A Monster Calls Page #4

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SuLLY

Your puppy’s here to save you,

O’Malley!

Outraged, Lily - who is, in fact, a little puppy-ish - pushes

Sully hard. Surprised, he falls backwards over a shrubbery.

LILY:

I’m just making it a fair fight!

23.

MISS KWAN (O.S.)

LILY EVANS!

Everyone freezes as Head of Year MISS KWAN (late 30s, British-

Chinese descent, stern but fair) storms over.

LILY:

They started it, Miss!

MisS KWAN

I don’t want to hear it.

(to Sully, now rising)

Are you hurt, Sullivan?

Sully, seeing an opening, fakes injury. Badly.

SullY

I might need to go home, Miss.

MISS KWAN:

Don’t milk it.

(to Lily)

My office, Lily.

LILY:

But, Miss, they were-

MISS KWAN:

Now.

LILY:

They were making fun of Conor’s

mother!

Everyone freezes. A dangerous silence.

Miss KWAN

Is this true, Conor?

Conor looks from Anton to Sully, and on to Lily, her face

burning with injustice, but then to Harry, who is as calm and

firmly fixed on Conor as ever.

ConoR

(eyes on Harry)

No, Miss. I just fell. They were

helping me up.

Lily looks like she’s been slapped.

MISS KWAN:

Get to your forms.

(to Lily)

Not you.

Miss Kwan drags an aghast Lily away. Conor watches them go.

When he turns back, Harry is holding out Conor’s bag for him.

24.

Harry

Well done, O’Malley.

Beat. Conor takes the bag and makes his way inside.

25.

19 Int. Physical Social and Education class - lATER 19

A Powerpoint display at the front of the class reads: “THE

MIRACLE OF BIRTH”. MR CLARK, 40s, wry, kind, perhaps a bit

soft, steps up next to it.

Mr Clark

Brace yourselves.

Conor sits at the back, an empty desk next to him. He looks

very drowsy.

MR Clark (CONT’D)

We’ve been studying this all week.

You’ve seen the diagrams, heard the

descriptions. You think you’re

ready to watch the real thing.

He gives a you-have-no-idea-what-you’re-in-for chuckle and

clicks to start a hilariously graphic CHILDBIRTH DOCUMENTARY

on the Powerpoint.

The sounds from the documentary (”The cervix fully dilates to

10 centimeters and the baby's head crowns when the widest

part of it reaches the vaginal opening”, complete with sounds

of a mother in labour) fade as we focus on Conor, looking

exhausted, falling asleep propping up his face with his hand.

He’s sitting under the A/C vent and the sound of it starts to

merge with a WIND sound, that eventually rises to the

SOUNDTRACK of the NIGHTMARE we heard over the TITLES. We

close on Conor, the soundtrack rising to a FAINT SCREAMING

(”Conor!”).

Mr Clark (CONT’D)

Conor?

Conor jumps as Mr Clark is right next to him. He waits to see

if he’s in trouble. But Mr Clark looks overly sympathetic.

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