THE WOODS
Scene 1
(The woods adjoining the Big Lake, near Verdigree Switch, Indian Territory, 1906. It is Spring. Vines creep on the trees just putting out their green. The ground is soft with dead leaves, among which grow the earliest flowers. A fallen log lies in a tangle of last year’s briars. It is the grayness of morning. Color is beginning to show in the East, where the lake lies, and as the light grows the lake shines through the leaves. Lloyd and Betty come from the left, softly over the matted earth. They are very young. Lloyd is tall, dark; he has black hair; his face is sensitive; he wears rough shoes, dark trousers, and a pale blue shirt. Betty’s hair is yellow. She has let it down. It frames her white, delicate face. Her dress is a coarse dark slip.)
Lloyd
It’s been s’ gray.
Betty
It’s gettin’ lighter.
Lloyd
It’s been s’ gray. But now it’s gettin’ lighter and lighter—even to clear back here in the woods.
Betty (softly)