"The Hollow Earth - A Play in One Act"
Characters:
- The Voice
- The Seeker
Setting:
A cavern deep within the earth, where the air is thick with dampness and the walls glisten with a faint, sickly glow. The ground is uneven, covered in a thin layer of blackened moss, and the sound of distant, dripping water echoes eerily through the void. The space feels simultaneously claustrophobic and infinite, as if the very concept of direction has lost its meaning.
Scene:
(The stage is shrouded in near-total darkness, broken only by a dim, pulsating light from the distant walls. The Seeker stands alone, hunched, holding a weakly flickering lantern. His breath is shallow, his movements hesitant.)
The Seeker: (whispering to himself, with growing unease) There must be an end... a place where the walls give way to something... anything... other than this void. (pauses, straining to listen to the echoes) But all I hear is... nothing.
The Voice: (from the shadows, soft and chilling) Nothing? How can you say that, when you’ve found the heart of everything?
The Seeker: (startled, swinging the lantern wildly) Who’s there? Show yourself!
The Voice: (remaining unseen) I am what you sought, and what you’ve always feared. I am the voice of the hollow earth, the whisper of voids that stretch forever. You ventured into the deep, seeking truth, but truth is an abyss. You found me.
The Seeker: (trembling) I sought knowledge, answers... to understand what lies beneath. But all I’ve found is darkness and decay, as if the earth itself is rotting from the inside.
The Voice: (with a sinister calm) That is knowledge—more than you were ever prepared to accept. This place, this darkness, is where the veneer of the world peels away. Beneath the surface, all is hollow. We are hollow.
The Seeker: (desperate, clutching his head) No, that can’t be... There must be something more, something beyond this... emptiness.
The Voice: (mocking) Beyond? There is no beyond. There is only what you see, and what you refuse to see. The earth, this vast, throbbing mass, is nothing but a shell. And you, Seeker, are like it—a shell, a vessel for despair. You wandered too deep, and now you’ve seen too much.
The Seeker: (sinking to his knees, defeated) I thought... I thought I could find meaning here, but all I’ve found is... nothingness. It’s as if the earth is laughing at me, mocking my search for purpose.
The Voice: (with a cold, indifferent tone) It always does. The earth harbors no secrets, only voids. And now, you are part of it. There is no escape from this place, no light at the end of the tunnel. Only this... endless descent into the hollow.
The Seeker: (barely a whisper, his voice breaking) Is there nothing but darkness?
The Voice: (fading into the distance, almost a sigh) There is only the darkness you bring with you.
(The lantern flickers once more before going out, leaving the stage in complete darkness as the sound of dripping water and distant, echoing laughter fills the void. The Seeker’s form dissolves into the shadows as the curtain falls.)
