The Penguins Divorce

      (MATT and MOLLY are penguins. They stand on either side of a broken egg.)

MOLLY:  Well.

MATT:  Yes.

MOLLY:  I suppose...

MATT:  Yes.

MOLLY:  Unfortunate.

MATT:  Very.

MOLLY:  Tragic.

MATT:  Mhmm.

MOLLY:  We were almost there too.

MATT:  The last leg is always the hardest.

MOLLY:  That's what they say.

MATT:  This is my fourth broken egg.

MOLLY:  You don't have much luck.

MATT:  I find a lot of it relies on your connection to the other penguin.

MOLLY:  Oh.

MATT:  Not that I don't think--

MOLLY:  Oh, I wasn't--

MATT:  If anything, I thought you and I--

MOLLY:  We were working together very well.

MATT:  Very well.

MOLLY:  If it hadn't been for that dip in the ground--

MATT:  I should have seen that coming.

MOLLY:  No. It was closer to my side.

MATT:  But you were focusing on the egg.

MOLLY:  We both were.

MATT:  Yes.

     (A beat.)

MOLLY:  I suppose that's it then.

MATT:  Yes.

MOLLY:  It was so nice to co-parent with you.

MATT:  I enjoyed it as well.

MOLLY:  Obviously we didn't achieve our goal, but--

MATT:  But, you know, that happens.

MOLLY:  It does.

MATT:  Has it ever--

MOLLY:  To me?

MATT:  Yes.

MOLLY:  No.

MATT:  Ah.

MOLLY:  But I'm sure it will. Again. It happens to everyone.

MATT:  That's true.

MOLLY:  This was my first egg.

MATT:  Was it?

MOLLY:  It was.

MATT:  Well then, I wish--

MOLLY:  Oh no, please don't. It's fine.

MATT:  That dip in the ground--

MOLLY:  Really, it's--

MATT:  And we were quite close.

MOLLY:  Could happen on the first day, could happen on the last day.

MATT:  The first day might have been easier.

MOLLY:  I suppose.

     (A beat.)

MATT:  We had some nice talks to as we were--

MOLLY:  Yes, and if it had happened on the first day--

MATT:  No talks.

MOLLY:  I loved those talks.

MATT:  I did too.

MOLLY:  Your joke about the polar bears--

MATT:  That just came to me.

MOLLY:  It was so clever.

MATT:  What about your thoughts on the ice caps?

MOLLY:  I've never told those thoughts to anyone until I told them to you.

MATT:  I feel honored.

MOLLY:  You're so great.

MATT:  You're so great, too.

MOLLY:  I bet our child would have been just wonderful.

MATT:  I'm sure of it.

     (A beat.)

MOLLY:  Well, have a good life.

MATT:  You too. Be careful of seals.

MOLLY:  Yes, I'll need to be diligent. They're getting hungrier.

MATT:  I hope your next mate is worthy of you.

MOLLY:  I wish that for you as well.

MATT:  Good luck, Molly.

MOLLY:  Good luck to you too, Matt.

    (They take a moment, then walk in different directions.)

End of Play