The Mundrabilla Meteorite

The Mundrabilla Meteorite

Play by:

Sabah Alanbari

Characters:

The man

The young boy

Salah Al Iraqi

News anchor from one channel of South Australia Television

Three cosmic men

Two ambulance officers from Royal Adelaide Hospital

Two policemen from Adelaide

* The Mundrabilla Meteorite is a large piece of meteorite on display in front of South Australia Museum in Adelaide where the events of the play happened.

Act one

Scene one (cinematic scene)

Snapshots:

1. Tracking shot: A large meteorite appears in the sky. It approaches earth at high speed. The whistling continues with the meteorite movement.

2. Medium shot: The meteorite is still travelling to earth quickly.

3. Close up shot: The earth becomes slowly more visible by the second.

4. Close up more: The meteorite pulls behind it a tail of fire, ash and smoke.

5. General shot: The meteorite is approaching Earth.

6. Close up shot: The shape of the Australian continent appears more clearly.

7. General shot: The meteorite closes up on Australia.

8. General shot: The meteorite reaches the Australian land with a loud noise, dust and a little bit of fire.

9. Traveling shot: The camera zooms on the centre of the impact. The show stops. The silence falls, darkness too.

10. Television show: News anchor:

This is a hypothetical illustration of the Mundrabilla Meteorite which fell on earth in South Australia. It was offered to the museum in 1966 by a Mr. Wilson.

Local people believed they suffered strange mental confusion after the meteorite impact. Some witnesses believe they are still suffering the effects of this event. Thank you for your concern about our national museum.

Scene two (silent)

Entrance of South Australia Museum. The man enters from the front gate of museum through the passageway and proceeds to the second gate. On the right side of the passage, a big boulder called the Mundrabilla Meteorite is on display. He stops and meditates on the strange shape of the meteorite and he steps beside it cautiously. He goes toward the second gate but stops suddenly, turns around and walks back to the meteorite. He stares at a small crack on the meteorite surface. He slowly inserts his hand in his bag and pulls a camera equipped with a long zoom. He stares at the meteorite again and moves closer to it step by step then starts circling it. Slowly, he brings his camera and takes photos. He points the camera at the crack on of the meteorite and takes more than five pictures when suddenly a powerful light emerges from it. Everything in the place affected by it and the lights flash several times (we see the man gesticulating as if the gap was drawing him inside the meteorite.) He falls down on it and the lights of the theatre turn off.

We hear through the darkness sound effects like a strong screech and the lights flash several times. We see the man swinging right and left as if a force was tossing him from side to side (the movements and the whistling have stopped at the same time) The man squats in the middle of the darkness. Spot lighting from the theatre ceiling on the man, and then the light circle increases gradually, accompanied by music. When it suddenly stops, he winces as if awakening from a nightmare. He stares at the light source and gradually wakes up in the low lighting. He shakes off the dirt from his clothes. He arranges his attire and surveys the place surrounding him in a panoramic glance. Suddenly, he sees a young man and goes to hug him but the boy doesn’t allow it. They stare at each other and they don’t say any word for several minutes before they start to talk.

Scene three

The man	:	(Still surprised) who? Who are you?
The boy	:	(He lowers his arms with frustration). Don’t you know me?
The man	:	How would I know you since I never saw you before?
The boy	:	You saw me a lot.
The man	:	Where?
The boy	:	In your Baquba.
The man	:	In my Baquba!?
The boy	:	Yes, one of your friends called it "your Baquba" in a message to tell you about the destruction that has happened to her.
The man	:	What happened?
The boy	:	On a sultry afternoon, when your friend's brother and his son were coming back home, some fake police patrol stopped them and ordered them to get out of their car and lie down… They tied them and killed both before they could say any word. They cut off their heads and put the head of the son on the body of father and put the father's head on the son's body. They laughed loudly before they went. (The boy stares at the man and asks him forcefully) You really forgot this message!
The man	:	(Paying attention to the young boy) What did you say?
The boy	:	(Confusedly) I said: you really fo fo... (He interrupts himself when sees the man observing him and touching his face tenderly) What are you doing my uncle?
The man	:	I am mm no. no… nothing. I believe that I have been imagining your presence.
The boy	:	(He moves away) Why imagine my presence while I'm standing her in flesh?
The man	:	Usually, It happens to me when I start writing the new text.
The boy	:	But you aren't writing any text now.
The man	:	Who told you so?
The boy	:	Writing for you usually follows a ritual but I don’t see you observing it now.
The man	:	That's because you don't know who I am.
The boy	:	I know you like I know myself.
The man	:	Really?
The boy	:	What does "really" mean?
The man	:	It means, are you really my brother's son?
The boy	:	What's happening my uncle? Are you losing your memory?
The man	:	No, but I may-be forgetting something (certainly) Just something.
The boy	:	Is your brother one of the things you forgot? Did you forget that you dedicated your play "Desire of Endings" to him?
The man	:	Of course not, I consider him a hero.
The boy	:	This champion is…
The man	:	(Interrupting him) I know, I don’t need you to remind me.
The boy	:	Alright, I won't, but I just say that he is the same man who jumped from the top of the building when the police attacked my grandfather's flat in our city.
The man	:	(Carefully) Did he die?!
The boy	:	No, He landed on the ground like a cat.
The man	:	What happened after that?
The boy	:	They arrested my grandfather and put him in prison to force my father to surrender to them.
The man	:	Strange!
The boy	:	What's strange my uncle? They do that with everybody in our city.
The man	:	(He looks at the boy carefully, moves towards him and he grabs his arms) Are you my brother's son who…
The boy	:	(Interrupting him eagerly) Yes, I am.
The man	:	Strange!
The boy	:	What's strange my uncle?
The man	:	Are you Mohammad?
The boy	:	Yes, I am Mohammad, your nephew.
The man	:	But…
The boy	:	But what my uncle?
The man	:	Bu… (He stops talking)
The boy	:	But what my uncle? (The man doesn't answer) Uncle …please.
The man	:	No… nothing.
The boy	:	There is something, something about me. You said "but" and stopped… My uncle, please, what about me. (Pleading) Please, what about me?
The man	:	(Surrendering) The truth is I'm not sure what I see.
The boy	:	What do you see?
The man	:	A boy who has the features of my nephew.
The boy	:	This is very natural. Did you forget that you left me three years ago? Is this time enough for my face to change? I'm still a teenager.
The man	:	I know, but (he stops again) The boy prompts him to keep going) But you (he feels very embarrassed)
The man	:	You died three months ago when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt in a popular market in front of your father's shop.
The boy The boy The man	: :	I am not the only one who died, my uncle. We were nine boys in that terrible accident. I was the first to see the shrapnel penetrating our bodies. I suffered a lot when I saw my younger brother scream and bleed from his foot. He was trembling and his wound was bleeding like a red fountain, I forgot my wounds and all the shrapnel that pierced my body and the fire that has devoured my clothes. I saw him in front of me crying and screaming in distress. I tried to reach him several times but I failed and felt helpless, I screamed my father's name. Then I fell down, I lost a lot of blood and the fire consumed me. My father came to rescue us. I don't know how he heard my screams from the distance. When he arrived he saw the fire was still devouring me and he madly extinguished it with his bare hands and he hugged me. I felt this was his last hug. He laid me on the ground carefully and kept watching me with red and tearful eyes. I could barely raise my hand to point at my wounded brother. My father turned and when he saw his younger son, who was soaked in blood, he rushed to him and brought his body beside me. I wanted to reassure him and I smiled at him, and when I tried to laugh, my breath stopped then everything ceased (silence). I could no longer feel anything at all, no longer see or hear anything at all. I had died, but in death I still heard his loud voice coming from the blank space. That cry was the last thing I took from him to the afterlife. Imagine my uncle, I can still hear it (the cry of the father starts loud and the boy puts his hands on his ears, his body moves in agony, and when the cry stops he rests) Uhhhhhhh. I pity you, Dad. (The boy asks the man whose eyes are filled with tears) Do you think, my uncle that it is my fathers' fate to suffer all his life for his sons' death? (The man is on the point of crying. I wish that curiosity had not led me and my little brother to such a fatal ending. (Silence) I am only fifteen years old and I saw something which turned my hair grey and broke my heart at the same time. Body fragments blown in the air and blood spilling over the land. Children screaming and asking for help but no one came to rescue them except my father, who was rushing madly from one bleeding child to another. (The boy goes towards his uncle) Do you know my uncle, why that mad man killed us with his explosive belt? (The man remains silent) Let me tell you. That mad man wanted to pay the price of his dinner with the prophet with our life and our blood. (The boy watches the man who looks stunned and still stares blankly) Uncle (raising his voice) Uncle. Are you amazed by what I just said? No (he stops staring blankly). This event is of no surprise in our country which falls asleep with the thud of bombs and wakes up at the sound of explosions.
The boy	:	Then why are you surprised?
The man	:	(He moves towards the young boy and points to him) You.
The boy	:	Me! Why?
The man	:	Tell me, my boy how did you return from the dead?
The boy	:	Actually (he pauses and thinks) I don’t know how. They chose me then I chose you.


The man	:	Who are they?
The boy	:	I don't know.
The man	:	Could you describe them carefully?
The boy	:	They are not different from us
The man	:	So, they are human.
The boy	:	Do you have anything against that?
The man	:	No, just, tell me about them.
The boy	:	Ok, if you like.
The man	:	Tell me my boy, have they spoken to you in Arabic?
The boy	:	No.
The man	:	In which language have they spoken with you?
The boy	:	None, they didn't speak any language.
The man	:	How did you understand what they wanted, and how did they understand you? Did they use sign language, for example?
The boy	:	No, they didn't need any language.
The man	:	What about you?
The boy	:	I didn’t need any language either.
The man	:	How did you understand each other?
The boy	:	We spoke a silent language. No, not exactly. We communicated through…through the mind.
The man	:	Tell me please, how did they teach you to communicate this way?
The boy	:	They didn't. I found myself talking with them by thoughts.
The man	:	By thoughts?!
The boy	:	Yes, (silent). What is so strange about this, my uncle?
The man	:	You are talking about parapsychology?
The boy	:	Parapsychology! What does this word mean?
The man	:	It means, you learned how to use your mental energy to communicate
The boy	:	I don’t understand.
The man	:	Ok, forget about this word for the moment and tell me, can you communicate with your father?
The boy	:	Yes, do you want to tell him something?
The man	:	You amaze me.
The boy	:	I am too young to surprise a great man like you, my uncle
The man	:	Don’t worry and tell me frankly why did you choose to visit me in Australia?
The boy	:	Because I miss you after they forced you to leave your home.
The man	:	Did those who you communicated with help you?
The boy	:	Please Uncle, don’t talk about them anymore. I didn't travel all that cosmic distance to talk about them. I'm here to talk with you about you and your city. (Trying to change subject) What do you think, my uncle, about leaving this gloomy place to see the Rundle Mall?
The man	:	How do you know the name of this street?
The boy	:	One of your poet friends in Australia wrote a poem about the pleasures of the Rundle Mall. I was impressed and wished to see that glamour someday.
The man	:	It's OK but not before you tell me how you got here.
The boy	:	You bring me back to the subject which we decided to leave aside, my uncle.
The man	:	I am not talking about your mental message. I asked you how you arrived in Australia?
The boy	:	I don't know how.
The man	:	What do you mean "I don't know how?"
The boy	:	I'm still a young boy and I am less knowledgeable than you or my father.
The man	:	You speak as if you were influenced by my play, The Scream.
The boy	:	I'm affected by all your plays my uncle.
The man	:	This makes it even more surprising.
The boy	:	What is strange about it?
The man	:	Your presence after your death, with me, in Australia. Something similar to what happened in my play The Scream.
The boy	:	Do you mean you are imagining my presence while I am standing by you in flesh and blood?
The man	:	That's what makes it even stranger.
The boy	:	You do not believe in the existence of life after death except in your writings?
The man	:	If I were to return from the world of the dead I would come back as an ethereal spirit.
The boy	:	Is there a difference between the two worlds, my uncle?
The man	:	Death is the natural extension of life?
The boy	:	I think that all those whose life is not completed in the first world will complete it in the second world. The man who blew himself in the middle of us believed that he would secure his diner in heaven. This means that he will complete the life that he stopped in the first world, and I have also come back to complete my life.
The man	:	If I assume that you are right, it means that the man will complete his life in heaven, in an imaginary world. But you are now physically here despite your being dead. (Suddenly he holds his tongue, and then to the boy) Shush! I hear a strange voice coming did you hear it too?
The boy	:	Yes (a whistling sound coming from afar, slowly rises, and becomes deafening. As it gets stronger, and stronger, they press their hands on their ears and throw themselves on the ground and the lights go out).

Scene four

		(The man and the boy are still lying on the ground. A small spot of light illuminates them from above. They slowly raise their heads. They are surprised by the presence of a person whose features they know. They stand. They look at each other and then at the person who just arrived. The boy is talking to himself: My father! I can hardly believe what I see (running to him. He embraces his father, kiss his forehead and his hand) My father, I'm so sorry about what happened.
Salah	:	Don't worry my son.
The boy	:	How are my mother and my brother?
Salah	:	All of them are fine.
The boy	:	Is my mother still sad about me?
Salah	:	Do you expect otherwise? The news stroked her like thunder and she was left motionless. We were afraid that she was paralysed and had lost all ability to move.
The boy	:	And how is she now?
Salah	:	Better but still feeling sad and depressed. Imagine she talks to you through your wounded brother all night, and she does not close her eyes till she talks with you, and rests assured you are sleeping beside her
The boy	:	(The boy in pain) Ah what great torment I caused to you, Mom. If I could live again I would kill that dreaded suicide murderer (he embraces his father and begins to cry) Forgive me, Mom.
Salah	:	No, you are not responsible for what happened to her (Changing subject) O my son, you made me forget your uncle (moving to the man) How are you, brother?
The man	:	I'm not least puzzled than I was before you arrived.
Salah	:	(Surprised) Is that how you welcome your guests in Australia?
The man	:	No, but…
Salah	:	(Interrupting) But what my brother?!
The man	:	Your arrival here is very odd.
Salah	;	I do not find any reason why this is. I wanted to come and I came.
The man	:	So simply.
Salah	:	(Depressed, he starts to walk off the stage) I feel unwelcome here.
The man	:	(Changing the tone of his words) On the contrary, my brother, by the time you came, you have achieved what I had hoped for a long time ago.
The boy	:	(intervening) My uncle and I were talking about you, Dad
Salah	:	Nice to hear this from you.
The boy	:	You are still a hero in my uncle's eyes.
Salah	:	Oh, really?
The boy	:	Not only in his plays, but in life as well.
Salah	:	A simple man like me can only be a hero in your uncle's plays.
The boy	:	My uncle did not represent you personally, but as an Iraqi character only, that is why he calls you Salah Al Iraqi.
The man		(Interrupting) Hear me, brother (approaching silently before he starts talking with him) let me be frank with you (pulling him away from the boy) Muhammad's coming here has confused me so much. You know that Muhammad was the victim of a deranged man who blew himself up among a group of boys.
Salah	:	Yes, I know.
The man	:	And you know he was buried in the cemetery of our city (Salah nods in approval) but you do not know that he is still alive and kicking.
Salah	:	(He laughs) What are you talking about, my brother! No one among us is alive.
The man	:	(thunderstruck) Wh.. wh.. what do you mean! No. I couldn't have died.
Salah	:	And how do you explain your presence here with us?
The man	:	You mean your presence here with me. I am here in Adelaide living with my wife and children. You come to visit me here, but I do not understand how.
Salah	:	I have never seen you that confused before. Do you fear to believe what happened to you brother?
The man	:	What happened to me? Have I been buried in Adelaide without knowing that I have actually died?
Salah	:	No. Shaking his head disapprovingly.
The man	:	Why are you shaking your head disapprovingly?
Salah	:	It's not easy for me to convince someone like you.
The man	:	Please my brother, leave the rhetoric and speak to me in your own language, which I always liked.
Salah	:	It is ok. Can I ask you a question?
The man	:	Yes, sure.
Salah	:	How do you explain our presence together at this moment?
The man	:	At the moment I cannot explain it, but I am absolutely sure of my being alive.
Salah	:	Are you sure of what you are saying?
The man	:	Yes, and even more than you imagine.
Salah	:	Now tell me, my brother (he says his next sentence with some shame) why did the Australians certified you to mental hospital?
The man	:	I entered it of my own accord.
Salah	:	Why?
The man	:	Because what happened was beyond imagination (he begins recounting what happened) that evening, as usual in Adelaide, I worked on the net. The message window alerted me of the arrival of a new message. I rushed to my message box. opened the letter and then opened the file attached to it. It was a film showing you being held at gun point trapped in a narrow lane.

Scene five: A movie scene

1.	Long shot	:	A few hundred people are held prisoners by a number of masked men in arms who would not hesitate to shoot them.
2.	Closeup	:	One of the hostages, a boy, is trying to sneak out of the packed group.
3.	Closeup	:	The eyes of one of the masked men follows the boy's movement.
4.	Medium shot	:	Then one of masked men moves from the opposite side to cut the boy's escape.
5.	Closeup	:	(The camera moves quickly between the movements of the boy and the masked men)
6.	Medium shot	:	The masked man grabs the boy. He lifts him by his neck and takes him to the head of the gang.
7	Medium shot	:	The head of the gang appears, and the camera progressively zooms on him until the shot turns into a close-up of his eyes. Closing them as an answer to a silent question from the masked man still holding on to the child.
8	Long shot	:	The masked man lays the boy on a table set in front of the head of the gang; his feet still touching the ground. He then turns him on his stomach. Two other masked men come to hold the boy while the first one pulls down his trousers and underpants in front of the crowd. One of them then takes a spit and begins to insert it into the anus of the boy's anus till it comes out of his mouth.
9	Closeup	:	The mother and father and other people are screaming aloud their mouth distorted in horror.
			Note: (A movie director can add a suitable shot or edit any important modification on them. The screen turns off. The man begins to complete his speech after a short pause).

The man	:	I lost control of myself when I heard the screams of his mother and father. I screamed with them at the top of my voice in protest. They had arrested his mother and father and they told them: Do you disagree with our judgment of your unbelieving son? The father remained silent, but the mother began to cry and cry and kept repeating over and over: "hasbunallahu wa naim al wakeel”. One of the gang heard her and pulled her by her hair in front of the crowd. He shouted at the people: whoever tries to object to our will, will share the same fate as this unbeliever. (ordering) Stay here and do not move. He takes his sword from his sheath and with quick swing of the blade beheads her. The headless women remains standing trying to raise her arms to the sky but soon collapses in a fountain of blood. A member of the gang stood in front of the crowd and announced: we are here to make one of us become a prince. Then one by one, they undertook to repeat the killing with ten new victims until your turn came up. You walked to their leader and in anger and disrespect spat on his beard. The gang tied your hands and gagged you. They then proceeded to shoot the entire crowd. The bodies collapsed still appealing for a help which never came in this bloody moment.
Salah	:	And what happened after that? (The man remains silent) I am telling you. Your neighbours told the police they heard your loud screams which scared them. The police arrested you and interrogated you and found from your answers that you were suffering from severe psychological and neurological disturbance. They suggested that you go to the hospital to seek help to overcome the crisis, but that is not all.
The man	:	That’s all there is to it.
Salah	:	If that is the case then why didn't you return to your family?
The man	:	Because… becau…
Salah	:	Because you died in the hospital from psychological trauma (Silent…the actors stop to move… The man walks to the audience)
The man	:	(astonished) In fact, I am puzzled by all this. I did not know whether I was writing a new text or living an actual event. I do not hide from you that I am utterly confused and can hardly think of any reason for all this (silent) How can dead people meet living people (the lights turn off on the stage. The news anchor appears in another shot).
News anchor	:	Our correspondent from the national museum reports that visitors had seen three foreigners close to the meteorite, talking to each other. Then the foreigners simply vanished. Here is what the camera recorded. Reporter: Can you tell us what you actually saw? Eye witness 1: Sure, I saw a man and a young boy about 20 metres away. But when I approached them, they just disappeared Eye witness 2: I saw three persons - they disappeared when I tried to get closer to them. Eye witness 3: They were two, then another one joined them. But they completely vanished before I could greet them. Eye witness 4: I didn’t go near them. I just kept watching from a distance. They didn’t disappear until the camera-man turned up. Reporter: However, there have been conflicting views on the nature of the strangers…. Other witnesses were adamant that the strangers were real humans. If they were ghosts, they wouldn’t have come out during the day. Indeed, the manager of the museum has declared that nothing untoward happened … He claims that the mental confusion, which apparently is still affecting people, is most likely a result of the meteorite explosion itself, rather than any encounter with ghosts That is all from me now. I will be back with a news update at 9.

*****

Act two

Scene one

		(The location is the same. The three characters are standing in a closed place. The boy stands up, he goes to the man and addresses him impatiently)
The boy	:	You promise me my uncle to go to the Rundle mall. Is it time to go there?
The man	:	Yes, but who will get us out of here?
The boy	:	What do you mean my uncle?
Salah	:	Do you see this darkness my son? Do we have any exit from here? Is there a way out of this strange vortex?
The man	:	I believe there is a way out even in a vortex like this.
Salah	:	You are very optimistic despite your hard experiences.
The man	:	This is our Iraqi nature.
Salah	:	Yes, but the issue is how to escape this darkness that surrounds us.
The man	:	Look over there my brother (indicating with his head)
Salah	:	There! Where?
The man	:	(He points his finger up) The roof… do you see the glimmer of light there?
Salah	:	I see it but what can we do? How can we get our bodies through that needle hole? (he points to the roof)
The man	:	Didn't you come from this hole?
Salah	:	Me or you?
The man	:	I am already here in Australia.
Salah	:	Where is Australia? Is this where you are now?
The boy	:	What do you mean, Dad? My uncle has been living here for two years!
Salah	:	You seem to be confused because you cannot distinguish between darkness and Australia.
The boy	:	If we are not in Australia, where are we then?
Salah	:	Here, in the midst of darkness, no one knows its extent, nor when it will end.
The boy	:	But I chose to visit my uncle and here I stand beside him.
Salah	:	Who told you otherwise? You visited your uncle where he is now.
The man	:	(Trying to explain to the boy) Your father means that when you lose your physical existence, you are freed from the constraints of life
The boy	:	Does freedom from the constraints of life leads to restrictions on freedom of death?
The man	:	Not exactly.
The boy	:	How?
The man	:	I think we are going through a stage that has never been seen before. A stage in which the boundary between what was and what is, between constraint and freedom, darkness and light.
The boy	:	Is it a sort of limbo?
Salah	:	It is a corridor that leads us to where we want to go.
The boy	:	I do not think so.
Salah	:	Why?
The boy	:	Because I wanted to see the Rundle Mall and I did not get to see it.
Salah	:	No, because you cannot meet with the livings.
The man	:	We have not tried yet.
Salah	:	You do not need to try this experiment.
The man	:	This despair cannot stop our desire forever.
The boy	:	I am with my uncle in this case.
Salah	:	Well but what can we do? We are surrounded by walls of terrible darkness.
The man	:	Penetrate it and go across towards the world of light.
The boy	:	I am willing to do anything in order to see the world of light.
The man	:	(To his brother) can you tell me please how you came here. We may follow out the same way as the one you came.
Salah	:	Ok, (starting to remember). On one evening which was not much different from our all bloody evenings we went out to a funeral procession we carried on our shoulders a number of innocent victims of the bombs they usually plant in places crowded with innocents. We went to the city mosque and did not know that among us was one of those fools who wanted a life after death at the expense of our lives. He blew himself up with an explosive belt and our bodies were blown up and scattered in the air. And the colour of the asphalt took the redness of blood and pieces of flesh were flung here and there. The pieces of flying flesh were radiant like scattered bits of meteorites. Then the sound of howling, mixed with moaning, rose from dozens of wounded men. I had a shrapnel in my leg but I was still trying to drag those who were wounded out of the pool of blood which spread so fast until I fell in syncope and I do not know when I left exactly When I regained consciousness, I wanted to meet you. For a moment, suddenly and strangely I found myself close to you and my son who had been killed by them.
The man	:	This means you are still alive.
Salah	:	Alive or dead is no longer so important for me.
The boy	:	Have you forgotten the idea of getting out of this awful place?
The man	:	We will try now.
The boy	:	How?
The man	:	Come here, beside me (they obey) grab my hands. (From somewhere comes a sharp whistling sound and they throw themselves on the ground. They cover their ears with their hands ... the light flashes several times and then the theatre falls in in full darkness).

		Scene two (Silent Scene)
		The theatre is gradually illuminated… The three characters slowly rise… From three columns of light behind them, three creatures appear. Their strange bodies are part human-like part robotic; they stand behind the three men… The lighting becomes glaring. The place looks like the surface of a planet from outside our solar system… The three characters react differently when they look at the strangers… They are surprised by the different reactions from the three cosmic men… They stop moving, their eyes fixed on the cosmic men… The cosmic men move towards them… The men react they stop moving… The cosmic men notice the man, his brother and nephew, before moving towards them… One cosmic man uses a device like a remote control and when he presses on it a film appears on the cyclorama. The scene shows masked men inside a kitchen. They are cutting the belly of a child in full view of his mother and father… He is disembowelled while his body is still shivering... They have attached him by his feet with a thin rope tied to the ceiling fan… They take pleasure in extracting his bowels slowly as the butchers pull out sheep's intestines… They order his father and his mother to put him in the oven ... they are confused ... they refuse... A masked man walks forward with a knife. He stabs the father who stops holding his wound… Before the mother is stabbed in turn, the father tries to prevent the mask man from attacking her... The father goes to the oven and stokes the fire... Raising the heat to its highest level... Then suddenly he inserts his head in the oven ... The masked man pulled the head of the father backwards, yanking him violently as he falls to the ground with pain… He leaves him and pulls the mother to where they left the body of her thin son… The mother cries silently ...The masked man takes the body of the child, gives him to his mother and orders her to put him into the oven… She walks to the oven and insert her head in it, but the mask man pulls her away… Takes the child ... throw him on the ground... yanks the mother by her hair violently and then stabs her stomach... The mother receives the stab coldly and he stabs her again and again until she starts to scream, he throws her beside her husband...With his foot, he kicks the body of child several times to push him close to his parents and he orders them to move but they don't obey... The masked man walks to the mother... Pulls her by her hair in the middle of the room and begins to tear her clothes in front of her husband... The father understands what the masked man wants, and stand up and bring his child with his blood-laden to put him into the oven... He cries silently in pain…He closes the oven door and slowly returns back… His eyes still staying on the oven, to his son's corpse which starts to burn, he bumps into his wife's body lying on one side and sits beside her…He covers her nudity by pulling her torn garment… The masked man applauds while the child is grilled and then one of them takes out the grilled body from the oven and puts it in front of his parents… When another masked man gives the parents two knives and two forks and orders them to cut their son's meat, they refuse to obey…The masked man bends and stabs the father a second time. The father remains silent ... The masked man tries to stab the mother and the father stops him… He looks at his wife with pain and takes the knife to cuts off part of his son's flesh ... The masked man orders him to cut another piece, he does but he can't open his eyes ... When the father touches his child's body with the knife, he closes his eyes. The masked man grabs his hand and forces him to open his eyes… He cuts another piece, and the knife falls from his hand… The mask man orders the mother to do as the father did, threatening to kill her husband if she refuses… She takes the knife with a trembling hand and tries to pounce on the masked man, but he easily avoids her and grabs her by her hair and throws her to the ground ... He gives her his knife... She looks at her husband ... Her husband looks at her, and hesitantly takes onto the child's body. Because of her weakness she is no longer able to carry the knife on her son's body... The masked man holds her hand and cuts a piece of the baby's body… He places the meat in front of the parents and orders them to eat their child's flesh… They refuse to obey… The masked men pull their weapons and point their gun to them… The father eats a piece of his son's flesh and the mother eats another piece… They stop, but the masked man orders them to continue to eat, when they finish the last piece, the masked men applaud them loudly and then order them to stand… When they stand on their feet, the masked men open fire on them savagely in hysterical laughter… The scene stops with a command of Remote Control… The lights at the back stage are turned off and the front stage is illuminated.

		Scene three
		The cosmic men stand up face to face with the three characters. They speak in a strange language that is incomprehensible. One of them directs the remote to the screen and presses it and a translation appears directly.
Cosmic 1	:	(He speaks and the translation appears on the screen). We have come from a planet far away from Earth after fragments fell on earth, including this part you call meteorite. And before we decided to land on your planet we studied your way of life. We saw strange things that aroused our curiosity. We saw what happened to you and we were surprised by your actions. We wanted to study you and we were dazzled by your weird behaviour. You are the first beings in our cosmic realm to behave in this strange manner.
Cosmic 2	:	We wanted to know about your truth and to know if what you were doing was normal in your terrestrial culture.
The man	:	Why choose us amongst other humans?
Cosmic 2	:	Because we have chosen Australia as the place for our global research. Because you approached a meteor in a way that intrigued us. So we decided to meet you and some of your relatives because of the different ways to face your destiny.
Cosmic 3	:	That is what we want to learn from you. Which are the three facts that are more representative of your terrestrial culture.
The man	:	When people are unable to deal with their realities, they invent new ways to confront them.
Cosmic 2	:	You are all different in your conditions, and in the way you deal with it.
The man	:	We are all victims when we confront death.
Cosmic 1	:	So why did not you die?
The man	:	Because I have not faced death yet. I ran away from it for a while but it tried to get me after it took away my friend, with who I was working in a local newspaper. But I won't be for long.
Cosmic 1	:	Does this mean you have postponed confrontation with death?
The man	:	It means that we will stop bleeding.
Cosmic 1	:	(To the boy) what about you. How was your encounter?
The boy	:	I faced death, forced, very early when a suicide bomber blew himself up among us in exchange for a dinner in a paradise that he had the illusion he would attain.
Cosmic 1	:	(To Salah) What about you?
Salah	:	I encountered it more than once and each time the attempt failed.
Cosmic 2	:	Is it for that they called you Salah the Iraqi?
Salah	:	Yes, because I hang on life and resist death in every war forced upon me without right.
Cosmic 1	:	So, you are different.
The man	:	And yet similar.
Cosmic 1	:	How?
The man	:	In our world there are circumstances that cut our lives short.
Cosmic 1	:	What do you wish?
The boy	:	We wish to walk the streets of Adelaide to regain our sense of security, here, after we lost it there.
Cosmic 1	:	And then what?
Salah	:	I would like the people to care more about life matters than about death.
Cosmic 1	:	(With certainty and clarity) This is exactly what you lack. All cosmic creatures care about their life, but you behave as if life was not yours and this is what brought you to our attention, our work is to understand the unknown causes by studying the nature of your life and your ways of dealing with it.
The man	:	The issue is not as you imagine. People on Earth are not like other beings and do not resemble each other. Their identities, tendencies, desires, goals that become values are also different. People used to form groups that became countries and each country developed its own government. Differences and disagreements emerged.
Cosmic 1	:	Does this mean this still continues without stop?
The man	:	But it will stop one day.
Cosmic 1	:	In your country only?
The man	:	No, in the whole world.
Cosmic 1	:	When?
The man	:	You will know at the time. Didn't you say that you are watching our lives in detail?
Cosmic 1	:	Yes.
The man	:	So just wait, and...
Cosmic 1	:	(Mixed sounds and whistling interfering in non-specific cosmic tones. Cosmic 1 receives special signal on a small device. Pointing towards the back screen, the translation stops. He speaks in his strange language and talk to the man after he pointing to the screen again) We have to go and maybe we will come back again. And if we leave you, you will be freed from this place. (The subtitle bar stops on the screen. Cosmic 1 directs his orders in his strange language. Moments later we hear whistling sounds increasingly loud. The roar of giant engines. Noise and deafening sounds. The lights are flash on and off before darkness prevails. The three cosmonauts disappear and the view on the screen changes. As the lights open again we see the man still laying on the ground. People are running towards him. Surround him. They use their cameras to take photos of him from different angles. When he rises and moves towards them, they retreat with feeling of fear. We hear the sound of a police car siren and an ambulance siren. The police enter the place. People retreat into the museum. A policeman cordons the area with police tape. The man stays in his place motionless, surprised by the strange commotion occurring around him. As if caught day dreaming and not waking up from it. Two paramedics put the man on a stretcher. The police let them take the man to an ambulance outside the theatre. The reporter appears at the front of the stage and at the same time we see his image directly on the screen: The question is: What has, and is still, happening at the museum of South Australia? Is it just mental confusion as the museum office has declared? Or is it something more sinister??? The end ………………………………………….. (1) The pleasures of the Rundle Mall: a poem by the Iraqi poet resident in Australia Adeeb Kamal Ad-Deen. This poem is one of the forty poems that formed by the poet's collection (Before the letter... After the Dot)