Final 10-Min Play

Vacation

By: Niki Stahlberg


INT. KITCHEN



[A MOM and her DAUGHTER are standing at the counter, shuffling through travel brochures and advertisements. A second DAUGHTER sits at the kitchen table, listening to her iPod and seeming “zoned out”. A MAN stumbles through the door, looking like he has had a bit too much to drink.]



BRIAN

Have you picked a damn place to go yet?





NATALIE

Dad, this kind of stuff takes some planning. You can’t just choose a random place to go on vacation. Especially a family vacation that actually is important to some people!





SUSAN

Brian, please try and have an open mind. This means a lot to the girls.





BRIAN
[rolling his eyes]

Fine, whatever.





ABBY

Lets go to Atlantic City .





NATALIE

Why? You can’t gamble. Or drink.





ABBY

[under her breath]

Legally.





SUSAN

I was thinking some place educational. With some history behind it! Like… Washington D.C.



BRIAN

Oh Jesus.



NATALIE

No offense Mom, but I’d rather go to Grandma Paula’s house. And you know how the smell of Aspercreme gets to me.





SUSAN

Alright, alright, just a suggestion.





ABBY

How ‘bout Vegas? Hugh Hefner and his girlfriends are making an appearance next month. We could check that out.





[BRIAN’S face lights up for the first time. SUSAN looks appalled.]





SUSAN
[to Brian]

Down boy.



SUSAN (CONT’D)

Absolutely not. How about some place wholesome. Nashville maybe? Come on, it’s Music City !





ABBY

More like Music Shi-





SUSAN

Alright! Well no one is making any appropriate suggestions maybe we’ll just stay home.





NATALIE

No Mom, I’m sick of this family just moving day to day like this. We need this. Am I the only one who even cares?





ABBY

Let’s go to Canada .





NATALIE

Why there?



[An awkward silence fills the kitchen. Everyone glances at ABBY, who is obviously lost in her music]



ABBY

What?



BRIAN

I’m going out. When you make up your minds, let me know.

[BRIAN exits the room]





SUSAN

I’m not sure there’s a place we could go that would bring that man out of the state he is constantly in. He just mopes around all day, totally in his own world.





ABBY

[snorts]

How ‘bout rehab?





SUSAN

That’s enough. Your father doesn’t have a drinking problem. He just needs something to do besides…





NATALIE

Let’s take a road trip! Go wherever. Go everywhere. I don’t care. Let’s just go.

[Desperation in her voice]

Mom? Can we please just go?





SUSAN

[tucking Natalie’s hair behind her ears]

We’ll figure something out Honey, I promise.





[NATALIE gathers the papers and exits the room. SUSAN and ABBY are left sitting across from each other at the table, ABBY still fully engaged in her iPod]









SUSAN

[sighs]

Do you have any serious suggestions?





ABBY

Those were.



SUSAN

I don’t understand why you’re so…



ABBY

[rips her earbuds out of her ears, as if she has just had a jolt of energy]

Because no matter where we go, or what we do, or how long we’re there for, nothing will ever change. We’ll come back home and everything will be exactly the way it was when we left. Am I the only one in this family who sees that? You can’t just take a trip and expect people to change, Mom. You just can’t.



SUSAN

Well what do you want me to do, Abby?! I cannot control the things your father does no matter how hard I try. Believe me, if I could make this all go away I would. I would in a heartbeat.



ABBY

That’s exactly what I’m talking about! He’s never, ever going to change. He’s been this way ever since I could remember and I hate him for it. I hate him for treating you the way he does.



SUSAN

You can’t hate your father.



ABBY

Well it’s not like he makes it easy for me to love him. When was the last time he took me anywhere? When is the last time he asked me how my day was? He doesn’t give a sh*t about anyone but himself and his precious bottle of Jack Daniels.



SUSAN

I know. God. I know.

[she thinks for a few seconds]

Whatd’ya say we take a girls trip? Just us and your sister.





ABBY

Again, it will be all the same when we get…





SUSAN

Who said we had to come back?



ABBY

[a look of shock on her face]

Are you serious?



SUSAN

[smiling]

Yes.



[SUSAN calls NATALIE back into the room.]



ABBY

No more fighting? No more waking me up in the middle of the night with tears in your eyes cause you’re afraid? No more holes in the walls from his drunken rampages?





NATALIE

What’s going on? What are you guys talking about?





SUSAN

Let’s just say, your father isn’t going to ruin your birthdays anymore. He’s not going to make a complete fool of me at the company Christmas party. I’m just sick of it. I love you girls too much to see your lives revolved around your father and his mistakes. I just can’t take it anymore. I don’t know how I survived this long. I don’t know how I let it get this bad.



NATALIE

But what will happen with Dad? We can’t just leave him can we?





SUSAN

Your father will be fine. He can take care of himself. Maybe this will be his wake-up call and he will finally change his ways. I’m just sick of waiting around for that to happen. Enough is enough.





NATALIE

Wow. Mom, I’ve never seen you take this much initiative. Are you completely sure about this?









SUSAN

I’ve never been so sure about anything. Ever.





NATALIE

I’m really proud of you. Not a lot of women have the courage to pack up their lives and leave. No one deserves to be treated the way he treats you. Nobody. We’re here for you Mom, we’ll be right by your side.





ABBY

Yeah, totally.





SUSAN

Well, let’s start packing up before he gets home. You know he’ll be stumbling in around midnight , so we have some time. Now we just have to figure out where to go…





ABBY

[smiling for the first time]

Can we seriously go to Vegas? We don’t have to see the Playboy chicks, I just want the $8.99 All-You-Can-Eat buffet and to see those crazy fountains.



END SCENE