Text structure: drama 7

Read the play.

Cast of Characters:
Gustavo: a 13-year-old boy who can talk to ghosts
Henry: the ghost of a teenage boy

Scene One:
[Late afternoon. GUSTAVO is at the table finishing up his homework. HENRY suddenly appears.]
Gustavo: Hey, Henry! How was your day?
Henry: It was good. I looked at the pictures from my old yearbook that you hung up for me—it brought me back to the good ole days of 1985. Thanks for doing that.
Gustavo: [smiling] No problem. I’m always happy to help you, Henry.
Henry: Great! Because, uh . . . I have another favor to ask. Forty-five years ago I buried a time capsule in the park. Will you please dig it up for me?
Gustavo: [looking at his watch]) Yeah, OK. Let’s go now so I can get home before dinner.

Scene Two:
[GUSTAVO is sweaty and covered in dirt. There are several fresh holes dug up all around the tree.]
Henry: I’m sorry, Gustavo. I think I buried it 10 big steps from this tree—I just wish I could remember which direction!
Gustavo: [sighing as he wipes sweat from his brow] Me too.
Henry: There’s a map to the time capsule saved on one of those floppy disks I told you about.
Gustavo: Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to help. I looked it up online—those disks are dinosaurs. We need a special drive to open the files. I don’t think they make them anymore. Sorry, Henry—I think we’re just going to have to come back again tomorrow and—
Henry: [hovering over a spot] Wait—look! It must be buried here!
Gustavo: Henry, I’ve really got to—
Henry: See that corner of silvery-gray plastic catching the light through the dirt?
Gustavo: [squinting at the ground] Er . . . just about.
Henry: I remember now! That’s what I used to mark the spot of the capsule—a Duran Duran cassette single.
Gustavo: A what-the-what?
Henry: I’ll explain later, just dig!

Scene Three:
[GUSTAVO and HENRY are sitting on Gustavo’s bedroom floor. The rusty time capsule and its contents are sprawled everywhere.]
Henry: Wow! [pointing to a bundle of yellowed newsprint] That’s the old newspaper from when my soccer team won the city championships. [GUSTAVO picks up a tattered set of cards.] Those are my old playing cards, and that’s my old soccer ball. Oh! [shaking his head] I forgot I hid a stack of overdue library books in there. It’s so awesome to see my old stuff. Thank you!
Gustavo: You’re welcome. I mean, who else were you going to ask?
Henry: I appreciate you saying that because I was wondering: can you help me return all these overdue library books?

Read this line from the drama.

Gustavo: You’re welcome. I mean, who else were you going to ask?