THE CAUSE by Amjad Prawej

Bare stage. Enter two Aliens. They are in strange costumes and they wear funny masks.

Alien1: 

(looking around) I told you. See for yourself. You believe me now, don't you?

Alien2:

Yes, I do. (looking around). But.. But wait.. I... I still can't believe this.

Alien1:

(surprised) You still don't believe me? After seeing this, right in front of your eyes?

Alien2:

I didn't mean that. Of course I believe you. But I can't believe what I see.

Alien1:

Seeing is believing my friend. And there is no doubt that this has actually happened.

Alien2:

Yes, I guess. You know I was here last week. And everything seemed so normal.

Alien1:

(surprised again) You were here last week? You came here without me? That's really.... wait a minute. You were here with Liena!! You traitor!! You..

Alien2:

Oh come on! She wanted a little stroll, thats all. We are just good friends.

Alien1:

(sarcastic) Yeah right. And I am Superman!!

Alien2:

No!! Really, we are just friends. And you know, I just dont miss any opportunity to visit Planet Earth. This is the most beautiful Planet in our Galaxy.

Allien1:

(Quickly) Was

Alien2:

What?

Alien1:

The Earth WAS the most beautiful planet. (Gestures around)

Alien2:

Ah yes. Of course.. Was.. This is strange. Just look around. There is nothing left. Everything is changed into.. into... I don't know... Dust!!... It's all black and white.. Where are the colors?

Alien1:

I see a little Grey over there.

Alien2:

Yes, but it's not very different from black and white. (Searching) Where are the Blues and Greens and Yellows and Reds?

Alien1:

(Thinks) I think they are all buried below these Blacks and Whites. It seems a long way before this planet sees any other color again.

Alien2:

(Disappointed) What a pity!! I liked this planet a lot you know. The entire civilization is gone. Vanished! Buried! What a pity!!

Alien1:

Yes it's sad.(Pause) Hey, how long do you think will it take for life to reappear on this planet?

Alien2:

I don't know. May be a couple of Million years.

Alien1:

Wow! And then human beings would evolve and they would learn to make fire all over again! They'd discover different things. They would dig and... (getting happy) And they would discover all the colors!! Yes, they would discover Red!

Alien2:

Not really. How'd they know its Red?

Alien1:

What do you mean? They'd see and they would know its Red.

Alien2:

Yes they would see. But they wouldn't know a Red is a Red.

Alien1:

They wouldn't know a Red is a Red? I am confused.

Alien2:

Listen. We know a Red is a Red because we call it "Red". They wouldn't know what to call it. They might not even know color.

Alien1:

(Realizing) Ah.... Of course.. Silly of me... How would they know?... They would have to learn sounds, alphabets, language and only then they'd decide how to refer to something that was "Red". Wow!

Alien2:

Yes. Red might actually become Rub or Glub or God knows what.

Alien1:

God knows what... (starts laughing) They wouldn't know "God".

Alien2:

Do you? Do you know  "God"?

Alien1:

Of course I do.. He's.... She's... It is... I don't know. But I at least know what "God Knows what" means..(Laughs) They wouldn't.

Alien2:

True.

Alien1:

They wouldn't know 1, 2, 3. They wouldn't know A, B, C. They wouldn't know "Sky".. They wouldn't know "Earth". They wouldn't know "Family". They wouldn't know "Love"... They wouldn't know.. to be short, they wouldn't know anything! They will have to learn everyhting from the scratch. From Zero: They wouldn't know "Zero", would they?

Alien2:

I am afraid not.

Alien1:

This is funny.

Alien2:

No, it's not funny. It's a shame. All the knowledge, wisdom, discoveries and inventions are destroyed forever.

Alien1:

Yes it's a shame. All the hard works of thousands of years are gone for a toss.

Alien2:

I still don't understand. How is it possible to destroy a complete planet in merely one week?

Alien1:

It's simple.

Alien2:

Really?

Alien1:

Yes. All you need is human beings.

Alien2:

(Smiles) I see. I get the point. Thank God, they were not living on our planet.

Alien1:

I'd say we were lucky.

Alien2:

I am still wondering what exactly happened here... One week?

Alien1:

To be honest, it was more than that. It was a result of a very long period.

Alien2:

(surprised) You actually know what happened here?

Alien1:

I overheard our wise men.

Alien2:

Tell me quick. I am dying of curiosity.

Alien1:

Faulty and leaky water taps.

Alien2:

Water taps? You are saying this planet turned into dust because of faulty and leaky water taps.

Alien1:

Yes. I guess I'll have to tell you everything in detail.

Alien2:

Go ahead. I am all ears. There is nothing left of this place to see any way. I might as well know the details of what actually led to this.

Alien1:

Alright. Did you know the country called Idina?

Alien2:

O yes. One of my favourites. What diversities it had. Both cultural and geographical.

Alien1:

Good. There was a serious problem with the people of this country.

Alien2:

And what was that?

Alien1:

They worried about problems that were trivial and ignored the ones that would pose a real threat in the long run.

Alien2:

Like?

Alien1:

Faulty and leaky water taps! They never repaired them.

Alien2:

Now that's stupidity. Why would people not repair their taps?

Alien1:

There are many reasons. Laziness, ignorance and mostly the lack of awareness. They simply didn't know the importance of water. I must mention here, that country relied heavily on the underground water for their needs. They never took Rain-water Harvesting seriously. They were just misusing the generosity of nature. Besides, they were losing thousands of gallons of water everyday through those faulty and leaky taps. As a result, the underground water level went so down that it was impossible to set up bore wells or hand pumps. At some places they were rendered useless because of pollution. The situation got worse day by day. Soon there came a time when there was no water left. People started panicking. The government tried to import water to cope with the situation. But there was a problem. Not everyone could afford to buy water. People started stealing water from their neighbors. They took to the streets. They were demanding free water. The Government didn't know what to do.

Alien2:

Governments never know what to do. So what happened next?

Alien1:

We all believe the Governments don't do anything. But that's not true. They are always busy doing one thing - enhancing their Military Power; buying missiles, nuclear weapons and fighter planes. The Idinan Government had done the same. They were extremely powerful.

Alien2:

(Impatient) Yes yes I know that. Just tell me how did the entire planet vaporize?

Alien1:

You are too impatient. I'll come to the point. Do you remember the country Kanla that was situated on the south-east of Idina?

Alien2:

Ah yes, that beautiful small country.

Alien1:

Yes. The situations were quite different there. They had invested a lot in natural resources.

Alien2:

And they had no problems like Idina!

Alien1:

Exactly. So Idina started bullying them to supply water. Kanla refused for obvious reasons. And that's when Idina declared war against Kanla.

Alien2:

A war for drinking water!

Alien1:

Right. Though Kanla was small and not so powerful, it had alliances with other countries equipped with nuclearware. They came forward to defend Kanla. And the ones that were facing similar problems like Idina stood by them. Soon the entire planet was divided into two groups. Ultra powerful nations like Caremia, Glanden, Sisura, Mengary and Paskitna were involved. They were ready to destroy each other.

Alien2:

And they did! In the process of destroying each other they destroyed the entire planet!

Alien1:

Bingo! You have it now. It was called The Water War! And it was worse than WW1 and WW2. Once they were into full fledged war, it took exactly 2 hours, 23 minutes and 35 Seconds to destroy everything!

They are silent.

Alien2:

If only they had repaired those faulty and leaky taps they....

Stops abruptly seeing the audience. Stares at them with amazement. Goes to Alien1 and turns his face towards the audience. Both of them watch the audience with surprise.

Alien2:

They look like human beings. What do you think?

Alien1:

Yes they do.

Alien2:

Two hands... two legs.. One nose.. And only one head.... My God, they ARE human beings. They are not extinct.

Alien1:

Of course we are not extinct. (Taking off his mask) This is just a skit.

Alien2:

Oh! (embarrassed laughter) I was so into my character that I..(taking off his mask) I thought I WAS an Alien!

They are silent.

Alien1:

(In a dead serious voice) We are not Aliens. That was fiction. And we are not extinct yet. That was fiction too. But what you heard and saw is not far from the reality.

Alien2:

Save water. Repair your taps. Preserve natural resources. Harvest rain water.

Alien1:

And if you don't..... There will be no colors.

They put on their masks

A1&A2:

Except Black and White.

They turn around and exit

The End