The Door

Prologue

The door…entry to the unknown world. It separates two entirely different worlds.

The door…entry to the world of chances

The door…the symbol of thought and creativity

Scene I At home 7:00am

(a clock alarms, and Ernest wakes up)

Ernest: Oh - Let's begin the day. (He goes to the dining room)

(to mum) Good morning, mum.

Mum: Good morning! Today we have sausages!

Ernest: Sausages again? I want to try something else! How about tuna sandwiches?

Mum: Yes! We have sausages every day and you like them very much, right? Enjoy breakfast and go to school. Don't be late!

Ernest: Why do we have to have sausages every day? I want to try something new! I have had too many sausages! I don’t like it anymore!

Mum: Oh? Don’t be naughty? It is our pattern! We must have sausages as breakfast and steak for dinner!

Ernest: Why do we have to follow the pattern?

Mum: Why do you question now? We have been following the pattern since we were born! The pattern set by our forebears is perfect! Now have your breakfast and go to school!

Ernest: (finishes the meal) I've done. Byebye!

Mum: Goodbye! (Ernest leaves for school)

Scene II School 7:30am

(Ernest enters)

Kelly: Hi Ernest!

Ernest: Hello! How are you?

Kelly: As usual! Yesterday my brother phoned me~ He said he had a brilliant dinner!

Ernest: Your brother studying abroad? Hey~ He has a BRILLIANT dinner every day! Mmm…What are we going to have lunch today?

Kelly: Come on! We go there every day! Have you forgotten?

Ernest: OH! Of course not! (with laughers) But we go always there because we like it, not because we went there in the past and so we have to go there forever , right? Haha~

Kelly: Oh? You like there? I go there just because WE go there every day.

Ernest: So do you like there?

Kelly: I don’t know. I just go there every day .

Ernest: Don’t you have your own thinking?

Kelly: What’s matter with you? All of us follow the tide !

Ernest: I am fine. I just do not understand.

Kelly: okok…don't argue with you!

(The bell rings and teacher comes. All stand up)

Teacher: Good morning class.

All: (Stand up) Good morning Miss Chung.

Ernest: (Sit down, Take out a book) (Thinking) Open your books. Page

Teacher: Ok. Before the lesson , I will ask all of you a question. You do not need to answer me aloud now. Just ask yourself, have you ever loved a girl or a boy? As you all know, at the moment, you should not start dating. It is the rule set by our forebears. Teenagers are immature, and they are emotional. You cannot challenge it. I think all of you understand it very clearly. I just want to remind you. So now open your book, page 10…

Ernest: (Whispering) the same every day

(It is 4:00pm)

Teacher: That's all for today. Goodbye class.

All: (Stand up) Goodbye Miss Chung.

Kelly: Goodbye Ernest. Have a nice day~~

Ernest: See you tomorrow. (When Ernest is about to leave, he meets a girl of another class in front of the classroom.)

(to Kelly) Who is she?

Kelly: What?

Ernest: Who is she? That girl?

Kelly: How do I know? Byebye (leave)

Ernest: She is so beautiful…

Scene III Home 9:30pm

Ernest: (to mum) I have finished my study!

Mum: OKOK. Don't sleep after ten.

(Ernest picks up the phone and press eight digits )

Ernest: Hi. Kelly?

Kelly: Yeah! Let ‘s see…9:30! You are Ernest , right? How are you?

Ernest: Just ok. Experiencing the same every day. Having school…doing homework…studying…and picking up the phone just like now…oh yeah! And having sausages every day too!

Kelly: Haha ~~~ So funny you are!

Ernest: No…Life is so boring! Why do we have the same thing every day?

Kelly: OH? What's the problem with you? You are so strange today! We have been living in this pattern for years! We do not need to face any difficulties and obstacles. We do not need to face challenges and make important decisions. We just follow the pattern. All of us are living in a pattern! From the past to eternity, we will be like this! What's wrong with you?

Ernest: I've met a girl today

Kelly: A girl? I meet many girls on the street every day! Anyway I am a girl too~ And you meet me every day!

Ernest: No..nono…I mean that one

Kelly: Which one!?

Ernest: The one I asked about.

Kelly: Oh I see…and so?

Ernest: She interests me. I have not got this feeling before.

Kelly: That means you are not interested in me? Haha~ mmm…. You mean you fall in love with her?

Ernest: I think so.

Kelly: It is strange! I don't know…I haven't experienced that. But do you listen to what Miss Chung always says? We should not start dating while you are at secondary school level. Everyone likes that! We should not be interested in any girls at the moment. You should not get such a kind of feeling!

Ernest: Yeah I know…but I DO get that feeling!

Kelly: Don't think of her again! You should not fall in love with her at that time. No one will love others at the age like you!

Ernest: Why?

Kelly: I don't know. It's the pattern.

Ernest: Pattern? Everyone belongs to the same pattern! Is that life?

Kelly: Sure! That is a beautiful life! Why don't you enjoy your life with no ups and downs.

Mum: (voice) Hey! It's ten o'clock now!

Ernest: (to Kelly) Alright. I have to go to bed now….Tomorrow I will have sausages again!

Kelly: OK. You like it right?

Ernest: Actually not. Others say it is delicious and I should like it. So I like it. In fact, I don’t.

Kelly: Don't think anymore! Ok? See you!

Ernest: See you! Oh! Has HE phoned you yet?

Kelly: Haha~~ No, not yet~ He will phone me at 10:15pm. It is his habit!

Ernest: Okok~ ha~ So happy you are. See you tomorrow then.

Scene IV School 7:30am

(The clock alarms, Ernest wakes up and goes to the dining room. He has sausages and goes to school)

Kelly: Hi Ernest

Ernest: Hello………

Kelly: AS USUAL. Yesterday phoned me~ He said he had a brilliant dinner!

Ernest: Oh…I see. (The bell rings and teacher comes)

Teacher: Good morning class.

All: Good morning Miss Chung!

Teacher: Ok. Before the lesson , you are reminded not to have dating while you are at the secondary school level. It is the pattern set by our forebears. You cannot challenge it. I think all of you understand it very clearly. I just want to remind you. So now open your book, page 23…

　

(At four o’ clock again)

Teacher: Goodbye class.

All: Goodbye Miss Chung

Kelly: Goodbye Ernest! Enjoy your day!~

(Ernest says nothing but goes to the side of Miss Chung. Kelly is surprised. Everyone leaves, all save Ernest)

Ernest: Miss Chung, can I ask you something?

Teacher: (Surprising) yes?

Ernest: I…I don't know…it is so strange…I fall in love with a girl

Teacher: What are you saying?

Ernest: I love a girl.

Teacher: mmm…Don't be naughty! You should know that you will get such a feeling when you study at university! Now go home and finish your homework!

Ernest: (silent for a while, he is looking at a picture drawn by a student. A boy is about to open the door.) Look at the picture. A boy is about to open the door, Where will the DOOR lead us to?

Teacher: The DOOR?

Ernest: Yes. The DOOR!

Teacher: That DOOR? It leads to the unknown world! No one can live in the world outside! Hunger…coldness…fire hazard…eruption…earthquake… and the disasters that you can’t think of will happen there! No pattern you can follow. No rules you can observe. It is like the hell! We cannot bear challenges outside!

Ernest: But there are choices!

Teacher: Choices can be bad . I don't know why you are so interested in that DOOR.

Ernest: Yes. I notice it since I came to school

Teacher: Alright….alright. It is very late now. Go home now and think no more about girls and the DOOR, but your homework.

Ernest: Ok. Goodbye

Teacher: Byebye (leave, all save Ernest. The girl appears again. Ernest takes the opportunity and taps the girl’s shoulder lightly while she is reading an articles)

Ernest: I'm sorry. OH….hey! Do you remember me? I am….I am EEE!

Girl: sorry… I don't know you.

Ernest: NO! I have met you before!

Girl: I don't think so. I remember if I have had. Why are you here? I have not seen you before! So I think you should not be here right now!

Ernest: You have not met me before … but that does not mean you will never meet me in future.

Girl: Yes. But you should now that at my age, I will not know more new guys, especially on the street! I should meet more people after three years. I think you are under twenty-four right? You also should not meet me! I do know the rule!

Ernest: Yes! Sure…the rule….the rule for everyone…the rule for glory…the rule for eternity…the irrevocably rule…the impregnable rule…the rule for life…

Girl: Yes…the rule (She leaves)

Ernest: …the rule with no sensation.

Scene V Home 10pm

Mum: (voice) Stop chatting and go to bed!

Ernest: I haven't phoned others! Do you hear my voice of chatting!?

Mum: O…OK. What’s wrong with you. Anyway, sleep now then! Or you can’t get up at seven tomorrow!

Ernest: Why? Can’t I sleep later but get up earlier?

Mum: No You CANT!

Ernest: What is the reason? The habit? The pattern? The RULE?

Mum: ……… I am not sure… BUT no one asks such a question! Don’t be naughty~ What has happened today? (Ernest stands up and he is going to open the window) Don’t open the window at night! You are so strange! What do you want?

Ernest: I want to open the windows! I want to break the DOOR!.

Mum: Son! Go back! You will regret if you walk out of the DOOR. You can't return!

Ernest: I have no intention to return.

Mum: Stupid boy! Do you know what does the world outside like?

Ernest: Sure. It is the world without a pattern.

Mum: Of course! So why do you still want to go?

Ernest: I can choose my way of life there.

Mum: Don't be silly. You have to make many decisions. Something bad happen! You have a lot of alternatives. Following the old rules is the only means to live happily! Why can't you be a well-disciplined boy? Our living pattern will be altered if you leave!

Ernest: Can we leave together?

Mum: No of course! It is the hell outside! I have told you many many times!!!!!

Ernest: I can’t bear living with patterns!!

Mum: You will suffer from choices!!

Ernest: Having choices is not bad. (silent for a while) I have been locked up for twenty years! I haven't got my own feeling, my own thought. I can't say my own words. I even cannot have such ideas! Why should we just follow the old customs without thinking? We follow our forebears because they are experienced! But society is changing! Many things have changed! In this world, others tell me following the convention is happiness, this will make me upset……. Why? Because the forebears told us and we should follow their feelings! I haven't got my own sensation! Don't you think this world is boring? Don't you think we are living in a world without creativity…and hope? I have been locked up for twenty years and I have to get out of this!

Mum: You will regret!

Ernest: I will go to a new world.

(Ernest opens the door of his room and quit )

~ THE END ~