DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE © 2002 BY STUART ROSEN   TOMMY Do you remember that song?(singing softly and off-key) "Daniel my brother, you were older than me… hmm, hmm, hm, hm, hmmm hmmm…" That Elton John song… "Do you still feel the pain…" I remember when we were kids. Danny used to hold me up to steal apples off of Mrs. Wilson's tree. He was always so much stronger than me. I was such a wimp back then. Anybody mess with me, Danny would just go over and whoop their ass. Did you know he won a Heisman Trophy? He once had five touchdowns in one game. There wasn't nothing he couldn't do. He was invincible. But then he got sick, of course. Pop wouldn't let us talk about it. It was long before Magic Johnson. I mean, nobody knew. Pop said "only those kinda people get that and he ain't one of 'em." He told everyone he had cancer. It would've been okay with me if he was, you know, but he wasn't. The ladies were all over him… and I don't mean girls, real ladies! I remember when I went into his room at the hospital. I thought I had walked into the wrong room. He looked so different, so small. The bed just swallowed him up. He looked like this little fly caught in a spider's web. All those tubes coming out of him. I was just about to leave when he saw me. He waved me over. At first I thought he said "Oliver," so I told him, "no, it's me Tommy." He reached for me so I would lean in. When my ear got close to his month, he said it again… "I love you." He'd never said that to me before… but I knew he did. It was a nice service, don't you think? Lot of people. I'm glad you could make it, what with your hip and all. Did you hear they're starting a foundation - "The Danny Rothman Football Scholarship"? It'll help raise awareness. Help to make kids strong, 'cause that's what Danny was. Strong. Strong enough to love a little wimp like me, to hold me up. He was strong enough to say goodbye.   Go back to Writing Page or you loved it so much, you just have to contact me!