1.
A man and a woman occupy a sparse, grey cell. They are asleep on two beds, placed at either end of the room. A lion rests in the corner.
Life disturbs the mans face. A few seconds pass. His eyes lift open.
Guy:
“whha”
The sound has a tone of questioning. He rises to a sit, and stares with slack expression at the wall. A few minutes pass. The mans face tightens, and his head leans to the side.
Guy:
“Am I dead?”
The wall gives nothing away.
Guy:
”Yeah?”
The wall remains silent.
(Pause)
Guy:
“Well fuck you then!”
The wall is unmoved. The conversation disturbs the girl across the room. A sharp intake of breath follows, as she rushes to a seated position on the side of the bed. Her eyes are wide and a smile is present, before it realises it has no reason to be there and leaves in a hurry. Her eyes fix on the other human.
Girl:
“Where am I?”
Guy:
(Turning with surprise) “Oh.” (Pause) “Hello.”
Girl:
(Looking around) “Where am I?”
Guy:
(shrugs) “I dunno.”
Girl:
(sharply) “For fucks sake.”
The girl goes for the door. It’s locked. She thumps it a few times. Theres nothing there.
The man turns to the wall.
Guy:
“Maybe we’re dead.”
The girl looks at him. Her mouth is slightly open and her eyes narrow a little. She says nothing.
Guy:
“Maybe it’s like that thing between-“ (turns) “what?”
Girl:
“What happened?”
Guy:
“I don’t know.”
Pause.
Girl:
(impatiently) “I want to go.”
Guy:
“Yeah...”
Girl:
“Yes.”
The man shrugs again. The girl thumps the door. Silence.
The girl returns to her bed.
Guy:
“Probably be here in a sec.”
Girl:
“I fucking hope so. What were we doing?”
There is a long pause. Thinking happens. Something is found.
Guy:
“Party.”
Girl:
“Party.”
Silence.
Girl:
“Yeah.” (pause) “It was shit.”
Guy:
“Can’t have been that shit.”
Pause.
Girl:
“I left.”
Pause.
Guy:
“I left too.”
Silence.
Guy:
“What were you drinking?”
Girl:
“Everything.”
Guy:
“Why?”
Girl:
“I was tired.”
Long pause.
Guy:
“Why were you tired?”
Girl:
“My arms hurt.”
Guy:
”Why did your arms hurt?”
Girl:
“Some guy wouldn’t stop asking me stupid questions so I smashed his head against a wall until he shut up.”
Silence.
Guy:
“I was only asking.”
Girl:
“Eh?”
More silence. The girl looks over at the door. The man looks at the floor. The wall stands awkwardly.
Girl:
“Did we do something wrong?”
The man looks up. He shrugs.
Girl:
“I bet it was your fault.”
Guy:
(hurt) “Why?”
Girl:
”You look shifty.”
Guy:
(still hurt) “Cheers.” (pause) “Maybe I’d prefer it if we didn’t talk.”
Girl:
“Ok.”
A few minutes pass. Theres no sign of life beyond the door.
Guy:
“Maybe they forgot about us.”
Girl:
(considering) “Maybe. I watched a documentary about it.”
Guy:
“About what?”
Girl:
“This.”
Guy:
“What happened?”
Girl:
“Somebody got left in a police cell. They were in there for three weeks.”
Guy:
“Jesus. What happened to them?”
Girl:
“They died.”
(Pause)
Guy:
“Right.”
(Another Pause)
Girl:
“It was in America though.”
Guy:
“Oh.”
There is a long period of silence. The girl thinks about trying to lighten the mood. The man wonders if he’s still sleeping.
The wall wishes it was somewhere else.
No comments:
Post a Comment