MELANCHOLY(ˈmelənˌkälē)

MELANCHOLY(ˈmelənˌkälē)
Melancholy

EXT: A CREAKING(krēk) DOCK(däk) ANCHORED(ˈaNGkər) ON A LAKE OUT IN A RURAL(ˈro͝orəl) TOWN. NIGHT.

SOPHIE, a fourteen-year-old girl, is sitting on the dock, watching the moon.

SOPHIE

I’ve figured out the exact(igˈzakt) moment that everybody grows up. Maybe it comes at a different age for different people, but I think, universally(ˌyo͞onəˈvərsəlē) speaking, it’s the first time in your life that a soft, moonlit(ˈmo͞onˌlit) night makes you feel sad instead of happy.

(Shakes her head)

Not even happy or sad. Those are words little kids use. They only have one meaning. You need big words to describe growing-up feelings. Ennui(änˈwē). Melancholy.

I used to come out to this dock when the days got warm like this and I didn’t think about the tall(tôl) grass(gras) swishing at my knees(nē) or the way the water slapped the rotting(rät) boards(bôrd), I just felt it, you know? And now, god, it’s like even as I’m feeling it I’m thinking about how I miss it already, or how much it will hurt when it’s gone. Does that even make sense(sens)?

(Hugs(həg) her knees tightly to her chest(CHest))

It feels like everything’s already gone, or going, or not even really here. Every moment I’m anywhere feels like I should be somewhere else. I just want to be a kid sitting by the lake looking at the moon and for it to feel the way it does in books when the girl can feel the breeze(brēz) and see the moonlight on the surface(ˈsərfis). Peaceful. But it’s not that way anymore. I see the moon and it’s cutting up the water and all it does is make me ache(āk) inside, like I might cry for no reason or run as hard I can to nowhere or explode(ikˈsplōd) into a million tiny(ˈtīnē) pieces(pēs) and I can’t even a little bit figure out why.

https://www.instantmonologues.com/preview/Melancholy