The 2021 Prize Winner in Stage & Screen selected by Michael Oatman
The Farewell Burn | Kara Davidson
CHARACTERS
PIPER A woman in her late 30s.
CHET Her father, mid-60s.
SETTING
The Alaskan wilderness.
At rise: PIPER sits by a campfire at night in the Alaskan wilderness. She’s heavily bundled in winter gear, with a blanket wrapped around her. Her breath comes out in puffs. She huddles herself into a tiny ball to keep warm. Nearby, dogs bark.
PIPER
Hey! Hey! Quiet down now! Get some sleep.
The dogs quiet. PIPER rummages in her pack. She finds a granola bar. She has difficulty opening the wrapping with her gloves on. She quickly takes her gloves off, rips open the package, and the granola flies everywhere. She picks up the pieces quickly, shoves them into her mouth, and rushes to get her gloves back on.
CHET enters. He is bundled in a heavy coat and wears ski goggles. He carries firewood and kindling. PIPER takes the blanket from around her shoulders and spreads it out.
CHET lays the wood on the blanket.
CHET
You get something to eat?
PIPER
(still chewing)
Yeah.
CHET
It’s too wet here.
PIPER
I know.
CHET
I dunno if this’ll light.
PIPER
I know.
CHET
That’s going to become a problem.
PIPER
Dad. I know.
CHET
Alright alright alright. Just wanna make sure you’re thinking about these things. Next month when you do the whole trail all together in one swoop, you’re gonna have to think about these things all on your own.
PIPER
I know what I signed up for.
CHET
Do you?
Silence.
CHET
It used to be so much easier to find kindling in this spot.
PIPER
I’m sure it was.
CHET
Right after the fire, everything was charred. All the wood caught so easily. I didn’t have any problem with fires when I was on this trail.
PIPER
Yeah well, the Farewell Burn isn’t as dry as it used to be. Obviously.
CHET
Don’t take that tone with me, Piper. I don’t like it when you talk to me like that.
PIPER
Sorry. I’m just…cold.
CHET
I remember my first Iditarod like it was yesterday. I must have peed myself with nervecitement every day.
PIPER
Nervecitement?
CHET
Nervous. Excitement.
PIPER
Ah.
CHET
It’s an exciting thing you’re doing, Pip. Hold on to the excitement. Because that’s what’s gonna get you through.
PIPER
I’m thinking about dropping out.
CHET
What? You can’t do that! Hannson’s never quit!
PIPER
I am. I’m going to drop out.
CHET
But why? Because your toesies got a little frozies today?
PIPER
I’m worried about frostbite, Dad.
CHET
Yeah?
PIPER
FROSTBITE is a real thing. I could LOSE my TOES.
CHET
And when you signed up you thought that maybe, just maybe, it’d be 50 degrees and sunny come race day?
PIPER
No, of course/ I knew it would be cold
CHET
/Because if you didn’t think it would be COLD in ALASKA in FEBRUARY then little girl you are dumber than I raised/ you to be —
PIPER
I knew it would be cold/
CHET
/so then yeah I guess you should quit. Take your name off the list.
PIPER
I only signed up because of you! I’m here because of you!
Silence.
CHET
I told you I don’t like it when you/ talk to me like that —
PIPER
/Dad, I’m sorry I’m just—
CHET
I didn’t sign your name to no paper or pay no registration fees. You did that on your own.
PIPER
You sure pushed all the pens into my hands.
CHET
What do you mean by that?
PIPER
You were 10 years younger than I am now when you completed your first Iditarod.
CHET
So?
PIPER
How?
CHET
I wanted to?
PIPER
Libby Riddles won the thing a week before her 29th birthday.
CHET
I remember that. She made history.
PIPER
And Susan Butcher had won her fourth by the time she was 36.
CHET
Honey, I don’t mean to burst your bubble here, but you’re a first timer. You’re not going to win. Not with all the training in the world.
PIPER
I don’t know why I thought I could do this.
Silence.
CHET
I can’t answer that for you. I did it because I wanted to. Just because I wanted this for me doesn’t mean you had to go on and sign up for this. This is not an easy course!
PIPER
I know.
CHET
And it’s not like signing up for some marathon that you can quit and hail a cab to take you home at mile 12. You quit between checkpoints out in the middle of nowhere/
PIPER
/I want to know how you did it.
CHET
Shit, Piper, you can’t just sign your name to somethin’ that you don’t intend to PREPARE yourself for/
PIPER
/I did/prepare.
CHET
/without knowing the dangers and consequences of a lack of forethought.
PIPER
I have been training. I have been preparing. I’ve read all the books. I take care of my dogs – they are all fitted with the best gear. But that stretch we just did today – – it got me, dad, it really did.
CHET
Why do you say that?
PIPER
I’m sitting here freezing my ass off, I can’t even take off my shoes to look to see if my toes are black, can’t get the fire to keep heat, I feel nauseous when I think about eating any more damned granola bars, and can’t close my eyes to sleep cuz on top of it all that pack of wolves we disturbed 5 miles ago is surely hunting our dying bodies right now. And most of all, I don’t want to get up tomorrow, with 20 more miles ahead of me, to do it all again.
CHET
Huh.
PIPER
What.
CHET
You got to love what you’re doin’, Pip. In this race, but also in this life.
PIPER
Yeah, well I don’t know what I love in life either so I guess I’m zero for two.
CHET
Then get out of here.
PIPER
Wish I could.
CHET
Because you’re not proven nuthin’ to me and nuthin’ to nobody sittin’ here whinin’ next to your lame-ass fire.
PIPER
Ever since Owen and I were little, you’ve been pitting us against each other. I’m trying really hard to think of one decision I made for myself – the college I went to, the career I chose, the men I dated — that wasn’t to impress you. To get your attention.
CHET
Owen’s grades were much better than yours, Pip.
PIPER
And now you haunt everything I do — every choice I make!
CHET
You won’t quit. I know you Piper.
PIPER
Don’t be so fucking sure of yourself, dad. Don’t be so fucking sure.
CHET
Your mom would hate to hear you talking this way.
PIPER
I know it.
CHET
I am sorry you felt that way.
PIPER
I don’t want you to be sorry for how I felt. I want you to be just sorry, period.
CHET
But I’m not. I’m not “just sorry period”. Because I’m proud of the person you’ve become. I won’t ever say sorry for that. You can’t make me say sorry for that.
Silence. Then CHET throws some wood onto the fire. It doesn’t catch.
CHET
So if you were expecting a “just sorry period” when you said your goodbye to me, then that’s regretful that I couldn’t give you what you needed in that moment. Because I am. I am proud of you. So very proud of you, Piper. I know you can do this difficult thing. Shoot, it ain’t that difficult. You’re going to have a great time. It’s exhilarating! It’s empowering! It’s human and beast and nature together! So start getting yourself excited! THAT’s what will get you through! THAT and hearing my voice in your head challenging you to be better. Always want to be better, Piper. At everything. That’s what I hope I left you with: the desire for growth and a great capacity for change.
CHET hands PIPER the rest of the wood.
CHET
You know how to go out and find the dry shit. So go out and do that. Then, your fire will be warmer. 2+2=4. Don’t be dumber than dumb, Piper.
They smile at each other. CHET disappears into thin air and PIPER is left standing, holding the wood. She throws it on the fire and it catches.
PIPER
Thanks, Dad. This race is for you.
End of play.
About the Author:
Kara Davidson is an actor, playwright, and teaching artist currently pursuing her MFA in Writing for Stage and Screen at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Previously, she has worked with Manual Cinema, The House Theatre of Chicago, Lookingglass Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, ABLE Ensemble, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Nebraska Repertory Theatre, and Flatwater Shakespeare, among others. She is a co-founder and director of a monthly virtual workshop called The Lab which aids in developing new works-in-progress by artists from all across the country (www.thelab.blog).