The NA/AN Conversations...

[Lizameridox]

Thanks, etonexile!  I had been wondering if you really wanted to focus on a creative exercise as if father and son were talking.

I can see it now.


(10:00 PM:  Upstairs in the Ipatiev House.  ALEXEI lies awake in his bed, uncomfortable in the heat.  NICHOLAS walks into the room, meaning to turn in himself.  He notices that the boy is restless, and walks over to his bedside.)

NICHOLAS:  Not able to fall asleep tonight, son?

****  

Anyone care to take it from there?  Probably an hour or so between them before the Tsarevich drops off to sleep...

[RissiaSunbeam1918]

(continued from Lizameridox's "Not able to sleep tonight, son?")

ALEXEI- Nyet.

NICHOLAS- WHy is that?

ALEXEI- It's so hot, Papa...and.. Bad feelings....

**ALEXANDRA stirrs in bed and awakes just in time to hear this**

ALEXANRA- Little One, We, your father and I, don't know what will come our way, but if you continue praying to the holy father, no harm will come to you.

NICHOLAS- But, in the mean time, is there anything that might help you fall assleep tonight?

ALEXEI- Yes.....


*************

Ok, what's gonna happen next? (This is fun...)

[etonexile]

NICHOLAS...the story about the little worm on Papa's salade...?

ALEXEI...No,Papa....you know that will only make me laugh....how you tried to tell your father that there was a little worm on a leaf of his salade...but you were told to "hush"...and when he finally asked what had been your "burning question"...you said...with a sigh..."Never mind now Papa....you've eaten him anyway...."
(...Alexei wiggles with a slight giggle)

(taking the hand of his son...)
NICHOLAS...No,my Son....we'll have a quiet story tonight...perhaps....when we were on the Standart...off the Finnish coast...Mama and I were sitting alone on deck....it was late...very late...the stars were like diamonds...so bright...thin slice of Moon lay like an awkward smile in the sky....and then you appeared...in your little night dress....how you had found your way on to the deck was a wonder...you were so small...three perhaps...but Mama wrapped you in her cashmere shawl....and the three of us sat so warm and close...I wanted that perfect moment in that place to last forever...
ALEXANDRA...Yes...a moment...which lasts forever...in my memory...I'm tired...My dear men....I must go and ly down...
(With a kiss to each...the Empress leaves the stage...)

[Lizameridox]

etonexile, that is really good writing!!!!  I may continue later.

[RissiaSunbeam1918]

(Something should happen between etonexile, but here would be an ending I'd do...maybe...lizmeridox? Any thoughts on the middle? Sorry it's out of order now....)
ALEXEI- Well...good night them Papa....

NICHOLAS- Goodnight my dear son.

*Alexei stirs a few times, but drifts off to sleep.*

Nicholas- (muttering) Sleep well...and don't worry. It will all be better in the morning.

*NICHOLAS crosses stage right and exits*




etonexile, you are a very talented writer, if you are planning on being an author, you could be very successful. I wish I could write like you do. That story you told sent shivers down my spine with the thought of it.

-Dana

[lexi4]

con't from etconexile
Nicoholas looks at his only son, clutches his small hand in his and says: "Tonight, my son, I will tell you another story. I could tell you a story of a great empire and of kings and warriors. Or I could tell you a story about brave fisherman who daily cast their nets upon the wild seas to bring food to their villages and families. I can tell you about mama's who care for the families and have hopes for their sons. Or I could tell you of the most joyous of days, the day your mama gave birth to you.
There are many stories I could tell you, my dear son and all would about our beloved Russia."

[clockworkgirl21]

Those are all wonderful stories! You guys are all very talented. I wish I could write like that.

[lexi4]

Those are all wonderful stories! You guys are all very talented. I wish I could write like that.

I'm sure you can. Give it a try. Continue the story.

[Lizameridox]

(The young Tsarevich smiles sadly at his father after his mother has left.)

ALEXEI: (taking his father's hand) Oh, Papa, you tell marvelous stories.   And Mama gives such fortifying kisses!  But I am still worried.  About you and Mama.  About our family and our friends.  And about Russia.   I am not afraid of my own death, but what is going to happen to us here?

NICHOLAS:  Son, we don't know.  Remember the story of the Ascension, when our Lord told His disciples not to think or expect that things will happen a certain way in the future?  Perhaps He said that so His present disciples have no grounds to worry.  Especially teenaged Tsareviches with their lives ahe....  Oh, oh.  Forgive me, dear Alexei.   Dear, dear Alexei....

(NICHOLAS takes the frail body of his son into his arms as he says this)

ALEXEI:  Whatever have you done, Papa, that I could not forgive?  You know I love you as your son and your most faithful officer.

NICHOLAS:  Not a day goes by these days that I don't regret having renounced the throne for you as well as myself, and given you suffering on top of suffering.  Could you have softened the blow of change, even if your mama and I had had to give you up?

ALEXEI:  But you know I could not have lived without you.  As dear old Feodorov told me you said you could not live without me.  And certainly I've come to terms with not being Tsar by now.  

(The boy looks intently at his father)

ALEXEI:  It used to be, after you gave up the throne, I would think that if I ever did become Tsar I would sort everything out, stop all the injustice and end the suffering that caused the Revolution in the first place.  But then I realized that even the most God-fearing Tsar in the world can only do so much and that life doesn't change by and large.  Look how it was in Mogilev:  whenever that God-fearing Tsar requested something and it barely got carried out in all the confusion!  Please don't blame yourself.  It could be the end of the world:  but I'm not afraid of that either except that I must stand before God and hear my sentence.

NICHOLAS:  (drawing his son nearer to himself again)  It may be the beginning of the birthpangs of the end:  but surely you will receive the kingdom of God like a little child, my Treasure.  My little sufferer Alexei.  This too must pass, and you be happy.   You are too young to bear all that is going on in Russia, as are your sisters and all the youngsters in the land.  We grownups, on the other hand...

ALEXEI:  The best of you have done your very best.  I beg you not to fret any more, Papa.  (Kisses his father)

[etonexile]

This is all going so well...I think y'all are potential playwrites around here....so creative....I love it...!!!


Borscht and vodka shots will be served in the Intermission...The Management....

[ARfreak]

Both father and son had tons of patience, it is true.   I can see the Emperor starting to apologize to his son for losing the throne, messing up the future, and getting them into that mess, and the little Heir doing his best to forget premonitions of the end while assuring his father that the present circumstances were not all his fault.

Interestingly enough:  According to something I read on an internet search, Cat Stevens, AKA Yusuf Islam, was supposed to have been working on a musical about the Romanovs and Rasputin at one time and the only thing that was salvaged from the attempt got transformed into the song 'Father and Son'.   Wonder if anything in the lyrics still refers to Nicholas and Alexei?

[ARfreak]

Cat Stevens — “Father & Son”
Father
It’s not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You’re still young, that’s your fault,
There’s so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I’m happy.

I was once like you are now, and I know that it’s not easy,
To be calm when you’ve found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you’ve got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

Son
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It’s always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there’s a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.

Father
It’s not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
You’re still young, that’s your fault,
There’s so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I’m happy.
(son-- away away away, I know I have to
Make this decision alone - no)
Son
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It’s hard, but it’s harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I’d agree, but it’s them you know not me.
Now there’s a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
(father-- stay stay stay, why must you go and
Make this decision alone? )


Sorry    I was lookin under the wrong person. Here it is.
But it doesn't seem that this song is about Nicholas and Alexei.