by James Eddy
MEADOW - DAY
Oliver walks along the pavement, taking in everything around him - the shops, people, and traffic of the city.
CUT TO:
EXT. CHAPELFIELD GARDENS - DAY
Oliver sits on a bench in Chapelfield Gardens while people walk by him. He watches a young couple who sit hand in hand on a nearby bench. The young man moves the young woman’s hair away from her face and kisses her.
SLOW FADE TO:
ExT. Chapelfield Gardens - DAY
Oliver lies down on the same bench. People continue to walk by. The young couple are no longer there. Oliver sits up and walks away.
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EXT. THEATRE STREET - DAY
Oliver walks along Theatre Street passing The Theatre Royal without noticing that it is advertising a production of Romeo and Juliet.
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EXT. BOOKSHOP - DAY
Oliver walks into a small second hand bookshop.
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INT. BOOKSHOP - DAY
He looks at the shelves filled with books until he sees a book of poetry by Lord Byron.He looks at it, scans through it for several seconds, and checks the price before going to the counter to pay for it.
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EXT. BOOKSHOP - DAY
Oliver walks out of the shop still holding the book, which he puts into his jacket pocket before walking away from the bookshop.
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EXT. RIVERSIDE WALK - DAY
Oliver walks beside the River Wensum. He looks at the Cathedral, shielding his eyes from the sun as he does so. He carries on walking and turns up the driveway/road that leads to Norwich Cathedral.
CUT TO:
EXT. CATHEDRAL GROUNDS - DAY
Oliver walks slowly in and around the Cathedral grounds looking at the sandstone spire and the Statues of Wellington and Nelson he had previously seen in his dream.
Fade TO:
EXT. HOTEL NELSON - DAY
Oliver crosses the road and walks into the hotel.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL RECEPTION - DAY
Oliver walks quickly through reception, passing ROSE - a blonde receptionist in her early twenties - who is sitting behind the desk.
ROSE
Excuse me Mr Bell...
(A beat as
Oliver stops
and turns
towards her)
There have been several calls for you this afternoon
OLIVER
Really? Are you sure?
(A beat)
I mean were they definitely calls for me?
Rose
Definitely. Your brother has called... Several times
OLIVER
Oh right... Well thank you for letting me know
He turns and begins to walk away.
Rose
Mr Bell...
(Oliver stops
and turns to
her again)
I'm sorry but he did leave you a message... He was really quite insistent that I told you to call him back
OLIVER
Oh...
(A beat)
Thank you
Rose
You're very welcome Mr Bell
Oliver walks away towards the lift to take him to his hotel room. Just as he gets to the doors he stops and walks back over to the reception desk.
OLIVER
Um... I’m sorry to disturb you... I really hope I didn't seem rude just then. I mean it's just I didn't expect to have any calls or anything and well...
Rose
It’s fine sir...
(A beat and
then more
quietly)
If your brother calls again I can tell him you still aren't back if you want
OLIVER
No, no he probably wouldn't believe you anyway. If he calls, direct it straight up to me
RECEPTIONIST
Of course Mr Bell
OLIVER
Thank you anyway... Uh... Bye
Rose smiles at him as he walks away towards the lift.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL ROOM - EVENING
Oliver sits on the bed in silence for several seconds when the telephone starts ringing. He leans over and picks up the receiver.
OLIVER
Hello? Stephen... Oh no, I’ve just got back. How are you?
(A beat)
I just let mum know so...
(A beat)
No I haven’t yet... Well I probably should but... Okay... Well I had some things to do here I...
(A beat)
I don’t know. Things...
(A beat)
I’m not sure yet... Because I’m... Soon...
(A beat)
No I don’t do things just to embarrass you... No there's no need for you to do that... I’ll sort it out...
(A beat)
All right then... Love to the...
He slowly puts the receiver down.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
A single bedside light illuminates the room as Oliver lies in bed. He leans over and turns it off.
BLACK SCREEN:
SUPER: "Two Nights Earlier"
FADE IN:
BEGIN DREAM SEQUENCE:
EXT/INt. NORWICH City FOOTBALL GROUND - DAY
Emily sits on the ground in the centre circle of the football pitch. Oliver lies on his back next to her. His body is outlined on the ground in chalk.
EMILY
Don’t forget to remember the Saints; Benedict, George, Andrew and Gregory, All of whom play a part in our history; But also of a story borne of September, so please do not forget to remember
OLIVER
(Sitting up
and facing
her)
Is that a rhyme or a riddle?
EMILY
(Shrugging as
she deals
out playing
cards)
Just a little guidance
(Laying down
a card)
SNAP!
OLIVER
So, I take it that you’ve always wanted to play here
EMILY
Ever since I was a kid
Emily takes a card, raises her hand, and brings it down onto the ground.
CUT TO:
EXT. GRASS FIELD - DAY
Oliver and Emily are still on the ground but the grass is now considerably longer around them. Emily lifts her hand up to reveal the card she has just put down
OLIVER and Emily
(Together)
SNAP!
They smile, get up, join hands, and begin walking through the field. Soon they see a large black book, standing closed, directly in front of them. They look at each other and approach the book. As they get nearer to the book it becomes clear that it is actually much larger than they are. They look at each other and attempt to open the book. It takes all of the strength of both of them to do so. They both look into the book.
EMILY
Shall we?
OLIVER
(Exhaling heavily)
Absolutely
Hand-in-hand and at the same time they step into the book.
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INT. BOOK - Day
Oliver and Emily stand in what appears to be a large white room with typed letters in the distance far beyond where they are standing.
EMILY
(Looking at
the words)
What does it say?
Emily runs ahead toward the words, while Oliver walks more slowly. Emily gets close enough to read the typed words and stops running. Oliver eventually reaches her and she grabs his hand and looks at him.
EMILY
Are you all right? What’s the matter?
OLIVER
What? Why do you ask?
Emily points to the words which read -'A sense of foreboding swept over him about where he was and where he might be heading. It was a feeling too familiar from many years before and not e
ven the wondrous woman, who had just run ahead to explore, could do anything to dispel it. He continued to walk but with each step, whatever was making him want to turn back grew stronger. He realised then that he felt stretched, like he was being pulled apart by the need to be wherever she was and the need to stay away from what was causing him discomfort. Eventually he reached her, though the feeling did not lift. She turned to him and asked, “Are you all right? What's the matter?”
These words threw him into a momentary panic. 'How did she know? Was he really so transparently obvious?' Not for the first time, his words didn’t entirely reflect his thoughts. Instead, he replied, “What? Why do you ask?” To his surprise however, she didn’t answer, pointing instead to the dark words that were written in front of him'.
EMILY
(A beat)
Can we get out of here?
OLIVER
I’m not sure... But that does seem like a good idea
He looks back at where they have just come from. There doesn't seem to be any way out. He turns back to Emily and shrugs his shoulders. She looks up at the words in front of them.
EMILY
Up there!
She points up to just above the words, at a small red and black illustration of a door.
OLIVER
(Looking up)
Okay... So how do we get up there?
EMILY
Uh... Well... We... Could climb up the words...
(A beat as
she looks
at him.
He looks
worried)
Look... I’m with you. I'm sure we’ll be all right as long as we're together
He nods and the two of them walk towards the bottom level of the letters, which are roughly the same height as they are.
OLIVER
Okay...
(A beat)
Where do we start?
EMILY
I think the ’t’s, 'm's, 'w's and capital letters might be easiest to climb.
They set about climbing the letters. This takes a very long time but eventually they reach the top line of words. They move across so that they are below the door but Oliver cannot quite reach it.
OLIVER
I’m going to have to give you a leg up.
Emily nods in agreement and he lifts her up. She is able to reach and turn the door handle to open the door. She then jumps into the open doorway and disappears. After a few moments a hand reaches down to Oliver.
EMILY
(Unseen)
Come on!
He looks up, grabs her hand, and is pulled through the door.
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INT. HIGH SCHOOL CORRIDOR - DAY
Oliver and Emily walk through a door into a high school corridor. Oliver looks around.
OLIVER
Fuck! We have to go back
He pushes back through the door they just came through.
CUT TO:
INT. HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY
Oliver enters a classroom full of teenagers being taught history. They do not see him enter the room but he can hear the scratching of pens on