use your imagination in creating the Dragon and the magical world in which the Dragon and Travis encounter one another.

The Boy Who Cried Dragon 5 SCENE 1 (Partial house lights up as TRAVIS runs through the audience aisles, screaming.) TRAVIS: GORILLA! THERE'S A THOUSAND-POUND GORILLA! IT'S BY THE OUTDOOR GYM EQUIPMENT! RIGHT OUTSIDE! HUGE! AND HEAVY! GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! A GORILLAAAAAAAA! (Lights up on the Davis home: the living room and kitchen area. Couple of bar stools where they eat their meals.) (Travis is rushed into the apartment by CYNTHIA. She wears her diner waitress uniform. They both carry grocery bags.) CYNTHIA: (Exhausted and annoyed:) A gorilla, Travis? TRAVIS: Ma, I CYNTHIA: A gorilla on the playground. A (Pause.) gorilla. Travis H. Davis, I don't even know what to say. TRAVIS: Ma, I'm sorry. I didn't think that CYNTHIA: No, you didn't think. You never do, Travis. You go around making things up all the time and you don't think about the consequences. Shoes. (He takes his off.) You promised me. I don't know why I listen. You scared some of the younger kids at school. And your principal. Again. TRAVIS: What's there to be scared of? CYNTHIA: Oh, I don't know, Travis. Maybe the thousandpound gorilla you were yelling about? TRAVIS: That's ridiculous, Ma. Gorillas don't even get up to a thousand pounds. In the wild, an overweight, male gorilla is

6 Inda Craig Galván gonna reach three four hundred pounds, max. And that's with an abundance of (Cynthia holds up her hand to stop his rant.) They're herbivores. (Off of her disappointed look:) I didn't know the younger kids were there. Honest. They were supposed to be in class. In my defense, I've never made a kid cry. Just the principal. That one time. (Cynthia puts away the groceries, strains to reach a high shelf.) CYNTHIA: I'll keep that in mind next time I have to leave work early and have Lois cover for me. I can't just leave every time there's an emergency, especially since with you... TRAVIS AND CYNTHIA: There's always an emergency. TRAVIS: There won't be a next time, Ma. Here, let me help you. (Travis puts the item away with ease, a surprise to his mother.) You know, Dad sent me a picture of a fossil he helped find in Ethiopia...a 600-pound gorilla. He said he'd send more, but...musta forgot. CYNTHIA: Come here. (He hesitates; she softens.) Travis, come here. (They hug.) Homework? TRAVIS: Just math. It's easy. You should've talked to Withers about putting me in a different math class. CYNTHIA: Must have slipped my mind, what with all the begging your principal to not expel you. TRAVIS: Sorry, Ma.

The Boy Who Cried Dragon 7 CYNTHIA: Stop apologizing. And stop terrorizing your classmates with these fantasies. TRAVIS: First of all, don'tcha think "terrorizing" is a little harsh? I mean, statistically, if a third of the student body were outside at the time, and only three-fifths of those students actually heard me, and half of those kids who heard me believed me, there's only a four-point-eight-eight percent chance that anyone was even remotely scared. Not counting Principal Withers. CYNTHIA: Of course not. And secondly? TRAVIS: They're not fantasies. I know there's no such thing as a thousand-pound gorilla. It's just... Everything real is kind of...boring. CYNTHIA: You know what's really boring? Being a grownup. Buying groceries and paying bills. (A beat.) Your father's old books are here. And maybe we can get you one of those refurbished tablets. You can fit hundreds of books into one of those. TRAVIS: Thousands, actually. CYNTHIA: See? Look at that. Math brain. Under all that gorgeous hair I love your hair, you know that? TRAVIS: Because it's Dad's and you miss him. Is this gonna be a tissue moment? CYNTHIA: Go. Go sort your laundry. Whites. Blacks. Darks. Pastels. TRAVIS: What do I have that's pastel? (As he leaves for his room, Travis picks up a framed photo of the family. He dusts it off with his sleeve.) CYNTHIA: I did talk to her about it, FYI. Your principal. You still a vegetarian this week?

8 Inda Craig Galván TRAVIS: Yeah, Ma. Veggie burger, please. And...? What did she say? (Lights up on PRINCIPAL WITHERS. [Feel free to place her at her desk, in a hallway, in otherwise total darkness. As long as it is clear that she is in a separate time and space from Travis and his mom.]) PRINCIPAL WITHERS: It's a small school district. We really don't have a special program we can put Travis in for math. TRAVIS: What about for science? Reading? (Principal Withers shakes her head, "no.") CYNTHIA: Principal Withers did say that PRINCIPAL WITHERS: Some of his teachers not all of them might be willing to come in early and work with Travis before class. TRAVIS: Why not all of my teachers? If they could teach me more stuff instead of the books I've already gone through on my own PRINCIPAL WITHERS: Travis's stunts aren't earning him many fans amongst the teachers here. And the other students...let's just say Travis doesn't have many friends. No one ever knows when he's telling the truth. (Lights fade on Principal Withers.) CYNTHIA: No more pretending, Travis. No more stories. No more pranks. It'll be better for everyone. TRAVIS: Okay, Ma. It won't happen again. I promise. CYNTHIA: Oh, don't make that promise. I love you, but you sound like a broken record. TRAVIS: I don't know what that even means.

The Boy Who Cried Dragon 9 (Cynthia kisses Travis "goodnight" on the forehead.) (Lights cross fade to the diner.)

10 Inda Craig Galván SCENE 2 (The diner. The sofa from the Davis home has been removed and a lighting change reflects a diner atmosphere.) (Cynthia and Travis rush to join LOIS. Travis sits in a booth while Cynthia and Lois work. The character of "Ned" is implied; we don't need to actually see him.) LOIS: It means I'm not covering for you anymore, Cynthia. (To Ned:) More coffee coming up soon, Ned. (To Cynthia:) Sorry, but Lou needs my help over at the Food Mart. (Whispering:) He's had to get the police involved. TRAVIS: Police?! What happened? CYNTHIA: Calm it down and mind your business. Suspension from school does not mean you suspend your manners. (To Lois:) Police?! So what happened? LOIS: Someone's been breaking into the store at night and stealing produce off the shelves. And get this...it's only the radishes. TRAVIS: That's a lot of salads. CYNTHIA: Travis, shhh! (To Lois:) Lou is...lou. Could he have just thought he'd stocked the shelves? LOIS: Two nights in a row? CYNTHIA: Maybe it's just some kids pranking him? What other explanation could there be? LOIS: I can't even imagine. Anyway, I couldn't cover for you if I wanted to. Rush is coming soon. Hon? (Indicating Travis:) You wanna...? CYNTHIA: Yeah. Sorry. Travis, why don't you go to the park for a bit, babe? And stay out of trouble? TRAVIS: (Springing up:) Won't move from the park bench 'til

The Boy Who Cried Dragon 11 you get off work. I promise, Ma. CYNTHIA: No wandering off. And no "you know what." TRAVIS: Pretend it never happened. CYNTHIA: Hardee-har-har. Get outta here. TRAVIS: I promise. Trees. Park. Bench. No pretending. (Travis exits.) (Lights cross fade up on the park.) Trees...park...bench... Boring. Boring. Boring. (Digging through backpack for books:) Read this already. And this. And...back to boring. Trees...park...bench... Might as well get comfortable. (He lies down on the bench.) Trees...park...bench...trees... (Travis dozes off. A loud noise is heard. Trees rustle. Travis bolts up, looks around but sees nothing.) What was that? Must have been my imagination. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Boring trees...park...dragon...bench... WHAT THE! (Travis leaps to his feet as a DRAGON enters and walks toward him. The two face off for a moment.) Definitely not boring. DRAGON: (Screaming:) AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! TRAVIS: (Screaming:) AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! TRAVIS AND DRAGON: (Screaming:) AAAAAAAAHHH!!! (Frightened, they both exit the stage, running in opposite directions.) (A light change indicates the passing of time.)

12 Inda Craig Galván (Travis, Cynthia, Lois and OFFICER BILLIG gather in the park. Lots of angry chatter. Police lights flash.) OFFICER BILLIG: Hold on! On the off chance that the boy is telling truth this time, I've gotta ask him some questions. TRAVIS: Thank you. (Officer Billig mimes taking out a giant, invisible pen and paper.) OFFICER BILLIG: Here, let me just get out my pen so I can write this down. Now, tell me again what you saw, Travis. (Lois and Billig laugh. Even Cynthia stifles a laugh.) TRAVIS: There was a dragon. Right here. Standing right in front of me. Right where you are now, Lois. You guys, you gotta believe me! OFFICER BILLIG: Alright. Enough joking around. I'll call over to the zoo, see if they're reporting a Komodo dragon missing. That's probably all it was. Right, son? (General murmur of agreement. Police lights stop. People disperse.) TRAVIS: No! It wasn't a Komodo dragon. This was a dragon dragon. The kind that breathes fire. OFFICER BILLIG: Was there a fire?! LOIS: Did he say there was a fire? TRAVIS: No! I There wasn't a fire. It just I'll prove it to you. (Calling:) Here, dragon! Come here, boy or girl! (To group:) Wait, hold on. I'll reenact. I was sitting right here on this bench. (He sits.)

The Boy Who Cried Dragon 13 Bored, bored, bored, backpack, read that one already, so bored... (Whispering:) Where are you, you're making me look bad. (To group:) I swear, it happened just like this. LOIS: Cindy, hon. I got Ned over there watching the diner for me. He's gonna drink all my coffee. OFFICER BILLIG: I'll go check with the zoo, just in case. Mrs. Davis. (Officer Billig nods his "goodbye" and exits with Lois.) TRAVIS: Ma, I saw it. It was big and blue green and it had CYNTHIA: Travis. Please. I've got to finish my shift. You're going to have to come with me. Just sit in one of the booths and not a peep out of you. You understand? (He nods. As Cynthia exits,) TRAVIS: My backpack! I'm right behind you, Ma. (Travis grabs it, checks to make sure everything is inside of his bag.) (The Dragon enters, curiously and cautiously. Travis turns and sees the Dragon.) It's you. (The Dragon, frightened, moves to leave.) No, wait! Stay. Stay...good dragon. (They regard one another. The Dragon smiles a huge smile. Travis, relieved, smiles back. But then,) Wait, are you smiling because you're friendly or because I look like one incredibly tasty burger? (The Dragon turns its nose up at the thought.) DRAGON: Blech.

14 Inda Craig Galván TRAVIS: You don't like burgers? Are you a vegetarian? Um...you like plants? Yummy green stuff? (The Dragon nods excitedly.) Go figure. CYNTHIA: (Offstage:) Travis! TRAVIS: Ma! Ma, you gotta come back! He's here. Everybody, come back! Hurry! Please?! (As Travis looks around for people, the Dragon runs behind the tree, which only partially hides it.) (Cynthia enters, soon followed by Officer Billig carrying a broom and Lois carrying a pot of coffee.) OFFICER BILLIG: Where? Where is it? TRAVIS: Right there. Behind that tree. See it? CYNTHIA: Oh, Travis. TRAVIS: What? It's right there. You're looking right at Wait a minute...you can't see it? Oh. Come. On. Seriously?! Look, I'm gonna go up to it. (To Dragon:) Don't be afraid. Just getting a little closer to you. That's it. Steady LOIS: Maybe he's not feeling well. (Cynthia feels Travis's forehead for fever.) CYNTHIA: He is a little warm. (To Billig:) He's been under the weather lately. TRAVIS: Why are you talking about me like I'm not I'm right here! Or can't you see me either? LOIS: Does he think he's invisible, too? CYNTHIA: Travis, do you think you're invisible, too?

The Boy Who Cried Dragon 15 TRAVIS: Why would I think that I'm invisible just cuz I'm standing here petting a dragon? That's crazy talk. LOIS: Cindy, hon. Take the rest of the day off. I don't know if I can pay you for it. These little stunts are costing me customers. (Lois, shaking her head, exits.) TRAVIS: But It's Can't any of you? OFFICER BILLIG: Mrs. Davis, I'm happy to help. But this is taxpayers' money being wasted. If you can't control your son, you might want to look at other...options. TRAVIS: You really can't see a big, green and blue dragon standing right there in front of us? (Dragon shakes its head "no.") CYNTHIA: I'm so sorry for this, Officer Billig. It won't happen again. Right, Travis? (Officer Billig exits.) Travis, what is wrong with you? I'd blame your dad but he can't hear me anyway from halfway across the world. So, I guess this is my fault. I've failed you as a parent. (The Dragon, saddened, exits. Travis doesn't notice.) TRAVIS: No, Ma. You're great. You and dad are both great. I didn't mean to make you sad. It's just...trust me, Ma. It's right over (Realizing it's gone:) there. CYNTHIA: So, you're saying it's gone now? Did we scare it off? TRAVIS: Maybe. I dunno. CYNTHIA: (Feeling his forehead:) Let's get you home. (As they exit, the Dragon comes on and waves to them.)

16 Inda Craig Galván DRAGON: (To the audience:) Shhhhh. (It spreads its colorful wings wide as lights fade.)

The Boy Who Cried Dragon 17 SCENE 3 (Lights up on the diner where Travis quickly eats his breakfast.) CYNTHIA: Slow down, what's your hurry? TRAVIS: (Muffled, mouth full of food:) I haven't gotten into any more trouble all week, right? You gotta admit that. And I'm not in your hair while you work. Gotta admit that. CYNTHIA: I gotta admit you're acting more than a little unusual. Going to the park four days in a row? You haven't gotten this much exercise since...ever. TRAVIS: I think the fresh air up there at the park is doing me good. I'll take my books with me. Please? (Travis gives her a pitiful look.) CYNTHIA: Just stay out of trouble. I mean it. And no TRAVIS: No pretending. I'm done with that. I'm not bored anymore now that I have a better sense of responsibility. Love you, Ma. Be back for lunch. (He runs out of the diner, yelling the whole while.) Thanks, Maaaaaaaaa! (His call continues as he enters the park. He is riding the Dragon, scared, but happy.) aaaaaaaaaaah! (They land. Travis steps off. The Dragon bows a "you're welcome.") No, thank you. That was an even better landing than yesterday. I'm getting the hang of it. Thanks for offering. Man, nobody's ever going to believe this. I can't wait to tell DRAGON: (Shaking its head "no":) Shhhhhhhh. TRAVIS: You're right. Like they'd believe me anyway.

18 Inda Craig Galván (A beat, then suddenly ) You're a dragon! Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you it's just Do you have any idea what that means? I mean, duh, you know what it means to be a dragon. But do you know how awesome this is? Everybody thinks dragons are mythological creatures. DRAGON: (Puzzled:) Hmm? TRAVIS: People think you're not real. That someone made you up. (The Dragon points at Travis.) Dragons think people are made up? Are we awesome, superexotic creatures that dragons fear? (The Dragon hunches its shoulders and answers with a sound/expression that registers as,) DRAGON: Meh. TRAVIS: I'm no big deal in your world either, huh? (The Dragon uses its snout to nudge Travis about the midsection, tickling the boy until he laughs.) Okay, okay. Probably the coolest dragon I ever I guess. Oh, hey! Are there others? Do you have a family? Where are they? Do you need to get back to them? There's no way you're fitting in a bicycle basket. Never mind that. I've got to figure out a way to get everyone else on board with this. This is awesome! DRAGON: (Protesting:) Shhhhhhh. TRAVIS: Yeah, about that... I'm not so good at keeping secrets. Not that anything exciting ever happens in my life. DRAGON: Hmm?

The Boy Who Cried Dragon 19 TRAVIS: Until now. The one bit of news I did have was that my dad was finally coming home from a dig. He's an archaeologist. Ar-chae-olo He digs. For bones and stuff...? (The Dragon lets out a loud dog-like bark.) How do I explain this? It's how people learn about things that existed a long time ago. I ran around telling everyone (A light change to indicate the flashback. Travis runs around. Lois and Billig enter as KIDS. [Feel free to use additional actors for these roles if that suits your production needs.] They carry giant foam dinosaur bones. The Kids get increasingly excited as Travis yells,) My dad's coming back! My dad's coming back! He's bringing fossil samples and bones from a billion years ago. LOIS AS KID: Is he bringing you an actual dinosaur?! TRAVIS: Um...sure! Yeah. He's bringing back two or three! (They gather around Travis, the hero.) (The Dragon interrupts with a sound that reads,) DRAGON: And...? TRAVIS: Dad didn't come back. (Disappointed, the Kids exit as the flashback light shifts back to previous lighting.) (The Dragon makes a sad face.) It's okay. I know Dad loves me and all that. He just has to work. On another dig. And another. But when I told people all the stuff I'd made up, it was exciting! And, bonus, people are nicer to you when you're interesting. (Dragon points to itself.)

20 Inda Craig Galván Yeah, you're crazy interesting. And you're real. I think. Hey, I still don't get why nobody else can see you? (The Dragon gives him an "I don't know" gesture. Then points to Travis's head. Dragon opens its arms wide.) You think it's because I have such a big head? (Dragon shakes its head "no." Opens its arms even wider, looking up.) I have such a big imagination? Well, duh. (Dragon places a hand on Travis's heart, then makes the same open-arm gesture.) And a big heart? Yeah, Mom says I have her heart. (Dragon is grossed out by this. Gagging, spitting, running in circles, holding its head in disgust.) No! Not literally. Not She still has her heart. It's a figure of speech. Sorry. I (Travis notices that the Dragon is laughing.) You're playing a prank on me?! (They laugh together. Then, a noise. It's coming from the Dragon's stomach.) Wow. You're pretty hungry, huh? You can't keep taking food out of the Food Mart. You could get caught. I mean, nobody's gonna hurt you or anything. They'd probably just want to take you to a lab in the city and examine you and dissect you and Oh. Yeah, I can see how that might be a problem. Definitely don't go back to the Food Mart. (The Dragon rubs its tummy.)

The Boy Who Cried Dragon 21 I'll take care of ya. I'll bring you some salad from the diner THE DINER! I was supposed to be at the diner for lunch. I gotta go before my mom gets mad. See you tomorrow? (The Dragon nods.) See you tomorrooooooooo... (Travis runs off, still shouting as he enters the diner. Cynthia places a slice of pie on the counter where Travis eventually lands.)...oooooooooow. Hey, Ma. Sorry I'm late. Guess what! I'm working on something. Not a prank. This is real this time. And it's exciting and fantastic and what? CYNTHIA: Lois fired me. She's letting me work the rest of the week, but after that... TRAVIS: Because of me? No, she can't do that. Want to read the entire script? Order a perusal copy today!