28 July 2015

PROMPT:  "This is the first thing like this I have ever had in my mouth."

Steven Dietz, playwright/educator 

Carla, 37, sits at the kitchen table with a beautiful Asian bowl of food in front of her.  Joel, 41, sits across from her watching her eat.
CARLA
It’s kinda weird, don’t you think?
JOEL
I’ve never cooked anything like this before.
CARLA
No.  You watching me eat.
JOEL
I’m not hungry.
CARLA
(looking down at the plate skeptically)
What is it?
JOEL
Try it.
Carla lifts her fork and takes a small bite.  It’s not terrible.  She takes a second larger bite.
JOEL
What do you think?
Carla chews and swallows and lowers her fork.
CARLA
It’s okay.  It’s different.  I’ve never had anything like this.  What is it?
JOEL
Stir fried cockroaches.
Carla stands, in shock, knocking the chair over.
CARLA
What!?
JOEL
It’s a Chinese recipe.
CARLA
Cockroaches?!  You fed me cockroaches?!
JOEL
(hopeful)
Tasty, huh?
CARLA
Cockroaches!?  Where did you even get... cockroaches?!
JOEL
I had to special order them.
CARLA
So it’s they’re not like... from under the refrigerator.
JOEL
No... You can eat those, but...
CARLA
You can eat cockroaches from under the fridge?!
JOEL
Sure.
CARLA
Aren’t they... dirty?!
JOEL
Contrary to popular opinion, cockroaches are quite clean animals.
CARLA
They’re not animals!  They’re... BUGS!
JOEL
(amused)
Bugs are animals too.
CARLA
No!  They’re not!
Silence.
After a moment, Carla picks up the chair and sits down at the table again.  She looks into the bowl.
CARLA
I can’t believe you fed me cockroaches!
(beat)
They eat these in.. China?
JOEL
Stir fried, deep-fat fried, processed into a paste, candied...
CARLA
That’s disgusting.
Silence.
Carla looks down into the bowl.  She picks up the fork and takes another bite.
End of play.