Transcript
Cast ti'rtrti$tffi
of Characters
Narrator
iiir't'
Voice Five
Tommy
Pete Van Horn
Steve Brand
Charlie
Don Martin
Safly, Tommy's mother
Myra Brand, Sfeye's wife
Man One
Woman
Les Goodman
Voice One Voice Two
Ethel Goodmah, [es3 wife Man Two
Voice Three
Figure One
Voice Four
Figure Two
Act One (Fade in on a shot of the night sky. The uarious heauenly bodies' stand out in sharp, sparkling relief. The cnmert moues slowly across the heauens until it pas.ses the horizon and stops on a sign that reads "Maple Street." It is daytime. Then we see the
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Maple Street is a typical suburban street in the 1950s.0n this street ordinary people do ordinary activities on a late summer evening.
mAsyou read, underline details that describe these activities. An example is shown.
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street below. It is a quiet, tree-lined, small-town American street. The houses ha;ue front porches on which $ia'd$'tA|ii't ,; ' mlking across $'ff#.b# from hoi's;e't)o ho,uts;e. Sieve Brand is polishing his car, which is parked in front of his house. His neighbor, Don Martin, leans against the fender watching him. An ice-cream uendort riding a bicycle is iwst in the process of stopping to sell some ice cream to a cowple of kids. Two women gossip on the front lawn. Another man is wate:ring his lawn with a garden hose. As we see these uarious actiuities, we hear the Narratort uoice.) 10
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Naffatof. Maple Street, U.S.A., late Summer. A treelined little world of fronr-porch gliders, hopscotch, the laughter of children, and the bell of an ice-cream vendor.
$here is a pduse, and the camert moues ouer to ct shot of the ice-cream uendor and two small boys wbo Are standing alongside iust buying ice creAm.l Narrator. et the sound of the roar and the flash of the light, it will be precisely six-forty-three P.M. on Maple Street. (At this moment Tommy, one of the two boys buying ice creum from the uendof, looks up to listen to a tremendous screeching roar from ouerheAd. A flash of tight plays on the faces of both boys and then moues
Reiead the TUIARK II UP oxed ,pas.sa,ge, A str,ange ing:haBpeils,on MaPle tt BBt, itt,6:43 P;M. Gircle d'etails at,describ,e how the PeoPle eact to this event. (Glarify|
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d,own the street and disappears. Various people leaue their porches or stop what they are doing to stare wp at the sky. Steve Brand , the man who has been polishing his car, stands there transfixed,' staring upwards. He looks atDon Martin, his neighbor from across the street.) 'S7hat was that? A meteor? Steve.
Don. That's what it looked like. I didn't hear any crash though, did you? Steve. Nope. I didn't hear anything except a toaf.
Myra (from her porch). \[hat was that? Steve (raising his uoice and looking toward the porch). Guess it was a meteor, honey. Came awful close, didn't it? 50 Myra. Too close for my money! Much too close. (The cdmerA moues slowly Across the uarious porches to people wbo stand there watching and talking in low conuersing tones.)
2.
transfixed: unable to move.
The Monsters
207
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Narrator. Maple Street. Six-forty-four p.M. on a late September evening. (He pauses.) Maple Street in the last calm and reflective moment (pause) before the monsters camel
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(The camera takes us across After the screeching roar the porches again. A mnn is and the flash of light, 60 replacing a light bulb on a several strange events front porch. He gets off his happen on Maple Street. stool to flick the switch and As you read, underline details finds that nothing hoppens. that tell you about these Another man is working on f eve nts. an electric power mower. He plwgs in the plug, flicks the switch of the mower off and oft, but nothing happens. Through a window we see a woman pushing her finger up and down on the dial hook 70 of a tele:phone. Her uoice sounds far away.) Woman. Operato4 operator, something's wrong on the phone, operatorl (Myra Brand comes out on the porch and calls to Steve.) Myra (calling). Steve, the power's off .I had the soup on the stove , and the stove just stopped workirg. it:
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Woman. Same thing over here. I can't get anybody on the phone either. The pho.ne seems to be dead. (We look down again on the street. Small, mildly disturbed uoices Are heard coming from below.) Voice One. Electricity's off. Voice Two. Phone won't work. Voice Three. Can't get a thing on the radio. VOiCe FOUr. My power mower won't move, won't work at all. Voice Five. Radio's gone dead! (Pete Van Horn ) a tall, thin mdn, is seen standing in front of his house.) Pete. I'11 cut through the back yard to see if the power's still on, on Floral Street. I'11 be right back!
of his house and disappears into the back yard. The cdmert pans down slowly until we Are looking at ten or eleuen people standing around the street and ouerflowing to the curb and sidewalk. In the background is Steve Brandt car.\ Steve. Doesn't make sense. \7hy should the power go off all of a sudden and the phone line? Don. Maybe some kind of an electrical storm or
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Charlie. That don't seem likely. Sky's just as blue as 100 anythittg. Not a cloud. No lightnittg. No thunder. No nothing. How could it be a storm? Woman. I can't get a thing on the radio. Not even the portable. (The people again begin to murmur softly in wonderment.)
The'Monsters
,
charlie.'Well, why don't you go downtown and check with the police, though they'll probably think we're qazy or something. A little power failure and right away we get all flustered and everything 110 Steve. It isn't just the power failure, Charlie. If it was, we'd still be able to get a broadcast on the portable. (There is a murmur of reaction to this. Steve looks from face to face and then at his car.) Steve. I'll run downtown. We'll get this all
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straightened out. (He gets in the cnr and turns the kty. Looking through the open car door, we see the crowd watching Steve from the other side. He starts the engine. It turns ouer sluggishly and then stops dead. He tries it again, na and this time he cAn't get it to turn ouer. Then uery slowly he turns the kty back to " off" and gets out of the cAr. The people stare at Steve. He stands for a moment by the car and then walks toward them.) Steve. I don't understand it. It was workitrg fine
beforeDon. Out of gas? Steve (shakes his head). I jusr had it filled. Woman. What's it mean? Charlie. It's just as if (pause) as if everything had 130 stopped. (Then he turns toward Steve.) 'We'd better walk downtown. (Another murmur of assent to this.) Steve. The two of us can go, Charlie. (He turns to look back at the car.) It couldn't be the meteor. A meteor couldn't do this. .<$SB'$''*
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WORDS TO KNOW f lustered (flUs'terd)
adj. nervous or confused f E**ster
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Steve and Charlie start to walk downtown. Suddenly, a boy named Tommy stops them with his own explanation of the strange events. Read v lvrrrrrrt about Tommy's out LltJLtLlL vLlL Lu find llllLJ to exp la n atio
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(He and Charlie exchange a look. Then theY start to walk away from the growP. Tommy comes into uiew. He 140 is a serious-faced yowng boy in spectacles. He stands halfway between the growP and the two men, who start to walk down the sidewalk.l
Tommy. Mr. Brand-You'd better not! Steve.\fhy not? Tommy. They don't want You to. (Steve and Charlie exchange a grin, and Steve looks back toward the boY.) 150
. Who doesn't want us to? Tommy (ierks his head in the general direction of the Steve
distant h orizon) . Them! Steve. Them? Charlie.
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Tommy (intently). \Thoever was in that thing that came by overhead. (steve knits his brows for a moment, cocking his head questioningly. His uoice is intense.\
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(Yn-t$ns') adi. showing great concentration or determination
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Tommy.'sfhoever was in that thing that came over. I don't think they want us to leave here. (steve leaues charlie, walks ouer to the boy, and pwts his hand on the boy's showlder. He forces his uoice to remain gentle.l 'Vrhat do you mean? 'V7hat are you talking Steve.
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Tommy. They don't want us to leave. That's why they shut everything off. Steve. 'S7hat makes you say that? rilThatever gave you 170 that idea ?
Woman (from the crowdl . Now isn't that the crazrest thing you ever heard? Tommy (?ersistent bwt a little frightened).Ir's always that wdy, in every story I ever read about a ship landing from outer space. Woman (to the boy's mother, Sally, who stands on the fringe of the crowd). From ourer space yer! Sallg you better get that boy of yours up ro bed. He's been reading too many comic books or seeing 180 too many movies or something! Sally. TommS come over here and stop that kind of talk. Steve. Go ahead, Tommy.'We'll be right back. And you'll see. That wasn't any ship or anythirg like ir. That was just a. . . a meteor or something. Likely as not- (He turns to the group, now trying uery hard to sound more optimistic than he feels.) No doubt it did have something to do with all this power failure and the rest of it. Meteors can do 1e0 some qazy things. Like sunspots. Don (picking up the cue). Sure. That's the kind of thing-like sunspots. They raise Cain' with radio reception all over the world. And this thing being so close-why, there's no telling the sort of stu ff it can do . (He wets his l,ips and smiles neruowsly.) Go ahead, Charlie. You and Steve go into town and see if that isn't whar's causing it all. 3.
raise Cain: cause trouble; create a disturbance.
WORDS TO KNOW
persistent optimistic
(per-sYs'tent) adj.refusing to give up; continuing stubbornly (6p'te-mYs'tYk) adj.hopeful about the future; confident
(Steve and charlie walk away from the group down the sidewalk as the people watch silently. Tommy stares
at them, biting his lips, and finally calls out again.l Tommy. Mr. Brand! (The two men stop. Tommy takes a step toward them.l Tommy. Mr. Brand . . . please don't leave here. (Steve and Charlie stop once again and turn toward the boy. In the crowd there is a murmur of irritation and, concern, as if the boy's words-euen though they didn't make sense-were bringing up fears that shouldn't be brought up. Tommy is both frishtened and defiant.) zta Tommy. You might not even be able to get to town. It was that way in the story. Nobody could leave. Nobody except-
200
Steve. Except who? Tommy. Except the people they sent down ahead of them. They-looked just like humans. And it wasn't until the ship landed that- (The boy suddenly stops, consciows of the PeoPle staring at him and his mother and of the sudden hush of the crowd.l Sally (in a whisper, sensing the antagonism of the zzQ crowd). Tommy, please son . . . honey, don't talk
that wayMan One. That kid shouldn't talk that way . . . and we shouldn't stand here listening to him. \fhy this is the craztest thing I ever heard of. The kid tells us a comic book plot, and here we stand listening(Steve walks toward the camera and stops besid,e the boY'l
'What kind of story was Steve. Go ahead, Tommy. this? \[hat about the people they sent out ahead?
WORDS TO KNOW
defiant (dY-fT'ent) adj. willing to stand up to opposition; antagonism (5n-tdg'e-nYz'em) n. hostility; unfriendliness
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Tommy. That was the way they prepared things for the
landing. They sent four people. A mother and a father and two kids who looked just like humans . . . but they weren't. (There is another silence as Steve looks toward the crowd and then toward Tommy. He wears A tight grin.l Steve. 'Well, I guess what we'd better do then is to run a check on the neighborhood and see which ones of us are really human. (There is laughter at this, bwt it's a laughter that 240 comes from a desperatea attempt to lighten the atmosphere. The people look at one another in the middle of their laughter.) ffimmsm#ffiffim$$#ffi
F(}{tils The people of Maple Street single out one of their neighbors. Read to find out why. As you read, circle details that
tell why they find Les Goodman suspicious.
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Charlie (rubs his iaw neruously). I wonder if Floral Street's got the same deal we got. (He looks past the howses.) Xfhere is Pere Van Horn anyw ay? Isn't he back yet?
(Suddenly there is the sound of a cnr's engine starting to twrn or)er. We look across the street toward the driueway of Le:s Goodman's house. He is at the wheel trying to start the car.)
4.
desperate:
without hope.
Sally. Can you get started, Les? (Les Goodman gets owt of the car, shaking his head.l
No dice. (He walks toward the group. He stops suddenly as, bebind him, the cur engine starts wp all by itself. Les zs$ whirls around to stare at the cAr. The car idles roughly, smoke coming from the exbawst, the frame Les.
shaking gently. Les's eyes go wide, and he runs ouer to his car. The people stare at the car.\ Man One. He got the car started somehow. He got his car started! (The people continue to stare' canght wP by this reuelation and wildly frishtened.) Woman. How come his car just up and started like that? z?ft Sally. A11 by itself. He wasn't anywheres near it. It started all by itself. (Don Martin approaches the group and stops a ft* feet away to look toward Les's car.) Don. And he never did come out to look at that thing that flew overhead. He wasn't even interested. (He twrns to the group, his face taut and seriows.) \fhy? \(/hy didn't he come out with the rest of us to look? charlie. He always was an oddball. Him and his
whole family. Real oddball. 28* Don. \7hat do you say we ask him? (Tbe group starts toward the howse. In this brief fraction of a momen4 it takes the first step toward changing from a growp into a mob. The group members begin to head PwrPosefwlly across the street toward the house. Steve stands in front of them. For a moment their fear almost turns their walk into a Mons-ters:
wild stampede, but Stevet uoice, Ioud, incisiu€,s and l$,ii'ffi
commanding, makes them stop.) Steve. 'Wait a minute . . . wait a minute! Let's not be 2eo a mob! (The PeoPIe stop, pause for a momenL and then, much more quietly and slowly, start to walk Across the street Les stands alone facing the people.) Les. I just don't understand it. I tried to start it, and it wouldn't start. You saw me. All of you saw me. (And now, iust as swddenly as the engine started, it stops, and there is a long silence that is gradually intruded upon by the frishtened murmuring of the people.) 300
Les.
I don't understand. I swear . . . I don't
understand.'Sfhat's h"ppening? Don. Maybe you better tell us. Nothing's workitrg on this street. Nothing. No lights, no power, no radio, (then meaningfully) nothing except one car-yours! (The PeoPle's murmwring becomes a loud cbant filling the air with accusations and demands fo, Action. Two of the men pass Don and head toward Les, who backs away from them against his car. He is cornered.) 'Wait Les. a minute rlow. You keep your distance-all 310 of you. So I've got a car that starts by itself-well, that's a freak thing-I admit it. But does that make me a criminal or something? I don't know why the car
works-it just does!
(This stops the crowd momentarily, and Les, still backing awtry, goes toward his front porch. He goes up the steps and then stops, facing the mob.)
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Les.
320
'S7hat's
it all about, Steve ?
Steve (qwietly).'We're all on a monster kick, Les. Seems that the general impression holds that maybe one family isn't what we think they are. Monsters from outer space or something. Different from us. Aliens from the vast beyond. (He chuckles.) You know anybody that might fit that description around here on Maple Street?
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Les. Sfhat is this, a gag? (He looks around the group again.) This a practical joke or something?
(Suddenly the ca,r engine starts all by itself, runs for a moment, and stops. One woman begins to cry. The eyes of the crowd are cold and accusirg.l 3s0
Now that's supposed to incriminate ffie, huh? The car engine goes on and off, and that really does it, doesn't it? (He looks Around at the faces of the peoplt.l I just don't understand it . . . any more than any of you do | (He wets his lips, looking from 'We've lived face to face.) Look, you all know me. here five years. Right in this house. 'We're no different from any of the rest of you! 'We're no different at all. . . . Really . . . this whole thing is
Les.
just
. just weird 'Well, if that's the case, Les Goodman, 340 Woman. explain why- (She stops suddenly, clampirg her mouth shut.) Les (softlyl . Explain what?
Steve (interiecting). Look, let's forget this Charlie (ouerlapping him). Go ahead, let her talk. I7hat about it? Explain what?
WORDS TO KNOW
incriminate
(Yn-krYm'e-ndt') y. to cause
to appear guilty
The Monsters
277
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Woman (a little reluctantlyl . \7ell . . . sometimes I go to bed late at night. A couple of times . . . a couple of times I'd come out here on the porch, and I'd see 350 Mr. Goodman here in the wee hours of the morning standirg out in front of his house . . . looking up at the sky. (She looks around the circle of faces.l That's right, looking up at the sky as if . . . as if he were waiting for something , (pauses) as if he were looking for something. . (There's a murmur of reaction from the crowd again
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,
Les. She's ctazy. Look, I can explain that. Please . . I can really explain that. . . . She's making it up 360 anyway. (Then he shouts,) I tell you she's making it up!
(He takes a step toward the crowd, and tbey back away from him. He walks down the steps after them, and they continue to back away. Suddenly he is left completely alone, and he looks like a man cawght in the middle of a menncing circle as the scene slowly fades to black.l
hirnself.
n His car stops and starts .by itseif. 2. Do you think the neighbors have good reasons for being suspicious? Why or, why not? {Evaluatel
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.
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Act Two
As night falls, the terror grows. Read to find out how the neighbors treat
Scene One
(Fade in on Maple Street at night. On the sidewalk, little 370 knots of people stand arownd talking in low uoices. At the end of each conuersation they look toward Les Goodmant house. From the uarious houses, we can see candlelight but no electricity. The qwiet that blankets the whole areA is disturbed only by the almost whispered uoices of the people standing Around. In one group Charlie stands staring across at the Goodmans' howse. Two men stand across the street from it in almost sentrylike' poses.) one another.
Sally (in a small, besitant uoice). It just doesn't seem 380 right, though, keeping watch on them. \fhy . . . he was right when he said he was one of our neighbors. \7hy, I've known Ethel Goodman ever since they moved in. \We've been good friendsCharlie. That don't prove a thing. Aty guy who'd spend his time lookin' up at the sky eaily in the morning-well, there's something wrong with that kind of person. There's something that ain't legitimate. Maybe under normal circumstances we ' could let it go bg but these aren't normal 3e0 circumstances. N7hy, look at this street! Nothin' but candles. \fhy, it's like goin' back into the Dark Ages or somethin'! (Steve walks down the steps of his porch, down the street to the Goodmans' house, and then stops at the foot of the steps. Les is standing there; Ethel Goodman behind him is uery frishtened.) 6. sentrylike:
like a sentrS a person, especially a soldier, who keeps watch.
WORDS TO KNOW f
egitimate
(le-jYt'e-mYt) adj. in accordance
practices; reasonable
with accepted
Les. Just stay right where you are) Steve. 'We don't want any trouble, but this time rf anybody sets foot
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on my porch-that's what they're going to trouble! Steve. Look,
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Les-
Les. I've akeady explained to you people. I don't sleep very well at night sometimes. I get up and I take a walk and I look up at the sky. I look at the stars !
Ethel. That's exactly what he does. \fhy, this whole thing, it's . . . it's some kind of madness or something.
410
Steve (nods grimly). That's exactly what it is-some kind of madness. Charlie's Voice (shrill, from across the streetl . You best watch who you're seen with, Stevel Until we get this all straightened out, you ain't exactly above suspicion yourself. Steve (whirling around toward himl . Or you, Charlie. Or any of us, it seems. From age eight on up!
Woman.'S7hat I'd like to know is-what are we gonna do? Just stand around here all night? 424
Charlie. There's nothin' else we cAn do I (He turns back, looking toward Steve and Les again.) One of 'em'll tip their hand.t They got to. Steve (raising his uoicel . There's something you can do, Charlie. You can go home and keep your mouth shut. You can quit strutting around like a selfappointed judge and climb into bed and forget it. Charlie. You sound real anxious to have that hrppen, Steve. I think we better keep our eye on you, too!
7. tip their
hand: reveal themselves.
Don (as if he were taking the bit in his teeth,s takes a hesitant step to the frontl . I think everything might as well come out now. (He turns toward Steve.) Your wife's done plenty of talking, Steve, about how odd you arel Charlie (picking this up, his eyes widening). Go ahead, tell us what she's said. (Steve walks toward them from across the street.l Steve. Go ahead, what's my wife said? Let's get it all out. Let's pick out every idios)rncrasy of ev ery single man, wom dfr, and child on the street. And then we might as well set up some kind of citizens' court. How about a firing squad at dawn, Charlie, so we can get rid of all the suspects. Narrow them down. Make it easier for you.
Don. There's no need gettin' so upset, Steve. It's just that . . . well . . . Myra's talked about how there's been plenty of nights you spenr hours down in your basement workin' on some kind of radio or something. 'Well, none of us have ever seen that radio
(By this time Steve has reacbed the growp. He stands there defiantly.) Charlie. Go ahead, Steve. 'til7hat kind of "radio set" you workin' on? I never seen it. Neither has anyone 'Who else. do you talk to on that radio set? And who talks to you? Steve, I'm surprised at you, Charlie. How come you're so dense all of a sudden? (He pauses.) \7ho do I talk to ? I talk to monsters from outer space.
8.
taking the bit in his teeth: taking the initiative to do or say something.
WORDS TO KNOW
idiosyncrasy
(Yd'6-6-sYng'kre-sd) n. a personal way
odd mannerism
of acting;
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I talk to three-headed green men who fly over here in what look like meteors.
(Myra Brand steps down from the porch, bites her lip, calls oLtt.) Myra. Steve! Steve, please. (Then looking Around, frishtened, she walks toward the group.) Ir's just a ham radio set, that's all. I bought him a book on it myself. It's just a ham radio set. A lot of people have them. I can show it to you. It's right down in the basement. Steve (whirls arownd toward her). Show them nothing! If they want to look inside our house-let 470 them go and get a search warrant. Charlie. Look, buddg you can'r afford roSteve (interrupting him). Charlie, don't srart telling me who's dangerous and who isn't and who's safe and who's a menace. (He turns to the group and showfs.) And you're with him, too-all of you! You're standirg here all set to cruci fy-all set to find a scape goate-all despe rate to point some kind of a finger at a neighbor! \7ell now, look, friends, the only thing that's gonna happen is that we'll eat each other up alive(He stops abruptly as Charlie suddenly grabs his arm.) Charlie (in a hushed uoice). That's not the only thing that can happen to us. (D own the street, a figwre has swddenly materialized in the gloom. In the silence we hear the clickety-clack of slow, measured footsteps on concrete as the figure walks slowly toward them. One of the women lets owt a stifled cry. Sally grabs her boy, As do a couple of otber mothers.)
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Tommy (shouting, frishtenedl . It's the monster! It's the monster! (Another woman lets out a wail, and the people fall back in d group staring toward the darkness and the approachins fi7ure. The people stand in the shadows watching. Don Martrn ioins them, carrying a shotgnn. He holds it wp.) \U7e
may need this. Steve. A shotgun? (He pulls it out of Dont hand.) No! nfiil anybody think a thought around here! \fiil you people wise up. What good would a shotgun do against(The dark figure continues to walk toward them as the people stand there, fearfwl, motbers clutchirg children, men standing in front of their wiues.) Charlie (pwlling the gun from Steve's hands). more talk, Steve. You're going to talk us into a grave! You'd let whatever's out there walk right 'Well, some of us won't! over us, wouldn't yuh? Don.
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(Charlie swings around, raises the SHn, and suddenly pulls the trigger. The sound of the shot explodes in the stillness. The figure suddenly lets owt a small cr!, stwrnbles forward onto his knees, and then falls "forward on his face. Don, Charlie, and Steve race forward to him. Steve is there first and turns the mnn ouer. The crowd gathers around them.)
the boxed passage. What i,mpoffant event is escribed in these stage ir:ections? {Glarifu}
Steve (slowly looks up). It's Pete Van Horn. Don (in a hushed uoice). Pete Van Horn! He was just gonna go over to the next block to see if the power was on520 Woman. You killed him, Charlie. You shot him dead!
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Charlie (looks Around at the circle of faces, his eyes frishtened, his face contorted). But . . . but I didn't know who he was. I certainly didn't know who he was. He comes walkin' out of the darkness-how am I supposed to know who he was? (He grabs Steve.) Steve-you know why I shot! How was I supposed to know he wasn't a monster or 'We're something? (He grabs Don.) all scared of the same thing. I was just tryin' to . . . tryin' to protect my home, that's alll Look, all of you, that's all I was tryin' to do . (He looks down wildly at the body.l I didn't know it was somebody we knew! I didn't know(There's a sudden hush and then An intake of breath in the growp. Across tbe street all the lights go on in one of tbe houses.l
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