Characters: Jack Sparrow; Sally Sparrow.

Perform: Just Scenes 1 and 2, OR all four.

SCENE ONE

Jack Sparrow I’ve just seen a twig that would do to go round the entrance of our nest, darling!

Sally Sparrow Then why have you not picked it up, dear?

Jack Sp. Well, for two reasons. It’s very thorny, for one.

Sally Sp. Oh, be careful then, Jack. What’s the other reason?

Jack Sp. It’s stuck in someone’s hair.

Sally Sp. Someone? Do you mean, it’s stuck in a person’s hair? A human being’s hair?

Jack Sp. Yes, Sally.

Sally Sp. Is it in a child’s hair, dear?

Jack Sp. No. A man’s.

Sally Sp. Oh. Do you really think it’s safe? You would have to land on his head. Should you be going near him? Grown men can be dangerous to sparrows.

Jack Sp. I know he could be dangerous. But I have the strangest feeling that he isn’t. And for some reason I really want to pull that twig out of his hair, darling.

Sally Sp. Why?

Jack Sp. The thorns are sticking right into him. In fact, he’s bleeding. He’s bleeding a lot, though all I can see from above is the small wounds from the thorns.

Sally Sp. Have you flown lower, dear? To see him better?

Jack Sp. I’d like to. I’d like to see him properly. But there are lots of people around, below him.

Sally Sp. Below him? Is he on something high up? But be careful, dear. I still think you should not land on his head. He might lift up his hands, and grab you.

Jack Sp. Oh, his hands are already lifted up.

Sally Sp. What did I tell you?

Jack Sp. But his hands didn’t move when I fluttered right over his head.

Sally Sp. Did he feel you there? Did he sense you? Did he move at all?

Jack Sp. Just for a moment, he looked up. I saw his eyes watching me. They were very kind eyes. Please, trust me, Sally. I trust him. I want to pull those horrible thorns out of his head. And the thorny twig would fit well around the outside of our nest, to guard it.

Sally Sp. Go on, then. But take great care, Jack.

SCENE TWO

Sally Sp. I see you have your thorny twig, then. Did the man let you take it, dear?

Jack Sp. He gave a sort of moan when I pulled the thorns out of him.

Sally Sp. So why had he not pulled them out himself? Was something stopping him?

Jack Sp. Do you know, I don’t think anything could have stopped him. If he had wanted to pull the thorns out himself, or if he had wanted to get down and walk away through the people, he–

Sally Sp. He could have done it any time?

Jack Sp. Exactly, darling.

Sally Sp. So why was he there, dear, with such horrible thorns in him? Oh, Jack, what sharp nasty thorns they are, too.

Jack Sp. They’ll do well round our nest. Nothing will threaten our eggs and chicks in our little hole in the rock, when those thorns are protecting us.

Sally Sp. You haven’t answered my question. Why–

Jack Sp. Why did he have thorns in him? When he had no need to suffer at all?

Sally Sp. It doesn’t make sense, dear.

Jack Sp. Oh, I think it does, Sally. You haven’t looked into his face. I have.

Sally Sp. So?

Jack Sp. Darling, I don’t know why. I can’t IMAGINE why he had thorns in him. But I do know one thing.

Sally Sp. What’s that?

Jack Sp. As I say, I have no idea why. But I believe this. He was wearing those thorns for US. For me. For you. He did all this for us.

Sally Sp. A man wearing thorns? For our sake?

Jack Sp. Yes. For our sake. And I believe it is because he loves us.

Sally Sp. He loves sparrows?

Jack Sp. All sparrows! And I love him too, now.

SCENE THREE

Sally Sp. HELP! Help! Jack! Where are you? Jack!

Jack Sp. Sally, I’m here! What on earth is the matter?

Sally Sp. Oh, Jack! Look what has happened! Look!

Jack Sp. Oh, no! How can we get to our nest?

Sally Sp. We can’t! I only left our precious eggs for a moment. They’re just about to start hatching. I’ve been trying to find a way into them for ages!

Jack Sp. I don’t believe this! Someone has rolled a stone right across the face of the cave where our nest is! They’ve blocked the entrance completely!

Sally Sp. I know! I saw them do it. It was so sad, too. That man who wore the thorns - we saw him die. They took him down and carried his dead body away. But we didn’t know where they were taking him.

Jack Sp. We certainly had no idea they were coming to the old quarry – and to the exact cave where our nest is!

Sally Sp. I always disliked this old quarry. You said it was such a perfect quiet place for our nest. But all those dark holes worried me.

Jack Sp. But we never thought … No, it’s no good. Even I can’t squeeze in through a slit that small. What are we going to do?

Sally Sp. I don’t know. But I can’t go anywhere else. I shall stay here and listen for my chicks hatching. They will die in the black, cold cave. They will die in less than an hour if we can’t warm or feed them. But I will die out here, too. I’m not leaving them. Not ever.

Jack Sp. Then I’ll not leave you either, darling Sally.

SCENE FOUR

Jack Sp. Aaah! Oh! What’s that noise? It seems like it has been night for days! What’s that blinding light? We’ve been here for two nights. I’m frozen! And I thought I was still dreaming.

Sally Sp. The cave! Oh, Jack! The stone – the horrible stone is rolling back! We can get in!

Jack Sp. Wait. Sally, wait! There’s someone coming out. It’s – oh!

Sally Sp. Jack… It’s him.

Jack Sp. He’s shining like the sun. Or was. Now he’s fading to look like an ordinary human. One dressed in pure white.

Sally Sp. Jack… Jack – he looked at us. As he walked past us… he looked right at us.

Jack Sp. And smiled…

Sally Sp. Jack! What’s that sound? Oh, I don’t believe it! Come quickly! Into the cave!

Jack Sp. Our chicks! A whole nest full of them. Looking warm, happy – how could they be still alive?

Sally Sp. Jack? You had the strangest feeling when you looked at the man while he was dying. Now I have the strangest feeling too. I’m certain of something, too. That cave–

Jack Sp. I know. He came out of it alive.

Sally Sp. And his life fills it. Nothing in that cave could ever have stayed dead. Not when he rose to life in it. In fact, I know why. It’s because he is the life. All the life there is. It comes from him.

Jack Sp. What do we do now?

Sally Sp. I know what we are going to do. We are going to fledge our little chicks and teach them to fly. Then we are going to teach them to fly after him, wherever he goes. For all of their lives.

Jack Sp. And we shall follow him, too.

George B. Hill [02/3/2014]