Pergal’s Heaven

Andrew Whalen

Winner, Winnie Davis Neely Award in Drama, 2025

FADE IN:

1

INT - OFFICE BUILDING - EVENING

Sheila sits at her desk, finishing up some work before shutting her computer down. She starts to pack her things, getting up and starting to leave just before her desk phone starts to ring. She stops, eyeing it for a second, the urge to go home pulling her away. She glances at the desk next to hers, and one of her older coworkers looks between her and the phone in judging anticipation. Sighing, Sheila sets her things down and picks up the phone, attempting to sound chipper.

SHEILA

Hello, this is journalist Sheila Ngo with The Quarter, how may I help you?

WEISER

Hello…my name is Raina Weiser, I’m a resident of Dall Creek, and I’m looking to hire a journalist willing to assist me in an investigation.

Sheila jots some points down on a notepad beside the phone.

SHEILA

Alright, I’m sure I could help you with that. What is this investigation for?

WEISER

I want a journalist to visit a spot about halfway up a peak just outside of town to speak with a woman living up there.

SHEILA

And…what kind of news is this making, exactly?

WEISER

…I can’t guarantee you’ll get a good story from this, but the situation I’m faced with is too important to be left alone, but not incriminating enough to hire a detective. The hard truth is, I’m currently a desperate woman. And I thought that perhaps a journalist would have the…investigative abilities to help me.

Sheila looks a little confused, but intrigued.

WEISER

Even if you can’t get a story, I promise to pay enough to make it well worth your time.

Sheila perks up at the promise of a fat paycheck, her voice taking on a lively but more natural tone.

SHEILA

…Where would be the most preferable location to meet you, ma’am?

CUT TO:

2

EXT - ROAD/OUTSIDE HOUSE - DAY

Sheila drives off the highway and down a rural road, over a bridge with a sign beside it reading “Welcome to Dall Creek. Population 13,000.” She drives a short distance before reaching a charming rural town, making a few turns before pulling up outside a quaint house. After knocking on the door, Ms. Weiser, a woman with wrinkled brown skin and a pixie cut, comes to greet her.

CUT TO:

3

INT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Sheila and Ms. Weiser sit in matching armchairs with a side table between them to Sheila’s right. Weiser has a coffee cup on the end table beside her and a couple papers rest on her lap, as opposed to any of the dizzying number of tables scattered around the room.

WEISER

I hope the drive wasn’t too long for you.

Sheila shrugs.

SHEILA

Oh it’s fine, just over twenty minutes. So, the woman you wanted me to speak with?

Ms. Weiser places the papers on the side table, presenting a picture of a woman in her 40s with shoulder-length brown hair and cerulean eyes.

WEISER

June Pergal. She…she was a very active member of our little community here. She was at our church every Sunday and was a key organizer and donor to all its fundraisers. I could go on and on, but my point is, she was a cornerstone of our church and community. …Are you familiar with The Golden Children of God?

SHEILA

The cult from Montana, yes?

WEISER

Yes, well the leader, Joseph Price, was actually a former friend, or something like that, of June’s. I don’t know exactly how, but she knew him one way or another. And after all the members…passed, she started to withdraw from social activities, and even church. It was unheard of for her. I went to her house to make sure she was ok, and all I found was a map of some of the trails surrounding Bluebird Mountain. It’s about five miles out of town. And she marked a spot out on the map. A young man from the church went to investigate and…she’s been living there. I can’t fathom her motives or what she’s been doing up there.

SHEILA

Is- is the young man still up there?

WEISER

No.

She sighs.

WEISER

He tried to get her to come down the mountain with him. As soon as he made the suggestion she got angry and refused to keep speaking to him. So I think it would be best to take a calmer approach.

Ms. Weiser hands her some more papers.

WEISER

You’re going to tell her that your name is “Veronica” and say that you’re one of  her childhood friends who went to Saint Francis Church School with her.

Sheila looks hesitant, noticing the woman in the picture is also nearly ten years her senior.

SHEILA

How, how will she believe me?

WEISER

Her memory has…unfortunately been in decline for about a year now, and she’s aware.

An awkward beat of silence.

WEISER

I believe it’s early onset alzheimer’s.

Pause.

WEISER

She hasn’t gotten it diagnosed. I can imagine it must be a hard thing to come to terms with.

Pause.

SHEILA

…How did you find me, ma’am? If you don’t mind me asking,

Weiser shrugs.

WEISER

An online search. Your location was fairly convenient and…

She pauses, the words slowly coming to her.

WEISER

You look like Veronica.

Another beat.

WEISER

I’ll provide you with some resources. And I recommend you dress warm.

CUT TO:

4

EXT - FOREST - DAY

Sheila hikes through the snow, dragging her feet. Through the mildly blinding light from the snow, she spots a brown haired woman standing within a patch of trees, oddly still. She trudges in her direction.

SHEILA

E-excuse me?

The woman whips around fast, pointing a shotgun in her direction. Sheila ducks and screams, keeping her head down while holding her arms out.

SHEILA

Wait! Please! June! June it’s, it’s me! It’s Veronica!

The middle aged woman lowers the gun, marching closer, her eerie wide eyes following Sheila. She looks incredibly alert compared to her photo, and her cheeks and nose are bright and rosy against her pale skin.

JUNE

Veronica? I know not of any Veronica.

SHEILA

June? You- we- we went to school together, don’t you remember? Saint Francis?

She puts the gun away completely, looking into the snow somberly.

JUNE

I apologize.

She turns around, marching back to where she was. Sheila jumps back to her feet, following her.

SHEILA

Wait, June! I- uh, I’m here because I wanted to talk to you.

June whips back around, her movement oddly robotic.

JUNE

Talk? Oh well there’s much to talk about. Veronica, are you here to join me?

She grabs Sheila’s hand. Her hand is freezing cold, and Sheila notices she’s wearing a pair of dirty jeans and a flannel jacket, thick, but not near suitable for the weather.

SHEILA

Are- aren’t you cold?

JUNE

It seems to get colder the closer you get to heaven, doesn’t it? But truly the most rewarding honor is earned through struggle, isn’t it? Oh, come, I have a fire if you need it.

She lets go of Sheila’s hand and continues through the trees. Sheila follows her closely, shivering in her coat. Through the trees June enters a clearing at the bottom of a cliff face, decorated with a small fire. She breaks a pile of sticks over the fire, and Sheila takes a seat close to it.

SHEILA

We- I’ve been a bit worried about you, June. I mean, you sort of just disappeared on us. Why- why did you choose to, to come up here?

She turns to Sheila, her round blue eyes sparkling.

JUNE

It’s incredible. I believe I’ve found a way to reach heaven from Earth.

CUT TO:

5

INT - LIVING ROOM - EVENING

Sheila sits in Weiser’s living room again.

SHEILA

She took me to a little camp she’d made herself. She offered me a raw piece of a squirrel and I politely declined. I feel a bit awkward around her, I can’t exactly pull a notepad out and start jotting down everything she says, or she’d probably stop talking. So I’m sorry if I can’t exactly recall everything. I try to repeat what she’s said to myself on my way back down and then write it all down once I get back in the car… She said she’s found a way to reach heaven from Earth… I tried to ask her what that was and she started talking about the birds. I wasn’t entirely sure what she was trying to get across if I’m honest, and some of it was just whispered under her breath.

WEISER

Did you ask her to repeat herself?

Sheila shakes her head, admittedly looking a little embarrassed.

SHEILA

She’s, she’s a little scary, I have to admit. I mean, before I knew what color her eyes were I knew she had a shotgun.

Weiser looks unfazed.

WEISER

Did she threaten you?

SHEILA

Kind of? She pointed it at my face, but she didn’t say anything. And she put it away once I told her I was Veronica. It seemed more like a startle response than a threat.

WEISER

So, what did she tell you about…the birds?

Sheila references a notebook at her side.

SHEILA

She told me a few verses from the bible, I don’t remember them word for word, but something about “those who believe in the Lord will soar like eagles and never grow weary.” She attributed the never growing weary to be related to heaven, and inferred that- that we can fly to heaven. She also said another verse about “the mountain of the Lord’s temple on the highest of mountains,” and said that she’s gone to the mountain to be closer to the sky, and therefore heaven. She said that birds carry the souls of those in heaven. And besides that, she just told me about her life. Even though I am a bit scared of her, she’s actually really sweet.

WEISER

She always was.

SHEILA

She told me about how she was fascinated with bugs as a kid. She would walk up to her parents with earthworms and eat them in front of them. She hated the taste, but she kept doing it just because her parents told her not to.

WEISER

That’s very…cute, but did you manage to steer her back to what we need to talk about?

Sheila sighs.

SHEILA

I’m sorry, but I just didn’t have the heart to. She- she said she loves to think about her childhood because, because she knows those memories are fading fast… But it’s alright! I- I can keep on going up there. We’ll have plenty of talks, and she’ll give me all I really need to know.

She nods, very sure of herself. Weiser looks back at her, her eyes slightly narrowed.

CUT TO:

6

EXT - CAMP - DAY

Sheila sits on top of a rock, warming her now thickly gloved hands by the fire as June walks up with another bundle of lumber. Although surrounded in white, the fire does manage to illuminate the area engulfed in shadow created by the adjacent cliffside, where most of the firewood is leaning. June stacks a couple pieces expertly into the flame and takes a seat in the snow across from Sheila. June smiles, excited to start speaking with her.

JUNE

I have a question, Veronica. Don’t worry, it’s an easy one. What walks on two legs?

Sheila pauses for a second, trying to find her way around what must be some kind of trick answer.

SHEILA

…People?

June nods slowly.

JUNE

We are not yet one with the Lord by birth, and so we crawl around like the animals. Then, we are christened, and we slowly begin to find our feet, to stand up on two legs, to erect ourselves upwards, towards heaven. We are given free use of our arms to stretch them outwards to the Lord. And use of our complex and dynamic voices to preach his word. And if we squander this gift he’s given to us, use our hands and voices to commit sin, we will be reborn as snakes. Our voices forced into a wretched hiss, and our ability even to walk on fours taken away, cursed to never leave the ground. But!

Sheila, previously frozen to her seat, jolts as June suddenly holds her hand out.

JUNE

But, if we make good work of these gifts which our Lord hath given us, we will be reborn from heaven as birds. From the moment we are born, we will walk on two legs, we will be given beautiful voices to bring happiness and song to the people we love, and we will use our arms, our wings, to fly, to reach the kingdom of the Lord directly.

She wipes her eyes, a bit choked up.

JUNE

It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?

She sighs, sitting back, her chapped and blistered hands resting straight into the snow.

JUNE

I’ll bet they’ve never taught you anything like that, have they?

CUT TO:

7

INT - LIVING ROOM - EVENING

Sheila sits across from Weiser, her arms folded in her lap.

SHEILA

I almost messed up, very very badly today.

Weiser sips from her mug.

WEISER

What happened?

SHEILA

She asked me about the extent of my religious teaching and I told her I had gone to catholic school but I had sort of drifted away from religion and didn’t remember much. And she said well of course I know you went to catholic school, I was there. …And I believe I felt my heart stop for a moment. I realized just how close I came to giving myself away. I forgot we weren’t just having a regular conversation.

WEISER

Do you think she’d do anything bad if she found out?

SHEILA

I don’t know, but I’d do anything to avoid risking it. She’s definitely strong enough to do whatever she wants. She’s out there hunting animals and deforesting the area for her fire that never dies. That and we’re in such an isolated area. I wouldn’t want to find out what could happen if she was angry at me. And the debater in me keeps on urging me to push her.

WEISER

How so?

SHEILA

In her one spiel about walking upright, I kept on wanting to ask her “well what about penguins?” “What about an ostrich or some other kind of flightless bird?” But I think it’s best if I just let her tell me what she wants, rather than questioning her.

Weiser nods.

WEISER

And I agree. If you’re willing to keep visiting her, I think we should just let this run its course. And you seem to be enjoying speaking with her?

Sheila nods, smiling.

SHEILA

It’s very…interesting. I’ve never gotten to speak with someone like her before. I want to know everything about her, to figure out how her mind works.

WEISER

And get her down.

SHEILA

Yes, and get her down.