ACT I

I brought you this dead bird.

Just leave it over there.

It’s very meaningful. It’s symbolic.

What is it symbolic of?

I forget. I was thinking about it for a long time and I was sure I knew, but now I’ve forgotten. It was a couple weeks ago. It’ll come back to me.

The bird has been dead all that time?

Most of it.

Thank you, I suppose.

I’m not sure what I meant you to think about it, so don’t worry about it now. Kiss me will you?

If I must.

Well, it’s not like that exactly.

What is it like then?

I think the bird means I’m a man now or something, and I love you, therefore kiss me perhaps?

Why not just say that?

I’d only just remembered it now when you told me you didn’t want to be coerced into kissing me.

But it seems unnecessary to bring the bird if all you wanted to do was to tell me that you wanted to kiss me. The bird is quite distracting if that is what you are getting at.

I thought it would be a nice gesture. 

I am not sure that it is, especially when you go to the trouble to tell me that you were thinking about what it meant two weeks ago but had forgotten, and now it turns out it was about me but you have only just remembered.

I didn’t know what it was I had forgotten or I wouldn’t have said anything.

I guess it’s alright if you kiss me just the one time. The bird is beginning to give a foul odour to the room, and it is not compatible with kissing.

Ha ha, fowl odour!

What?

You said “foul odour,” and that’s funny. 

I see our time is up.

I’ll show myself out. 

Act II

I’ve brought you another bird.

I beg you, leave it outside.

But I know what it’s about this time.

Oh? Well, hang on to it while you tell me so I can decide whether I will accept it or not.

It’s about my artistic creativity or something like that, and how I’m not free or successful but I would like to be because I love you. Please accept this bird I killed while I was remembering you and not thinking about my mother at all.

Why would you bring up your mother at a time like this?

I didn’t!

You did!

I didn’t! I very specifically mentioned that I wasn’t thinking about her.

An odd thing to say if you weren’t though, is it not?

I hadn’t thought about it.

I wonder that you really think at all.

Right now I’m thinking I would like you to accept this bird, and let me kiss you because it would bring me great joy.

I am fairly certain I still don’t want any birds from you. I might be more inclined to kiss you if you brought me flowers instead.

You can hardly expect me to fly about getting you flowers and pretty things at your every lark.

*giggles*

I’ll show myself out. 

Act III

I’ve brought you some flowers.

These are feathers! 

They’re not. You’re mistaken.

They are so! You have given me a bouquet of pigeon feathers with the blood still on!

You are very hard to please. Why not accept them and be my love? It’s not good for my creativity to be so utterly stifled at every turn by women who want me to be excellent at everything without ever giving me the chance to get better, or encouraging me, or giving me any positive feed back at all. It’s almost as though no one wants me to succeed. That if I were successful, there would be less success to go around and they can’t have that so they have to stomp me into the ground so nothing ever comes of my brilliant, shining seed, my light in the world my-

I’m gonna stop you right there.

That seems fair.

So, you are looking for positive reinforcement? Validation? Love and praise and such?

Goodness yes, please! And kisses also, if you don’t mind, would be ever so nice…

Have you asked your mother?

What, for kisses? She said no. 

I believe our time-

I’ll show myself out. 

_{This play is my response to the February 11th prompt, “Write 500 words of dialogue.”}

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