2. 2
ALL CAST AND CREW TO NOTE THAT THE CHARACTERS MENTIONED
THROUGHOUT ARE NOT THE PEOPLE SAT ON THE BENCHES, WE ARE
VIEWING THE STORY THGROUGH THE BENCHES EYES WITH THEIR
VOICEOVERS NARRATING.
SCENE 1: EXT. LOCAL PARK - DAY
We see 3 benches. BEN, CONNIE and STACEY each sit alone at
one of the benches. Behind them is a fence line with trees
dotted along it and a large stream. CONNIE is sat on the
middle bench with STACEY on the left and BEN on the right.
We then move closer to the two girls, who have now turned
to face each other. CONNIE and STACEY are the only ones on
screen, still sat on separate benches.
CONNIE
Ben is so dreamy, such a beautiful boy.
STACEY
Agreed, but he’s a bit much… don’t you
think? Besides, it’s not like he has
chance to even notice you!
CONNIE
(Offended)
He has noticed me thanks very much! We’ve
had plenty of conversations while you’ve
been gone.
STACEY
About the weather? Come on Connie, you
deserve better than a little small talk
here and there, he’s too obsessed with his
popularity to make time for us.
CONNIE
He’s not though, he makes time for the
little old ladies with tiny dogs and young
mothers with restless children; he’s kind
and caring.
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3
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3. 3
STACEY
That’s only because he always sits by the
gates, looking lonely and people take pity
on him.
CONNIE
Not anymore…
We see a shot of the three again, except it’s now only
STACEY and CONNIE, BEN and the bench he was sat on, have
gone.
SCENE 2: EXT. LOCAL PARK— EARLY EVENING 1 WEEK BEFORE,
FLASHBACK
On a park bench BEN is sat with a group of teenagers, aged
around 17-18. They are laughing and talking, with bottles
in brown paper bags, BEN is the only one not drinking much.
CONNIE (V.O.)
He fell in with the wrong crowd, they were
always drinking or smoking.
BOY NO.1
Hey Ben, bottoms up!
GIRL NO.1
Yeah, Ben, that’s it! I love a boy who can
drink!
STACEY (V.O.)
Surely he could have told them he didn’t
want to drink?
BEN
Hey guys, hasn’t Bella had one too many?
GIRL NO.1
She’s fine, she can still stand right?
Stop being so worried, just drink!
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6
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4. 4
CONNIE (V.O.)
He was worried they would push him away or
leave him behind. He was scared of being
alone… aren’t we all?
BEN continues to drink, but not properly, the others don’t
notice, crowding around him and laughing. BEN watches
BELLA, he looks concerned.
STACEY (V.O.)
He has us…
SCENE 3: LATER— EARLY MORNING
The group of friends are all laughing and joking about.
BELLA appears uncomfortable slightly slumped. She doesn’t
join the laughter.
BEN is still sat in the middle of the bench, watching
BELLA.
Group continues to AD-LIB amongst themselves.
STACEY (V.O.)
So what actually happened?
BELLA falls and the group fall silent, the boys shrug and
continue quiet chatter.
GIRL NO.1
SHE’S NOT BREATHING. GUYS!
(Everyone falls silent)
What do we do?!
Indistinct chatter starts getting louder, punctuated with:
“Call an ambulance!” or “who has a phone?”
All the girls are in hysterics, running around trying to
find a way to help, but still quite drunk and
disorientated.
BOY NO.1
There’s someone coming!
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5. 5
GIRL NO.2
What do we do? We should ask them for help
surely…
BOY NO.2
RUN!
Everyone runs off scene apart from BEN and BELLA.
STACEY (V.O.)
Why didn’t he stop them? He could have
asked them to help him. What about his
phone?
BEN stays sat on the bench, looking away from BELLA,
waiting for people to arrive.
Shortly people start arriving. There is a blur of action
around BEN. Flashing lights come and go. BEN stays sat in
the middle of the bench, no emotion showing.
After several people have been questioned, BEN is taken
away by two men who look like police officers, his head
down.
CONNIE (V.O.)
He was calm and collected when they took
him away, he walked with no fuss.
STACEY (V.O.)
Surely this whole thing could have been
avoided though, if he had just called for
help?
SCENE 4: EXT. LOCAL PARK PRESENT DAY
We see CONNIE and STACEY sat talking, they are slightly
facing each other, and are deep in conversation.
CONNIE
It makes no difference, either way he
takes the blame.
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6. 6
STACEY
He could have explained, could have told
them that it wasn’t his fault. She drank
too much, fell over, it was an accident.
There were other people with him, other
witnesses.
CONNIE
They asked if there were any witnesses,
he’s not a snitch, besides, the people he
hung out with, they aren’t the type of
people to come forward with information.
They would have denied even knowing him.
STACEY
Some friends they were… I just don’t
understand… if he was as good as you said
he was then surely he would have known
better than to hang out with people like
that! He just can’t be that much of a
saint and all this happen!
STACEY is visibly exasperated, throwing her hands in the
air and shaking her head. CONNIE just looks sad, barely
moving, her head hung. Both appear slightly faded, as
though they are disappearing.
CONNIE
Peer pressure. He succumbed to peer
pressure, it’s so easy to get carried away
with those people, they’re cool, and
you’re cool by association. It’s all well
and good saying you wouldn’t, but until
you’re asked, how do you know?
STACEY
I get that, we all want to be popular, but
there’s a limit to the lengths I would go
to actually BE popular.
CONNIE
(Defensively)
He didn’t know it would go this far
though, how could he know?
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7. 7
STACEY
(Raising voice)
They were constantly drunk!
Both fall quiet and still as people start walking past.
Their images seem much more faded and thin.
LADY NO.1
Where did that bench go?
LADY NO.2
The one dedicated to Ben? It had to be
moved down by the lake, it was too
dangerous.
Once the women have passed we see the two benches once
again, the two girls sat on them are gone.
FADE OUT:
THE END
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