My Hero

by Melanie White

LIGHTS UP as DOCTOR MIKE enters in hospital gown and mask.  He is also wearing a baseball glove on one hand and pitching a ball into it with the other.

DOCTOR MIKE

I always wanted to be a baseball player, but my mother wanted me to be a doctor.  So we compromised, and I became an obstetrician.

LIGHTS UP on SARAH in labor with the TEENAGE MIKE coaching with NURSE and DOCTOR MIKE standing nearby.

FATHER

Push. Push!

NURSE

Just one more, and it will all be over.

SARAH

(yells)

Easy for you to say.

SARAH screams and DOCTOR MIKE comes up with the baby in his mitt.

NURSE

Nice catch, doctor.

DOCTOR MIKE

Haven't dropped one yet.

DOCTOR MIKE hands the baby off to the NURSE and LIGHTS GO DOWN on the scene in the background as DOCTOR MIKE steps forward into the spotlight.

DOCTOR MIKE

My mother never understood my love for baseball.

LIGHTS GO DOWN on DOCTOR MIKE and UP on MOTHER and YOUNG MIKE, who is wearing a baseball cap.

YOUNG MIKE

The game wasn't over.

MOTHER

You have to do your homework.

YOUNG MIKE

Aw, Mom. The boys were counting on me.

MOTHER

I don't care. You know you're supposed to get your homework done as soon as you get home from school.

YOUNG MIKE

But by then it's too dark to play ball. I don't see why I can't do my homework later in the evening. We have electricity now, you know.

MOTHER

Don't get smart with me, young man.

YOUNG MIKE

Yes, ma'am.

MOTHER

Now go get washed up. Dinner will be in a half an hour, and I expect you to be working on your multiplication tables until then.

YOUNG MIKE

Yes, ma'am.

LIGHTS DOWN on YOUNG MIKE and his MOTHER and UP on DOCTOR MIKE.

DOCTOR MIKE

I hated my mother sometimes. She just didn't see the beauty of making that impossible catch or hitting the ball into outer space – just like Mickey Mantle. For my mother, it was just work, work, work. It's like she didn't know kids were supposed to play and have fun.

LIGHTS DOWN on DOCTOR MIKE and UP on YOUNG MIKE and his MOTHER.

YOUNG MIKE is looking over books at the kitchen table while his MOTHER washes the dishes. MOTHER pauses for a moment to look at YOUNG MIKE.

MOTHER

Are you stuck?

YOUNG MIKE

I don't understand why we need to know all this stuff. Who cares about photosynthesis anyway? Isn't it enough to know that plants need water and sun to help them grow?

MOTHER

You need to learn as much as you can about everything.

To read more, email melaniewhite29@yahoo.com