Murder Mysteries a Play for Voices (9781466109827)

Murder Mysteries a Play for Voices (9781466109827) Read Free Page A

Book: Murder Mysteries a Play for Voices (9781466109827) Read Free
Author: Neil Gaiman
Tags: Mystery, Angels, lucifer, gaiman
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that. And then I'd know my name, and my
function.
     
    /SFX/ DISTANT WHISPERS, CRYSTAL CHIMES,
UNDER...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION (CONT’D)
    Through the window I could see silver
spires, and in many of the other spires were windows; and in the
windows I could see others like me. That was how I knew what I
looked like. You wouldn't think it of me, seeing me now, but I was
beautiful. I've come down in the world a way since then.
    (beat)
    I was taller then, and I had wings.
     
    /SFX/STRETCHING AND FLAPPING OF WINGS FOR
THE FIRST TIME
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    They were huge and powerful wings, with
feathers the colour of mother-of-pearl. They came out from just
between my shoulder-blades. They were so good. My wings...
     
    /SFX/ SOUNDS AND MUSIC OF ANGELS IN FLIGHT,
SWOOPING PAST; DISTANT CHIMES AND SOUNDS OF THE CITY OF ANGELS,
UNDER...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION (CONT’D)
    Sometimes I'd see others like me, the ones
who'd left their rooms, who were already fulfilling their duties.
I'd watch them soar through the sky from spire to spire, performing
errands I could barely imagine. The sky above the City was a
wonderful thing. It was always light, although lit by no sun --
lit, perhaps by the City itself: but the quality of light was
forever changing. Now pewter-coloured light, then brass, then a
gentle gold, or a soft and quiet amethyst...
     
    /SFX/ THE SOUNDS OF THE CITY OF THE ANGELS
CUTS OUT AS:
     
    RAGUEL NOW
    You know what amethyst is? A kind of purple
stone?
     
    NARRATOR -- LIVE
    Yes. I know that.
     
    NARRATOR
    My crotch felt uncomfortable. It occurred to
me then that the man might not be mad; I found this far more
disquieting than the alternative.
     
    RAGUEL NOW
    I don't know how long it was that I waited,
in my room. But time didn't mean anything. Not back then. We had
all the time in the world.
     
    /SFX/ LA CROSSFADES TO THE CITY OF
ANGELS
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    The next thing that happened to me, was when
the Angel Lucifer came to my cell. He was taller than me, and his
wings were imposing, his plumage perfect. He had skin the colour of
sea-mist, and curly silver hair, and these wonderful grey
eyes...
     
    /SFX/ MIX UP THE SOUNDS OF LA
     
    RAGUEL NOW
    I say he, but you should understand that
none of us had any sex, to speak of. Smooth and empty. Nothing
there between the legs. You know.
     
    /SFX/NOW LA FADES BACK INTO RAGUEL’S CELL IN
THE CITY OF ANGELS, AND THE FLAPPING OF LUCIFER’S WINGS...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    Lucifer shone. I mean it -- he glowed from
inside. All angels do. They're lit up from within, and in my cell
the angel Lucifer burned like a lightning storm. He looked at me.
And he named me.
     
    LUCIFER
    You are Raguel. The vengeance of the
Lord.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Yes. I see. I am Raguel. I am vengeance.
That is my name. That is my function.
     
    LUCIFER
    There has been a ... a wrong thing. The
first of its kind. You are needed.
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    He turned and pushed himself into space, and
I followed him.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    (shouting over the wind of flight)
    It’s astonishing! It’s wonderful!
     
    LUCIFER
    (in flight)
    The Silver City. Yes. It astonishes. It
inspires wonder. It’s all there is, you know.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    (in flight)
    What about outside the city? What is
that?
     
    LUCIFER
    (in flight)
    It’s called the Dark. We do not go there. It
is not of this place.
     
    /SFX/ LUCIFER AND RAGUEL TAKE FLIGHT, SWOOP
OVER THE CITY, EVENTUALLY LANDING, AS RAGUEL DESCRIBES IT,
UNDER...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION (CONT’D)
    I flew behind him across the Silver City, to
the outskirts, where the City stops and the Darkness begins; and it
was there, under a vast silver spire, that we descended to the
street, and I saw the dead angel.
    (beat)
    The body lay, crumpled and broken, on the
silver sidewalk. Its wings were crushed underneath it and a few
loose feathers had already blown into the silver gutter.
    (beat)
    The body was almost dark. Now and again a
light would flash inside it, an occasional flicker

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