Have A Hoppy Holiday is a is a short play about the loss of a loved one, Hoppy. When Pat and Chris discover their pet frog has croaked, they have to decide what to do with him. Do they have a funeral? Is he in Heaven? Is he a Hindu god? Or was Hoppy an atheist? Deep questions abound in this play for kids that tackles death and loss with humor.
Scot Walker is a retired middle school teacher of English who’s been writing stories, poetry and plays for over half a century. His passion is to involve students with fine scripts and he longs for your questions and input about his plays.
Excerpt from the play:
CAST OF CHARACTERS
PAT: boy or girl, aged 6-11
CHRIS: boy or girl, age 6-11, PAT’S best friend
SETTING
PAT’S living room
At Rise: CHRIS is in PAT’S house, PAT enters crying.
PAT
(enters screaming) He’s dead.
CHRIS
What?
PAT
He just croaked…right there before my eyes! He just croaked!
CHRIS
Your dad? He was in the hospital…is he okay?
(PAT falls on to the floor in a heap, banging fists)
PAT
One minute he was hopping all around the room and now he’s gone…like he hopped off to froggy paradise!
CHRIS
Oh, my goodness! You mean Hoppy died!
PAT
What do you think I’ve been crying about? I bet Hoppy’s eating a thousand heavenly bugs for breakfast right this very minute.
CHRIS
Shouldn’t we get a…bag or something? Or…
PAT
I guess…but he probably needs a few minutes to stiffen up, I want to make sure he’s really gone.
CHRIS
I think a box is better than a bag.
PAT
You’re right. Hoppy would like that; it’ll give him more room to play with his friends. But we’ve got to find a safe place for him.
CHRIS
Won’t he be in heaven?
PAT
I wonder what heaven’s really like…for a frog.
CHRIS
And what type of service should we give him?
PAT
Maybe we can ask Father O’Brien.
CHRIS
Maybe, but when Father blessed the animals, I don’t remember him blessing any frogs.
PAT
Do you think Jesus even wants frogs in heaven? Didn’t we read about the plague of frogs back in the Bible—when Moses had them descend on the Egyptians?
CHRIS
I bet God hates frogs!
PAT
Maybe Allah likes frogs? Do you think Hoppy might have been Muslim?
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