A Voicemail from Ruth

written & directed by Eli Barraza
Story by Eli Barraza & Danielle Shemaiah
Performed by Danielle Shemaiah and Eli Barraza
sound design by Mischa Stanton
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PERI VOICEMAIL RECORDING: (halting) Hi, you’ve reached the voicemail of Hesperia or Peri. Please leave a message and your phone number and I’ll get back as soon as possible. (muffled) um.

[[SFX: BEEP. Ruth’s voice comes in slightly fuzzy through the phone.]]

RUTH: Hey star shine. Looks like you’re in the fog or somewhere without service. Still, just because I missed you doesn’t mean you should be deprived of my voice so I won’t keep it brief. (chuckles)

We took a little time to rest after the Blue Vault thing. Johanna still calls it a fiasco but like, we got the star, right? Anyway, you’ll be proud of me, I actually stayed in bed reading and tried tea... It’s still gross. (laughs) We ended up getting cabin fever within a few days, Johanna and I can’t sit still for long but you probably know that. (chuckle)

Anyway, the big news is, um... drum roll please... we got another star back! Yayyy! Except... I dunno. This time it felt different. It was at a science museum. We managed to track it down to this guy, one of the, uh, maintenance people. He’d put it up in the ceiling installation of a constellation. (with wonder) Peri, it was so beautiful, not just the installation but just... anyway.

I told Johanna I’d talk to him. Found him just as he was arriving early for his shift. Apparently he likes walking the halls before working, just... existing in the space. I got a good feeling from him so I-I just explained about the star. Johanna woulda killed me if she knew I was gonna be that direct about it but he didn’t seem like he needed us to be anything but that. (pause)

He just sighed, when I told him, nodding with his eyes closed. We could have it but... he wanted me to sit with him the final hour before closing. Mm, I obliged. We didn’t really talk at first, he just wanted to people watch. All sorts of visitors came in. Tourists of course, with cameras and fanny packs. Teens on dates all dressed up. Groups of kids with tired parents. Elders asking docents thoughtful questions. Every one of them who looked up was just consumed by the most brilliant, genuine wonder I’d ever seen.

(sighs)

Then the maintenance guy started talking. Smog’s bad in the city and with all the light pollution... the night sky’s hidden from most of these people. He wanted them to see a star. A real star, even if they didn’t know it. He just wanted to see them look at it for the last time before I put it back where it’s supposed to be. He wasn’t trying to change my mind, he just wanted me to see the joy it brought, even if it’d been taken for the wrong reasons. I almost didn’t take it back but... I gave my word, didn’t I? And he seemed to understand that.

The museum closed and he took out his ladder, a lightbulb at the ready. He climbed and climbed and at the top, he reached out his hand. He took down the star so gently and held it as if he could protect it from the desires of people less kind than him. He screwed in the lightbulb, he climbed down and handed me the star carefully but without hesitation. Then he folded his ladder and left the room, left me standing there without looking back.

(sighs) This thing needs doing Peri. I have to believe that or it all falls apart but... I wish it could be different. I wish people didn’t have good reasons for doing things they’re not supposed to do. It’d make all this easier, y’know?

(tired) I’m all out, star shine. I hope I hear your voice soon. Catch you later.

[[SFX: End call.]]