Free Lost Lake by David Auburn

 
    SCENE 1
    The main room of a dilapidated lakeside cabin.
    VERONICA , a black woman in her thirties wearing a winter coat, looking around. HOGAN , a disheveled white man in his fifties, with her.
    HOGAN : So what do you think?
    VERONICA : It looks all right.
    ( Beat .)
    HOGAN : I know it’s cold now. July–August you won’t have to worry about that.
    VERONICA : Of course.
    HOGAN : Though the last couple weeks of August nights can get cool again, you might want to bring some extra blankets for the kids.
    VERONICA : Uh-huh.
    ( Beat .)
    HOGAN : How many kids?
    VERONICA : Two. Maybe three—the older one, my girl, wants to bring a friend. I haven’t decided about that. It may just be her and her brother.
    HOGAN : They identical?
    VERONICA : What? No.
    HOGAN : They are twins, you said.
    VERONICA : No. They’re two years apart. Boy and girl.
    HOGAN : I don’t know why I thought they were twins.
    VERONICA : No. They’re just … regular.
    ( Beat .)
    HOGAN : There’s only one bed in the second room.
    VERONICA : That’s all right. They can double up.
    HOGAN : It’s pretty small. I might have a trundle I can get for you.
    VERONICA : Oh no, that’s fine. One of them can sleep with me if we have to.
    HOGAN : Your husband won’t mind?
    VERONICA : It’s just me.
    HOGAN : Oh. Sorry.
    VERONICA : No. But maybe an extra bed would be—
    HOGAN : No problem. I can call my brother, see if I can borrow his trundle. But if the third kid comes—
    VERONICA : I think I’m gonna have to tell my little girl that isn’t happening.
    HOGAN : No, it’ll still work. You put one in the single, one on the trundle, and one on the couch in a sleeping bag or whatever. You’d have to bring up some extra linens is all.
    VERONICA : We’ll figure that out.
    HOGAN : She wants to bring a friend, let her. They’ll have a ball.
    VERONICA : We’ll see.
    ( Beat .)
    HOGAN : Pretty gorgeous out there, huh? Even this time of year.
    VERONICA : Yes, it is.
    HOGAN : The dock will be fixed by June. It’s almost done now. We finally got around to it.
    VERONICA : The dock?
    HOGAN : Yeah.
    VERONICA : Is there some kind of boat?
    HOGAN : Swimming dock.
    VERONICA : Oh. Yes.
    HOGAN : See out there?
    VERONICA : Yes. It’s pretty far out.
    HOGAN : Nah. It’s an easy swim. There’s usually a diving board. That’ll get put back on. I’m gonna paint the deck a nice fire-engine red after I get the fifteen years of Canada goose shit scrubbed off. You’ll see the geese, they shit on everything.
    VERONICA : You’re doing the work?
    HOGAN : I was the low bid.
    VERONICA : I see.
    HOGAN : Homeowners’ association’s been putting it off for years. Last summer a woman put her foot through a rotten plank. Had to go to the emergency room to get the splinters out. Finally I said, Look, give me fifteen hundred bucks, I’ll have it ready by Memorial Day. I’m going to put in a second diving platform higher up. It’s gonna be great. I made some sketches. It’ll just be stationary but you’ll still have the springboard on the opposite side. You’ll never get your kids off it.
    VERONICA : They don’t really swim.
    HOGAN : Why not?
    VERONICA : City kids.
    HOGAN : That’s not good. They need to learn.
    VERONICA : That’s one of the reasons we wanted to be up here.
    HOGAN : It’s a life skill. You should get them lessons at the Y or someplace now. That way when they get up here they’re ready.
    VERONICA : I don’t know if we have time for that.
    HOGAN : It’s only March. You got four months.
    VERONICA : Well, we’ll see.
    HOGAN : Don’t let them go to the dock unless you’re sure they can manage it.
    VERONICA : Of course not.
    HOGAN : Now, there is a canoe I’ll get out for you, which will require some bailing but it’s more or less seaworthy, and I think two life jackets. But I believe only one paddle.