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MANUAL   5'1m1f The Bible, creation, Adam and Eve

(both characters wear shorts and T-shirts with bare feet)

HER -- (enters yawning, looks around) What is this? Where am I?
(looks at audience) Look at all that water! (crosses quickly)
There's no land in sight! (examines horizon, fails to notice Him
approaching)

HIM -- (enters opposite yawning, carrying large Bible, silently,
examines Her) Who are you?

HER -- (turns, sees Him standing a few feet away, gasps, backs
away) Don't hurt me!

HIM -- Answer my question. Who are you?

HER -- I... I don't know. I just got here.

HIM -- You don't know your own name?

HER -- No. I'm sorry. Am I supposed to have a name?

HIM -- (examines own hand, picks up and examines Her hand)

HER -- (pulls hand away, retreats) What are you doing?!

HIM -- Your hand... it's just like mine. (circles Her) You are a
creature just like me. I thought I was the only one.

HER -- (examines own hand) Oh. Yes. (examines own body) Well,
not exactly.

HIM -- (snaps fingers) I know! You're bone of my bone, flesh of
my flesh.

HER -- I beg your pardon.

HIM -- The creator. Last night the creator put me to sleep and
took out (holds rib cage) some bone and flesh. He created you
from bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.

HER -- So, you've been here for a while.

HIM -- Yes. The creator created me out of the elements. (motions
broadly toward audience) Then He created you from bone of my
bone and flesh of my flesh.

HER -- This creator... he looks like us too?

HIM -- No. He is spirit. He has no looks. He took on an
appearance like me in order to talk to me.

HER -- He built this thing (points down) that floats on endless
water?

HIM -- Yes. It's called a boat. He built the boat and he created
us to steer the boat.

HER -- Steer the boat?

HIM -- We can make the boat go in any direction.

HER -- Did the creator tell us where he wants us to go with the
boat?

HIM -- Yes. He gave us this owner's manual to tell us where he
wants us to go.

HER -- But this (motions broadly toward audience) is endless
water. What difference does it make where we go?

HIM -- It's not endless. There are land masses and fishing
grounds and harbors. Based on the instructions from the creator,
I've set a course for a fishing ground.

HER -- Fishing ground?

HIM -- A place to go to get something to eat. The fish are what
we eat.

HER -- Oh, I understand that. I'm hungry. How do we get the fish
to eat once we get to the fishing ground?

HIM -- The creator gave us instructions in the owner's manual.
Everything is in here that we need to survive, including how to
get the fish out of the water.

HER -- Oh, so the fish are in the water.

HIM -- Yes.

HER -- Why do we have to wait until we get to the fishing
ground? Why can't we get the fish out of the water now?

HIM -- Because the owner's manual tells us where to get fish and
where not to get fish.

HER -- But if the fish are in the water, there must be some fish
around us. Why don't we stop the boat and get the fish?

HIM -- The owner's manual tells us to go to the fishing ground
before we try to get the fish.

HER -- But why wait? I'm hungry. Let's get the fish now.

HIM -- I really don't know why we have to wait until we get to
the fishing ground. But the creator knows. And his message to us
(pats book) says we must do things HIS way. And his way says we
wait until we get to the fishing ground.

HER -- This is ridiculous! The fish are in the water. We have
water all around us. Why can't we stop the boat and get the
fish?

HIM -- Because the owner's manual tells us not to. I'm sure the
creator knows a lot more about the fish he created than you do.
So, when the creator wrote down that we should wait until we get
to the fishing ground, he has a good reason.

HER -- Let me see the owner's manual! I want to see the reason.
(takes book, pages)

HIM -- The creator doesn't always give the reason for all of his
instructions. If he did, the owner's manual would be too big to
carry.

HER -- (points) He doesn't give a reason. So, I think we should
stop and get the fish!

HIM -- I think we should trust the creator and follow the
instructions in the owner's manual.

HER -- Why should I trust the creator when he didn't give us a
reason?

HIM -- Well, he was smart enough to create me out of the
elements and he was smart enough to create you from bone of my
bone and flesh of my flesh. I think he's proved himself to be
smart enough that we can trust him.

HER -- Well, I don't. I'm hungry. (pushes book into His hands)
And I don't trust him at all. (exiting) I'm going to stop the
boat and get some fish.

HIM -- (follows) On second thought, maybe she's not bone of my
bone and flesh of my flesh.

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