A Lonely Canary Logs On
EXT. BACK END OF A TEXAS GROCERY STORE - DAY
Grackles hop around picking at trash. A small pick-up truck rolls up next to the dumpster.
Driver’s side opens up. Empty Lone Star cans spill out onto the asphalt. A disheveled woman (20s) in a surgical mask emerges with a child’s karaoke machine, her shirt drenched in sweat.
Machine in hand, she stages herself in front of the dumpster and grabs the mic.
CLOSE ON the woman’s finger pressing ON, then RECORD.
WOMAN
(into the mic) WHAT’S UP, MOTHERFUCKERS! The new world is A-COMIN’!
A single Grackle whistles.
WOMAN
(in the style of Michael Buffer) ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE?
A pause.
WOMAN
Are you?
She paces.
WOMAN
We’ll dig it out from beneath the rubble. We gotta do it together. And we’ll build something fantastic. And that’s a promise. But before that, war. And the war’s here, sweetie. It’s now.
She sniffs. Congestion.
WOMAN
If the goddamn animal dies, there will be violence. If he lives, violence. (SARCASTIC voice) “But what if he loses?” VIOLENCE! Wins? Violence. So get ready. Only way out is through, armed to the teeth. And anyone saying otherwise is ripping you off and sucking you dry. Just like good ole’ Newty G did before him, the man’s mutated his camp for decades to come just by capitalizing on what’s already there. Don’t believe me? Fuckin’ look around you. Google it.
She clears her throat.
WOMAN
SO AGAIN, I ask you, ARE YOU READY?
Silence. She continues to pace.
WOMAN
Who am I, you ask? Just a dyke with a mic.
The woman bursts into laughter. It’s loud.
She shakes the karaoke machine.
WOMAN
YES, I stole this from my niece. NO, I will not be taking questions at this time.
The woman wipes her forehead with her shirt.
WOMAN
Seriously. The new world is coming, but we gotta fight like hell for it. Then we build. We build and build and reflect and change and then build some more. We’re building now and we’re fighting now. It’s always like this. Time’s run out. No more subcommittees made of posturing legislators and executive directors that propose hollow plans to the party leaders and boards that just kick the shit down the road into the next fiscal year again and again and AGAIN. All of ‘em have left us out here to fuckin’ dry, don’t you see? Climate catastrophe is now. Time’s run out. Disaster capitalism’s here in full force. So… when shit hits the fan, who are you gonna call?
MAN (O.S.)
Ghostbusters!
The woman looks behind her to find a CASHIER (20s) on his smoke break. A mask around his chin.
WOMAN
You got jokes!
The CASHIER takes a drag and stares.
WOMAN (to CASHIER)
Call your loved ones. No, I’m serious–call ‘em. Get their numbers and addresses and allergies and fuckin’ medications and write them on a piece of paper somewhere. Call your neighbors. What do they need? Build with them too. Build now. Build while we’re fighting. Build while we’re on fire. Build while your skin is melting so at least someone else can pick up where you left off!
The CASHIER flashes her a thumbs up. She nods and returns her focus to the Grackles.
WOMAN
8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest, and 8 hours of what we will. “Of what we will.” Not so much these days, if ever for some. We need more. The suffocating grasp of capitalism’s holding us back. We’re burning. And it’s by design. But we gotta build somehow anyway.
Another sniff.
WOMAN
But we also gotta ask: What fucked heuristics are holding you back? Are holding us back? Is it the warmth of the echo chamber? The lies your parents taught you? The spiritual corrosion of white supremacy? What heals you? Who heals you? Can we heal together?
She takes a deep breath.
WOMAN
I gotta tell ya, on the days I’m hellbent on killing myself, this mantra comes out—POW!—front and center in my mind: “I want to help build the other side of this.”
She hits her head with the microphone multiple times.
WOMAN
(louder) POW!
Some Grackles fly away.
WOMAN
I gotta tell ya, some of you piss me off to shit. But my God, do I love you, too. I really do.
A beat.
WOMAN
I want to help build the other side of this. I want to help build the other side of this. I want to help build the other side of this.
Her voice quiets, her body lowers.
WOMAN
I want to help build the other side of this. I want to help build the other side of this. I just want to survive and get to the other side of this.
She lays out on the asphalt. A starfish.
A few moments pass.
Foot steps approach.
CASHIER
You want one?
He offers his pack.
WOMAN
Oh shit.
She sits up.
WOMAN
Yeah man. Thanks.
The CASHIER throws the pack her way. She lights one and tosses it back. They smoke together a few feet apart.
The woman lets out a deep sigh.
WOMAN
That’s it. That’s the tweet.
• • •
Food for Thought: American Apocalypse Edition
“The Second American Civil War” on the It Could Happen Here Podcast
“Dr. Bayo Akomolafe on Slowing Down in Urgent Times” on the For The Wild Podcast
The Man Who Broke Politics: Newt Gingrich turned partisan battles into bloodsport, wrecked Congress, and paved the way for Trump’s rise. Now he’s reveling in his achievements.
The Election That Could Break America: If the vote is close, Donald Trump could easily throw the election into chaos and subvert the result. Who will stop him?