“The Search For Passion ( or at Least Butter )” by Cameron Ireland “These Shapes Are My Travel Companions”

THESE SHAPES ARE MY TRAVEL COMPANIONS

Cameron Ireland

Scene 1 (Peter)

CAMERON

(After sitting at the table facing the audience, CAMERON removes a small stuffed Spider Man from his bag.)

My first shape is my friend Peter. Some of you may already know him. We first met a few years ago at Main Event, where I was introduced to him by a friend who is surprisingly skilled at crane games. My friendship with Peter was initially monetary, but I feel as though it has become more than that. Peter has been living in my car since the first day I met him, and he’s traveled with me all over the place since then. He’s been to my school, both of my parents’ homes, and even to the summer camp where I work. I appreciate him because he doesn’t judge me when I sing, while I drive, or when I call other drivers rude names because they don’t know what a turn signal is. Peter could probably tell you some things about me that I wouldn’t want you to know, but I trust that he won’t. I mean, he doesn’t exactly talk to me either, so I would be pretty surprised if he started talking to any of you now.

(CAMERON waits for Peter to talk. Nothing happens.) Okay, good. You know, I sometimes wonder if Peter ever misses being at Main Event. I’m sure he must have felt trapped there, but it is a pretty nice place. My car is a lot smaller, plus I usually turn the air conditioning off when I’m not in the car with him. Of course, I have never heard him complain about it either way. I guess he could be the stoic type who doesn’t like to whine, or maybe he doesn’t feel comfortable complaining.

(CAMERON waits again for Peter to speak his mind. Again, nothing happens.)

That’s alright, buddy. Just know that you’re free to speak your mind whenever you are ready. The weird thing is that I hear a lot of people describe Peter as the kind of guy who likes to make witty jokes and quips all the time, but I can’t really see that in him. Maybe they have the wrong guy.

(CAMERON sets Peter to the side, sitting him up facing the audience. Then, he retrieves a propeller hat from his bag.)

This second shape is really acting as a sort of representative, but it is still a fun one. This is a hat that I received very

recently, over the summer. Frankly, it has been in my car since then because I keep forgetting that I even have it in the first place, which is really sad. I honestly love this hat, which is part of why I chose it as a shape.

(CAMERON puts on the hat and childishly spins the propeller on his head.)

I actually have a real thing for hats. I wear them all the time, at least the more normal ones. Sometimes it feels like just an excuse to not comb my hair, but really there is more to it than that. I have a hat for just about any occasion, and I am always trying to build on my collection. I have hats that I can wear to fancy events, even when the older folks irritatingly ask me to take them off in the name of some old-fashioned notion of curtesy. I have hats that I can wear in the summer to keep the sun out of my eyes. I have hats for different holidays, including about 6 Christmas themed hats. But then, I have my fun hats like this one. Ones that I can’t reasonably expect to find a social situation in which they would be acceptable, but ones that are irresistible anyway. Maybe I shouldn’t need a valid reason to want to wear a propellor hat, or a giant paper hat, or a top hat with goggles on it, or a big sombrero that definitely wasn’t saved from a trash pile. Anyway, I digress. For now, I’m just waiting for a golden opportunity to present itself. Until then, most of my collection will serve as mere decorations. This one, at least, will keep waiting in my car until the day I decide I don’t care what strangers think of what I wear.

(Without removing the hat, CAMERON pulls the final object out of the bag: a light jacket that is clearly well-worn.)

This is a shape that has seen some wear and tear because it has accompanied me for a very long time. While it’s probably the most boring of the three, it also means the most to me. My mother always refers to it as my “safety blanket”. I leave it in my car because it is something I don’t wear very often anymore, but I did wear it a lot back in middle and high school. As in, I wore this or something practically like it every day and in any kind of weather. Like with my hats, I collected a few distinct ones for different situations or seasons, but this one was my go-to for many years. Now, if I was asked on the occasion, I would say that I wore it because it got cold in class. That wasn’t entirely false, but it also wasn’t the whole picture. To be completely honest, it had quickly become a part of my identity. It was so common to see me wearing it that it felt almost necessary. Comfortable with it, awkward without it, you know? Even at the times when I would take it off, I would wrap it around my waist rather than leave it somewhere and be totally without it. Now, my mom has only ever been loving to me, but I am fairly sure she was happy that I started wearing this less and less. Not to mention the way she called it a “security blanket” was just the right amount of undermining to make me feel weak for relying on something material for comfort. It never fully stopped me from wearing this though, and my choice to not wear it as often was entirely my own. I keep it in my car because I just can’t bring myself to ditch it entirely. It holds too much personal history to me.

(CAMERON puts the jacket on, smiling.)

Not to mention, it is still pretty comfy.

(End of Scene)