The Hill.
[First draft - in progress.]
By
Nicola Sinclair & Stephanie Preston.
EXT. OUTSIDE CHARITY SHOP – CLOUDY AFTERNOON.
MOTHER in her late
twenties, 5’7”, with brunette hair and smart office clothing walks through the
doors of a charity shop into the high street. She checks in her carrier bag as
she walks and counts all three books, making sure she has picked them up. As
she is doing this, she doesn’t notice mysterious 6’4” HOODED MAN in a black trench
coat and collides with him, dropping her bag of books as she does so.
MOTHER
I am so sorry.
She sounds genuinely
flustered, and bends down to retrieve her books, the hooded man also kneeling
down to help her. He picks up the final book and hands it to her as she is
packing the rest of them away. She takes the book from him, catching eye
contact for a moment as she places the book in her bag.
MOTHER
Uh… Thank you.
She stands and begins to
walk away, not looking back at the man. The hooded man rises to his feet and
turns back to watch her leave before glancing down to the Jack and Jill fairy
tale book in his hands with a menacing smirk before vanishing.
CUT TO:
EXT. LONELY HOUSE ON A HILL – EARLY EVENING.
It is beginning to get
dark as the woman arrives at the house, and it is clearly the beginning of
winter as she feels a chill in the air making her shiver. She rummages in her
handbag as she walks up the path to the house, pulling out her keys and
unlocking the door. She glances back uncertainly before pushing the door open
and entering the house.
CUT TO:
INT. INSIDE THE HOUSE – EARLY EVENING.
The woman closes the door
behind her, hesitating as she notices the silence in the house.
MOTHER
Hello? Sam? I’m home.
She dumps the keys and her
bag on a chest of drawers by the door before walking down the corridor, seeming
concerned.
MOTHER
Sam? Debbie? Are you-
She jumps as DEBBIE, a 5’5”
brunette in her early twenties rounds the corner, her arms folded.
DEBBIE
Sam’s in bed. Do you even know what time it is?
MOTHER
I know, I know. I’m sorry sis, it’s just-
Debbie sighs, shaking her
head before pushing past her, making her way towards the door.
DEBBIE
It’s
not me you should be apologising to. You need to spend more time with her,
Michelle, instead of focusing completely on your career.
Michelle watches as Debbie
leaves the house, turning back to see SAMANTHA, a blonde four year old with pig
tails running towards her.
SAMANTHA
Mummy!
Michelle picks Samantha up
in a hug, smiling as she does so.
MICHELLE
Hey
Sam, I thought you were supposed to be in bed? It’s past your bedtime.
SAMANTHA
I heard you and Auntie arguing.
MICHELLE
It’s
nothing to worry about. Come on, let’s take you back to bed – I got you some
new books today.
Michelle picks up the bag
of books in one hand whilst carrying Samantha in the other, who rambles on
about liking books, her day at school and her time with Debbie whilst they head
back up the stairs to her room. Michelle places Sam down on the bed and she
climbs under the covers as Michelle sits on the edge of the bed.
MICHELLE
Now,
you can choose which one you want to read. We have…
She rummages through the
bag and pulls out three children’s books, showing them to Samantha in turn.
MICHELLE
(continuing)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Peter Pan and
Jack-
Michelle realises the
third book is not what she thought it was, and instead is a old and strange
looking book which is tattered around the edges. She looks confused until
Samantha reaches out for the book, taking it from her.
SAMANTHA
Ru- Ru- Rum-
Samantha struggles to
pronounce the name of the book.
MICHELLE
Rumpelstiltskin’s
Rhymes. This is odd, I thought I bought a different book.
SAMANTHA
It
sounds funny. Can we read this one?
Michelle seems unsure, but
soon places the other books on the bedside table and Samantha moves over to let
her sit on the bed beside her, the two opening the book. Samantha attempts to
read the first two nursery rhymes before giving up, allowing Michelle to read
the third.
MICHELLE
This one’s called
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