Recently, as I was cleaning up my computer and sorting through my files in preparation for moving to my new laptop, I came across this script which I wrote many years ago. It is based on true life conversations between my mother and father while they were still alive. My parents stayed together until my father passed away, but their relationship was terribly co-dependent. Growing up with them I was turned off the idea of marriage completely. They were always stressed about making ends meet, and were terribly afraid of going against the status quo, even though they were not in any way ‘normal’. But they did care for one another a great deal. My mother, who I now understand was Autistic- ADHD moved between many hobbies and fixations, accumulating a lot of stuff as she went. I wrote this during a short period of living with them as a young adult.

Hope you enjoy

FLORAL ART

Characters: Margaret and William, a couple moving towards their twilight years. They are sitting watching television, balancing trays on their knee, eating dinner. Dinner is a meat and three veg type of meal, with a large glass of orange juice each.

Margaret and William eat for a while, staring ahead, then after a while start their conversation, which can be spoken, overlapping, and also break out into song. Mostly they keep staring ahead at the TV which can be heard in the background.

Margaret:      I have decided to start floral art.   She takes a sip of juice.

William:         What, another hobby?

Margaret:      I think floral art will suit me better than the guitar.

William:         But you bought all those books..

Margaret:      It didn’t suit me.

William:         From grades 1 right through to 10, and I’ve never even heard you play one chord.

Margaret:      It was too difficult. My fingers aren’t long enough. And besides I like

                        floral art, I’ve always wanted to do it.

William:         You could have decided that before you bought all the books. Not to

                        mention the guitar.

Margaret:      Well, I had to start somewhere.

William:         You insisted on buying almost the best one in the shop.

Margaret:      That’s because they are easier to play if they are good.

A moment of quiet as they eat, still watching TV. William has a drink of juice.

William:         It’s like when you started painting.

Margaret:      Oh, don’t bring that up again. Haven’t we gone through this enough?

William:         You had that big case, full of oil paints, $8 a tube, and that’s for a small one.

Margaret:      I didn’t like the gossiping that went on at the painting group.

William:         Some tubes have never been opened.

Margaret:  Some of them are outright mean.

William: And the brushes. Natural Hog Bristle in 13 different sizes. All sitting there unused.

Margaret: I did use a couple of them!

William: They sat on the laundry sink for days and went hard.

Margaret: I am always doing something wrong, aren’t I…

William: I know from years of painting the house, you’ve got to look after your brushes if you want

them to last.

Margaret: Oh it’s only a couple of brushes. Stop making a fuss. Anyway, I told you I wanted to do

something more active, which is why I took up bowls.

William:         At the time, you said you were stopping painting because it was too expensive.

Margaret:      And I liked the bowls. I still do. It’s just they expect too much of you at their social events.

William:         It didn’t make sense, to say it was too expensive when you had just a day earlier bought a

brand new easel.

Margaret:      All that setting up of chairs and washing teacups. My back just couldn’t take it. I do miss

the game though……

William:         And who’s money is it anyway? If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be able to do all those

classes and groups and activities.

Margaret:      Oh, you’re always going on about money. Like a two bob watch. I get sick of it.

Another moment where they eat watching TV.

Margaret:      You are just upset that’s all, because I stopped going to the dances.

William:         It doesn’t bother me Margaret. Anymore.

Margaret:      And if you would admit it, things would be much better between us William.

William:         There’s always plenty of ladies there, needing a partner.

Margaret:      Only a quarter of them that go are men.

William:         A man’s got to do what he can to help out.

Margaret:      I got tired of sitting there half the dance.

William:         Some of them are lonely. Very lonely Margaret. It didn’t feel right to only dance with you.

Margaret:      I never could bare to dance with other women.

William: That wouldn’t have been fair.

Margaret:  And then with that Flo always asking you to pick her up and take her home.

William:         Though it does help if you can practice the steps together. That’s why I liked it when you

came. We could get better.

Margaret:      She was trying it on alright.

William:         And we did meet at a dance Margaret. Have you forgotten how we started?

Margaret:      I do feel sorry for her now though, since she broke her ankle and can’t go anymore.

William:         The dances have always been part of who we are.

Margaret:      Poor thing.

William:         You and me. Dancing. Until the kids came.

Margaret:      No good to break your ankle when you are in your eighties.

she shakes her head

Another pause as they eat again.

Margaret:      That is another point. You are not getting any younger. You don’t want to injure yourself.

You could slip or anything.

William:         The exercise is good. At the Senior Citz, they recommend dancing.

Margaret:      Well I think you should be careful. What with your angina too. I don’t see why you would

never come to the bowls. That’s exercise and they are friendly.

William:         I’m not coming to the bowls. I told you that. There’s no way you are getting me in there,

dressed up in white like doctors and nurses.

Margaret:      Oh William. They look smart in their uniforms. And they have to wear something.

It’s part of the whole experience.

William:         I already told you, it’s been a long time since I’ve been to school and you will not get me

into any uniform.

Margaret:      Alright alright. This is the whole reason why I am doing something a little more

independent. I am tired of all this whining from you.

William:         But can’t you at least settle on one thing for a while. It’s expensive to always change.

There’s new membership fees, and all the things you need.

Margaret:      Well that’s what I liked about the guitar. I was going to teach myself from the books.

There was no membership.

William:         Even the bowling balls second hand were a couple of hundred dollars. Now they are just

gathering dust. Are you going to sell them?

Margaret:      No I am not! I might go back to it one day. Didn’t you hear me say I still like it.

And I am quite good at it too. Not that you’d believe me.                  

William:         What, do that and floral art?

Margaret:      Well why not? People do lots of things. Why can’t I? What’s wrong with that?

William:         And how much is the floral art going to cost then?

Margaret:      You are mean spirited you are.

William:         Well? We need to plan for our future. We don’t know how long we have left.

And funerals are expensive.

Margaret:      I am not thinking about my funeral!

William:         Well you should. You don’t want her to end up having to pay the cost.

Margaret:      She can manage.

William:         And everyone buys a new car after they turn 70. We haven’t done that yet.

Margaret:      Well, yes. I think we should do that.

Pause. They finish eating. Margaret slowly gets up and takes both trays away, while William sits and keeps watching TV. She comes back and sits again.

William:         So hit me with it. How much is the floral art going to cost?

Margaret:      Well, let me see…….. Music starts up from TV, she begins to sing

                        You need wire and pliers

                        and glass which you shatter with a hammer

                        to fill up the vases

                        and for the stems you need green tape, scissors to cut with

                        beads and thread to make the stamens

                        Ribbons to make the bouquets look pretty and finished

                        and all manor of coloured crepe. Oh the colours when you see them they will delight you

sunset pink and oranges and shades of blue

William:         Where will you put all this?

Margaret:      You can make me a cupboard of course!

                        Sings:

                        Crepe paper comes in many colours

                        I’d like to get me the whole rainbow

                        Crepe paper, crepe crepe paper.

                        Every colour under the sun.

                        You can make any flower, any flower with crepe paper.

                        You don’t even have to make them look like real flowers.

                        Sunflowers can be mauve, daisies blue, and red red roses yellow.

                        Crepe paper, Oh I love it, crepe paper, can’t stop thinking of it

                        can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait till I start

                        going to floral art class.

AI generation prompt: An old man and woman sit on a couch looking straight ahead, a round them many objects are piled high. A guitar, a pile of guitar books, floral art equipment, a set of lawn bowls, a lawn bowling uniform, dancing shoes, a painting easel with a painting on it, a case of oil paints

A final note: I can’t help thinking how this post contrasts with my previous post, ‘The Chosen Ones’. How people can be so caught up in their own small world and not see the immense privilege they live with. How we can be so very unaware of what is going on elsewhere in the world and forget gratitude for what we have. As we go into Christmas time, a time with so much consumerism, let’s enjoy and have gratitude for what we have, because I do believe, when we have gratitude, we are less likely to be wasteful and more likely to be generous.

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Thank you for reading!