The Inside Engine
A duet between two engines — one runs on stars and stickers, one runs on curiosity and fun. A song about which engine keeps you going when no one's watching.
[OUTSIDE ENGINE] "I'm the OUTSIDE engine — I run on STARS! ★ Stickers and dollars and trophies and CARS! 'Good JOB!' feeds me — I love the noise! Take away the prize? I lose my poise."
[INSIDE ENGINE] "I'm the INSIDE engine — I run on FUN! Sparkly questions when the day's begun! 'I want to KNOW!' — that's all I need! No one watching? I still proceed."
[NARRATOR] (Theo plants a seed in the garden bed —) The TINIEST sprout poking up its head! Mom claps and cheers — "Good job, my dear!" TWO engines hum — both engines clear!
Then Mom says, "I'll pay a BUCK per row!" The OUTSIDE engine takes hold of the show! Plant! Plant! Plant! For the BUCK, BUCK, BUCK! The INSIDE engine quiets — stuck, stuck, stuck.
One day Mom forgets. The bucks are GONE. Theo shrugs. The seeds sit on. The shovel waits. The dirt stays dry. Where did the wanting go? Goodbye.
[INSIDE ENGINE] (A tiny voice from the garden wall:) "Hey... it's me. I never left at all."
[NARRATOR] Theo touches the dirt. A WORM! A SHOOT! "Wait — I forgot — I LIKE this ROOT!" The INSIDE engine COUGHS and HUMS — He plants till the sunset comes!
[BOTH ENGINES] OUTSIDE engine runs on STARS! INSIDE engine runs on SPARKS! Both can pull you down the lane — but when the prize is gone and the crowd is bare, the INSIDE engine — it's still there.