NELA: Where have you been? I waited for you yesterday. 

TOTO: (Absent mindedly) I..I had some things to take care of. Plus, it was a full moon yesterday. Always avoid a f...full moon. 

NELA: Why? 

TOTO: B..because I ... 

NELA: You what, Toto? 

TOTO: I w...walk in my d...dreams. I am kind of a s...sleepwalker, Nela. 

NELA: (Looks at him in wonder and then...) You don't have to look for Julka anymore, Toto. (She digs in her bag and pull out a puppet of a black poodle). I made it just for you. 

TOTO: R..really, Nela? 

NELA: Take it to your mother, she is bound to believe it. 

TOTO: (Beside himself from joy) I...I'll tell her: "I f...found Julia, m..mother. H..here, you can p..pet her". I'll wiggle it. And, I'll bark. I k..know how to imitate Julie. See... (very unskillfully, he recites a bark). "Bow, vow". 

NELA: (Moves her head in disparagement) Can't you do better, Toto? 

TOTO: S..sure! (Tries again, with the same result) Bow, vow! H..how is it now, Nela? 

NELA: You have to do better, Toto. 

TOTO: W..why? 

NELA: She'll recognize you. Dogs don't bark like that. 

TOTO: J..Julka does. When she comes back from sex... that's just how she barks. Bow, vooow! Like she is s..satisfied or something. 

NELA: No Toto. Here, this is how you should bark. (She gives a convincing bark). Now, you try it. 

(Toto tries, with somewhat better results. Nela calls him to bark after her. And they do. They bark together in the night. Then, they look each other in the eyes, becoming aware of the situation. They are silent.) 

NELA: What if your mother finds out that you are lying to her? Won't she be angry? 

TOTO: N..no c..chance. If you only knew the t..tricks I've p..pulled. 

NELA: That's not nice, Toto. I don't like lies. 

TOTO: Well, g...go then, and find Julka for her. Look for the bitch in these bushes. 

NELA: I started writing a play, Toto. 

TOTO: Hey, r...really? 

NELA: The plot is set in a garden. In a royal garden. It's about a good and lonely princess that strolls all they long though the garden. 

TOTO: Is s..she pretty? 

NELA: N..no, not so pretty. But she is good, and even more sad and lonely. Her father, the old king, sees his daughter dying of sadness and loneliness. One day, on his way back to the castle, he meets a traveling artist and invites him to amuse his sad and lonely daughter. Only, he doesn't know that he too, is a very lonely and very sad artist... 

TOTO: It's the same. 

NELA: What? 

TOTO: Same like us. It's a transcript! 

NELA: (Looks at him sharply). This has nothing to do with us! 

TOTO: (Pulls back in fright). I..I l like it very much! 

NELA: (Explodes). What is with you! Transcript?! Do I look like a princess to you? 

TOTO: A..alas! I t..told you, in y..your previous life. 

NELA: And you an artist, huh? You assign yourself some nice roles! 

TOTO: A j..jester! A court jester. Previously! 

NELA: I've never been anything else but a simple puppet maker! 

TOTO: Yes. Y..you have always been a simple puppet ... 

NELA: What are you babbling about, Toto! 

TOTO: .. just like me, Nela! You have always been led. And others will always lead you. We are tied, Nela. You and I are tied on other people's stings. We are puppets, Nela. 

NELA: There is no one to tie me. I am alone. You are tied to your mother. You run all day through the park after her dog. You are tied, Toto. You are a puppet! 

TOTO: I.. I h..have n..no one, Nela! 

NELA: What? 

TOTO: I d..don't have anyone. 

NELA: What about your mother? 

TOTO: I don't have a mother. They found me in this park. I grew up in an orphanage. I live alone. 

NELA: You have the bitch, Julia. 

TOTO: I m..made her up. 

NELA: What about a home? 

TOTO: Nope. 

NELA: And you don't drink blueberry juice? 

TOTO: I've never tasted blueberry juice in my life. 

NELA: (Suspecting) And you have no friends... 

TOTO: T..two. 

NELA: Who? 

TOTO: Y..your puppets, Nela. 

NELA: (Astounded) So, you lied to me, Toto. 

TOTO: And what about you, Nela?! 

NELA: I never lied to you about anything. Everything was the truth. 

TOTO: You made HIM up! He never did exist, did he Nela? 

NELA: (In tears) You are spoiling everything. So what if he didn't exist? He could have. You have to have someone. You are ungrateful, Toto. You are terribly ungrateful. I made you a doll and I gave it to you as a gift. I even made a doll for the mother you don't have, and this is how you repay me. 

TOTO: T..that's your doing. 

NELA: (In shatters) So, everything is a lie. There is nothing... 

TOTO: Nothing, Nela. 

NELA: ... just this stupid, boring, god forsaken park! (Flares up suddenly) I am sick of it all. Of sitting, of waiting, of the uncertainty, of this stupid empty park... 

TOTO: It's not s..stupid, Nela. And, it's not e..empty. We are in it. Like in a garden of garden. Our garden of Eden. Everything begins here. Just like in the p..play you want to write. It's already been written! 

NELA: I hate this park. I hate all gardens. If this is what heaven is like, then I hate heaven too. I want to go to hell. 

TOTO: (Looks sideways...) It's a little h..hot! (...then at her) In h..hell, I m..mean. 

NELA: At least there are people there! Now I know why heaven is one and only. Because there is no one else there. There too, you are eternally alone. 

TOTO: I t..told you. There is no r..running away, Nela. All stories begin here. Yours and mine. Each and every one. Once expelled from heaven, we never stop dreaming of going back. And all the time, we are there! We are born and we live in one place only. We all live in one garden. We have nothing else. It's futile to want something else. Everything we have is here. Here is heaven, and here is hell. There's n..no running away, dear. 

NELA: (Keeps silent for a long time, and then, with a shattered voice) You know .... I made a doll for myself as well, Toto. 

TOTO: R..really? W..what does it l..look like? 

NELA: Just like you told me. No running away, Toto, that's what you said. 

TOTO: M..may I keep the d..dog, Nela? 

NELA: I am sleepy. 

TOTO: It's the m..moon. 

NELA: I thought the moon wasn't full tonight? 

TOTO: T..tonight, there is going to be an eclipse. The moon will hide behind our shadows. It will be here, yet it won't. This is a wondrous and elusive evening. 

NELA: (Tired) I am going now. 

TOTO: It's time, Nela. 

(Nela walks away. She pauses. She turns towards him for the last time. He is looking at the moon with the puppet in his hand. The old light bulb begins to flicker and finally lights up. She leaves. The stage fades away in darkness).