The Space Schism: Lost (2018)

The story takes place on the moon. One 13 year old girl, Nicki, and one 13 year old girl, Chelsea, have been sent to the moon on account of the Small Rocket Program, to fix a probe on the moon whose signal recently went out.

Nicki: Chelsea! I can’t believe we were allowed to go to the moon. The MOON!! And fix a real space probe, which probably cost hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars! And see sights that only highly trained professionals got to see! And-

Chelsea: That we’re in space?

Nicki: (enthusiastically) Yeah!!

Chelsea: It’s cool how these high-tech spacesuits make it feel like we’re on earth.

Nicki: But how many kids our age get to do this? None! We’re the first in a long, long line of astro-kids and we’ll–

Chelsea: (laughing) Astro-kids???

Nicki: –change the future forever!

Chelsea: Alright, Ground Control said about 40 feet from the landing site, and we find the rover. But there’s just one problem: this is a area devoid of rovers. There’s no sign of it anywhe-

Nicki: (pointing at some tire tracks in the ground) Look! Tracks!

Chelsea: If we follow them, we can find the probe!

(They both set off facing the direction of the tracks, but don’t get far before an orange flash lights up the left stage, quickly silenced.)

Chelsea: Oh no…

Both: OUR ROCKET!!!

(They both run off stage, then come back a few seconds later, Nicki holding a badly charred piece of metal.)

Nicki: (muttering) The rocket…stupid fuel line…crappy piece of junk! (she throws the metal down in anger.)

Chelsea: Calm down, it’s going to be okay–

Nicki: (suddenly snaps) Our only hope of getting back to Earth is finished! We can’t get off the moon! We’re stuck here!! We are DOOMED!!! (On the last word, she kicks the piece of metal.)

Chelsea: No, I mean it! Ground Control can track the rocket. Once they learn it exploded, they’ll send a backup rocket or..or something! Just don’t freak out. You’ll waste air.

Nicki: (calming down) You’re right, I’m just really scared.

Chelsea: Maybe there’s a way to contact Ground Control from here.

(They set off walking around and behind the curtain. Finally Nicki stops out of exhaustion and sits.)

Chelsea: What are you doing? We need to look for some way to contact–

Nicki: Look…the stars.

Chelsea: Oh, wow.

(The stars are clear and bright, there are no lights on the moon.)

Nicki: The stars are so much bigger. Earth is a huge multi-colored blob. Mars is practically a beacon. And there’s a small dot..it’s smaller than the planets, but bigger than the stars..

Chelsea: That could be Pluto.

Nicki: You’re serious? I thought it was some star called KYRYGRZ21 or something.

(Silence as they both think about their future.)

Chelsea: Do you think we’ll die here on the moon?Nicki: I don’t know. I do know I’d be lost without you here.

Chelsea: Huh?

Nicki: If you weren’t here, I would be panicking, running around, not thinking…but you calmed me down.

Chelsea: You help me be not so serious. I mean, you’re always making me laugh, and not see the world as a pit of despair…

Nicki: We make a good team. Maybe one day we could open an academy, you know, for kids wanting to be hardcore astronauts.

Chelsea: Open a restaurant on the moon.

Nicki: We’ll need our driver’s licenses first.

Chelsea: For a spaceship?

Nicki: And the flying cars that we’re going to invent after we get off this rock.

Chelsea: I would like to see Chelseamobiles taking to the skies everywhere.

Nicki: Well obviously, they’re going to be called Nickimobiles, and all the voices on the radio will be mine, and we’ll have ice cream coupons, and—

(Nicki is trying her hardest to distract herself from the situation, but is making a lot of noise.)

Nicki: The flying cars will also have heated seats, and extra chambers for aliens that we’re going to discover, and escape pods that look like dragons.

Chelsea: (laughs) You know, even if we don’t make it out…if no one sees the rocket exploded…at least I got to share this moment with my best friend.

Nicki: I’d like that as my last moment too.

(They both sit in silence for a few seconds, both thinking about the chance that they’ll live. Chelsea starts to say something, but is interrupted by a noise from behind the two. They whirl around to find a short machine with four wheels, a bunch of buttons on its midsection, and a camera on its front, which is pointed at them.)

Chelsea: It’s the rover! It didn’t explode after all!

Nicki: The camera has a blinking light on it. I remember the people saying…maybe it’s recording!

Chelsea: That makes sense, the rover is designed to capture movements, like of aliens.

Nicki: It’s sending the video to the ground control! (Takes a deep breath, then yells.) WE ARE ASTRONAUTS OF MISSION 83! OUR ROCKET EXPLODED! USE THE FASTEST ROCKET YOU GOT! WE NEED SERVICE!! END OF MESSAGE!

Chelsea: And this lever turns on the beacon…I hope. (She flicks it.)

(The rover turns and drives off and there is a moment of suspense.)

Nicki: Did it work?

Chelsea: I don’t know, maybe it short-circuited-

(There is another blinding flash of light, this time caused by a landing rocket.)

Both: A ROCKET! WE’RE SAVED!

L to R: Emma Martinez (Nicki), Daria Kolmogorova (Assistant Director),Evan Schack (playwright), Olivia Overstreet (Chelsea)