by Bobbi Salas
CAST OF CHARACTERS:
ELENA: Death has a firm grip on her heart.
LA MUERTE: Death has gentle hands.
SETTING: A graveyard at sunset, seventy years apart.
Scene 1
Setting: A graveyard. A stone bench sits next to the headstone of “Maria Perez.” There are some candles and flowers decorating her grave. The sun is going to set soon.
(At Rise: Elena kneels in front of her mother’s grave, reminiscing. She holds flowers and a bottle of tequila.)
ELENA (Crying.): Duerme bien, Mamí. (Beat.) I’m sorry. But I’m here now. Papi told me, “Mija, if you don’t go see your mother, they’re going to pave over her and put up a new Arby’s.” I’m sorry it took me so long. You know how I am about…you know. (She looks around.) Te extraño, Mamí.
(LA MUERTE enters. They are tall, but somewhat hunched, like a person would be after a long day of work. A cold wind enters with them, sending a shiver down ELENA’s spine.)
ELENA: Ay! I said I’m sorry!
(LA MUERTE takes a seat on the bench. ELENA, unaware of their presence, takes a seat next to them. She begins to pray.)
LA MUERTE: I think it’s silly—
ELENA (Scared.): ¡AY QUÉ NO!
LA MUERTE: Hm. Lo siento.
ELENA: Ay. No, I’m sorry. I—I didn’t see you sit. (Beat.) ¿Quién eres?
LA MUERTE: ¡Qué gracioso! I was just asking myself that same question.
ELENA: I’m sorry?
LA MUERTE: I never know who I am, when I don’t have a job to do.
ELENA: I see, but that doesn’t answer my question.
LA MUERTE: For the first time in a long, long time. I get a break.
ELENA: And this is where you’re spending it?
LA MUERTE: It’s the only place I understand.
ELENA: Okay…I’m going to go now.
(ELENA gets up.)
LA MUERTE: Espérate. ¿La conocías?
(ELENA stops.)
ELENA: She was—She is mi Mamá…Did you know her?
LA MUERTE: Only at the end.
(ELENA begins to tear up and sits back on the bench.)
ELENA: Odio este lugar. I hate that I hate it! Mamí is here, and I can barely work up the courage to visit! This place is just a large field filled with bones.
LA MUERTE (Turning to ELENA.): I think it’s silly when people fear death.
ELENA: Gracias.
LA MUERTE: Escúchame. What is the one thing that unites us all? All roads lead to it. This place, don’t think of it as a field of bones, it’s a home. Mira, people lose their houses, their families, even their countries, but this is the one home they can never lose.
ELENA: Te sientes tan cómoda con la muerte.
LA MUERTE: I have to be. It’s all part of the job. Elena.
ELENA: How did you—(Beat.) ¿Quién eres?
LA MUERTE: Every century that question gets harder to answer. After a millennium of doing the exact same thing every second of every day it starts to consume you. I had to stop caring or else I’d never get the job done.
ELENA: ¿Qúe?
LA MUERTE: But on the rare occasion I get a break, I have nothing to do but look back on all those that I’ve taken. That’s why I’m here now.
ELENA: Ay, Dios mío. You’re—You’re—
LA MUERTE: People call me a lot of names, Thanatos, Anubis, Xolotl—
ELENA: Eres La Muerte.
LA MUERTE: Sí, Chica.
ELENA (Falling off the bench.) : Ay, La Muerte! Lo siento mucho! Please don’t kill me! There’s so many things I haven’t done! I haven’t traveled! I’ve never seen a solar eclipse! I never even had my first dance!
LA MUERTE: Ay cálmate! I’m not here to kill you!
ELENA: You’re not?
LA MUERTE: I told you; I’m on my break.
(LA MUERTE holds their hand out for ELENA. She hesitates.)
LA MUERTE: You’re okay. Death may be many things, but one thing I’m not is a liar.
(ELENA takes their hand.)
ELENA: Perdóname. It’s not every day you’re face to face with…death.
LA MUERTE: People face me a lot more than you think. All it takes is one wrong step down the stairs or snoring a little too much for me to visit.
ELENA: Entiendo. (Pause.) ¿Puedo hacer una pregunta?
LA MUERTE: They always want to ask me something. ¿Qué quieres? What’s it like on the other side? Where did my family end up?
ELENA: Why don’t you care anymore?
LA MUERTE: I told you. The job needs to get done. If I sat with every person and had a drink and a smoke with them, nothing would get done.
ELENA: ¡Mentirosa! You see people on the worst possible day of their lives. Death needs to care for them in their journey because who else will? No one deserves to go alone and scared.
(LA MUERTE has no response. Music begins to play in the distance.)
LA MUERTE: Another family is celebrating life. What was that you said about having never danced?
ELENA: ¡Ay, perdóname! I just realized I have all of these regrets. I saw my life flash before my eyes, and it was so short.
LA MUERTE: I see that a lot. People always try to negotiate with me to stay around a little longer…to do that one thing they’ve always wanted to do.
ELENA: Does it work?
(No answer.)
ELENA: Mamí always told me that the first dance I have with someone special would stay with me forever. If my story ended right here, right now, I wouldn’t be content. (Beat.) I’d probably end up haunting this place.
LA MUERTE: You know, I never danced either.
ELENA: ¡Venga! I find that hard to believe!
LA MUERTE: I never had the time.
ELENA: Well, you do now.
LA MUERTE: Tienes razón.
(ELENA stands up and offers her hand to LA MUERTE. They are confused, but they take her hand.)
LA MUERTE: I have offered guidance to countless souls over all of time. But now, I’m the one who needs guidance.
ELENA: Follow my lead.
(The two begin to slow dance together. They become more and more comfortable in each other’s arms, embracing the impossibility.)
LA MUERTE: Eres una mujer muy interesante. I have never met someone like you.
ELENA: Yo tampoco, Muerte.
(The song ends and the two stop dancing. ELENA leans in for a kiss, but LA MUERTE lets her go and steps back.)
LA MUERTE: Perdóname, Elena. Never for me to embrace the sweetness of a kiss. At least more than once.
(ELENA nods and picks up the bottle of tequila.)
ELENA: The night is still young, no? Would you like some?
LA MUERTE: I thought you’d never—
(There’s a change in the wind. Someone has died.)
ELENA: Your break’s over. Isn’t it?
LA MUERTE: Lo siento, Elena. I have to go.
ELENA: Will I see you again?
LA MUERTE: Sí, Elena. One day.
(LA MUERTE exits. ELENA stares in the direction of them.)
Scene 2
Setting: Seventy years later. The graveyard, in the same spot. The sun is going to set soon.
(At Rise: ELENA enters. She is much older and needs a cane to walk. She holds a little bag with flowers and tequila. She coughs every now and then. She gets a phone call.)
ELENA: ¡Hola, Mija! Si, I’m okay! The doctor said I could go out again—I know—I know. If she isn’t sleeping, I’ll come over and smear all the VapoRub I have on her chest, okay? Bien. Love you too, Mija. Adios.
(LA MUERTE enters, and ELENA shivers. She immediately acknowledges their presence, without turning around.)
ELENA: Mi familia cree que estoy loca, waiting for you all these years.
LA MUERTE: Elena—
ELENA: I just lost my mother when you came to me. You were so beautiful, and you helped me so much. Before that night I was terrified of death but now…I came back here every year and waited. Whenever I lost someone, through grief and sadness, I couldn’t help but wonder if you were with me somewhere.
LA MUERTE: I was, Elena. Every time you felt that cold wind pass through you, that was me.
ELENA: You never talked to me.
LA MUERTE: Lo siento, Elena, but I wanted you to live your life.
(Long beat.)
ELENA: You’re not on your break again, are you?
(No answer. She inhales.)
ELENA (cont.): Está bien. I think I’m ready.
LA MUERTE: You don’t run from me?
ELENA: I lived a good life. I experienced love and heartbreak. Family, friends. I danced plenty more times. But I never forgot ours…What’s it like? On the other side?
LA MUERTE: It’s beautiful. You’ll see everyone you ever loved.
ELENA: ¿Y tú?
(LA MUERTE doesn’t answer.)
ELENA: Busy, busy. Oh! ¡Espera! I have something for us.
(ELENA pulls out the tequila bottle.)
ELENA: Maybe just this once, death can sit and drink with someone?
(LA MUERTE smiles and pulls out two glasses.)
LA MUERTE: I came prepared this time.
(ELENA pours some on the ground for her mother, then fills the glasses.)
LA MUERTE: To a well-lived life.
ELENA: And a peaceful death.
LA MUERTE & ELENA: ¡Salud!
(They drink their shots and laugh. Music begins to play again in the distance. LA MUERTE stands and offers ELENA their hand. She struggles to get up, so they help her. The two once again begin their dance. Time seemingly reverses as ELENA turns back into her younger self, and the dance becomes more elaborate.)
ELENA: Gracias, Muerte.
LA MUERTE: Te amo, Elena.
ELENA: Yo también te quiero.
LA MUERTE: I know who I am because of you. The final wish of peace.
ELENA: I’m glad I got to see you again.
(LA MUERTE and ELENA finally kiss. ELENA begins to grow limp in LA MUERTE’s arms, and they place her gently on the ground. LA MUERTE folds her arms.)
LA MUERTE (Addressing the audience.): Stories about death are stories about life. Embrace the life you have. Live your stories and dance your dances. I will. (To ELENA.) I have you to thank for that. Let’s begin our journey.
(ELENA rises as a spirit. They take each other’s hands.)
LA MUERTE: Vaya con la vida.
(They exit.)
CURTAIN
Bobbi Salas, a Brooklyn-based playwright born and raised in Chicago, holds a BA in Theatre with a playwriting concentration from Columbia College Chicago, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at Brooklyn College. Bobbi’s stories, rooted in Latino and Indigenous experiences, draw from their own cultural background to explore themes of identity and community. Their one-act Popo and Izta was recently presented at The Chicago Dramatists.
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