second draft with some major changes

1. ABRACADABRA
By Delilah Walker-Coleman

2. 1 INT. BEDROOM. DAY 1
Ben, a teenager, stands in the middle of a bedroom. He is
wearing a big black cloak and a top hat. Holding a wand,
to a lamp, he waves it delicately.
BEN
Abracadabra!
The lamp is still motionless.
BEN
Abracadabra!
The lamp remains motionless.
BEN
Shit!
2 INT. LIVING ROOM. EVENING 2
The news is playing on the TV.
There is a woman and a man sitting on the sofa. The
woman’s hair is up, she is wearing a cardigan and
trousers. She is holding a glass of wine. The man is
wearing a button shirt, an undone tie, and trousers. He is
holding a can of beer, and takes a sip. They are sitting
somewhat far apart.
Ben enters the room, holding a deck of cards.
BEN
Hey, dad, pick a card, any card.
His dad sighs.
THE DAD
Not now, Ben.
BEN
Please! It won’t take long.
The dad looks at his wife, annoyed. She rolls her eyes and
shrugs.
He hesitates, and takes a card from the deck.
Ben shuffles the deck and looks at it.
BEN
You took the jack of diamonds,
didn’t you?
We see the card, the dad took. It is the kind of spades.
(CONTINUED)

3. CONTINUED: 2.
THE DAD
Nope. Its the king of spades.
BEN
What? How? Wait, let me try
again.
His mum and dad both sigh.
3 INT. CLASSROOM. DAY 3
Ben and his dad are sitting at a desk. The teacher is
sitting directly across from them.
THE TEACHER
Look, I’m not gonna sugarcoat
this. Ben is really making things
hard for himself. He never does
his homework, he never knows what
I’m talking about, and sometimes
he distracts the other students,
trying to do magic tricks. If he
doesn’t make big changes, he’s
not gonna pass any of his
a-levels.
The dad looks at Ben, disappointedly. He puts his hand on
his face and sighs. Ben, who is currently wearing his top
hat and cloak, looks back at him without expression.
The teacher sips his coffee, and sits there, looking at
them, awkwardly.
4 INT. BEDROOM. DAY 4
Ben and his dad are in Ben’s bedroom. His dad is holding a
box, and putting Ben’s magic things in there.
THE DAD
Your not getting any of this crap
back until you pass your
a-levels!
BEN
But, I don’t give a shit about
a-levels! Why should I waste my
life putting effort into things
that I don’t want to? I want to
be a magician!
THE DAD
Oh for god’s sake, Ben, grow up!
You know when kids are little,
and parents tell them they can be
whatever they want to be? Well
its a fucking lie. Being a
magician isn’t a realistic a
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)

4. CONTINUED: 3.
THE DAD (cont’d)
career. Even if you were good at
it, it wouldn’t be. And you also
happen to be crap at it! In fact,
your the worst fucking magician
I’ve ever seen!
The dad puts the last of the things in the box and walks
out, slamming the door behind him.
We see Ben lifting up his shirt, and he pulls out his wand
from his pocket. He points it to the lamp.
BEN
Abracadabra!
The lamp doesn’t change.
Ben sighs. We see a poster next to his bed. There is a
man, wearing a top hat, and a cloak, holding a wand. It
has "The Invincible Ian" on it.
Suddenly, Ben notices the way that "Invincible Ian" is
holding his wand. He is holding it in his left hand, with
his index finger, across the wand. Ben is and has been
holding his wand in his right hand, with all his fingers
around it. He changes the position of holding his wand, to
the way "Invincible Ian" is holding his in the poster.
Ben points his wand to the light.
BEN
Abracadabra!
The lamp turns off.
Ben looks surprised.
BEN
Abracadabra!
The lamp turns on.
Ben looks surprised and smiles.
5 INT. LIVING ROOM. DAY 5
The dad is sitting on the sofa, having a cup of coffee.
Ben enters, holding his wand, behind his back.
BEN
Hey, dad. Can I have twenty
pounds?
THE DAD
No. You probably want it to buy
some more magic crap, because
I’ve taken all of yours.
(CONTINUED)

5. CONTINUED: 4.
BEN
No, I just want to buy supplies
for school.
THE DAD
You must think I’m stupid.
Ben, goes into the hallway, and points the wand to his
dad’s wallet on the table.
BEN
(whispering) Abracadabra!
Suddenly, twenty pounds appears in Ben’s hand. He smiles.
6 INT. BEDROOM. EVENING 6
Ben is sitting on the end of his bed.
BEN (V/O)
He’s gonna notice I still have my
wand. He’d take it away. Then
I’ll be back to being a crap
magician. I won’t even have any
of my stuff. So I wouldn’t be a
magician at all. Shit, shit,
shit, what am I gonna do? There’s
only one thing I can do. I have
to make my parents disappear.
Ben gets up from his bed, and walks to the living room.
His parents are sitting on the sofa, watching TV. His mum
has a glass of wine in her hand, and his dad has a can of
beer. Ben quietly walks in there. He holds his wand, but
this the side that has been pointing away from him, is
pointing toward him. He enters the living room.
THE DAD
Hey, what the hell are you doing
with that thing?
Ben gulps and looks nervous.
BEN
Abracadabra!
Ben instantly vanishes. We see the top hat and the cloak
he was wearing on the floor.