VALERIAN: Clover! Clover! You need to wake up! Something awful is happening.

Transcription

1 Poppy and Rye by Avi 1 This script adapted from Poppy and Rye/km, 2008 Characters (in order of appearance): VALERIAN NARRATOR ONE NARRATOR TWO CLOVER CASTER P. CANAD VALERIAN: Clover! Clover! You need to wake up! Something awful is happening. NARRATOR ONE: Clover, a golden mouse, was small, round, and fast asleep in a snug corner of her underground nest. Too sleepy to make sense of the words being spoken to her, she opened her silky black eyes, looked up, and gasped. NARRATOR TWO: Was that Ragweed learning over her? Ragweed was a particular favorite of her sixty-three children. He had gone east in search of adventures but had not been heard of for four months. NARRATOR ONE: Her eyes focused. She could see more clearly now. CLOVER: Valerian, is that you? NARRATOR TWO: Valerian was Clover s husband. He was a long-faced, lanky, middle-aged golden mouse with shabby fur of orange hue and scruffy whiskers edged with gray. CLOVER: Is something the matter with the children?

2 Poppy and Rye by Avi 2 VALERIAN: They re fine, but Clover, you ve got to see what I ve discovered. You re not going to believe it. CLOVER: Can t you just tell me what it is? NARRATOR ONE: Clover replied with a yawn. She never got enough sleep. VALERIAN: Clover, we re we re in great danger. NARRATOR TWO: A startled Clover looked about the nest where she and Valerian and all their children had made their home for six happy years. NARRATOR ONE: A small, deep, and comfortable nest consisting of three champers, each of its rooms was lined with milkweed fluff. NARRATOR TWO: There were a family room, a master bedroom, and the children s nursery, where thirteen of the children were currently sleeping. VALERIAN: Clover, please get up. It s not the children. But it will affect them. Badly. NARRATOR ONE: With Clover, an appeal to family never failed. She forced herself up. NARRATOR TWO: The two mice made their way up the entry hole to the ground surface. NARRATOR ONE: Valerian scampered down one of the many paths that radiated from the nest. When he took the path that followed a steep incline, Clover knew they were heading for the Brook.

3 Poppy and Rye by Avi 3 NARRATOR TWO: The Brook where water lilies floated on its wide, shallow surface. Fireflies flashed, butterflies danced. Mosquitoes droned. Water bugs scooted. Cattails swayed to the rhythms of the night. NARRATOR ONE: With nothing rough or dangerous about the Brook, the young mice loved to frolic about its banks. It was the closeness to the Brook that caused Clover and Valerian to build their nest and raise their family where they did. NARRATOR TWO: That night, everything changed. VALERIAN: Look! NARRATOR ONE: He pointed downstream. CLOVER: Why my goodness, it s a dam! But but why? NARRATOR ONE: Valerian pointed to the water s edge. CLOVER: What should I be looking at? VALERIAN: The water. Watch. NARRATOR TWO: Clover stared until, with a shock, she jumped back. CLOVER: Valerian, the water is rising! VALERIAN: Exactly. CLOVER: But if it keeps coming this fast, our home will be flooded!

4 Poppy and Rye by Avi 4 VALERIAN: Clover, I m afraid the whole neighborhood is going under. CLOVER: But but, who would do such a dreadful thing? VALERIAN: Take a gander out there. NARRATOR ONE: This time, he pointed across the water. NARRATOR TWO: Clover stared. At first she thought she was seeing nothing more that a floating brown lump of earth or wood. Then, she realized it was an animal swimming on the water s surface. NARRATOR ONE: He was a large, portly fellow, with thick, glossy brown fur, a black nose, and two beady eyes. NARRATOR TWO: Two enormous buck teeth brilliant orange in the light of the moon stuck out from his mouth like chisels. CLOVER: A beaver! NARRATOR ONE: Just to say the word brought understanding. Beavers had come and dammed the Brook. NARRATOR TWO: As Clover and Valerian stared, the beaver saw them. Lifting his water-soaked head, he offered an immense toothy smile. CASTER: Bless my teeth and smooth my tail! NARRATOR ONE: The beaver called out in a loud voice.

5 Poppy and Rye by Avi 5 CASTER: I do believe it s my new neighbors. Tickled pink to meet up with you. The name is Caster P. Canad. But everybody calls me Cas. I m head of the construction company that s doing the work here. Canad and Company. Progress Without Pain, that s our motto. CLOVER: But but you ve destroyed our brook. CASTER: Easy does it, sweetheart, easy does it. Don t need to make a mountain out of a molehill, do we. Or for that matter, and ocean out of a puddle. NARRATOR ONE: Without saying another word, Valerian and Clover turned and fled back up the path. CASTER: Have a nice day! I mean that, sincerely! NARRATOR ONE: As the two mice dashed toward their nest, all Clover could think was, CLOVER: Oh, Ragweed. Please, please come home. We need you! Where are you?