Becca (female; teen/college)
The only child of town founder Bradford Beckin, Becca carries a secret about
the town that her father passed to her before he died. The weight of this
secret turned a clever and playful girl into a reclusive young lady who was
haunted by her knowledge. She reportedly died in her late teens, but the
circumstances are sketchy.
Scene 1
(Spring 1898, Beckin family cornfield)
My father was so proud of this cornfield. When he first got here it was nothing
but wilderness. He used to say, “I tamed the land to plant corn but sprouted a
town.” The corn he grew was golden and radiant. I used to run through the
stalks and hide while he would pretend he couldn’t find me. But he always knew
where I was. He was always watching over me… protecting me. But there was one
section of his field that never seemed to grow. It always reminded me of the
crescent moon. There were nights when father and I would lay out in the
crescent among his majestic corn and watch the stars. I always imagined we were
lying on the moon itself. He died a long time ago. But I still go out there
some nights during crescent moons and write in this diary. I often wonder if he
is lying there on the moon, watching over me. I feel that he is.
Scene 2
(Winter 1899, Beckin family cornfield)
My father used the last of his breath so the story wouldn’t die with him. I
held his hand as the color drained from his cheeks. But he told me to listen.
He said it would be all right to cry later, to mourn him later, but to listen
now. He insisted that I memorize his words. I didn’t understand them at the
time. How could I? It was far too much for my 12-year-old ears. The story he
told was unlike any of the fairy tales I had heard before. It still seems
impossible but his cornfield held the key. Then he told me to reach into his
jacket pocket. It contained a strange book. At first the language made no
sense, but as the years have gone by, the words have slowly made themselves
known to me. I added pages to the back so I could pretend it’s my personal
diary and always keep it with me.
Scene 3
(Fall 1901, Beckin family cornfield; Becca’s last diary entry)
There are forces here that I know don’t belong on this earth. They are
watching. I can feel them at work. But they are not to be feared. They will not
let anything harm our wonderful town. They have been here for a very long
time…and they are waiting. My father carried this knowledge before me,
but it is much to bear. Now others are watching me too. I know that they are.
Everyone wants my diary…but it’s really not mine. It belongs to… It is
their book of secrets. I have taken to hiding it in the bales of hay on the
second floor of the stable. But whenever I’m away from it, I feel it calling
me. Pulling me back. But after all this time, I know where to begin. Their book
has shown me how to find them...I have asked Charles to help. Tomorrow we will
seek them out.
Charles Beckin
(male; teen/college)
The same age as his only cousin Becca, Charles has been close to her for her
entire life. He looks at Becca as a sister and is highly protective of her.
Charles’ parents expected he would become a farmer like his father, but much to
the dismay of his mother Susanna, he has no talent for farming whatsoever. He
has no problem mocking himself for his lack of ability to get anything to grow.
Scene 1
(Spring 1898, Beckin family farmhouse)
My cousin Becca is an odd little duck. All she talks about is some stupid
secret that her father told her. She won’t tell me what it is. But I know it
has something to do with the section of their field where the corn doesn’t
grow. If corn not growing was so special, then my field must be very special.
I’m not exactly a gifted farmer. My mother has pretty much given up on my
abilities in that profession. I try to grow corn; wheat sprouts up. I plant an
apple tree; we get pears. The only things I can seem to get right are pumpkins.
But anybody can grow pumpkins. And nobody buys pumpkins but once a year.
Scene 2
(Fall 1900, Beckin family farmhouse)
Cousin Becca’s diary is missing. She’s quite upset. Yawn. I keep telling her
it’s just a book. Write another. But she is inconsolable. First her dumb
secret, now her dumb diary. She’s always been obsessive. I’m off to university
in a few months. I don’t know what she’s going to do without me. I’m far more
worried about her than Mother. Mother met a man named Mr. Linding. He lives
thirty miles from town. I don’t remember her happier. I’d wager when I get back
from school I’m going to have a new father. Everything changes and sometimes it
even gets better‐not always, but sometimes.
Scene 3
(Winter 1901, Beckin family farmhouse)
The search for Becca has been over for weeks. People are forgetting. I will
never forget. She was so troubled those last few days. They say she was insane,
like her father before her. But I know she wasn’t. She simply knew more than
the rest of us. Now I have a secret too…I was supposed to go with her. She
asked me to meet her that morning at sunrise at the crescent to go exploring.
She wouldn’t tell me where, but I could tell it was important. But I slept
late. By the time I got to the cornfield, she was gone. That was three months
ago. I will never give up searching. I will never give up trying. Whatever I
have to do, I will find a way to bring her back.
Bradford Beckin
(male; 30 & up)
Bradford is known as the founder of Beckinfield. He was at the side of the last
of the Primbobi Indians as the warrior died. Bradford had always promised to
reveal a dark secret about the town, but a freak lightning strike in his
cornfield cut his life short.
Scene 1
(Fall 1890, Beckin family cornfield)
My daughter Becca is my life. I lost my wife not long after the battle for this
land with the Primbobi Indians. That brave tribe fought to the point of
extinction. I came west looking for land to farm. But when your family is being
attacked, you learn how to protect them. I think I learned that trade a little
too well. The whole ordeal with the Primbobi literally sickened my wife. She
died when Becca was only three. That Primbobi tribe fought to the last man to
defend this area. It wasn’t until I was plowing a field up on the crest on the
outskirts of town that I discovered why. They had buried their ancestors there
for generations. It seemed to go back hundreds of years. They had a word for
that area that had no English translation. “Destiny” was as close as we could
come. Little did any of us realize that one of the tribe had survived the last
battle. He hid in my fields for years. When I discovered him, I tried to
befriend him. I offered him shelter. I attempted to give him food. He wouldn’t
have any of it. He insisted on living off the wilderness. He was after all, the
last proud warrior. It wasn’t until he was dying that I understood. He fought
to his last breath to show me something hidden in my fields. It was something
that was impossible to explain. Something that made me question our whole
understanding of nature. Someday, when I’m ready, I’ll talk about it.
Scene 2
(Spring 1890, Beckin family cornfield)
The dying Primbobi warrior shared something else with me. It had great value to
his people. Apparently, whomever posses it last, returns to it… always returns
to it. It is… a book written on parchment from a tree that seems not of this
earth. It’s made up of simple bits of drawing and writing, yet no matter how
much I study the text it remains incomprehensible. But that book is just a
pebble compared to the real treasure buried in this land. I will reveal all I
know of the Primbobi secrets when I am on my deathbed. I am afraid I do not
have the fortitude to do it before then. Whether the people of Beckinfield will
be strong enough to hear the truth remains to be seen.
Scene 3
(May 1, 1894, Beckin family cornfield)
(Wild-eyed.) Voices pull at me in directions I don’t understand. I can no
longer remain silent. They want me to speak, but they force me to hold my
tongue. How long can I keep these voices inside? They scream at me to scream
out to others. They have waited forever for us to be ready, yet still we are
not. They burden me with their quest, but beg me to not act upon it. I have got
to tell the world. I have got to share their knowledge. It boils inside me. The
pressure is too great. It must be released. I have warned my sister that
tomorrow when I share this truth, everything will change.
Susanna Beckin-Linding
(female; 25 & up)
The sister of Bradford, Susanna’s practical demeanor often comes across as
tough and sarcastic. She has a terrific sense of humor, but can get a bit
annoyed with her son Charles.
Scene 1
(Winter 1890, Susanna’s kitchen)
Bradford made some cockamamie vow not to reveal some huge secret about his
cornfield until he’s lying on his deathbed. My brother is as stubborn as a mule
before breakfast. But I try not to be too hard on him. He’s had to raise dear
little Becca by himself. I help him any way I can. But he tries to do so much
on his own. He always comes back to the house to make dinner for his daughter,
even after spending all day in the fields. I worry someday he’s going to drop
dead amongst those corn stalks and we won’t find him until harvest. He works as
hard as our father did. Once a Beckin, always a Beckin.
Scene 2
(June 1894, Susanna’s kitchen)
Bradford passed last month. My troubled brother died just as oddly as he had
lived. He was out in his cornfield. Poor Becca witnessed the whole thing. She
says a bolt of lightning crashed from the sky and struck her father down. The
day before he died he was acting quite strangely. He spoke of voices. He said
that he wanted to tell me of the burden he was carrying. Now Becca says he
whispered his dark secret to her before he died, but of course, she’s mum about
it. He was a good man, with a good heart who just did odd things. Becca is
taking the loss remarkably well. I’m afraid this calamity hasn’t quite set in
yet.
Scene 3
(Summer 1904, Susanna’s kitchen)
Everything changes. My son was never a farmer, but little did I know what
schooling would do for him. He left Beckinfield a handyman and returned an
architect. He wants to build things, grand things. First he plowed down
Bradford’s old stable and turned into a library. Then he built a schoolhouse.
Now he is designing a town square that all will envy. Let things be, that’s
what I always say. But no, we must push forward, he says. We can not let the
future overtake us. He talks of grandiose aspirations, but I see the truth in
his eyes. He lives with the guilt of his missing cousin. He tries to believe
that Becca wandered off to find a new place in the world. He wants this to be
that new place when she returns. Beckinfield will forever be a town born of a
lost soul.
A Starla Witness
(male or female; any age)
This Starla witness was the first town resident to see the elusive creature of
Hidden Star Lake. The witness grows to feel responsible when the word of the
sighting spreads through the town and one of the children goes missing.
Scene 1
(Summer 1943, woods surrounding Hidden Star Lake)
(Breathing heavily.) I don’t know what it was! It wasn’t a fish, that’s for
sure. It had this big head and these huge eyes! I was looking at the reflection
of the full moon. It was barely rippling on the glass-still surface of the
lake. There was barely a breeze. I was amazed at just how still the water was;
how clear the reflection. I could even make out the man in the moon, as if he
was lying on the lake looking back at me. Then suddenly the entire image
exploded! Something in the shape of a giant egg popped out of the lake and
zipped across the surface. The moon was so bright I could see every detail. It
was an egg-shaped head attached to a long neck. The body never surfaced. I saw
an almond-shaped eye on the side that faced me. It seemed to never stop staring
at me as it raced to the other side of the lake. On the back of the creature’s
head, I saw what looked like a scar. It was in the shape of a star. I’ll never
forget that night.
Scene 2
(Summer 1943, woods surrounding Hidden Star Lake)
Had I not said anything it would never have happened. Ever since I reported
seeing the creature, the banks of Hidden Star Lake have been mobbed with
curious rubberneckers. And now little Harvey is missing. He’s only six and he
was last seen wandering around the lake. His poor parents are worried sick. Now
people are starting to gossip again about the kids that went missing all those
years ago and were never found. I’m so sorry.
Everyone—please—don’t go near Hidden Star Lake.
Scene 3
(Fall 1943, woods surrounding Hidden Star Lake)
A few weeks ago, there was another disturbance at the lake. We had already
spent countless hours combing the area for the missing child. It had been three
months but there were a few of us who had refused to give up. It was well past
dark when one of the searchers screamed. The lake exploded open as something
broke the surface. None of us could move. We just stared at the water, trying
to make out what it was. Then I saw what seemed to be something struggling in
the water. I couldn’t help myself. I dove in and swam toward it. As I got
closer, I could finally make him out. It was a child flailing. Without thinking
I cradled him under my arm and paddled back to the beach. None of us could
believe it. It was little Harvey. That was three weeks ago. He seems fine, but
no one wants to say what they are all thinking. He’s not the same as he was.
From the blank stare in his eyes, to the permanent grey streak on his chin, he
simply does not seem like himself. Once he was the spittin’ image of his
father, now he’s just a shell of that bright-eyed boy. What has that child seen?
The Young Historian
(male or female; any age)
The Young Historian recalls legends about three different events that wreaked
havoc on New Beckinfield but seemed to totally ignore Old Beckinfield. The
Young Historian has lots of energy and paints vivid pictures with words.
Scene 1
(Present Day, Beckinfield Public Library)
I just ran across this cool story about Beckinfield history. During the
Depression era of the 1930s, the biggest dust storm of the century swept toward
town. As it barreled into the area now known as New Beckinfield, it blackened
the sky and coated everything in its path with eight inches of choking dust.
But then the impossible happened. As it reached the border of town, what we
call Old Beckinfield, they say the dust seemed to plow into an invisible wall.
Apparently the storm and dust continued in its path all around it. Everything
in the area — New Beckinfield, Shallow Creek, Linding, and Wellstown
— was covered by it. But when all was said and done, Old Beckinfield was
dust-free.
Scene 2
(Present Day, Beckinfield Public Library)
It was 1971. The Beckinfield Little Theatre was opening for its debut
production. The cast and crew had been working for months to prepare. But the
theater construction was behind schedule and last-minute shortcuts were
implemented. The night before the show was scheduled to open, an eerie fog fell
over New Beckinfield. Just as the final dress rehearsal began, a stagehand
noticed a flickering in the wings. The cast and crew rushed to the exits. All
made it out safely. But the blaze grew. Sparks jumped to neighboring buildings,
which lit up as well. Most were old and few had alarm systems. The massive
flames reflected in low-hanging clouds, and witnesses as far away as Dustrock
claimed that the sky itself seemed to burn. At the time, the only fire
department was located in Old Beckinfield. The volunteer crew hadn’t assembled
in over a year. They were completely overwhelmed with what faced them. We were
thankful and lucky that no lives were lost that night. The investigation was
inconclusive, but to this day, arson has never been ruled out.
Scene 3
(Present Day, Beckinfield Public Library)
It was April 1, 2011. The second half of the Homecoming game between
Beckinfield’s own Snarling Beagles and their arch-rivals the Dustrock Devils
and. The Division Championship game was all tied up. The crowd was just
settling back into their seats after a rousing half-time performance by local
celebrity Groundly Pagnia and his band Cul-de-sac. Suddenly the lights began to
flicker. The entire stadium plunged into darkness. All manmade power, electric,
motorized, and all other, simply ceased. An eerie hush fell over the crowd.
Then all eyes gazed upward. A series of mysterious lights, — some say
five, some say six — drifted over the stadium. They hung, hovering in
formation. Then they slowly spun. And without warning they rocketed skyward.
Some say it never even happened. Some say it was an April Fool’s Day prank. But
those who were there to witness the event say things have only just begun for
Beckinfied…They are through waiting.
