A Turtle and a Bear / by Jeffrey Lo

A TURTLE AND A BEAR BY JEFFREY LO (DOWNLOAD PDF HERE)

TURTLE and BEAR sitting somewhere you might find a turtle and a bear. 

TURTLE: Do bears eat me?

BEAR: What?

TURTLE: Do bears eat me?

BEAR: What do you mean?

TURTLE: Do bears eat turtles?

BEAR: Oh.

TURTLE: I am a turtle.

BEAR: I see that.

TURTLE: Would you eat me?

BEAR: No.

TURTLE: So bears don’t eat me.

BEAR: Are you asking if bears eat turtles?

TURTLE: Yes.

BEAR: Why?

TURTLE: Because I am next to a large bear.

BEAR: Yes.

TURTLE: What?

BEAR: Yes. Bears eat turtles.

TURTLE: WHAT!?

BEAR: Beats eat turtles.

TURTLE starts to run away which – actually – is still a really slow walk.

TURTLE: LIAR!

BEAR: How am I liar?

TURTLE: You just said you wouldn’t eat me.

BEAR: I know.

TURTLE: But then you said bears eat turtles!

BEAR: I know.

TURTLE: So you’re a liar!

BEAR: No I’m not!

TURTLE: HOW!?

BEAR: Because I meant it when I said I would not eat you.

TURTLE stops running away.

TURTLE: You wouldn’t?

BEAR: No.

TURTLE: But bears eat turtles.

BEAR: Yes. But this bear would not eat this turtle.

Pause.

TURTLE: Why not?

BEAR: Because we’ve had a conversation… That’d be weird at this point.

Pause.

TURTLE: Huh.

Blackout.

END OF PLAY.