FATHER MOTTLEWOOD

by

Andrew D. Wood

SCENE 1.  In the Churchyard.

F/X:                                                     Church Bells, people in Background, Footsteps on gravel with footsteps running behind to catch up.

Mrs. Avery:                      Father Mottlewood, Father Mottlewood!

Father Mottlewood: (exasperated) Yes, Mrs. Avery?

Mrs. Avery:                      (panting a little) Excellent service Father.

Fr. Mottlewood:           (uninterested) Oh, yes?

Mrs. Avery:                      Yes, I thought it so beautiful how you brought the story of Job into everyday context.

Fr. mottlewood:           Yes, well, we are all being... tested... by god aren't we, Mrs. Avery.

Mrs. Avery:                      Oh, yes indeed father, I know exactly what you're on about, Why only yesterday i felt like i could rip my hair out!

fr. mottlewood:           Yes?

Mrs. Avery:                      Well, Father, it's my neighbour, Brenda Maceworthy. Oh! She could yap the back legs of a donkey, father! She peered over my garden fence and saw me, and boy did i get an ear full of it. She were bangin' on about her husband, and how he never lifts an finger, did you know that he never lifted a finger the other day when poor Brenda had to scrub the kitchen carpet after what t'dog did on it, He's a right charlatan you know.

Fr. Mottlewood:           Look, Mrs. Avery...

Mrs. Avery:                      And then she'd go on for hours about that ruddy dog of hers, May the good lord pardon my language father, but i mean, it's a dirty great bull mastiff! What does she expect? Eats like a horse and dumps like an elephant.

Fr. Mottlewood:           MRS.... Avery... Please, I have a lot of work to do.

Mrs. Avery:                      (Fades Out) Oh, I know what you talking about father, I came home from the charity shop I work in, you know, down in Delph, and I'd forgotten to take the account books out of my bag and give them to Debbie, so i hat to sit for three hours doing them....

SCENE 2.  Mottlewood monologue.

F/X:                                                     Outdoor noises fade, and slight reverb on Fr.'s Voice, In church.

Fr. Mottlewood:           And that's basically when I lost my passion for the work Lord. I mean, don't get me wrong, as the old saying goes, I'm not giving up the ghost. I just need either some inspiration or some... change, Lord. I mean, let's face it, The Bible isn't as popular as it used to be. And the only people i ever get to talk to any more is my rather, erm, aged flock. Well, thanks to Mrs. Avery I really haven't the patients to be talking to them anymore.  I suppose I kind of feel like Noah, Something big is happening, and I'm trying to tell everyone, but only the same old crew are willing to listen, they laugh at me, just like the laughed at Noah, But, I'm sure even Noah didn't get his windows smashed by teenagers. What sort of world do we live in, Lord, when we have to put Bars on church windows? I just have a feeling that maybe religion is a little too soft nowadays. It's the same boring lectures that have been going around for centuries. I just want something...

F/X:                                                     Door creaks open.

Grace Harry:                 Hello?

Fr. Mottlewood:           Hello? Who are you?

Grace:                                 I'm Grace, Grace Harry.

Fr. Mottlewood:           You look a little lost.

Grace:                                 Oh, No, I'm just not used to anybody being here, that's all.

Fr. Mottlewood:           What d... Do you come here often?

Grace:                                 Every Sunday at this time, I am kind of embarrassed because my friends think religion is for wimps, But i believe in God, and I try to worship him, but if they saw me, i'd be ridiculed.

Fr. mottlewood:           What reason would they have to ridicule you, my dear girl! You're their friend, are you not?

Grace:                                 Yes.

Fr. Mottlewood:           Well, they should, by rights, be your friend no matter what you believe in.

grace:                                 I suppose. But i think that we can worship God in our own way at any time, and Sunday is no different to any other day of the week.

Fr. Mottlewood:           True. In fact, You are just the person i have been looking for, really.

Grace:                                 I... I am?

Fr. Mottlewood:           How's about I give you a private service, now, this time every Sunday.

Grace:                                 Would you? That would be amazing. Thank you so much.

SCENE 3.  Monologue 2

F/X:                                                     Same as begining of  last scene.

FR Mottlewood:            Thank you, Lord, thank you, You actually do listen when i pray to you. Not only do I  feel great because I have a young flock member that I can guide and have meaningful conversation with, But I feel a great sense of achievement after helping a poor lost soul find religion and the true meaning of your love. Thank you yet again and thank you also, for helping my find the passion in this work that I was so afraid was lost and forgotten.

END