The Sunny Side Of The Mountain

(The play takes place in 1832 In the Pocono mountains in Pennsylvania United States. It is springtime in the month of May and everything is in bloom. The Pocono mountains are full of life and beauty. On one side of the mountain stands a small farm house with a mother raising her four girls as they take care of the farm their dear departed father had left them when he passed away two years ago due to a fever during the harsh winters they endure on the homestead. Now the girls must take care and run the farm doing all of the work themselves. The farm is their only means of survival, if the farm were to fail they would all starve.)

Characters: Ida Lewis (Mother age 40), Clara Lewis (Eldest Daughter age 18), Elizabeth Lewis ( Middle Daughter age 15), Nora Lewis (Middle Daughter age 12), Grace Lewis (Youngest Daughter age 8)

( 4:30am Ida goes into the girls room to wake them so they can start on their chores living on a farm there is much work to do. The four girls are sleeping in the room that they all share in the small farmhouse that has two beds and two dressers which is shared by all the girls.)

Ida: Girls it is nearly 4:30! The sun will be coming up in a couple hours and you all need to start on your chores!

Ida: Elizabeth, it is laundry day so you and Nora take the linens down to the creek and wash them. Clara, please tend to the cows and chickens. I pray we have eggs today, the hens have not been laying many lately and I wanted some fresh eggs to make Grace's cake for her birthday this weekend.

( Elizabeth and Nora are getting dressed so they can take the linens to the creek to be washed. Clara is day dreaming out the window wishing to live in the city.)

Ida: Clara! did you hear me?

(Clara runs to Ida and with excitement grabs her mothers hands into hers)

Clara: Momma! Do you ever think about leaving the farm and moving to the city?

Ida: Clara, I do not have time to spend on wishful thinking. Since your father passed away it is up to us to keep the farm running. We have no where else to go and no money. Instead of gazing out the window dreaming about moving to the city, you should be dreaming that those hens lay us some eggs!

Clara: Momma, we are all alone out here. The closest town is 60 miles away. 

Ida: Clara, this farm was your father's farm when I met him, he grew up here. When I close my eyes I can still feel his presence in the home, like he is still here with us. This farm is more then just a farm, it was a part of your father. He loved these mountains. If we were to move to the city I would feel like I had lost a part of me.

(Ida turns away as tears start to fill her eyes but she does not let her children see her cry. Clara puts her hand on her mother's shoulder.)

Clara: Momma, I am 18 years old now and I have never left the homestead. I want to see what it is like to live in the city where there is people everywhere and boys! Mamma I will never meet a boy out here.

Ida: Clara! You are still a child yet! You will have time to meet boys but for now you have chores to tend to! I will hear no more of moving to the city or of boys! Are you trying to put your mother in an early grave? As if I do not have enough to worry about already the last thing I need is to worry about my daughters getting involved with boys!

(Ida leaves the room with Grace following her, and goes to the kitchen where she starts preparing breakfast for the girls. Clara now is alone in the bedroom.) 

Clara: (in a hushed tone) One day I am going to leave here and live in the city....

(Clara exits the room to head out to the barn to milk the cows)

(Clara arrives at the barn and notices that Mae, one of the families two milk cows has a gash in her right front leg.)

Clara: Mae! have you been kicking the gate again! Of all things this is the last thing we need is one of our milk cows getting an infection because she is too impatient to get out of her stall!

(Clara grabs a bucket of water and a rag and attempts to clean out the wound on Mae's leg)

Clara: You know Mae, I feel the same way about leaving the homestead as you feel being cooped up in your stall. I guess I can't blame you for at least attempting to escape. I feel like a prisoner here sometimes. I don't know why momma loves this place so much. For her this place is loving memory of father, for me it is sadness, seclusion and pain. And all the memories that once was and will never be again. If I had it my way, I would get as far away from here as possible! It is so lonely here at times. Look at me! I am talking about my problems to a cow! There is one good thing about having your best friend being a cow, you can trust that they can keep your secrets!

(It is now 8am and all the girls head back to the house for their breakfast. The table is set with buttermilk biscuits, cheese and blackberries that Elizabeth and Nora had picked on their trip back from the creek.)

(Nora, Elizabeth and Grace take their seats at the table and Ida comes over and places the butter for the biscuits on the table then takes her seat. Clara walks in without saying a word and slumps down in her seat looking down the whole time.)

(The girls start filling their plates except for Clara.)

Ida: Nora could you pass the butter please?

(Nora passes the butter to Ida)

Nora: Momma me and Elizabeth saw two frogs and a fawn on our way down to the creek!

Ida: That sounds lovely my dears.

Elizabeth: We washed all the linens mama. Pretty soon the creek will be warm enough to swim in! I cant wait to jump in the creek for the first time this year!

Ida: Grace would you like a chocolate or vanilla cake for your birthday this weekend?

Grace: Chocolate! That's my favorite!

Ida: Chocolate it is then! Clara why are you not eating your breakfast?

Clara: I am not very hungry.

Ida: Clara you must eat something you will make yourself sick! Have some fresh berries your sister's brought on their way home from the creek!

Clara: Momma, what If I moved to the city...What if you stayed on the homestead with Nora, Elizabeth and Grace and I...

Ida: Clara do not start this again! You are not leaving the farm! Where would you go in the city?! A young girl with no money and no family near by! Imagine! You would never make it on your own! If you were to become ill who would care for you?! The thought of it makes me sick!

Clara: Momma, this place that brings you comfort of father's once presence, is only a constant reminder to me of father's absence. Life here has never been the same for me since his passing. It is more then just meeting boys in the city, I want to start new. I want to make a life where my story is still unwritten and there is hope for a better tomorrow. I want a clean start from all the painful memories that I have tied to this place. 

Ida: Clara, moving to the city will not change that your father has passed away. Leaving your mother and sisters and starting a new life in the city will not make the hurt and pain you feel go away. We must look back on all the years that we did have with your father and be grateful for the time he was with us. By keeping his memory, we keep him alive in our hearts. 

Clara: ( quiet once again not sure how to respond to what her mother had just said)

Grace: Mamma how come the sun always rises on the same side of the mountain as the farm?

Ida: Children, your father called this part of the mountain "The Sunny Side Of The Mountain." The plants and animals thrive on this side of the mountain. Every day the sun rises in the exact same spot focusing its gaze on the homestead almost as if it is smiling down on it. At night when we can no longer see the sun, we can believe that tomorrow it will be back in the spot it was before. Just because we cannot see the sun, does not mean the sun has abandoned us, The sun will always come back to where it belongs. 

(Clara looks at her mother now as if understanding the message she was trying to tell her.)

Clara: Momma, I understand why you love the farm so much. Father had invested so much of his life into caring for us and the farm. Father is a part of this farm and even though we can no longer see him, I know he loved us very much and he would never leave us. In taking care of the farm we are honoring his memory. 

Ida: Clara, I am so happy to see that you finally understand. The farm, me and your sisters are your home, and this is where you belong. 

(The play ends with Ida, Elizabeth, Nora and Grace embracing Clara and the sun shining down on the homestead.)