DARKNESS
SUPERIMPOSE: Summer 1996
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
GIRL (V.O.)
My health was never particularly
good, come to think of it ...
EXT. SCHOOLYARD
There are children running around, playing on the playground
equipment.
GIRL (CONT'D)
But I was able to attend primary
school like anyone else - in the
summer I'd play until I was burned
through and through ...
INT. SCHOOL CLASSROOM
A GIRL, twelve years of age or so, sits at a desk by the
window, looking out.
GIRL (CONT'D)
It was June, just after I had
entered middle school. It was just
before the midterm tests.
EXT. SCHOOLYARD
We see here the GIRL, behind a window, looking longingly
outwards.
GIRL (CONT'D)
It was the day after I ordered a
swimsuit for the summer. That was
the first day I'd been admitted to
the hospital.
CLOUDS AND RAIN
Looking UPWARDS at the falling rain.
GIRL (CONT'D)
It was a cold, unpleasant, drizzly
day.
INT. HOSPITAL BED
The same GIRL is lying on top of a HOSPITAL BED clad only in
her pyjamas.
GIRL (CONT'D)
Shrouded by the rainy sky - murky,
white, and damp.
The GIRL turns to look at the DOORWAY, and sits up. Several
GIRLS enter, brandishing boquets, chocolates, etc. They begin
conversing.
GIRL (CONT'D)
At first my classmates came to see
me - almost every day. When I was
out of the hospital, they'd come
and play on the weekends too. But
that was only at first.
EXT. TREES - AUTUMN
It is clearly AUTUMN now and the leaves on the TREES are red
and brown.
GIRL (CONT'D)
Autumn came ...
WIPE TO:
EXT. TREES - WINTER
It is WINTER now - the trees have no leaves and there is a
light dusting of snow on them.
GIRL (CONT'D)
... And passed into winter. I was
admitted and discharged, went in
for tests, was re-admitted ...
There were people in my class that
I had called my friends - but
before I realized what was
happening, they were merely
acquaintances - and then ...
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM
The GIRL is looking out the window once more, from the
vantage point of her bed.
GIRL'S POV
The GIRL watches a crowd of PEOPLE walking on the street
across from her window.
GIRL (CONT'D)
Then they were strangers. With each
change of the seasons I had faded
from more and more memories.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM
GIRL
I suppose they ... don't like
seeing me like this. If you've got
a normal life you wouldn't want
someone like me in it.
GIRL'S POV
GIRL
So they blank me out ...
EXT. HOSPITAL
The camera is looking at the SEVENTH FLOOR.
GIRL
I've passed all these seasons under
that white overcast sky, without
needing to speak to anyone ...
CLOSE UP of a TEXTBOOK on a DESK.
GIRL
My English textbook is untouched
from the first-year midterms ...
PAN UP TO:
INT. BEDROOM
The GIRL, looking at the textbook, sighs as she leaves the
room.
GIRL
As though ... Even time had stopped
for me ...
OPENING CREDITS ROLL