Jake. How was the new ball park?
Vince. There was something familiar and refreshing in seeing the color red - something like the first brisk day of Autumn.
End. One Citizens Bank Way, Philadelphia, PA 19148-5249

Giulia. What are you thinking about?
Kornel. I can't get this one lady out of my head.
Giulia. Who is it?
Kornel. I was driving towards the Susquehanna and I stopped at an intersection. I signaled right and there was a No Turn on Red sign, so I was just waiting for the light to turn green. Then some lady pulls up behind me and taps her horn.
Giulia. She wanted you to go on the red?
Kornel. When I didn't go, she then pressed down on her horn. The blare and accent was directed towards me alone.
Giulia. Are you serious?
Kornel. I saw her through my rearview window. With no sophistication, her eyes wanted to spring out and hurt me for not taking the right. Someone in one of the row houses across the street came to his front door out of curiosity.
Giulia. Why are people like that? What gives them the right to be like that?
Kornel. Impatience and ignorance give them that right. So I tried to communicate that there was a No Turn on Red sign by opening my window and pointing towards the sign, but she continued with her horn.
Giulia. Did you do anything?
Kornel. No. The unexpected can happen when approaching a stranger's car.
Giulia. I think I would have lost it if I were you.
Kornel. But my problem is that I can't let it go. I am overpowered by that incident. I've let her have this control over me. I think about more often than I should.
Giulia. Do you think you should have gone to her car?
Kornel. The way she was, I could have offered her flowers and a puppy and she still would have taken offense from me. There's no point in talking to a person stubborn-blind like that.
Giulia. But it sounds like she haunts you.
Kornel. She does. How do you get someone like that out of your head?
Giulia. I wonder if there's a support group for dealing with obnoxious drivers.
Kornel. Yes, I've been traumatized by one.
End. Obnoxious Driver Trauma

Ivaylo. You look tired.
Martijn. I think I'm just going to give up.
Ivaylo. What do you mean?
Martijn. They want to catch me more than I want to escape, so I'm giving up.
Ivaylo. I don't understand; all this time invested in running.
Martijn. Exactly. The goal of escaping is being free, not constantly running. I should not be running anymore. I am tried of it.
Ivaylo. What are you going to do? Give yourself up?
Martijn. I don't know. Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could.
Ivaylo. So you still want to escape?
Martijn. I should have been free by now. How long am I going to do this?
Ivaylo. I still want to escape more than they want to catch me. I am going to keep running.
Martijn. How do you keep running?
Ivaylo. I can actually imagine being free. To me, it is very real.
Martijn. I lost that. Running is the end for me.
Ivaylo. Look, there’s Murad. He’s found us. Do you think you can imagine being free? Let's go run. Murad's tired too. There are people to easier catch than us.
Martijn. But we're the catch.
Ivaylo. Yes we are. Here he comes, are you ready to run?
Martijn. What if I caught you?
End. Martijn Runs a Different Path

Matej. I've decided to take the car on its last trip.
Amit. Your car? Where are you taking it?
Matej. I'm going to make my way towards Colorado. Maybe rent a kayak and find the center of one of them still lakes.
Amit. I don't think you'll make it. That car's going to fall apart before you get there.
Matej. That's a possibility, but if the car falls apart, I'll call it the end and depending on where I am, I'll continue to Colorado on a bus or go back home.
Amit. You love your car don't you?
Matej. It's the only one I've had.
Amit. It's about time. You've had that car for too long.
Matej. It's served me well. You know the saying.
Amit. I bet you it won't last for two states.
Matej. Three if I'm lucky.
Amit. I've never been to Colorado. Can I come with you?
Matej. No.
End. Without Amit

Csilla. Hey, I'm going to meet with Matwe at Bagdan's. Do you want to join us?
Thiemo. Perhaps not.
Csilla. Why not?
Thiemo. It's Matwe. I do not think I can maintain myself around him.
Csilla. What? Really?
Thiemo. He's just one of those people that bring out the worst in me. It's overbearing. I subconsciously consent to his influence.
Csilla. What would be you at your worst?
Thiemo. I am insecure, defensive, and awkward, and then I start to hate myself.
Csilla. I hope that's not how you feel when we meet.
Thiemo. Not at all. I would say that you bring out a truer sense of me.
Csilla. Well good. I guess I can say the same about you.
Thiemo. We should meet more often.
Csilla. Why don’t we?
Thiemo. When did you have to go to Bagdan’s?
Csilla. I’m a little thirsty. Did you want to go get a drink?
Thiemo. I know a place.
End. Thiemo’s Best and Worst

Thiemo. You know, I don't blame him. It’s really my issue. I actually respect Matwe, but I'm just not mature enough to handle him.
Csilla. Do you think there will be a point where you will be able to handle Matwe?
Thiemo. Sure, but it's not something that I'm working on. It'll happen when it happens, and I won't even notice it.
Csilla. How do you know when it happens?
Thiemo. I'm hoping it doesn't.
End. Hoping for the Worst

Marse. Amadine? It's me.
Amadine. Hey, what's up?
Marse. Are you home?
Amadine. Yeah, I was about to go out, why?
Marse. Can you do me a favor?
Amadine. What is it?
Marse. Can you find the pair of pants I wore yesterday and take out the chili pepper in one of my pockets?
Amadine. Hold on.

Hello? I got it. It's pretty cute. Where did you get this?
Marse. I got it at the grocery store.
Amadine. You just got one? How much was it?
Marse. I didn't pay for it.
Amadine. You stole it?
Marse. Well, not really. It was on the floor. It was going to be thrown out, so I decided to take it. It's just one pepper.
Amadine. Wait, you always discourage me from taste testing cherries.
Marse. Yes, because you need to also discard the stem and seed somewhere.
Amadine. What about grapes? Would you have any problems me taste testing grapes? I mean seedless grapes.
Marse. Not as much, but it's still different from why I took the pepper.
Amadine. How?
Marse. Well, one thing, the chili was going to be swept up and thrown out since it was on the floor. You're taking perfectly good cherries and eating them on the spot.
Amadine. I don't know. This one looks perfectly fine. You could have simply returned the pepper back with the others. Whoever would have taken it would probably have washed it. But, I don't get it anyways.
Marse. Get what?
Amadine. What are you going to do with one pepper?
Marse. I'm taking the seeds to dry then plant them.
End. The Cost of Chili Peppers

Yera. Andemir?
Andemir. Hey Yera.
Yera. Hey where have you been? I haven't seen you around in a couple of weeks.
Andemir. I was getting tired of all these lights. You can't see anything but the lights around here.
Yera. Light pollution.
Andemir. Exactly. So I wanted to find a dark place, a place where light was necessary.
Yera. Did you find it?
Andemir. I had to consider it, but I did. I had to find an observatory. There would be darkness there.
Yera. I've been to an observatory once. It was in India. Remember Gvidas?
Andemir. Ah yes. Gvidas.
Yera. We went trekking along the southern coast and found our way to one of the British hill stations near Madras to get away from the heat. It had an observatory there at the top of one of the hills. It was weird though. No one was there. All that was there were black beetles the size of golf balls.
Andemir. No one was at the observatory when I got there either, but it was what I was looking for. By half past nine, it got dark. All color faded to black, the stars came in clusters, it was what I needed.
Yera. So you stayed there for a couple of weeks?
Andemir. Yeah, I found a cheap place to stay.
Yera. What did you do when it was light?
Andemir. I went to the library and did some reading, did some hiking in the forest, ate at the diners and cafes there.
Yera. You know, when I was at the observatory with Gvidas, it didn't occur to me that we should have stayed until it got dark. We hitchhiked our way back down the hill and had dinner at the first place we found. I can only remember the sprigs of mint in our lemonade.
Andemir. It must have been deeply dark at that hill station.
Yera. It might have been, but I guess I wasn’t looking for it. You were escaping the light. I was escaping the heat.
Andemir. I can’t remember if it was cold.
End. Unnecessary Light and Heat

Alisee. Hey do you want to have the watermelon in your fridge?
Laurentiu. Maybe not. It's been there for a good three weeks.
Alisee. Really?
Laurentiu. I don't know what it is. Every week I used to cut up a whole watermelon, store it in my refrigerator, and eat it all through out the rest of the week. Now I can't even finish one in a month.
Alisee. You sound worried about eating watermelon.
Laurentiu. My motivation to eat watermelon is gone. I’m done with slicing through the flesh, the resistance of the rind’s curve, the occasional snap of splitting a seed, spitting them out, my wet cutting board with red juices and whatever's left over.
Alisee. Are you motivated to eat anything?
Laurentiu. I think I've lost the joy of eating.
Alisee. That's horrible. How can you not enjoy eating?
Laurentiu. It's become just a task in order not be hungry.
Alisee. You love food.
Laurentiu. I do.
Alisee. Does all this have to do with watermelon?
Laurentiu. I don't know. Probably not. It's just the result of something heavier.
Alisee. What if I cut the watermelon? Do you think you'll have some?
Laurentiu. Maybe. Sure.
Alisee. Where's your knife? I'll go ahead and cut it.
Laurentiu. There should be one drying on the rack by the sink.
Alisee. Oh, you know what? This watermelon's bad.
Laurentiu. Yeah. Thanks, though.
Alisee. Let's go out and get another one. Do you think you'll enjoy eating watermelon again?
Laurentiu. Let's find out.
End. Motivation for Watermelon