SCENE 1

(BETH stands, frozen, listening. We hear a thump. ERIC enters.)

BETH
What was that?

ERIC
What?

BETH
What!

ERIC
Yeah, what?

BETH
That noise!

ERIC
I didn't hear a noise.

BETH
How could you not hear it?

ERIC
What noise?

BETH
You didn't hear that?

ERIC
I was outside.

BETH
It's a weird noise.

(There's a tapping.)

There. Be still.

(a thump)

Did you hear it that time?

ERIC
Of course I heard that.

BETH
What was it?

ERIC
I don't know.

BETH
There's something in the wall.

(He goes to the wall and pounds it, hard. No response.)

ERIC
Could be a squirrel.

BETH
Could be a rat.

ERIC
I don't think so.

BETH
You don't know.

ERIC
Well, it could be a rat.

BETH
God!

ERIC
Calm down. I don't think it's a rat.

BETH
(Having a breakdown.)
I can't stand this!

ERIC
You know, we're not on this planet alone. There are creatures in this world besides humans.

BETH
My mother's coming here tomorrow, and there's a rat in the wall.

ERIC
She'll know what to do about it.

BETH
Why would she know?

ERIC
Your mother knows about a lot of things.

BETH
She doesn't know what to do about this! You should know what to do about it, and you should do it - before she gets here. She's coming here for a visit, not to get rats out of our wall.

ERIC
I'm pretty sure it's not a rat.

BETH
How can you be sure?

(He pounds the wall. Nothing happens.)

ERIC
It doesn't move. I think we'd hear it scurry.

BETH
(hopefully)
A squirrel would scurry.

ERIC
Squirrels scurry more than rats.

BETH
We need an exterminator. Squirrels carry rabies!

ERIC
So do rats.

(sound of a thump)

BETH
Over there. It's in the vent.

(She points. ERIC moves slowly to the corner, gets on his hands and knees, and looks in the vent.)

ERIC
I think I can see it. Get me a flashlight.

(She scurries to bring him the flashlight. He shines it into the vent.)

Look at that.

BETH
What?

ERIC
Look.

BETH
I don't want to look. What is it?

ERIC
That's a possum. Look.

BETH
No.

ERIC
It's looking right at me. Right straight at me. It's really breathing hard. I saw that thing run across the street the other night. What a tail!

BETH
Can you kill it?

ERIC
I don't want to kill it. But I'll try to get it to leave.

(He exits and returns with a chopstick.)

BETH
Can you get rid of it with a chopstick?

ERIC
I'm going to try.

(He pokes it.)

Damn. They really do play possum.

BETH
Can you get it to leave?

ERIC
Not now. It's playing possum. Look at this.

BETH
No!

(lights fade)

SCENE 2

(The next day. CAROL, BETH'S mother, sits, reading a book. BETH, with the flashlight, is on her hands and knees, studying the possum).

CAROL
It's not hurting anybody. Why don't you just leave it alone?

BETH
Sometimes it moves around.

CAROL
It's not moving now.

BETH
That's because it's playing possum.

CAROL
It's not playing possum. It is a possum.

BETH
If I quit bothering it, it'll act alive and run around in the ductwork.

CAROL
Maybe it'll run outside.

BETH
Mom, it lives in there!