DEATH IN THE POOL

( At Udi's palace in the sitting room, three very costly couches with modern design, embroidered with traditionally artistic jewels are neatly arranged with an expensive woolen carpet on the floor, an air-conditioning fan, and a flat TV screen on the white-painted wall opposite to the centered couch. There is a door leading to the King's office as well as the dining and kitchen room near the first couch. Another door on the oppo- site leads to the bedrooms, study rooms, and toilets. The Queen of Udi is seated comfortably on the centered couch watching 1.00 PM news on TV. Suddenly the King enters by the door from his office carrying a club in his one hand with a golden crown on his head to signify his authority. He has a dazzling royal gown which grips the attention of many people- especially when reflecting lights. He coughs to seek atten- tion from his wife who ignores as she is so much focused on the new) Prelude While many may love to spend a major portion of their lives with the people they love the most, nature sometimes makes it impossible for that to be. Love has no boundary– No tribalism, racism, discrimination, sta- tus between the dynasties and the plebs, or family bond can come be- tween love. It is undoubtedly that two adults who have fallen genuinely in love should be left to soak in it without any barrier. Those who tend to come between two lovers, forget that love plays a fundamental role in the well-being of every individual. It creates a peaceful as well as a healthy psyche. The two qualities are the driving forces that build a productive person which suggests a better standard of living and therefore a sustain- able economic environment. True love is protective and harmless. Any creature that attempts to destroy love makes our surroundings porous by establishing portals through which many goodies are seeped out. As a re- sult, an emaciated economy that is incapable of supporting its occupants is what is left off. Furthermore, we are all human beings and if people were to dig deep into history were, we are all retraced to a common ancestor regardless of our colour, tribal, racial, or economic differences. We are therefore brothers and sisters. We should live a brotherhood life by being kind to all hu- mans. Death in the Pool is a play that portrays a Kingdom whose Great King fell in his undertakings to impede two lovers from continuing to love each other. Could it be possible that we have accumulated more trouble ourselves by trying to interfere with love, or the opportunities of other people, nation, race or tribe. It should be clear that nature is beyond our control, and we cannot create humans so as to give them an exact du- plicate of the person they want to be with. Neither do men or women choose which ethnic group or nation or race they want to be born from. Finally, science is a subject that depends on the discovery of what is in ex- istence already. It assists in the reinforcement of what was created by the Almighty by exploration of the universe and execution of experiments. With the increasing population giving rise to a need for expansion of land for settlement through deforestation plus the evolution of patho- genic microorganisms and the dynamic changes of our climate with time, we are exposed to the threat of invasion by these microorganisms and the emergence of new diseases with horrific symptoms. Science and Tech- nology, are among the best tools given by the Universal Creator to guide and guard us amid a health crisis. We ought to embrace them to discov- er extra information that can be further manipulated to benefit human health. THE KING: My dear lovely wife, what is so important about the news that surpasses the attention that the Great King of Udi deserves? ( The Queen is quiet ) Am I talking to a ghost in flesh? THE QUEEN: (Angered by the King) Do you need extra eyes to see that I'm involved in other things? Or I should buy you spectacles to improve your vision? THE KING: There you go again with your temperamental replies. I just needed attention from my one and only wife, that is all. All these other arguments are unnecessary. I mean if the entire Kingdom can notify the King's... THE QUEEN: ( Interrupted the King rudely) Notify the King's what? THE KING: ...the King's presence, what about the love of my life? I think we should set them a good example. You know what they say, that good leadership starts from the leader's family. And if in any case they come to learn about our argument, they'll turn defiant to my or- ders. THE QUEEN: I must remind my hubby that I'm the Queen of Udi, with equal rights to the King of Udi. To rule the dignified Kingdom, make any decision as often as I wish, and order the great people of Udi to do as I command. THE KING: My wife is dreaming about impossibility in the land of Africa. Besides, you know very well that our tradition is against such claims. A king is always a king and does not share their power with anyone even in Western culture, that is incredibly impossible unless you’re elected. THE QUEEN: ( Nodding his head as a sign of objection) When a wife marries a man, do the two become one flesh? Tell me then why they don’t deserve equal honor? THE KING: ( Face frowned with disappointment ) You’re basing your argument on lame statements. I've been married to you for 25 years or thereabouts, though, I don’t remember you acting like this. Where is Queen Agatha, the daughter of Great Chief Akaba, from the Mountain region? It's my undefined happiness that you’re carry- ing a baby for me for the first time since we got married. Believe me, that's the core reason why I dare not to zip your mouth. You dishonor your Highness, the Great King of Udi. THE QUEEN: ( Clapping with sarcastic laughter, she reiterates the last words of her hub ) You dishonor your Highness, the Great King of Udi. Agatha is equally great, isn't it? If not, you should have mar- ried a weak, sub-standard woman from the deprived members of our society. Why did you choose me among all those women that were or- dered to appear before you in a catwalk show to showcase their beau- tifulness? That day is still fresh in my mind like yesterday, when I re- futed to denigrate my charming beauty before the eyes of a man. And you still rejected the... THE KING: Other women to later select you even in your absence. My honey, I did that Because I loved you from the bottom of my heart. THE QUEEN: You loved me? THE KING: Yes, I did, and I still do. But now that you’re expectant, I love you even more. As the saying goes, the taste of the pudding, is in the eating and the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, I couldn’t have dared to choose another lady apart from you. If I should remind you, we're lovers from childhood, on that unique day when I rescued you from the boys of Tiana village henceforth. They almost defile you and were it not by chance that I was from the Market, I wouldn’t have saved you. THE QUEEN: By chance you said. THE KING: Yes, that is how fate brings soulmates together. Nature has its way of fixing things in the way they're supposed to be. Sometimes we struggle unnecessarily rather than leaving nature to its work. I also believe that those who struggle to get to their soulmate or their destiny, are allowed by nature to do so. THE QUEEN: Your statement betrays you. You say you loved me while at the same time claims that nature was the cause of our mar- riage. Don’t you see you’re contradicting yourself? THE KING: Don’t get me wrong my dear, if I never loved you from that very day, I'd never continue to meet with you. It was from that day that we fell in love with each other at that tender age. I had just turned nineteen and you're fifteen. And every word I whispered into your pinna I kept to the last letter. The only words you were used to listen to under that Avocado tree were mine, and I could read from your eyes that we were sailing in the same boat. The whispers of winds and whistling of birds caused no distractions and we continued like that until we were both fully grown up and done with our education. THE QUEEN: And we're very bored at school because we had to stay for months without seeing each other, nevertheless, we under- stood the importance of education and for that chief reason, we per- severed the pain of separation by distance. We knew it was only for a while and things would turn in our favor, and we promised to lay the foundation of our love on the rock to be so strong to withstand the turbulence and storms of life; to prevail under any circumstance like the pyramids in Egypt. THE KING: That's my woman speaking! We can still revive that love that we'd in those days. THE QUEEN: Only if you agree with my statements, that we're equal as a couple. THE KING: There you go again... ( Karen, a house worker enters ). KAREN: The Doctor is here, can I allow him to come in? THE KING: Okay, sure go ahead. (Karen leaves the room, and re- turns together with the Doctor ) DOCTOR I: ( He bows respectfully) Good morning your Highnesses. Apology for arriving late. THE KING: Apology accepted. Go ahead with your work. ( The Queen is now lying in a medical family bed pushed in by Karen, the doctor takes a stethoscope and place it on the Queen’s belly, then pays attention carefully. He also read her body temperature and blood pressure carefully not to give a false information ) THE KING: What's the condition of my beloved wife's pregnancy Doc? DOCTOR I: The fetus is excellently doing well. Normal blood pres- sure and body temperature. Make sure she lives a stress free life until birth as it can lead to unplanned complications which might cause premature birth. THE QUEEN: I do hope he has heard you loud and clear. DOCTOR I: I should be leaving for other duties. Goodbye ( He said while leaving). THE QUEEN: You heard him well, didn’t you? THE KING: You won. I wish you’re carrying a baby boy who will take over me when I grew old and feeble enough not to rule my Kingdom, or if I die before I grow old. I'll take you to Udi Teaching and Referral Hospital to have an X- Ray scan for to cognize the gender of our expected baby. THE QUEEN: What if it is a baby girl? Will you exterminate it? THE KING: Far be it from me, how can I devalue the gift of life, especially my biological daughter? I'll treat her with the love that a Princess deserves. I'll be the best father in the world. A father that admired by the world, and couples will emulate me for raising my daughter in a perfect and secured environment. THE QUEEN: (Takes a mango juice bottle, and poured into two glasses) Have a drink my dear husband. A toss to our baby, it's imperative to think in that di- rection. I am looking forward to seeing the fulfillment of those ear- itching words. ( They toss to each other smilingly ) THE KING: I'll fulfill them, I promise you. I am a gentleman who keeps his promises by any means possible. THE QUEEN: There's no suspicion in my eyes that you'll not fulfill. When it comes to the latter, you’re the best that any person should put their trust in. Furthermore, my support as the best mother is granted. I'll try by all means within my jurisdiction as the Great Queen of Udi to make my daughter happy, and eliminate all the bar- riers to her happiness, regardless of the relationship between these barriers and my daughter. By that I mean even if it is the King him- self, I'll act with speed and fury and bring them to their knees. They'll call me the Iron lady and beg for mercy on their knees desperately, but if they stubbornly resist, the Great Queen of Udi will decapitate them. THE KING: There’s no need at all to be paranoid, especially about the King of Udi. The Great King Cappelo of Udi cannot do a stupid thing to hurt his beloved daughter. Anyway, we shouldn't count our chickens before they hatch. Let us wait for God to unfold the truth to us, it's however, good to be optimistic about the expected child. THE QUEEN: Better be sure about the statement as your birthday. Let me patrol to see how the workers are carrying on with their du- ties. (Curtains fall )