Scarlet of the Suicides

Scarlet of the Suicides

ACT I

The Madhouse

Scarlet: "Let me ask you a question. When you look around you, what do you see?"

Steve: "Objects, inanimate and animate."

Scarlet: “Would you say that you see things that appear dead and things that are alive?"

Steve: "Yeah, if you could say that a desk is dead, or that an electrical lamp is dead since it doesn't speak or move"

Scarlet: "What do you see happening to those things that seem alive?"

Steve: "I guess, they go around living their life, doing things until they die."

Scarlet: "Right, and who kills them?"

Steve: "Some die by circumstance or what some people call fate or old age and some get eaten or murdered by another thing that is alive."

Scarlet: "So, would you say that the world kills them?"

Steve: "Yeah, if by world we mean another object, animate or inanimate." Scarlet: "But did those objects want to die?"

Steve: "Most objects that are alive probably don’t want to die. Some of them might have wanted to die.”

Scarlet: "So some are killed by something else of this world, and all their lives most alive things want to live until they die what we would call a natural death, correct?"

Steve: "Right."

Scarlet: "So in the case of human beings, what kills them is their own organism which has been set to die, or succumbs to death, depending on whether you take a theistic or atheistic view of God. (Pauses for a moment to gather her thoughts). Or another organism which kills the human being, i.e. in the form of another human being, animal, virus, or whatever else could kill us. "

Steve: “Yes”.

Scarlet: "What do you think would happen if I were to not let any other object kill me, animate or inanimate, and also not allow myself to succumb to God's wishes for me to survive until he kills me?"

Steve: "In that case, well then you would live, wouldn't you.....but isn't that impossible though? You will eventually die.”

Scarlet: “But what would happen if instead of accepting my fate.....what if I were to take my own life, before God takes it? I mean, why are people so concerned about my staying alive? There are 7 billion people on the planet, and everyone is always competing over every thing. You've seen how they are on the outside, it's why you’re here in the first place, right?

Steve: “Yes, I mentioned to you yesterday, that I disliked the constant competition. I felt I couldn’t escape, everywhere I went, it didn't matter if I was working in fast food, slow food, retail, writing, or corporation, everybody was constantly at each other's throats. I think, it’s what caused my breakdown. I couldn’t even speak to anyone about it, because they would just laugh at me and give each other those knowing nods, as if to say “See I told you that he was weak. Survival of the Fittest my friends. He’s ‘obviously’ not meant to make it.”

Scarlet: “I know what you mean. Many of the successful are proud and haughty and come off cold and callous.”

Scarlet: “So then, you get what I'm saying right? Why do people want to prevent us from killing ourselves? Suicidal people do this competitive world a favor.

Steve: "Because they care about us."

Scarlet: "I want