CORNELIUS OAK
SETTING: A neighbourhood street, two people and a tree.
Blaire: Hey Danny, it’s a beautiful day today.
Danny: It sure is! Look at that weak sickly tree over there.
Cornelius Oak: It’s not my fault! Blaire and Danny are startled. It’s the human’s fault that I look like this.
Blaire: Who was that?
Danny: It sounds like it came from over there.
Blaire: But all I see is a tree!
Cornelius Oak: It’s me, Cornelius Oak.
Blaire: The tree’s talking Danny!
Cornelius Oak: Yes, I am. You humans are polluting my environment and chopping us trees down for wood and paper. My friends and relatives are suffering. I am too.
Blaire: Look at poor Cornelius – his leaves are pale and spotted. He can hardly vreathe in this polluted environment.
Danny: Blaire, you’re right! What can we do!? What can we do!? Danny holds his head in mental anguish.
Blaire: Easy Danny. We can make things better. It’s too late for Cornelius but the next generation can have it better.
Cornelius Oak: Yes, stop polluting! Stop driving Cadillac Escalade SUVs and those nasty Hummers. They’re the worst! Go green, my friends, or go home.
Blaire and Danny embrace their new friend and dance around the trunk.
Blaire and Danny: We can do it! We can help!
This is material composed during a Science Creative Literacy Symposia on alternative fuels and screenplay writing. A YouTube video of students performing this piece can be found here.