Amrei (Opening)

Monroe Park, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.1

December 24, 2002; 9:00 p.m.2

A woman walks alone in the dark to an unoccupied wooden bench.  She has thick, flowing curls of auburn hair draping down her back and milky white skin of a colour only replicated in death.  The woman is young, perhaps twenty.  She is dressed for the cold in black corduroy pants and a red wool coat with a black scarf.  3

The bench she seats herself on reminds her of home; its design is very Victorian, composed of worn wood slats held together at the ends by two very ornamental cast iron legs. 4

She considers how harsh the winter is this year.  As she sits on the bench, she notices one leaf still hanging on the giant oak tree.  It shivers now when the wind blows, but still holds on.  5

She is waiting for someone, a lover perhaps.  The desperate look on her face betrays her inner cold and desire.  The woman looks at her watch, realizing that she is five minutes early for her appointment.  She takes only a slight bit of physical energy from her shivering body to psychically call upon her companion: /Hurry, Seth.../.  She seems exhausted and begins to relax her mind again, turning her focus back to the shivering leaf.  She knows that it will fall very soon; it has lost all its colour and vitality, but its determination seems stronger than the harsh winter winds.6

Out of the urban abyss walks a man with curly blonde hair covered in a black knit cap; he wears a blah sweater and blue jeans.  He joins the woman on the Victorian-style bench, embracing her tightly in an attempt to warm her body although his is also quite cold.  The milk-skinned pair makes no attempt at leaving the bench, choosing to stay in the cold night for its darkness and privacy.7

"Seth, I don't know what I'd do without you," she whispers, her voice betraying a slight British accent; "I'm at the end of my rope.  I never should have made this journey."8

Seth muses for a moment and then asks in a distinct American voice, "Do you regret what happened?  Has it been completely terrible?"9

The woman draws away from his embrace and looks deep into his eyes.  She appears to be searching there for the answer to his question.  Finding nothing satisfactory, she turns away and sighs, "No, I suppose it hasn't been in vain."  After a pause, she continues, "but I have been tormented since the moment I first looked into your eyes.   I have to keep coming back to you because I love you.  You keep me safe.  But I can't bear this anymore.  I want to go home."10

"Your home no longer exists, Amrei, you know that," Seth replies.  "The only way you can ever see it again..." his sentence drifts off as Amrei buries her face in his coat, on the verge of tears.  Stroking her copper-brown hair, Seth whispers words as inaudible as a calm breeze, yet well within her range of hearing: "I know.  I love you, too." 11

Amrei's tears begin to flow in bloody streaks down her cheeks.  Her shoulders heave with the sobs of pure anguish.  Slowly, Seth nestles his face into the crook of Amrei's neck.  He presses his lips tight to where the blood beats near the surface, begging to break through.  /It begs.../12