Page 27 - HEF Pen & Ink 2023

This layer is as strong as stone can be SAMUEL: to audience
This tempered stone will not erode, they claim they do not see the art in what they say.
We stand amongst a bouquet of knife peaks, untouched by time as they reach towards the sky, dyed crimson by the blood of two nations.
I know the wars these fields of red have seen the warriors who fell for fatherland.
The stone has been shattered upon the earth by the hatred of the peoples around,
the blood that they have bled, in vain or not,
was all drawn up by deep roots of the peaks. Their lofty heights turned scarlet from our deaths.
SAMUEL stands, awestruck with his outpouring of emotion. Maybe he begins to cry.
KENDRA walks downstage with another student, chatting. KENDRA:
This stone within my hand is but a stone. Its color I would call the palest pink.
It has no streak, and is not reactive.
Its mass is three grams per milliliter.
It is a solid object that is real,
not art, as our teacher seems to insist. I do not understand how he can teach or why he has to teach geology.
He clearly is more intrigued by the arts
DUNCAN: to himself, or audience
...the earth is but a giant work of art...
KENDRA:
Which is no flaw or failing of his own but does not lend itself to scientists, much less the teaching of the sciences.
DUNCAN:
...they should appreciate it as I do...
KENDRA:
The sciences are real and are solid.
They are incredible because of that.
A baseline for all that we do
must be unyielding and always apply.
to hear him speak, one would think they are Subjective for each person to decide.
DUNCAN:
...an ever-shifting tapestry of stone...
KENDRA:
But he is not as crazy as that boy.
SAMUEL stands almost offstage, staring (Weeping?). KENDRA scoffs and walks off. The STUDENTS follow. DUNCAN gathers SAMUEL and leaves.
25