SCENE TWO
(OLD MAN RAFFER, an old man with long silver hair; BINKY, a young girl who gives the impression of being almost like a bunny rabbit; and her brother ALEX, a shy, quiet character; are sitting together in a group. All three of them are outgrown imaginary friends.

OLD MAN RAFFER
Well, it looks like another day has gone by.

BINKY
Yep.

(ALEX nods.)

BINKY
So… What should we do tonight, Grampa Raffer?

OLD MAN RAFFER
Oh, well, the usual I suppose. Tell stories, play games. I’ll sit by the fire as you kids go play, and I’ll tell stories when you get back.

(Enter LULU and JASON)

LULU
Hello? Is anyone here? Hello? Hello?

BINKY
Who’s that?
(Alex shrugs)

OLD MAN RAFFER
Well, I don’t know.
(He lifts his arms up and waves.)
We’re over here!

LULU
Hello? Oh, I see someone! Jason, look, someone’s over there!
(They walk to where OLD MAN RAFFER, BINKY and ALEX are seated.)
Hi.

BINKY
Hi. I’m Binky. What’s your name?

LULU
I’m Lulu, and this is my friend Jason.

BINKY
Hi Lulu! That’s my brother, Alex. And that old man over there, that’s Old Man Raffer. I call him Grandpa Raffer sometimes, though. He’s a sweet old man.

LULU
Hello.
(Jason nods to everyone.)
Um…

BINKY
Are you new here?

LULU
I suppose so. But, um, where is here?

BINKY
Well….

JASON
You don’t know.

BINKY
It’s sort of hard to explain… I mean, well… You know what you are, right?

LULU
What do you mean?

JASON
Lulu, I told you already. We’re imaginary. We don’t exist.

BINKY
That isn’t quite true. You see, you are imaginary. Your friend made you up because they needed you. And, well, they’ve…

JASON
Grown up. She’s too old for us. Julie abandoned us.

BINKY
She grew up, in a way. She just… Didn’t need you anymore.

LULU
So… Does she care about us, though?

BINKY
Oh, I’m sure she does! It’s just that she doesn’t need you anymore.

JASON
She left us.

Alex
Well, I don’t think we can explain it.

BINKY
It’s hard to explain. It’s not quite that she outgrew you and left you, but it’s just that you aren’t needed for her anymore. I mean, it’s like… You were a sweater she outgrew.

JASON
Because that makes it sound much better.

BINKY
Look, she does care about you. I can’t explain it, apparently.

LULU
But where are we, then? Why is it so dark?

BINKY
I’m trying to get to that. Well, it’s hard to explain. But we’re imaginary too. There seems to be somewhere for us to go. When they outgrow us. And it’s here.

LULU
(Shuddering.)
It’s so dark, though.

BINKY
It’s okay. You get used to it. It’ll be okay!

LULU
But it’s so lonely.

OLD MAN RAFFER
It doesn’t have to be.

LULU
What?

OLD MAN RAFFER
It doesn’t have to be. You can mope and cry if you want, but we are all here. You aren’t alone, just because your Friend left you. We all have each other.

JASON
Sure. We have our own imaginary friends now. That’s just great. I always wanted to have my very own imaginary friend! It’s been my dream for all my life!

LULU
Jason…

JASON
Don’t say anything Lulu! We were JULIE’s friends. We were for JULIE. Not some other girl and her two friends. We were Julie’s. And she’s left us. We ARE alone.

(Jason storms offstage. Lulu starts to chase after him, but Binky grabs her arm and stops her.)

BINKY
Some friends… Struggle at first. They don’t accept it.

LULU
Do they in the end?

BINKY
They… Have to. Or else…

LULU
Or else what?

ALEX
Don’t say it, Bink.

OLD MAN RAFFER
Well…

LULU
What is it?! What happens if they can’t accept it?

BINKY
They… Try to stop. They make themselves not exist.

LULU
So they just… Disappear?

BINKY
Well… yeah. We try to help.

(Lulu begins to sob.)

LULU
I don’t want that to happen to Jason. He’s all I have left! I can’t lose him.

BINKY
We’ll help you. We’ll help.

(Exeunt.)