Title: Heal thyself
by James from Norfolk | in writing, fiction
A corner of a bar, next to a pool table. Three students sit around pints on a table, one (Tom) has his arms folded, leaning against a chair; another (Simon) is staring blankly, one hand curled around his glass. The third man (Dave) wears a King's College medical hoody and plays on a mobile phone. Henry enters clutching a cranberry juice. He sits opposite Tom.
Tom: You driving?
Henry: No, why?
Tom nods at the glass of cranberry juice.
Henry: It's lent. I've stopped...
Tom (in disbelief): What? You're not religious. We're scientists.
Henry: I'm both.
Tom: Why?
Henry: Why not!!
Simon (defensive): Yeah, why not?
Tom: You're not'
Simon: Yes, I am
Tom: You're drinking.
Simon: So?
Tom (sarcastically): It's Lent.
Simon: I'm Jewish.
Tom (becoming angered): You're mental.
Tom scans the group, hoping to find agreement. To his despair he finds Henry and Simon staring at the floor and Dave still engrossed in his mobile.
Tom: It's fantasy!!!
Dave smirks behind his hoody and begins to hum 'nobody move, nobody get hurt' by We Are Scientists. Henry looks into Tom's eyes, palms face down on the table.
Henry (almost condescendingly, hoping he has reached the nub of the issue):
I'm not 'creationist', but science doesn't answer everything
Tom: And God does? (to Dave) What are you grinning at?
Dave: We're scientists. It's funny.
Tom: Shut up. This is
(Tom hesitates, searching for an appropriate word)
Madness!
Simon: Why?
Tom: I'm a medical student. Not a nutjob.
Henry: Jeez, turn the other cheek...
Tom (angrily, almost shouting): WHAT?
Tom glares at Henry, Henry looks down at his drink.
Simon: Look, you're atheist. We're not. So what?
Tom: I'm not atheist.
Henry: So you're'
Tom (with unnerving calm): Normal.
Simon: You're being ridiculous
Tom: I don't need this.
Simon and Henry look at each other. Dave looks up from his mobile to see Tom stand up, storm off, and then trip and smash his head against the pool table. All three stand, Simon and Henry rush to Tom's side. 'Nobody move, nobody get hurt' by We Are Scientists fades in. Dave stays put, but lowers his hoody.
Dave (muttering): Physician, heal thyself.
A group of medical students sit around drinks in a bar, when a seemingly innocent question sparks a religious debate between the stubborn scientist and the religious. I wanted to turn tables and see an 'extremist' reaction from a naive young non-believer rather than the religious 'fanatics' so often shown in the media. Young people have a duty to expand their perceptions, rather than becoming submerged in a belligerent attitude to life, politics and religion.
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