Iridescent

By Andie Kirkdale

A shimmering collection of plays, poetry, short stories, and art.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387504121

Book preview

Iridescent

Andie Kirkdale

Copyright

Iridescent

Copyright © 2022 by Andie Kirkdale

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN 978-1-387-50412-1

No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, scanning, recording, printing, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without express written permission from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, products, organizations, and incidents are creations of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, products, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Cover art by Andie Kirkdale

Iridescent

States of Consciousness: Plays

The Travels of Cat and Dog

Characters:

Cat, a feline

Dog, a canine

Setting:

It starts on a train.

Cat and Dog sit in a cabin on a passenger train.

Cat: Here we are again.

Dog: Traveling in style.

Cat: Yet I can’t help but be upset that you crashed the car.

Dog: I swerved to avoid hitting a squirrel.

Cat: And ended up driving us over a cliff.

Dog: It was rather exciting.

Cat: And inconvenient. (Licks paw.) Then again, it was an old car.

Dog: I think it’s nicer to take the train.

Cat: You would say that.

Dog: What?

Cat: Oh nothing, nothing.

Dog: Again, you show your disdain.

Cat: Again, you show your foolishness.

Dog: Better a fool than a curmudgeon.

Cat: Better a curmudgeon than a fool.

Dog: Sometimes I despair of achieving a breakthrough. Yet I persist even though I don’t know why.

Cat: Because you’re a fool.

Cat and Dog have reached their destination and now sit at a table in a café. They wear sunglasses.

Cat: Did you bring the microfiche?

Dog: No, didn’t you?

Cat: It’s easier to conceal them in your collar than it is in mine.

Dog: They were scratchy.

Cat: The poodle will not be pleased.

Cat and dog now sit in the bleachers in a stadium.

Cat: Why do they run around the track like that?

Dog: The spirit of friendly competition. The quest to achieve a peak athletic experience.

Cat: I’m tired. (Lies down, chin on paws.)

Dog: You’ll miss the best part.

Cat: (Eyes closed.) Which is?

Dog: The striving, the effort. The victory, the defeat.

Cat: Too complicated. There are only two states of consciousness: sleeping and waking.

Dog: You deny other possibilities, other modalities?

Cat: I like to keep things simple.

Dog: (Watching the athletes.) Ah, a runner has injured himself. I must help him.

Cat: Go. I will sleep.

Cat and dog walk the floor of a stock exchange.

Cat: This frantic activity disturbs my sleep.

Dog: I must watch my stocks.

A currency drops in value. Brokers panic.

Cat: I don’t understand the frenzy. The market will recover eventually.

Dog: But eventually we won’t be here. Ah look, the stocks tumbled. Perhaps I will start howling.

Cat: I doubt you will be heard in this cacophony.

Dog: I’ll try.

Dog howls but is ignored by the frantic brokers.

Cat: You see? It’s no use.

Dog: Perhaps. Yet I will continue.

Dog howls.

Cat: (Whispering.) That’s why I love you, you fool.

The Critic and the Poltergeist

Characters:

Norman, a theater critic in his 40s

The poltergeist, a haunting spirit

Setting:

Norman’s apartment, the present.

Norman sits in a chair and reads a book with the title How to Sneer. Next to him is a table with books, papers, and a laptop.

There’s a thumping noise. He pauses then