Mr. Velvet and I Against the World

(Sits down cross-legged center stage, holding a stuffed animal.)

I get in trouble for taking a cookie from on top of the fridge, and the only thing I can ask is... why? There are so many other things worth getting in trouble for. Pollution. War. Genocide. Cheating. It’s all wrong, and yet it still happens, and they don’t get in trouble for it. Why does it seem that only children get punished for stupid things like taking cookies, and adults let the things that are much worse just... happen? The atmosphere struggles to breathe with all the chemicals seeping into the air. Thousands of innocent people die in the combat of war. Whole races die in the process of a genocide. I just don’t get it. Why can’t the whole world just be like you and I, Mr. Velvet? 

(Holds out stuffed animal and looks at it. Strokes the fur.)

Why does it need to be such a bad place. I wish we could just fly away and be gone of all the troubles that get in our way. Because, well... When we get to be adults, we’ll have to deal with all the problems that adults in this world now are passing down to us. The worse they make it, the harder our job will be when we get that old. I mean, that won’t happen for like... I don’t know... Whatever. I guess the only thing I can do is just sit here and watch. Adults don’t care what some kid has to say about how the world works, and how to fix it. I might as well not even try. It’s not like I’ll actually help, right? It’s just me and you, Mr. Velvet. We’re in this together.

(Leans back on hands, and crosses legs while looking off into the distance.)

  I don’t know for how long we’ll have to be, but we’ll be in this together for as long as we need to. Grownups just don’t understand that there is only one planet. They don’t understand that once this one is destroyed with their carelessness, it’s over. I know I’m too old to be talking to some stuffed animal, and my parents have the mindset that I must be 8 years old, but I guess I just have to deal with it. Deal with the world. Deal with everything. Who knew what the weight of living would be? But... Maybe I can do something. Maybe I can let my voice be heard.

(Stands up while holding the arm of the stuffed animal in one hand.)

Maybe, just maybe, I can be that voice that makes it through to them. I can be that person that everyone wishes they were. I can be that person that puts words to thousands of unheard voices. I can be anything, because I tell myself I can be. In fact, I can be more than anything. I can be everything. I can be everything that the adults don't know. I can be everything that I am meant to be and more. Mr. Velvet, I know you can't respond, but I'm sure you would do the same thing.

(Looks to audience. Spreads arms.)

"I am nothing but a kid," is what we're grown up in this society to think. But no, I will be more than "just a kid." I will be the voices of my generation. The voices of a lifetime. The voices that need to be heard. I will be... Everything I need to be. Remember, Mr. Velvet. We're in this together, right?