Page 112 - SpringBoard_Writing_Workshop_Grade7_Flipbook

Sample Text
They’re Made Out of Meat
by Terry Bisson
Roles: Space Traveller A, Space Traveller B A: They’re made out of meat.
B: Meat?
A: Meat. They’re made out of meat.
B: Meat?
A: There’s no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They’re completely meat.
B: That’s impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?
A: They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don’t come from them. The signals come from machines.
B: So who made the machines? That’s who we want to contact.
A: They made the machines. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Meat made the machines.
B: That’s ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You’re asking me to believe in sentient meat.
A: I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in that sector and they’re made out of meat.
B: Maybe they’re like the orfolei. You know, a carbon-based intelligence that goes through a meat stage.
A: Nope. They’re born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several of their life spans, which didn’t take long. Do you have any idea what’s the life span of meat?
B: Spare me. Okay, maybe they’re only part meat. You know, like the weddilei. A meat head with an electron plasma brain inside.
A: Nope. We thought of that, since they do have meat heads, like the weddilei. But I told you, we probed them. They’re meat all the way through.
B: No brain?
A: Oh, there’s a brain all right. It’s just that the brain is made out of meat! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.
B: So ... what does the thinking?
A: You’re not understanding, are you? You’re refusing to deal with what I’m telling you. The brain does the thinking. The meat.
B: Thinking meat! You’re asking me to believe in thinking meat!
A: Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal! Are you beginning to get the picture or do I have to start all over?
My Notes
B: Omigod. You’re serious then. They’re made out of meat.
Writing Workshop 9 • Script Writing 3
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