Back To London

Back To London (circa. 2020)

Anna- You have to come back to London right now.

Michael- I don’t want to, Anna. It wouldn’t be good for me.

Anna- Have you thought about how good it is for us? Especially for Mom? 

Michael- Anna, I can’t go back.

Anna- Twenty-six years, Michael. And she hasn’t seen her son.

Michael- Then she should be used to it by now.  These things happen all the time.

Anna- So? You could still visit. 

Michael- They wouldn’t want me. I think it’s better if I just stay here.

Anna- You could do so much better than this crabby place. It doesn’t even have air conditioning.

Michael- I just open a window!

Anna- What’s the real reason?

Michael- I don’t care about air conditioning.

Anna- Not that.

Michael- I’m married.

Anna- Oh.

Michael- I have a new family now. And it’s with him.

Anna- Well, do you love him?

Michael- Of course I love him, why would you ask that?

Anna- You can be impulsive, sometimes, Mike.

Michael- You should go.

Anna- I want you to be yourself again.

Michael- No, Anna, you can’t. I’m living my life here, and I am surrounded by people who love me. I’m making this world- my world- a better place, can you see that? There’s nothing for me in London. 

A phone rings.

Anna- Is that him?

LED Lights are strobing a room full of people.

Anna- They’re still in Hong Kong right now.

Adam- Then go back to them.

Anna- No, wait. Just for once. Be a good son.

Adam- That’s not possible.

Anna- It is! All you have to do is come back with me and then be with us. 

Adam- Pretend to be with you. You’re leaving out the word pretend. 

A man approaches their corner with a drink.

James- You ready, Adam?

Anna- Give us one second. I’m his sister. I need him.

Adam- I’ll be there in like a minute.

James- Aight, that’s cool. I’ll be in the back getting some air.

Anna- It’s just you and me. It has been since the day we were born. And what am I going to do when I’m left playing housewife with Mom and you’re not there?

Adam- Just don’t go back, Anna. I don’t know what to tell you.

Anna- Adam… this isn’t you.

Adam-  Sorry, Anna.

Anna- What, you’re just gonna leave me here in this corner? I paid money to come here.

Adam- Not my problem. Take some of Dad’s. He barely needs it anymore. Bye, Anna.

Anna- ADAM! ADAM!

Anna- PATRICK! PATRICK! Please, let me in the car.

Patrick- I need to go, I have a meeting in like fifteen minutes.

Anna- Have you checked your messages? Do you even know what’s going on back in New York?

Patrick- I don’t know, I don’t look anymore.

Anna- Dad’s funeral is next week. 

Patrick- I’ll send a bouquet and my regards.

Patrick roles up the window. Anna sticks her hands in.

Anna- We need you there.  Our aunts, our uncles, everyone needs to know that you will continue what he started.

Patrick- Well, maybe I am, Anna, but I’m doing it here. 

Anna- You’re going to regret all of this. One day, you’ll realize that everything you built here is fake. The more you push it off the emptier you’ll feel. I don’t want you to look at around at the friends you’ve built for yourself, the work you’ve built for yourself, and this life, this entire life that you’ve built for yourself, feeling nothing inside of you. Nothing except an empty heart. You'll feel rotten.

Patrick- You have to get out of my car.

Patrick pushes her out. He picks up his phone. It's ringing.

Patrick- James? I’ll be running a little late. I hit some bad traffic. If it had lungs, I think my car would have suffocated.

Anna looks around herself. She doesn’t know where she is. She lays down to sleep on the street.

Anna- Phillip!

Anna looks around herself. She looks up at the sky. She lays down to cry on the grass.

Anna continues shouting and falling on the ground. When she lies down, her limbs disintegrate into her shadows.  Her silhouette curves and juts around as if it’s spilling through space’s cracks. She whispers to herself, where am I. A wanderer in an abandoned land, Anna sees no one and nothing around her except for ideas of where buildings, lamp posts, and other decorative items should be.  Further down the road, and nestled behind a huge canyon, is the vagueness of a city, from which the unheard sounds of lights and heights are calling through the mirage of ideas.