I DON'T WANT TO

Time—EARLY ONE MORNING

Place—BETTY JANE'S ROOM

Persons:

BETTY JANE

LARK

CLOCK

COMB

BRUSH

SHOES

DRESS

WIND

MOTHER

[Betty Jane is lying in her white bed. Beside the bed is a table with a little clock on it, and a comb, a brush, and a hairribbon. On the floor by the bed are Betty Jane's shoes, and her blue and white dress hangs over the foot of her bed. There is a window on the other side of her bed, and a closet door across the room. Betty Jane has just waked up.]

BETTY JANE. [Sitting up in bed.]I wonder what time it is.

LARK. [Singing outside the window.]Time to get up! Time to get

BETTY JANE. [Lying down again.] I don't want to get up! I don't want to wash and dress and comb my hair.

CLOCK. Tick, tock! Time to get up! My hands say seven o'clock. Time to get up! Tick, tock!

BETTY JANE. I don't want to get up!

CLOCK. Then I shall stop working. My hands will not move. I don't want to tell time any more for such a cross little girl.

[The clock stops ticking, and its hands stand still.]

COMB. I don't blame the clock. I don't want to do anything with Betty Jane's hair today. Do you, Brush?

BRUSH. No, I don't want to do any work at all today for a little girl that is cross.

[The comb and the brush hop down from the table and start toward the door. The hair-ribbon flies past them.]

BETTY JANE. Oh, hair-ribbon, where are you going? And there go my brush and comb! If they go away, I cannot comb or brush my hair. Then how can I go to school?

SHOES. I don't want to take a cross little girl to school today, anyway.

[The shoes start across the floor toward the closet.]

DRESS. I don't want to go to school today, either, if a cross little girl wears me. I should much rather hang in the closet.

[The dress jumps down from the bed and dances across the floor to the closet.]

BETTY JANE. Come back! Come back! I don't want to have to stay in bed all day!

ALL. We don't care! We don't care!

[Betty Jane jumps out of bed and runs to the window.]

BETTY JANE. [Looking out]Where is the sun?It is almost dark.

WIND. He did not want to shine this morning, and he went under some clouds.

[Betty Jane goes back to bed.]

BETTY JANE. Nothing wants to do what it ought to!

WIND. Too bad! Too bad!

LARK. [Begins singing again.] Time to get up! Time to get up!

BETTY JANE. Oh, I am glad to hear you! Now I am going to get up this minute, and I will never again say, “I don't want to.”

[The sun begins to shine, and the room grows light. The clock ticks and its hands move. The brush, comb, dress, ribbon, and shoes all go back to their places.]

CLOCK. Tick, tock! Time to get up! Tick, tock! MOTHER. [Calling from down-stairs.]Time to get up!

BETTY JANE. I will be dressed soon, Mother.

[Betty Jane hops out of bed.]

WIND AND CLOCK. [Together.]Good girl!Good girl!

——Eleanor Hammond