A Far-Sighted Fox

A Far-sighted Fox
by Deianira D’Antoni

Alicua is a dynamic, proactive, and hard working small town that was founded years ago on the homonymous river at the foot of the Great Mountain…

…innovation and inordinate development are the
hallmarks that have driven the city’s growth in recent
decades replacing the many lush green areas that are only vivid in the memories of the century old turtle Jerome.

TURTLE JEROME (thought): Grey and gloomy are your robes… my dear Alicua, I hardly recognise you.

CITIZEN 1 (from-off): You know, my son, I know it’s hard to imagine now but, when I was your age, Grandpa used to bring me here to play among the trees.

DRIVER (exclaim): Let’s move!…

CITIZEN 2: All we needed were trees to ruin the pavements… it’s impossible to even walk.

DRIVER: …my goodness, it’s so hot, we’ll end up melting this year.

SFX: Pe-peee

ANIMAL CITIZEN 1: It practically no longer flows.

ANIMAL CITIZEN 2: I bet he does, look how constrained he is and how much junk he has inside!

MR. HEDGEHOG: Don’t be sad dear…it’s the right thing to do; we have discussed it many times.

MR. FROG: There’s no more room for us here… look at that ‘plant’, it’s the only one that survived… it’s time to leave.
LITTLE FROG: Where are we going now, Dad?!

RABBIT 2: I met Mrs. Squirrel this morning…she decided to take the whole family away after the last deforestation, and she isn’t the only one.
RABBIT 1: Did you hear about Mr. Frog? He left town yesterday…
RABBIT 3 (from-off): I can’t even look at these papers.
RABBIT 2 (from-off): …who would have imagined that everything in Alicua would take this turn?

CAP: A fox had just entered the bar and he could not help but activate his marked hearing… what he heard left him very puzzled.

MAGPIE: I hoped this moment would never come, my friend, I am leaving. I am tired of moving from tree to tree.
MR FOX: But Magpie, there must be a solution, I’ll help you.
MAGPIE: You also know that it has been like this for a long time, there is no point in putting it off…
MAGPIE (exclaim): …don’t let this city change you, there is still time to find a better place too!

MR. FOX: …
MR. FOX (thought): I can’t believe things have gone downhill to the point of seeing my friends leave the city…I will find a way to save the city and show everyone that Alicua can return to what it once was!

MR. FOX (exclaim): I got it! Why didn’t I think of this before?

CAP: In no time, Mr. Fox set to work, more motivated than he had ever been in his life.

MR. FOX (thought): This city will be green again, for the
good of all!…
MR. FOX (thought): …I will prove that anyone can and must have their place in Alicua, only then will my friends come
back too.

CAP: It has to start somewhere! …

CAP: …always aiming higher!

MAYOR: Mr. Fox, I know you were very keen to meet me, please tell me your plan.
MR. FOX: Madam Mayor, I love this city, but I do not recognise it anymore, I need you to help me otherwise it will be too late…
MR FOX: Alicua is greyer every day, suffocated by cement. Many of my friends have already left!…
MAYOR: I am aware of this, and I’m really afraid you are right.

CAP: Mr. Fox took out a large booklet ‘Nature-based solutions to restore & save Alicua’, full of notes, drawings, and ideas. They were what had kept him awake for weeks now…

MR FOX: …I know what we can do, though, please take a look!
MAYOR (exclaim): This is incredible! I think it can really work!
MAYOR (exclaim): I will do everything in my power to help you.

MR. FOX (thought): I am sure that this will make this road beautiful and will also be perfect for the squirrel family.

CAP: It was not long before, thanks to the help of the mayor, Mr. Fox was able to get involved. A new tree line with bioswales on Main Street…

LITTLE SQUIRRELS (exclaim): Mum, mum this is wonderful! So, we’re staying?!
MRS. SQUIRREL: Yes, my dears, we will stay…finally, we are home again.

CAP: …an urban orchard for Mrs. Hedgehog and her husband, where an abandoned car park used to stand…

MR. FOX (exclaim): I told you it would work, Molly!
MRS HEDGEHOG: We could plant tomatoes here and lettuce here!… my husband will be overjoyed.

PEOPLE: We need more air conditioners right now, not vegetables!
MR. FOX (thought): If each of them had planted a tree for every air conditioner, the city would not be in this condition…

REMONSTRANT 1 (exclaim): It’s taking away space for our car parks!
REMONSTRANT 2 (exclaim): My son no longer knows where to put his car!!!
REMONSTRANT 3 (exclaim): It hinders the progress of our city!!!

CITIZEN 1: Did you see what this Mr. Fox is up to? Everyone’s talking about it.
CITIZEN 2 (exclaim): But that’s my shop!
CITIZEN 2: All those trees he planted cover the windows of
my shop.
CITIZEN 2: My lawyer has prepared a request for eviction.

CAP: But Mr. Fox did not intend to give up; on the
contrary, he continued more determined than before, with ever more ambitious plans…

SNAIL (exclaim): You’ll never catch me!
MR. FOX (thought): If we removed all that concrete from the banks, the river could once again become a beautiful ecological corridor, complete with a riverfront for the races of our champion Snail!

MR. FOX: On my own, I would never have succeeded, I appreciate it so much, Lizard, thank you.
LIZARD: I should be thanking you; I didn’t even remember how beautiful our river was.

CAP: … and more and more support from the human and animal community.

MR. FOX (exclaim): We’re almost there! The Frog family will be overjoyed!
CHILD: Mr. Mole, how can you see and take all this rubbish? Get help!
1MOLE (whisper): It would be impossible for me to not see this mess…

LITTLE FROG: Daddy, look at all these ‘plants’! There’s enough space to play and for your office!

CAP: So much so, that many noticed when Mr. Fox began to realise what was probably his most ambitious project…

MR. FOX (thought): Even Gazza can finally find a stable tree to live in.

GUY 1: The park will be a meeting place for the whole
community…
GUY 2: This tree has enough space to become the most beautiful and lush tree in the park!
GROUNDHOG: I think this is perfect.

CAP: And there was no lack of small, fundamental gestures from those who helped in silence, without asking for anything in return, having extreme confidence in what Mr. Fox and many others were doing.

CAP: But when everything seemed to be going well…

SFX: KRAKOOOOM!

CITIZEN: Not again… if it turns out to be like the last one, we won’t be able to figure it out this time.

DRIVER 1 (exclaim): It will flood everything again!!!
DRIVER 2 (exclaim): I am leaving! I will not stand by and watch it destroy our homes once again!
DRIVER 3 (exclaim): Alicua is now unlivable!

SFX: Biiiip Beeep Beeeep peee Pe-pee

PERSON ON THE PHONE (exclaim): It’s an emergency,
you must help me!

DRIVER (exclaim): Get out of my way!!! We must save ourselves!

CAP: To the amazement of the many terrified people attempting to flee the city, the new Nature-based Solutions designed by Mr. Fox reacted extraordinarily well to the storm, reducing its impacts.

MAGPIE: Don’t worry, we’ll make it.
CAP: Encouraged, many worked to fight the storm and help the inhabitants in distress.

CITIZEN 1 (exclaim): Cover the openings well!
CITIZEN 2 (exclaim): Come on, come on! Put these over there!
PERSON OF CIVIL DEFENCE 1: Come on, we must free the river!!!
SFX: Scrashh!
GROUP OF BEAVERS (exclaim): Yo-heave-ho!!

PERSON OF CIVIL DEFENCE 2 (whisper): Unbelievable, beavers… who would have thought it.

LITTLE GIRL: Here, this is for you… I hope it helps.

CAP: They realised they could really do it when the company of beavers, the first to leave the city years ago, had also returned to Alicua to help them.

SFX: Some…
SFX: …time…
SFX: … later

CAP: The storm passed, taking with it the fears and apprehensions of the entire community…
CAP: …thanks to Mr. Fox’s foresight, the city of Alicua learned a great lesson. What they had thought to be useless whims for the few, had indeed turned out to be ‘Nature-based solutions to save Alicua’.