{"product_id":"speechgeek-competition-prose","title":"SpeechGeek - Competition Prose - 16 oral interp stories","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eAttempts at Being a Savior\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eRachel Wiggington\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA phone call in the early morning sends a young woman racing to stop her niece from doing something she can't take back.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eRachel Wiggington\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eRaised alongside her niece Sherry more like sisters than aunt and niece, the narrator gets the call every family dreads: Sherry, hysterical and holding a gun, is threatening her boyfriend Chuck after finally hitting a breaking point neither of them saw coming. She drives straight over, talks Sherry into putting the gun down amid a house reduced to broken dishes and shattered picture frames, and takes her home — the whole ordeal circling back to a memory from years earlier, when eleven-year-old Sherry taught a grieving teenage narrator how to scream out her pain in the woods after their family lost her father.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eThat night, the narrator returns the favor, walking Sherry into those same woods to bury the gun and finally let go of what's been building inside her. The writing is plainspoken and unsentimental even at its most emotional, trusting small physical details to carry the weight.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eBRAINS: A Guidebook For the Newly and Nearly Undead\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eStephanie Patterson Alderdice\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA newly diagnosed \"member of the undead\" writes the guidebook she wishes she'd had — equal parts gallows humor and survival manual.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eStephanie Patterson Alderdice\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eStructured as an actual how-to guide, the piece walks the audience through the narrator's own diagnosis with a degenerative neurological disease, reframed wholesale as \"turning\" into one of the undead — from the tingling in her hands after a college basketball game, through the doctor's confirmation, the anger, and practical tips for breaking the news to family. Real zombie-movie tropes (avoid the \"Z-word,\" resist the urge to groan, keep sticky notes handy) sit right alongside a genuinely moving account of watching her own body change and worrying how her kids will remember her. It's a clever conceit that never loses sight of the real fear underneath the joke, earning its laughs without cheapening the grief.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eBruise Ship\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eWaylon Brown and Rob Herrick\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eFive years after high school ended, a guy walks back into the one place he swore he'd never return — his reunion, on a cruise ship, dressed exactly like his old self.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eWaylon Brown and Rob Herrick\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eDetermined not to become one of the \"counterfeit\" people he hated in high school, the narrator shows up to his five-year reunion in wrinkled clothes and old sandals, refusing to perform for a crowd led by his old tormentor Gabe and Gabe's girlfriend — the narrator's own long-ago crush — Stephanie. When nobody at dinner recognizes him at all, the humiliation spirals into a half-dream flashback to childhood, where his grandfather warns him that waiting too long for what he wants only gets him left behind, until Stephanie's voice finally cuts through the crowd and sends the evening into a very public, very awkward moment. It's a funny, self-deprecating piece that turns a string of increasingly cringeworthy setbacks into a genuine, low-key realization about moving on.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eDavid\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eGregg Moeller\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA ten-year-old's question about an old newspaper clipping unlocks a story his grandmother has never told him — about the brother he never knew he had.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eGregg Moeller\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eThe piece opens with the narrator, as a boy, asking his grandmother what \"stillborn\" means after finding it in his late grandfather's obituary, then drops into her memory of that day decades earlier: a difficult pregnancy, a rush to the hospital with her husband Hank, and the devastating news that the baby didn't survive. Moving between Hank's silent grief, the grandmother's own childhood memory of losing a sister, and finally her brother-in-law's quiet, extraordinary act of climbing a fire escape to bring the baby's body to her one last time, the story builds to the naming of the son she never got to raise. It moves between two grieving family members with real control, letting plainly stated details do the emotional work instead of any authorial commentary.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eThe Dragon Slayer of Eastman Senior High\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eSarah Carpenter\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA self-described weird girl at school channels every unread page of her fantasy writing into the moment her secret journal gets read out loud in the cafeteria.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eSarah Carpenter\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, female\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eThe narrator, a socially isolated fantasy writer who reserves her wit and confidence for the pages of a journal no one else reads, watches her worst nightmare unfold when her popular tormentor Lacy finds that journal and starts performing its most romantic passages to the whole cafeteria. Rather than melt into the floor, the narrator stands up, calls out Lacy's cruelty directly, and in the process catches a flash of real vulnerability underneath Lacy's meanness — a moment she reads, fluently, in the language of her own dragons-and-castles fiction. It's a sharp, funny piece that takes genre-fantasy narration seriously as a tool for actual self-understanding, turning a familiar public-humiliation setup into something genuinely empowering.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eEndangered Species\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eJane Nicolaas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eSitting in a clinic waiting room with his girlfriend, a guy has to face the fact that she doesn't want him there — and that he might not agree with her decision.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eJane Nicolaas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eThe narrator accompanies his girlfriend Amy to a sexual health clinic, cracking nervous jokes to cut through the hostile silence of the waiting room while he recalls how the two of them met at a college protest years earlier. As the appointment nears, his cover of easy humor falls away and he admits, mostly to himself, that he wanted a say in this decision and doesn't think he agrees with it — even as he knows, and says, that it's her body and her choice.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eWhen her name is finally called and she walks through the door without him, he's left alone with the room's judgmental stares and the realization of how much has changed between them in the space of an afternoon. The piece stays tightly inside one guy's conflicted, unresolved feelings without ever pretending there's an easy answer.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eThe Graveyard Shift\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eJane Nicolaas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA guy who just quit his job as an EMT keeps coming back to the same 3 a.m. grocery register — for the cashier, not the Yoo-hoo.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eJane Nicolaas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, male\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eDoug spends his nights leaning on Sam's register at an all-night grocery store, trading jokes and easy banter until her mood turns and she opens up, in coded, half-metaphorical language about a childhood oak tree and a sadness she's clearly been guarding for a long time. Doug, still working through his own reasons for walking away from a job spent watching people live or die, recognizes in her a similar instinct to hide, and pushes past his own hesitation to tell her so — risking the easy friendship they've built for something more honest. The dialogue-driven piece builds its central metaphor patiently and pays it off in a quiet, earned final exchange.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eHe Looked Like a Mortician\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eCorey Alderdice\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA stranger strikes up a conversation with a young woman on a park bench — and it turns out he already knows exactly how and when her life is supposed to end.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCorey Alderdice\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eThe narrator, an oddly formal, black-suited figure who turns out to be Death himself, sits down next to Leslie Lohman on a park bench and lets her flirt her way through guessing his profession while he privately works through a very literal to-do list: Leslie is client number 100 billion, and today is the day she's scheduled to die. A last-minute correction from \"the office\" reveals the wrong Leslie Lohman was on the docket, buying this one decades she wasn't supposed to have — and rather than walk away clean, the narrator breaks protocol to nudge her toward a longer, gentler life before heading off to his actual appointment. It's a witty, literate monologue that plays bureaucratic deadpan against real warmth, landing its final, quiet act of kindness.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eThe King of Nerd Camp\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eCorey Alderdice\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eTwo counselors decide to make the shyest kid at a gifted summer camp into its most popular.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCorey Alderdice\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eThe narrator, a twenty-one-year-old counselor at a summer program for academically gifted teens, notices Harry Chalmers eating alone and sits down with him on a whim. That one lunch turns into a scheme: tell everyone at camp how great Harry is and see if it sticks.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eIt works better than expected — campers, other counselors, the whole cafeteria buy in — until Harry's carried onto the talent show stage in a cardboard crown and brings the house down. It's warm, self-mocking, and asks a real question underneath the comedy: whether any of it was for Harry, or for the narrator.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eLearning to Fall\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eMillay McCain\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eTwo sisters spend a childhood convinced they're magic — until the day they climb a tree and try to prove it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eMillay McCain\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eRaised on fairy tales and Renaissance festivals, the narrator and her younger sister Mattie spend their childhood fully committed to a shared belief in magic, culminating in the day they tape magnolia leaves to their arms, climb twenty-five feet into a tree, and jump, convinced they'll fly. The fall breaks a bone in the narrator's foot and, more lastingly, breaks something between the sisters — Mattie furious at having been \"tricked,\" the narrator quietly devastated that they weren't, in fact, special.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eYears later, on the drive to their grandmother's funeral, the two revisit the memory and discover they each kept a completely different piece of it, landing on a genuinely lovely, unresolved note about which version of childhood actually happened. The storytelling is warm and specific about a particular fantasy-soaked childhood, and it earns its bittersweet ending honestly.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eOrigin Story\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eJulia Neva\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA mother looks back on the game that gave her withdrawn son something to be proud of — and the night her husband decided it had gone too far.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eJulia Neva\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eThe narrator recalls how her son Chris found belonging in a fantasy card game after a difficult family move left him isolated, throwing himself into building decks, notebooks, and artwork while his gruff, disapproving father Hank made no secret of his disgust. The tension comes to a head after Chris paints a loving fantasy-themed family portrait for a school open house — a moment of real pride that Hank answers, the next day, by burning every card, notebook, and drawing Chris owns, alongside a note calling him a freak.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eThe story moves without flinching to the discovery of what that cruelty cost, and closes on the narrator's own present-day compulsive hoarding as the only way she's found to keep from losing anything else. It's a devastating piece that never overplays its hand, letting ordinary domestic detail carry almost unbearable weight.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eThe Prodigy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eRichard Shelton\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA viral video made a fragile kid famous for his cello playing — but it's what happened after the cameras stopped that he actually wants to talk about.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eRichard Shelton\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eBorn with a bone condition that ruled out any rough play, the narrator finds an unexpected outlet in a middle school music class, where the cello becomes the first thing in his life that makes him feel powerful instead of breakable — until a home video of his playing goes viral and turns him into a target for online trolls and, worse, a bully at school named Rusty. After enduring months of escalating harassment, a final confrontation leaves the narrator with a shattered hand that will never fully heal, ending his ability to play for good. Told in a young, conversational voice, the piece is unflinching about what was actually taken from him, closing on a small, aching image of a life reduced to feeling music through the floor instead of playing it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eSecret Identities\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eCorey Alderdice\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA comic-book-obsessed teenager gets bullied into hiding — until a hospital visit dressed as his favorite superhero forces him to actually become one.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCorey Alderdice\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, male\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eBen Bridges spends his Wednesdays at Secret Identities, the run-down comic shop owned by his friend Chuck, escaping a home life split by his parents' divorce and a school life defined by getting shoved around by star athlete Tripp Gibson. After Tripp and his friends destroy a stack of Chuck's comics and humiliate Ben in front of his crush, a guidance counselor's odd request — put on a studio-quality Spider-Man suit and visit a dying eight-year-old through his hospital window — gives Ben an unexpected shot at being the hero he's only ever read about, and an even more unexpected confrontation with the boy's older brother, who turns out to be Tripp himself. The story earns its costume-and-cape premise by grounding every bit of the fantasy in real adolescent loneliness, landing its themes of empathy and growing up without ever losing its sense of humor.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eThrough These Gates\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eCorey Alderdice\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA guy drags himself to a dance club with his best friend, convinced he already knows exactly which circle of hell he's stuck in — until a stranger at a coffee shop proves him wrong.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCorey Alderdice\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eNarrating the club scene as an elaborate, tongue-in-cheek version of Dante's rings of hell, the narrator sorts every guy on the dance floor into a type — Searchers, the Wolfpack, Sweepers, the one lucky Saint — while nursing a hopeless crush on Lucy, the platonic best friend he drives to clubs and watches dance with other men all night. After a blowup with Lucy sends him storming out into the cold alone, he winds up at an all-night coffee shop, still dressed in the ridiculous outfit she picked out for him, and meets someone who actually sees him. It's a genuinely funny, literate piece of self-mockery that earns its extended metaphor and lands on real, unforced hope by the end.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eTrevor and Travis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eOdell Workman\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eTwin brothers who grew up racing each other along a fence line have to figure out how to grieve side by side instead of in competition.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eOdell Workman\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, gender flexible\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor rgb(201, 198, 188); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 8pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 8pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border: medium none currentcolor;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eTwenty-three-year-old Trevor comes home to Kentucky to find his grandmother dying, and spends her final days trying to keep a promise to himself not to cry — even as his twin brother Travis, the family's steadier presence, openly does. Weaving between the morning after her death, a tender memory of her last conversation with Trevor about heaven and September 11, and the childhood game of fence-post hopping the brothers used to play, the piece follows Trevor as he works through guilt over having missed the last month of her life and slowly lets his brother back in. It closes with Trevor returning to that same fence as an adult, laughing and crying at once, in a scene that pays off the story's central image without over-explaining it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003eWhen I Made Him Cry\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; color: #1f4e79;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eDoug McConnaha\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 6.0pt;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.5pt;\"\u003eA woman remembers the first time she ever saw her father cry — and the very different day, years later, when she made him cry again.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003ePlaywright: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eDoug McConnaha\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eProse Interpretation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoListParagraph\" style=\"text-indent: -15.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin: 0in 0in 2.0pt .25in;\"\u003e\u003c!-- [if !supportLists]--\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"\u003e•\u003cspan style=\"font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003eCast: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e1 performer, female\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 10.0pt 0in 3.0pt 0in;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;\"\u003eMary recalls being nine years old and getting badly caught in a barbed-wire fence retrieving a ball, and how her single father's steady, controlled panic got her through the accident, the drive to the ER, and the stitches that followed — right up until she noticed his own hand bleeding and realized, for the first time, that he'd been hurt trying to free her, and that he was crying. The story then jumps forward to her wedding day, where the same phrase he used to comfort her that day — \"it's just part of being a dad\" — comes back around during their father-daughter dance, this time from her to him. Told with plain, unadorned warmth, it's a tightly structured two-scene piece that earns its emotional payoff without a wasted word.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SpeechGeek","offers":[{"title":"Digital Copy Only","offer_id":67732282146979,"sku":"SGPROSE","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0063\/1942\/files\/CompetitionProse_1.png?v=1792437536","url":"https:\/\/speechgeekmarket.com\/products\/speechgeek-competition-prose","provider":"SpeechGeek Market","version":"1.0","type":"link"}