The Crickets and the Frogs
The Crickets and the Frogs
Narrator: Hi everyone, thank you for being here tonight to watch the performance of “The Crickets and the Frogs.” I hope you enjoy the show!
[curtains close, lights dim]
[open a set of a girl walking on a sidewalk]
The Side of The Road
Narrator: It all started when a girl was walking to the Farmer’s Market on a Sunday morning. As she listened to her jazz, Ella Fitzgerald of course- she saw the fog rolling in over the near noise of the market and around the corner. She was almost there, when to her surprise, something stood between her and it. There was what appeared to be a little cricket in front of her who caught her attention, although he said nothing. Amazed, she stared at him in the daylight, having heard his melody before without ever seeing him.
[curtains close, as frog croaking plays]
[reopen to a set of girls’ grandfather's property lakeside in AR]
Amygdala Warehouse of Girl (aka inside girl’s brain)
Narrator: Yep, just as we thought. The warehouse is stuffed full. There is so much anxiety built in this girl's brain that we can’t even fit another ounce in here.
Being scared, anxiety- all that good stuff lives in the amygdala which is a little almond shaped part of your brain that is completely nutty for any anxiety you have. The limbic system helps your body respond to emotions like fear, anger, anxiety, and aggression. There are usually three main responses when it comes to feeling these emotions-one is to fight them. Take your danger to the ring and box out your fear- pinning it to the floor. Another is flight- take off on the next plane and skip town to go to Turks & Caicos. And the last is freeze- get super chilly and become unable to move in the icy situation. This girl is terrible at the first, and a world renown star of the second two.
[curtains close as crickets chirping plays]
[reopen to a set of a rehearsal, girl practicing lines]
Rehearsal
Narrator: WELCOME MEMBERS! Or should I say member because we actually only enrolled one in this performance. Here, we will repeat, and practice speaking our lines and make sure you're feeling the feelings too. Really be your character, and if not, something bad will happen.
Our character speaks fear over herself. Practice is everyday so all 7 days of your week, 24 hours each day for the rest of your life- so make sure you’re always practicing those lines. Okay, ready- and action.
“I am scared of the unknown,
I’m scared of what I can’t see,
I’m scared of what could hurt me,
I’m scared of what could be.”
She wanted to be the frogs and the crickets and sing through the fear- to face it instead of being stuck in rehearsal, speaking fear, and awaiting something bad instead of performing life and putting on the show she wanted to.
[curtains close, as frog croaking plays]
[reopen to a frog humming, nothing seen on stage]
3754 Quail Lane- Benton, Arkansas
Narrator: She found her frog in Arkansas a summer before her grandpa, her protector, passed on. As she closed her eyes, inhaling the morning dew that once stuck to the burn-pile leaves, she felt the heart-dropping slither of the water moccasins going downstream and prepared for adventures with her brother and cousin. Macky, the neighbor's golden retriever always kept them safe on their adventures through the forest- even if it meant having to endure the summer humidity in her thick fur. The boys always carried BB guns, thinking that somehow, they would protect them from snake bites. She would be listening to Blake Shelton with a cone of Blue Bell ice cream in hand. All these memories felt like home to her. She opened her eyes with no force and chose to see it for all the goodness it was.
[curtains close as crickets chirping plays]
[reopen to a set of thundering clouds as a girl lays there, having a nightmare while tossing and turning]
Bad Weather
Narrator: Now the girl smelt the grey clouds coming in and spoke fear over herself in a panic. She woke up, unrested from the incoming storm. She looked outside- no storm in sight out there. She turned over her phone to see what time it was, and it was 4:59am, just like in her dream. Is someone messing with me, she thought? The same time...She was disjointed and disappointed in herself because facing her fears was not something she did. But a small part of her wanted to dive back into the dream and face it- ripping it to shreds, while another part of her never wanted to go there again. She trembled with anxiety for what could be and wondered if she was safe in her own mind.
[curtains close, as frog croaking plays]
[reopen to a cricket and a frog humming, nothing seen on stage]
Quit the Quiet
Narrator: Usually she thinks of frogs similarly to crickets. They both carry the tune of the night and hide mostly throughout the day, not wanting to be seen. They are shy singers like that, kind of like her.
It is actually part of their protection to turn silent when they feel as if they are being hunted...to throw off the predator’s trail and keep them safe.
She knows this feeling and mode of protection.
[curtains close as crickets chirping plays]
[reopen to a pool with a lake in the distance]
Learning How to Swim
Narrator: Her grandpa's pool was not exactly the type of pool you would think of. Maybe once it was brought to life with her mom and aunt jumping off the diving board and swimming in the sunshine, but not now. Now, others swam in it. No water was filling it but leaves and lizards and sticks and snakes. It always scared her to get too close to the edge, worried of falling in. She didn’t want to sink into what she couldn’t see. There were so many beautiful parts of Arkansas, especially at night time, when both the crickets and the frogs were together in band practice. The fireflies danced to their music in flight, letting it move them.
The lake on the property was something special. The moon would be shining on it in a way where she could see the mayflies hopping across as if they were each playing their own game of hopscotch. It was always something so big and dark to her but standing safely by the edge was one of her favorite places. The girl wanted to dive in, but she just couldn’t.
The frogs would hop alongside the edge, smiling with each ribbet- then disappear underwater, playing and enjoying it all. The crickets in the bushes chirped as they enjoyed the cool breeze of the night and watched.
The girl wanted to be more like them.
[curtains close, as frog croaking plays]
[reopen to a set of throw pillows with French bulldogs on them by the door]
Throw Pillow Guards
Narrator: Sometimes, fear tries to tell you it’s protecting you. As a guard at the gate your mind, fear will speak over you, saying “if you do this, nothing will happen to you, and you can protect yourself.”
The girl used to sleep with her light dimmed when she was little because she was too afraid of the darkness. But now she is not afraid of the dark, but what lurks in it.
She would put two pillows in front of the closet every night at 9 years old, scared that if she didn’t feed into this superstition, she would be hurt by whatever monster would emerge from the closet to swallow her whole.
Now- she is a house sitter and has only two French bulldogs as the pillow guards to protect her, which wasn’t very intimidating. She was having to face her fears, but could she? The girl could hear the crickets outside chirping through the night and wanted to tell them to shut up- scared that she wouldn’t be able to hear an intruder over there song.
[curtains close as crickets chirping plays]
[lights come on]
Narrator: “Thank you so much for all of the applause everyone- thank you for listening to this sad story of the girl. We hope you all enjoyed the play- bye now.”
