Aqua Marianas Miniepisode 2: Sweet Dreams
BEGIN MINIEPISODE 2: FADE IN: [Shortened version of the theme song plays. Theme song ends.] [There is the sound of footsteps, then a yawn and the door opening. Then there is a yelp from JOANNA.] JOANNA (at first startled, then relieved. They’re very tired.) What-- oh, Lillian, it’s you. What are you doing awake? LILLIAN (also tired) I was in the engine room working, that’s all. And I might ask you the same question. I mean, it’s like 3 am, Joanna. Why are you sitting at the kitchen table? [A BEAT as JOANNA looks away. They don’t respond.] LILLIAN (tentatively, in response to her own possible insensitivity) ...Couldn’t sleep? JOANNA Yeah. I-- I keep having weird dreams. [LILLIAN pulls out a chair and sits down next to JOANNA.] LILLIAN Do you want to talk about it?
JOANNA I… no. I’d rather talk about anything else, actually. What were you working on? LILLIAN Nothing important. (with good humor) Mostly just working on fixing things you people break. [JOANNA groans.] JOANNA Alex’s accident with the microwave? LILLIAN Oh, god. I still have no idea how he managed to break it so badly. The top was melted, I mean! JOANNA Maybe it couldn’t stand heating his Frankensteinian culinary creations anymore. LILLIAN Ha! Yeah, I can see that. Having to deal with Alex’s cooking more often than I already do would make me suicidal too. But yeah, there’s that, and then Andrew’s attempts to sabotage the toaster. JOANNA Is he still doing that? LILLIAN Yup, unfortunately. I swear, I’m going to make it the world’s toughest toaster at this point. An armored toaster. [JOANNA laughs, somewhat shakily.] JOANNA I wish you luck in that endeavor.
LILLIAN Thanks. [There’s a pause. Then:] LILLIAN Do you want some hot chocolate? JOANNA …no, thanks. I’m good. LILLIAN Okay, if you say so. [Another pause.] JOANNA Why do you keep looking at me like that? LILLIAN Hm? Like what? JOANNA Like that. Like you’re… assessing me. It’s the look you give your equipment when it’s not working right. So why are you giving it to me? LILLIAN (denial) I’m not giving you any sort of-[JOANNA gives her a look. LILLIAN sighs.] LILLIAN Alright, alright. I’m just… worried about you, Joanna. When we first came down you were so happy, so excited. You seemed like… like you really wanted to be here. And now you’re jumpy and worried about something and I’m not sure what. You still act like you love your work, and I think you’re sincere, but… I can’t help feeling like there’s something you’re not telling us. Am I right?
[Long pause.] JOANNA I-- Yeah. You are. [They take a deep breath.] The weird dreams… really, it’s always one dream, going over and over and over in my mind. It’s been recurring for the past… God, I don’t know. For a week, at least. LILLIAN And it scares you? JOANNA It scares the shit out of me. LILLIAN How does it go? JOANNA (reliving something scary but trying to be strong about it) It always happens the same way, every time. It starts with me in my lab, and I’m tearing it apart, because there’s this-- there’s a question I have to answer, but I don’t know what the question is, only that I need the answer or else something terrible is going to happen. I’m throwing things on the floor, glass shattering and equipment breaking, I’m screaming and crying and then I find what I’m looking for, a sheet of results from one of my tests. I’m looking at these experimental results, staring at them and trying to get any sort of conclusion, but none of the numbers make sense. In the dream, I know I know this information, that I should u nderstand it, but I can’t make heads or tails of it. It doesn’t make any sense. Or, it does make sense, I know it makes sense, and I know that the answer I’m
looking for is in there if I can only f ind it. I can’t understand it at all, and I start panicking even harder because it’s so close and yet so far. [They pause. LILLIAN winces.] LILLIAN That sounds horrible. JOANNA That’s not the end. [They swallow.] Then the door of the lab opens, and it’s everyone, you and Captain Kumar and Alex and Andrew, and you’re all just… totally silent as you look at me. When I open my mouth to explain, my words come out as total and utter gibberish, and then-- you laugh. All of you start to laugh at me, even as I’m trying to speak, to make you understand. The laughter gets louder and louder, and I can’t say anything, just jumbled sounds. And then I can’t breathe suddenly, and I open my mouth to yell again, but instead I cough up water, just so much water. My lungs are filling w ith water. I’m drowning, on land, and everyone is laughing. [After this tirade, they take a second to breathe, in and out slowly.] JOANNA And then… I wake up. [Their voice breaks.] Lillian, it’s so vivid, and I can never remember it’s not real. It keeps happening. Every. Night. LILLIAN (Sympathetic, as if she is hurting)
God, that sounds-- Joanna, I’m so sorry. …Is it okay if I reach out and touch your hand? Would that be comforting? JOANNA (tired and upset, but relieved that Lillian is listening) ...yes, please. [LILLIAN reaches out and covers their hand with her own.] LILLIAN Do you want advice? JOANNA Depends. Do you have any? LILLIAN Yeah. There’s, like… this thing if you rehearse an alternative dream scenario in your head multiple times to make it less scary, you’ll start dreaming the new scenario instead of the one you had before. You can kick the nightmares out. Seem like it would work? JOANNA I have no idea. But I guess it’s worth a try. LILLIAN Okay, then. Let’s start at the beginning: you’re tearing your lab apart, looking for an answer to a question, but you don’t know what the question is. Can you think of a question you could ask yourself that you do know the answer to? JOANNA Um… what kind of question? LILLIAN
Any kind. Real question, joke question, one of the questions you use for password recall on websites. Just something you know. JOANNA Uh… about that… LILLIAN ...Do you have any answers to the questions you have? JOANNA Not really. Stuff like “what can we figure out about this midocean ridge ecosystem through long-term observation?” doesn’t exactly have a right answer. LILLIAN (teasing lightly) God, you scientists, always with the unanswerable questions. Alright. What about… I don’t know. “What’s my favorite marine animal?” JOANNA I can’t pick favorites! They’re all my babies! LILLIAN Ha! Okay, then what do you think? JOANNA …”Who’s the first person I talked to on this mission?” LILLIAN Okay, and what’s the answer? JOANNA Seriously? It’s you, silly. LILLIAN (blushing) ...Oh.
JOANNA (laughing a little, amused) Yeah. Don’t you remember? LILLIAN How could I forget? [BEAT. Then JOANNA inhales awkwardly.] JOANNA Okay. So, restructure the dream, right? LILLIAN Yeah. Start from the beginning: You’re in your lab, tearing it apart. You have the question you need to answer, and it is-JOANNA --who is the first person I talked to on the mission? LILLIAN Exactly. And you know the answer to this already. So what do you want to do? What do you think would assuage your fears? JOANNA ...I think I want to write it down. So I take a piece of paper, and I write down the question, and then I write down the answer. And… then what? LILLIAN At that point, you’ve diverted enough of your dream to let your mind go in a totally different direction. Probably. I don’t know if this will work for you, but it does for me, so… JOANNA Okay. I understand. I… yeah. [They yawn, very loudly. They’re very, very tired.]
JOANNA Thanks, Lillian. Thank you… [Their words trail off. After a second, we hear them snoring quietly. LILLIAN sighs.] LILLIAN (quietly, but affectionately) No problem. Sweet dreams, Joanna. [FADE OUT.] OPEN NEW SCENE: Kitchen in the morning. FADE IN: [JOANNA is waking up after sleeping to find themselves at the kitchen table still. They are somewhat sore and stiff, but there is a pillow under their head and a blanket over their shoulders. And after a moment, they realize that they didn’t have the nightmare.] JOANNA (smacks mouth a few times, making little “bleh” noises and muttering) Ugh, tastes like death. Where-- shit. Kitchen. I fell asleep in the kitchen. But then who-[The door opens. LILLIAN heads in.] LILLIAN (weirdly chipper) Hey, sleepyhead! How’d the nightmare go? JOANNA Uh-[They pause, trying to remember.] It didn’t, actually. I don’t think I dreamed at all. LILLIAN
Well, let’s count that as a success. JOANNA Yeah, I guess. Lillian, did you--? LILLIAN Put those blankets over you and get the pillow and stuff? Yes. I didn’t want to move you, so I tried to make you comfortable instead. JOANNA You know you didn’t have to, though? LILLIAN I know. I wanted to. JOANNA (flustered) Oh. Oh! Okay then. What time is it? LILLIAN Uh… ooh. 12:30. JOANNA Shit! [Scrape of a chair as they scramble to get up.] JOANNA I need to check on my work! I can’t believe I slept so long-- I’ll see you later, Lillian. [Fast footsteps. They pause at the door.] JOANNA (softer) And thank you, for talking to me and for making me comfortable and just, for everything. I’ll see you at dinner! [Then the door opens and closes, and they’re gone. LILLIAN stares after them.]
LILLIAN (quietly, but not sad) Yeah. I’ll see you then. [She gives a pining sigh. Then we FADE OUT.] END MINISODE 2.