georgiataylor.co.uk Christmas Is Miles Away

September 1989. Late Afternoon. Boggart’s Clough. LUKE is sitting on his own. Waiting. After a bit, JULIE approaches behind him. He knows she is there but doesn’t acknowledge her. She sits down beside him and he nods at her. They’re silent for a while.

(Julie is wearing baggy jeans, a grey sweatshirt and sensible shoes and also has her hair tied back.)

JULIE. I like it here.

Pause.

D’you? I mean, you must like it because –

LUKE. S’alright, yeah.

JULIE. It used to give me the creeps a bit, dunno why but –

LUKE. S’the Boggart.

JULIE. What d’yer mean?

LUKE. Boggart’s Clough. Like a little … sprite, goblin thing. It’s his, the Clough. He like … owns it. If he doesn’t like yer, he lets yer know. Makes things a bit …

JULIE. Where d’yer hear that?

LUKE. Just how it is.

JULIE. Yer don’t believe it though, really.

LUKE shrugs.

Well, I don’t feel like that any more. He must have decided he likes me or somethin’, eh?

LUKE. Maybe yeah.

Pause.

JULIE. How long ‘ave yer been comin’?

LUKE shrugs.

Christie reckons it’s years an’ years. Since you were old enough to go out on yer own.

LUKE. What yer askin’ for then?

Pause.

JULIE. He exaggerates sometimes … I was just wondering if it was … that long like.

LUKE. Probably, yeah … if he says. He’s got a better memory than me.

Pause.

JULIE. Should I go the phone box?

LUKE. Why?

JULIE. Ring his house.

LUKE. What for?

JULIE. He’s late.

LUKE. He’s always late.

JULIE. He hasn’t been. Not for me. Not so far.

LUKE. It’ll wear off.

JULIE. I hope not.

LUKE. Doesn’t mean owt … Like he’s fed up wi’yer or anythin’. Just the way he is. Always has been.

Silence.

Know what that’s called?

JULIE. Which?

LUKE. That one there … looks a bit like Johnny Rotten.

JULIE. Yeah. (Beat.) No, I don’t.

LUKE. It’s a grebe.

JULIE. A grebe?

LUKE. Yep.

JULIE. It’s funny-looking, isn’t it?

LUKE. I love the way they sort of dance about on top of the water, bit like they’re havin’ a fuckin’ eppy or summat. They’re mad, grebes. If I was a bird, I’d be a grebe.

JULIE. I’ve never seen one before, I don’t think.

LUKE. Have now.

JULIE. Yeah.

Pause.

What’s that one?

LUKE. What one?

JULIE. That little tiny one there with the red bit on his head.

LUKE. A goldcrest. (Beat.) Smallest bird in Britain.

JULIE. Is it?

LUKE. Yeah.

JULIE. How come yer know so much about birds?

LUKE. Just like wildlife. I used to want to be a zookeeper but then I realised that’s got nothing to do with wildlife. That’s just animals in cages. I wanna see them where they’re supposed to be. I know loads o’ things about animals … all different kinds. Only thing that really sticks in me head.

JULIE. Yer could be a … marine biologist … or somethin’.

LUKE. Did yer know that camels cry real tears?

JULIE. Aah, no. (Beat.) What do they cry about?

LUKE. Mostly it’s when one of their mates dies. They just lose it.

JULIE. My granddad’s dog pined to death after me granddad died. Wouldn’t eat.

LUKE. Did it cry though?

JULIE. She whimpered loads but there weren’t like … tears.

LUKE. Camels get proper tears.

JULIE. Aah.

LUKE. I know … dead tight, innit?

Pause.

What d’you wanna be?

Pause.

JULIE. I want me own bookshop.

LUKE. What yer gonna call it?

JULIE. Dunno.

LUKE. Gotta have a name for it.

JULIE. I haven’t. Can’t think of one yet.

LUKE. What sort o’ books?

JULIE. Any. All different sorts.

LUKE (offering a can). D’yer want some?

JULIE. No. Thanks.

LUKE. D’yer not drink or somethin’?

JULIE. Sometimes. When I’m out somewhere properly.

LUKE. What, yer just pretending now or somethin’?

JULIE. In a pub. At a party. Night-time.

LUKE. Nearly night now.

JULIE. Nearly.

LUKE. S’my favourite time of day, this.

JULIE. Is it?

LUKE. Yeah.

JULIE. How come?

LUKE. Because … dunno it just is.

Pause.

The sky goes that colour … pinky and a bit smoky and everything starts to slow down a bit and there’s a funny sort of noise … like things settling down. And it smells like … I can’t say actually but just like it smells now, d’yer know what I mean?

JULIE. Yeah, it’s nice.

LUKE. And everything’s just chilled … and the night starts … really quietly.

Pause.

JULIE. We’ve just had our house renovated. And they put a … they build an out … a conservatory on the back and I thought I was gonna hate it at first, cos it took over the garden and I love our garden but it’s got a … they put in a glass roof and you can just lie there and look up at the sky.

LUKE. Like now ‘cept there’s no glass in the way.

JULIE. Yeah. (Beat.) But it’s a bit warmer and you can lie on the couch … and it’s not damp.

LUKE. Thought yer liked it here.

JULIE. I do. I’m just sayin’ about the conservatory. (Beat.) I like it here a lot.

Pause.

LUKE. D’yer want me jacket?

JULIE. No I’m alright, ta.

LUKE takes his jacket off and hands it to JULIE. He’s got another thinner jacket on underneath.

LUKE. Here y’are. Got two on.

JULIE. Thanks.

LUKE. S’Berghaus.

JULIE. Right.

LUKE. Waterproof. You can lie back now. Be as good as the conservatory.

JULIE tentatively lies back. A couple of seconds later so does LUKE, a few feet away.

Warm?

JULIE. Yeah. Ta.

Silence.

D’y’ever get that feelin’ yer gonna fall off? (Pause.) D’yer know what I mean … when you lie on the ground looking up at the sky? S’like yer not in control … like yer in space or somethin’. D’yer get those little moments when yer stomach goes?

LUKE. Yeah … like yer’ve gotta hold on or somethin’.

JULIE. Yeah.

LUKE. S’good … I like it.

JULIE. Yeah.

LUKE. Gotta keep lookin’ straight up at the sky, though. (Beat.) Looks like it’s dead near, though, doesn’t it? Like yer could touch it. Grab hold of a cloud.

Silence.

JULIE. Luke … can I ask yer somethin’?

LUKE. What?

JULIE. Are yer … frightened?

Pause.

LUKE. What of?

JULIE. Goin’ away.

Long pause.

LUKE. A bit, yeah. A little bit.

They lie still, staring upwards.