Excerpt of Holly (formatted for web viewing.)
(BEN and HOLLY have taken refuge in a kiva during a hailstorm. As they entered, the ruin transformed into a traditional kiva with complete walls and a roof.)
HOLLY: So, tell me: What’s a kiva?
BEN: (He responds in Hopi, then in English) Bum-uh-teh-heh-eh. A structure connecting the two worlds. (HOLLY is clueless.)The floor is related to the world below, the entrance to the world above. (Still clueless.) It is a sacred place, between realities. (Still clueless.) It’s for ceremonies.
HOLLY: Are you a medicine man?
BEN: God no. I’m a park ranger.
HOLLY: But you know how to build a fire.
BEN: Good Indian.
(BEN takes a few pinches of herbs from his medicine bag and sprinkles them on the ground.)
HOLLY: Will that make the fire catch?
BEN: No. It just smells good. (The fire is still not catching.) Damn matches.
HOLLY: Rub two sticks together.
BEN: You’re kidding, right?
HOLLY: Well—?
BEN: You rub two sticks together. I went to the Air Force Academy. We had lighters.
(HOLLY hands BEN a lighter.)
HOLLY: Here.
BEN: Thanks. (The fire begins to catch. BEN blows on it and helps it ignite over the next few lines. They sit.) What’s wrong with your job?
HOLLY: ‘Scuse me?
BEN: When I found you kicking your tire, you were yelling that you hate your job.
HOLLY: (Calming.) Yeah, well I went a little insane there for a few minutes.
BEN: You don’t like the out-of-doors?
HOLLY: Actually, I do. Well, used to. No I do. And this morning’s drive was breathtaking.
BEN: But you don’t like it here.
HOLLY: I don’t like jutted roads and flat tires.
BEN: They should have given you a four-wheel drive.
HOLLY: Tell me something I don’t know. You live out here?
BEN: I live in Flagstaff.
HOLLY: Is that where the reservation is?
BEN: I live in a condo.
HOLLY: Isn’t that an awfully long drive every day?
BEN: I spend two months up here every year. Gives the resident ranger a chance to visit her family. So?
(...continued...)