This play was written with the following prompts: watch, palace, translator, shaman
SHAMAN: Excuse me. Do you work for the palace?
TRANSLATOR: I sort of showed up one day as the only person that spoke Norwegian and now I guess I work here.
SHAMAN: (to himself) I wasn’t asking for your life story! (to TRANSLATOR) I found this watch in the meditation room. Do you know if there is a lost and found?
TRANSLATOR: Oh I can take that from you right now.
(TRANSLATOR reaches out to grab the watch.)
SHAMAN: (to himself) They seem suspicious! (to TRANSLATOR) It’s alright. If you could direct me to the lost and found –
TRANSLATOR: You see those stairs over there at the end of the hallway? Go down those stairs and just keep going until you get to the bottom. (to himself) And then I’ll lock you in the basement! Muahahahaha!
SHAMAN: Alright. Thank you for your assistance.
(SHAMAN walks towards the hallway. He stops and turns around.)
SHAMAN: One more thing. Do you happen to know if this palace houses wombats?
TRANSLATOR: Only the most vicious wombats in the world
SHAMAN: Hmm..I had a vision that the wombats got loose and killed someone. Couldn’t see the face, so I couldn’t tell you who.
TRANSLATOR: Did you notice anything unusual about the way they looked?
SHAMAN: The only thing I could see was a tattoo.
(TRANSLATOR rubs his forearm through his shirt.)
TRANSLATOR: What kind of tattoo was it?
SHAMAN: I couldn’t quite make it out, but I think it was a cheeseburger or a cardinal.
TRANSLATOR: Or a t-rex riding a bicycle?
SHAMAN: Perhaps. Anyway, I should get going. I have marriage counseling at two. If you see anyone at the palace with a cheeseburger, cardinal, or t-rex riding a bicycle tattoo, tell them that they need to stop being an asshole or the wombats will get them.
TRANSLATOR: What are you going to do with the watch?
SHAMAN: Put it into the lost and found box. It’s a Casio. Worth at least twenty dollars! The person who lost it must want it back.
TRANSLATOR: Twenty dollars!
SHAMAN: A person could eat like a king for a week with twenty dollars.
TRANSLATOR: You’re crazy.
SHAMAN: If twenty dollars isn’t much to you, why don’t you give me twenty dollars? (pause) Point made.
TRANSLATOR: If I give you twenty dollars will the wombats still get me?
SHAMAN: Only one way to find out.
TRANSLATOR: Fine.
(TRANSLATOR gives SHAMAN twenty dollars. SHAMAN exits with both the watch and the twenty dollars. Wombat sounds are heard from offstage. TRANSLATOR runs away.)
THE END.