ScriptWorks 30/60/90 - 28 August 2013

Prompt:
Instead of praying, I...-Michael John Garcés, playwright/director

Response:

CARL, 37, old before his time, enters the empty bar and sits down on a stool.
JENNIFER, 28, bartender, steps up to serve Carl.

JENNIFER
Been a long time.

Carl, grim faced, nods.

JENNIFER
Thought you quit.

CARL
I did quit.

JENNIFER
Couldn’t stay quit, huh?

CARL
I haven’t restarted yet.

JENNIFER
You didn’t come in here just to see if I was still tendin’ the slobs, did ya?

CARL
I don’t know.  Maybe.

JENNIFER
I’m still here, Carl.

Silence.

CARL
Why?

JENNIFER
I love the smell of stale beer in the morning.  Smell like...

CARL
...shit.

JENNIFER
Pretty much.

Silence.

JENNIFER
Well, you want somethin’?

CARL
I’m thinkin’.

JENNIFER
That’s dangerous for types like you and me.

Silence.

JENNIFER
Why don’t ya go home, Carl.  Or better yet, go to a meeting.

CARL
I don’t fit in there.

JENNIFER
Ya don’t fit in here either, Carl.

Silence.

CARL
Yea... Not anymore.

Carl stands.  He takes out his wallet and throws a twenty on the counter.

CARL
Thanks, Jennifer.

Carl starts off.

JENNIFER
(picking up the twenty)
You have changed.

Carl stops.

CARL
Guess I have.

Carl leaves.
Curtain.