Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech 1 This script adapted from Pleasing the Ghost/km, 2010 Characters (in order of appearance): NARRATOR ONE NARRATOR TWO DENNIS UNCLE ARVIE NARRATOR ONE: Dennis was your basic, ordinary nine-year-old boy. NARRATOR TWO: He usually lived a basic, ordinary life. NARRATOR ONE: He went to school, took care of his dog, ate, and slept. NARRATOR TWO: Sometimes, though, his life was not so ordinary. That was because of the ghosts. NARRATOR ONE: Another had arrived last week. NARRATOR TWO: It came on the wind, like the others. NARRATOR ONE: No one feels or hears the wind, except for Dennis and his dog, Bo. NARRATOR TWO: The first ghost came a month after his father died. NARRATOR ONE: It was his great gran, but he didn t know it was a ghost. NARRATOR TWO: There had been a constant parade of ghosts ever since.
Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech 2 NARRATOR ONE: Last Friday, as he climbed into bed, Dennis heard one of the whispering winds. DENNIS: Get ready, Bo. Here comes a ghost. NARRATOR TWO: The curtains flipped into the air and sank down again, wrapping their ends around the chair. NARRATOR ONE: The ghost had arrived. NARRATOR TWO: Dennis recognized him immediately. DENNIS: Uncle Arvie! It s you, isn t it? UNCLE ARVIE: (brushing himself off) Riggle! NARRATOR ONE: It was Uncle Arvie, all right. That s just the way Uncle Arvie talks or used to talk, when he was alive. Most people couldn t understand a word he said. Only his wife Aunt Julia and Dennis could piece together what he was saying. NARRATOR TWO: Bo poked his nose out from under the blanket, sniffed the air, and barked, staring at Uncle Arvie. DENNIS: Don t be scared, Bo. It s Uncle Arvie! NARRATOR ONE: Yip! UNCLE ARVIE: Elephant? DENNIS: No, it s my dog. UNCLE ARVIE: Elephant!
Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech 3 DENNIS: (muttering to self) It s not going to be easy having a ghost around. NARRATOR TWO: When he was little, Uncle Arvie spoke just like everyone else, saying normal words at the normal time. NARRATOR ONE: But one day when Uncle Arvie was still alive he woke up speaking this way. NARRATOR TWO: Uncle Arvie had a stroke, and words were twisted in his brain. NARRATOR ONE: He knew what he wanted to say, but the words that came out of his mouth were not the words he chose. NARRATOR TWO: Sometimes they weren t even words at all or at least not words that most people knew like riggle and fraggle. DENNIS: You re supposed to be in heaven now. UNCLE ARVIE: Railroad, yin. DENNIS: Heaven up there. UNCLE ARVIE: Railroad! (wave arms as if flying) NARRATOR ONE: Uncle Arvie strolled around the room, looking at things. NARRATOR TWO: He picked up the book that had fallen on the floor. UNCLE ARVIE: Pasta, wig pasta.
Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech 4 NARRATOR ONE: Next, he examined the pictures on the bookshelf, picking up one of Dennis and his mother. UNCLE ARVIE: Macaroni and Dinosaur! DENNIS: It s my mother and me Dennis. UNCLE ARVIE: Macaroni and Dinosaur! Macaroni and Dinosaur! NARRATOR TWO: Uncle Arvie examined a photograph of Dennis s father and kissed the picture. UNCLE ARVIE: Dinosaur s pepperoni. NARRATOR ONE: Uncle Arvie pointed toward the door. UNCLE ARVIE: Pepperoni? DENNIS: My father isn t here. UNCLE ARVIE: Nod pepperoni? DENNIS: He s gone. He-- NARRATOR TWO: Uncle Arvie tilted his head just like Bo, waiting for Dennis to finish. DENNIS: He s in heaven. UNCLE ARVIE: Nod!
Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech 5 NARRATOR ONE: Uncle Arvie put his hands over his mouth. UNCLE ARVIE: Nod railroad? Nod pepperoni railroad? Nod, nod. NARRATOR TWO: He was very upset. Dennis s father and Uncle Arvie were brothers. DENNIS: I was hoping maybe you d seen him there-in heaven. UNCLE ARVIE: Nod, nod, NARRATOR ONE: Uncle Arvie cried. UNCLE ARVIE: Nod, nod pepperoni. NARRATOR TWO: Dennis handed him a tissue. DENNIS: Last year. Right after you. He was very sick. We miss him. NARRATOR ONE: Uncle Arvie held the picture to his chest. DENNIS: We miss you, too. NARRATOR TWO: Uncle Arvie put the picture back on the bookshelf and lifted another photograph. It was one of Uncle Arvie and his wife, Julia. UNCLE ARVIE: Oh, Heartfoot. Oh, oh, Heartfoot. NARRATOR ONE: He hugged the picture and kissed it. DENNIS: She s not in heaven. Aunt Julia s fine!
Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech 6 UNCLE ARVIE: Oh, Heartfoot. NARRATOR TWO: Uncle Arvie put the picture back and turned suddenly. UNCLE ARVIE: Please. Three pleases. DENNIS: What? NARRATOR ONE: Uncle Arvie held up four fingers, looked at them, and then pushed one back down. Three fingers wiggled. DENNIS: Three what? NARRATOR TWO: It looked as if Uncle Arvie wanted three things, but Dennis had no idea what he might want. DENNIS: Food? UNCLE ARVIE: Nod-- DENNIS: Money? UNCLE ARVIE: Nod, nod DENNIS: Clothes? UNCLE ARVIE: Nod, nod, nod NARRATOR ONE: He waggled his fingers in Dennis s face. DENNIS: Nail clippers?
Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech 7 UNCLE ARVIE: Nod! NARRATOR TWO: Uncle Arvie glanced pitifully at his fingers. DENNIS: Maybe I ll understand in the morning. You ll be here in the morning, won t you? NARRATOR ONE: Some ghosts stay, some don t. UNCLE ARVIE: Yin! DENNIS: Good. Then maybe we should get some sleep UNCLE ARVIE: Stamp! NARRATOR TWO: Uncle Arvie agreed. NARRATOR ONE: He lay down on the desk, with his long legs sticking out over the edge, as if they were held by something invisible. NARRATOR TWO: Soon he was snoring. NARRATOR ONE: Bo wiggled out from beneath the blanket, sniffed the air and whimpered. DENNIS: Well, Bo, we have a new ghost! Try to be brave. NARRATOR TWO: Maybe tomorrow Dennis could try to figure out what Uncle Arvie meant by three pleases. Maybe he should tell his mother that Uncle Arvie s ghost was visiting.
Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech 8 NARRATOR ONE: She would say that Uncle Arvie was in heaven. That there was no such thing as a ghost.