Chapter 7: We Used To Have Fun

7.1 EXT. KINGDOM FAITHFUL COUNTRYSIDE - DAY

JEN (19, independent country girl, brazen and brash) is marching along a dirt track. SAM (32, quirky druid, small fish in large pond - the water of which is getting hotter) and SHARON (appears 30, child-like, vindictive) follow her.

[Sharon is only visible to Jen. Sam cannot see or hear Sharon.]

JEN

Stop following me!

SAM

I won’t, Jen.

SHARON

He won’t, Jen.

JEN

You can shut up and all.

SAM

Who are you talking to?

JEN

I don’t know anymore.

SAM

Explain to me.

JEN

No.

SAM

Why not?

SHARON

Yeah, why not?

Jen stops, holding her head with angst.

JEN

Stop it!

SAM

Stop what?

JEN

Not you.

SAM

Then who?

JEN

Her.

SAM

And who is she?

JEN

I don’t know. But she keeps following me and talking to me and no one else can see her. Unless everyone’s playing a massive prank. And if it is, then it is not funny.

SHARON

He can’t see or hear me.

SAM

There have been mentions of an entity that accompanies the Crown, viewable only to the wearer. Whether this is a spirit or a hallucinogenic fiction, I don’t know. But it is for you and your eyes only.

SHARON

How dare he! As if I exist for you. It is you who exist for me!

JEN

She didn’t like that.

SAM

She can hear me?

JEN

Yup. And she says that I exist for her.

SHARON

That’s right. He does not know what he’s talking about.

SAM

Does she have a name?

SHARON

It’s Sharon.

JEN

Sharon.

SAM

Sharon?

SHARON

Yes, Sharon! Got a problem with that?

JEN

No, he doesn’t.

SAM

I don’t what?

JEN

Have a problem.

SAM

With what?

SHARON

My name!

JEN

Her name.

SAM

Of course not.

SHARON

Good.

JEN

(exasperated)

Why is this so difficult?

SAM

I am sorry, Jen, but you’ll have to report what Sharon says. Alright?

JEN

Fine.

SAM

Sharon, what is life like for you when someone is not wearing the Crown?

SHARON

All darkness and despair. Loneliness and emptiness. 

JEN

Darkness. Despair. Loneliness. Emptiness.

SAM

Anything else?

SHARON

I see their faces. All of their faces. Lunging, lurching at me. Screaming at me. Torturing me. They hate me. They blame me.

JEN

She sees faces. Lunging and screaming at her. They hate her. They blame her.

SAM

Whose faces are they?

SHARON

Of my friends. Of the ones that played with me. The ones who wore the Crown. We used to have fun together. Not anymore. They abandoned me.

JEN

They’re the faces of the people who have worn the Crown. She says that they abandoned her.

SAM

How did they abandon you, Sharon?

SHARON

They didn’t want to play anymore. So I took them. I left their bodies and took their souls so that we could play forever.

JEN

She took their souls when they took the Crown off. She says that it is because they didn’t want to play any more.

SAM

What about those who wanted to play, but were forced not to?

SHARON

They are with me too. Because they want to play.

JEN

She sees them too. They want to play. Can you see Rosa?

SHARON

Yes.

JEN

Can you speak to her?

SHARON

Only in the darkness.

JEN

Can they speak to each other?

SHARON

I don’t know. They just scream at me. 

SAM

How many are there, Sharon?

SHARON

Hundreds.

JEN

Hundreds. And one day I will join them.

SAM

Are they dreams? Are they nightmares? Or is that their afterlife, Sharon? 

JEN

What will happen to me?

SHARON

I don’t know! I don’t know! Stop asking me these questions!

JEN

She wants us to stop.

SAM

Fair enough. We shall continue walking. I am taking you the Druid’s Grove, Jen. You will be safe there. 

JEN

Safe from who?

SAM

I wish I was sure.

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