Act 3, Scene 3: “You Know It’s Spring in the Suburbs When…”

1. The Lawn Care Experts mail TRL brochures and call him, and the local teenagers stuff flyers about their lawnmowing services into the mailbox.
2. TRL’s neighbor, in a bid to be the first one on the block to mow his lawn, fires up his lawnmower before the grass even considers starting to grow again.
3. Yellow and pink tulips peak from deep green emerging stalks, lovely white blooms blanket the dogwood tree, purple flowers drip from the neighbors bushes, i.e., TRL’s allergies begin to pound out a constant overwhelming headache, nasal congestion, and fuzzy-headedness.
4. S knows it’s spring when TRL’s allergy meds are lined up on the bathroom counter.
5. When TRL goes outside he feels the emotional stirrings of spring on the college campus. The warmth, the smells, the expectation. It is made all the more bittersweet the farther away TRL gets from college.
6. The neighbor’s three boys ride up and down the block on their bicycles, shouting and jumping the curb and not wearing their helmets.
7. Spider babies hatch and clamber up the window glass.
8. S screams and tells TRL to kill the spiders.
9. The ritual and time of putting on the boys’ winter jackets and hats are replaced with the ritual and time of putting on the boys’ sunscreen and insect repellant.
10. S starts writing lists of things to fix around the house, and TRL starts writing lists to avoid doing those things.