What Has Lost Me

I didn't do it on purpose, says Terence.

I'm sure you didn't, says Belle.

Now what? asks Terence. My stink's floated away.

Is that what it was? asks Nobby.

Yes, says Terence. And I can't make another one.

We'll see, says Belle.

It smelled like bitter oranges, says Nobby. For a minute, I thought they were mine.

Yours are perfectly safe in the sink hole, says Belle.

As I once was, says Nobby. Speaking of which, I have a question.

Fire away, says Belle.

Initially, I'm a curtain, says Nobby. So where do I stand?

Here, says Belle. And we'll be behind you, off stage.

And I'm also an orange tree, says Nobby. I start off up here, but then I fall into the sink hole.

No, says Belle. You don't fall in. Not in scene one. You have to give the impression that the ground has given way under you.

This is what's lost me, says Nobby.

By rising, says Belle. Remember the rehearsal? You were lifted onto a table by Gaius and Elodie.

But it's different here, says Nobby. The sink hole's already in existence.

Another job for the curtain, says Saint Roley.

Thank you, Saint Roley, says Belle. That's exactly right. Do you see it now, Nobby?

No, says Nobby. Cast, curtain, sink hole, audience. See the problem? If I rise, the cast is exposed. If I stay where I am, nothing's different. If I stand in the sink hole, and rise, I forgo my role as a curtain.

Crumbs, says Belle. What if you stand at the back edge of the sink hole on a stack of chairs?

There might not be any spare chairs, says Elodie. A lot of people are coming.

A ladder then, says Belle. That's even better. Nobby can go up and down it.

In a pot? says Elodie. I don't think so.

We need two Nobbys, says Celia. Is that possible?

No, says Nobby. I'm stretched as it is.

It's a thought though, says Belle. Are there any other Nobbys round here we could use?

We can't, says Elodie. I was talking to the head gardener. He's already toey because of the size of the sink hole.

A large pot plant! says Belle. I'll get one.

She goes off to get one.

When do we start? asks Terence.

When it gets dark, says Elodie. And when the audience has arrived.

A hundred people! says Terence.

At least forty, says Elodie. We've got forty seats.

And a hundred spades, says Terence. Where are they?

Ninety nine of them are here, says Elodie. And one's in the sink hole.

Can I get it? asks Terence.

No, says Elodie.

But I need to practise running around in the sink hole, says Terence.

I'll go down with him, says Celia.

Me too, says Saint Roley. We can practise the orange dance.

Okay then, says Elodie. Just don't move anything, or go too far under, and if you see any dirt falling, give me a shout.

She leans back on the fence and strums a new song, as Terence slides down a dirt pile into the sink hole, and the two birds flutter after him.

Pling! Pling! Bong!

Nobby falls asleep again.