TheStorm: A Radio Play

Characters

Kate (host)

Ara

Rim

Specters

Father

Kate: Good evening, this is Kate, your host. In tonight’s story, titled The Storm, we take a trip back in time to the ancient legendary village of Diorma. Diorma was part of a vast empire much like ancient Rome, and was a suburb of the main capital city. The village was surrounded by a dark, dense, forest that all the villagers feared. Our story begins on a dark and gloomy night in the Forest of Dormia. Rim the Hunter, was the handsomest and bravest man in the village. He had had many lovers in the past, but each one had eventually gone their separate ways and left the village. Despite all these women, Rim had never married.

Ara, of course, was thrilled when Rim, the most wanted man in the village, took an interest in her. Ara was the pretty daughter of a farmer, and was very shy. She had lived in Rim’s lodge now for almost 3 full cycles of the moon now. That night, she was awakened from her sleep by Rim.

Rim: Ara, wake up. I want to show you something.

Kate: Obediently, Ara followed Rim out of their lodge and into the night.

Ara: Rim, are we going into the forest?

Rim: Yes, Ara. Follow me.

Kate: Even though Ara was deathly afraid of the forest, she followed Rim anyway. Soon they were deep in the heart of the forest, with no sign of a path in sight. They were swallowed up by the darkness; every angle looked the same as the other. Rim and Ara were all alone in the forest. Alone in a vast labyrinth of pine. The clouds had covered the moon, blocking out all signs of light. Not even the stars shone on this stormy night. The wind began to blow.

(Wind blows)

Kate: It started as a dull drone.

(Wind blows)

Kate: But it gradually grew louder and louder, until the incessant shrieks and howls surrounded them, filling every part of their heart and soul. In the shadows, Ara saw a thousand ghostly specters, only to discover that each one was a trick of the imagination.

(Raindrop)

Kate: And then the rain began to fall.

(Rain)

The drops began to fall faster, harder. Soon it was pouring, pounding. Then the rain came down in sheets, as if someone was pouring a bucket down Rim and Ara’s heads. The scent of damp earth filled their nostrils. The rain came down hard, blinding their already impaired vision.

(Thunder)

Kate: A sudden flash lit up the sky, exposing the never-ending forest that surrounded them. A clap of thunder followed, shaking every bone in their bodies.

Kate: Again, lightning. (Thunder) Then thunder. The wind screamed and howled. (Wind)

Kate: The rain beat down. (Rain)

Kate: A flash of lightning. A tremendous rumble. (Thunder)

Kate: (sounds and voice getting faster and faster) Wind (wind), rain (rain), lightning, thunder (thunder). Screams (wind), beats (rain), flashes, booms (thunder). Wind (wind), rain (rain), thunder (thunder), lightning. Screaming (wind), beating (rain), flashing, booming (thunder)! A Storm!

(Sounds of a fierce storm)

Ara: Rim! Where are we going? This is madness! If we don’t turn back, we’ll perish in the storm!

Rim: Trust me, Ara. We’re almost there.

(Footsteps on grass)

Ara: I’m frightened, Rim!

Rim: Don’t worry, Ara. You’re safe with me.

Ara: (To herself) I wished Rim would turn back. Couldn’t he see it was madness to go deeper into the forest in this storm?

Rim: Ah, here we are.

Ara: (To herself) We had come upon a large clearing in the forest. A sudden flash of lightning revealed that the clearing was covered by these small grassy mounds.

Ara: Rim, where are we? What did you want to show me?

Ara: (To herself) But Rim didn’t say anything. He had this grin on his face, as if he were telling some incredibly funny joke.

Ara: Rim? Are you all right?

Ara: (To herself) Again he didn’t answer. I could feel his presence in the shadows.

(Footsteps)

I heard him coming towards me. Startled, I stepped back and tripped, landing on top of one of the grassy mounds. The combination of my weight and the rain was too much for it, and the mounds caved in beneath me. As I struggled to get up, my hand landed on something cold and smooth. I picked it up in my hand. There was a sudden flash of lightning, and for a brief moment I saw what I held in my hand.

Ara: (scream) Rim! What is this?! These are all graves!

Ara: (To herself) I let the bone drop from my hand.

(Sound of object falling on grass)

Rim: (evil chuckle)

Ara: What’s so funny? We’re in a graveyard Rim!

Rim: Do you know whose grave that is?

Ara: The one I fell on top of?

Rim: Yes. Do you know whose bones those are?

Ara: (slowly) No.

Rim: You are standing on Sia’s grave.

Ara: Sia?! Your last lover? But I thought she was living with her uncle in the next village over!

Rim: (flatly) No, she isn’t.

Ara: (incredulously) What?

Rim: Sia never left Diorma.

Ara: She’s dead!? But how did she die? (Pause) Why do you know all this?

Rim: You see, Ara, I can never be with one woman longer than 3 full cycles of the moon. I shot a black feline on a hunt several years ago. It turns out that the beast was a witch’s daughter in disguise. The witch was furious and put a curse on me. I can never marry, and I must kill someone every three full cycles of the moon, or I will die. The witch didn’t think I would actually kill someone else to stay alive, so she believed I would die. She didn’t think that I would go to extreme measures to preserve myself.

Ara: Is this true? But if it is…then… you must….

Rim: When the time is up, I bring a woman here, to this place…so that I may continue to live!

Ara: You killed them? You killed them all?

Rim: (matter of factly) Well I had to. It was a matter of self-preservation. Why would I let myself die when I had the power to stay alive?

Ara: You’re horrible! You’re awful, you’re…

Rim: I’m sorry dear Ara. Such a shame, you were such a dear, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

(Thunder)

Ara: (to herself) Lightning lit up the sky, and at that instant, I saw Rim, coming toward me, and the blade of a knife shone in his hand.

Rim: I have to kill. Now it’s your turn… to die. (Ferocious yell)

(Sound of something heavy thudding against the ground)

Ara: (to herself) I dropped to the ground to avoid his lunge. I rolled to the side as fast as I could, and I heard the blade sink into the soil next to my head.

(Blade sinking in soil)

Ara: (scream) You’re mad Rim, mad!

Rim: You die, I live. It’s quite simple, hardly mad at all.

(Sounds of brief struggle)

(Ara screams)

(A kick, followed by a groan)

Ara: (to herself) I stood up and ran for my life, plunging deeper and deeper into the woods.

(Running footsteps)

Rim: You can’t run forever, Ara! I will find you!

(Footsteps stop, Ara is breathing heavily)

Ara: (to herself) When I was sure I was safe, I stopped to catch a breather in a tall shrub. I had to get back to the village; I had to warn the others, I had to—

Rim: Now I have you!

(Scream)

Ara: (To herself) Rim grabbed me by the hair and held my head back. I knew he stood over me, I could hear him, smell his foul breath. I felt a sharp sting on my cheek, and something cold and went trickled down my face.

Rim: That was just a test, to make sure the blade is sharp.

Ara: (to herself) And then the clouds were swept away, uncovering the moon, bathing the forest in an eerie light, and I saw Rim standing over me with the knife.

Ara: (shrieking) Help! Help! HELP!

(Thunder)

(Sound of storm in background)

Ara: (to herself) And then, ghostly specters began to appear all around. The gruesome corpses grabbed at Rim and pulled him back.

Specters: Riiiiiiiim. Riiiiiiiim.

Rim: (panicky) Let me go! Be gone, you spirits!

Specters: Riiiiiiiim. Riiiiiiiim. Come to us Riiiiiiiim.

Ara: (to herself) I recognized many of them. There was Sia, her right arm nothing but a stump. Fer, her face convulsed and purple. Gen, who we thought had run away, had her gut slit open and entrails falling out. They were all there, the women he had killed. They called out his name as they dragged him to the ground.

Specters: Riiiiiim. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim.

Rim: (terrified) Stop! No, no, NO!

Ara: (to herself) They beat upon him with their fists, and one seized hold of his throat and began to throttle him.

Rim: St- (choking/gagging sound)

Ara: (to herself) And then I saw Sia reach for his knife. She picked it up in her left hand and stabbed Rim.

Rim: (scream)

Specters: Riiiiim!

Ara: (to herself) Then they each took the knife and stabbed him once, one blow for every woman he had murdered.

Rim: (scream-fades to groan, silence)

Ara: (to herself) With a final groan, he lay still and stirred no more. He was dead.

(Storm stops)

Ara: (to herself) Then the storm stopped. The specters beckoned to me, and I followed them. Then they disappeared into the night, and I felt a swirling, spinning sensation. Then the world went black and I lost all conscience.

I awoke on the floor of my parents’ lodge. I woke my father.

Ara: Father, father! There was a storm! Rim the Hunter is dead! He tried to kill me! He-

Father: Calm down Ara. You must have had a bad dream. There was no storm last night. Rim the Hunter has been dead for 3 years now many years now. He was killed by a black panther on a hunting expedition through the forest, remember? Hush now and go back to sleep.

Ara: But Father, I-

Ara: (to herself) But it was no use, my old father had fallen asleep again. Was it really all a dream? I went outside to wash my face in the river. It must have all been a dream. But the whole experience had seemed so lifelike, so real. I passed by Sia on my way to the stream. She waved and smiled at me. Yes, Rim had been dead for several years now, come to think of it. I stared down at my reflection in the water. There was something on my cheek. It must have been some dirt. I reached up to wipe it off. My fingers froze. It was dried blood. Dried blood from a cut from a knife, Rim’s knife…

(Eerie music)