Theodore finds a mysterious box left at his doorstep. Strange events begin occurring in his home, including vivid dreams and the box reappearing in his bedroom even after he throws it out. His friend checks on him out of concern. While in the woods together, Theodore faints and wakes up with blood on his hands, standing over his friend's body. It's unclear if the events were real or part of disturbing dreams.

1. “THE BOX”
By
Niamh Giddings

2. FADE IN:
EXT. WOODS - MIDDAY
A low angle shot of THEODORE looking down at something on the
floor. His hands are bloody. He looks shocked and upset. He is
wearing a plain t-shirt and is standing in front of trees. There
is little light lighting him up.
THEODORE
Oh shi-
Fades to a black screen. Title appears.
INT. BEDROOM - MORNING
THEODORE is asleep in bed. The doorbell rings from downstairs.
He wakes up and slowly wonders out of bed to the door
downstairs.
INT. FRONT DOOR - CONTINUING
He opens the door and looks down. There is a box sitting there.
He looks around confused but there is nothing but parked cars
and silence. He picks it up and walks inside.
INT. DINING ROOM – CONTINUING
THEODORE places the box down and opens it. He suddenly wakes up
and realised it was a dream. He rubs his eyes and the doorbell
rings. He gets up and starts to walk downstairs.
INT. FRONT DOOR – CONTINUING
He opens the door, and again, looks around. There is no-one else
except him. He picks it up and puts it on the table next to the
door and walks away.

3. INT. KITCHEN – CONTINUING
He walks upstairs then walks back downstairs but has changed. He
makes himself breakfast then walks back round to the hallway,
picks up his bag and walks out the door.
INT. HALLWAY – AFTERNOON
THEODORE walks back into the house; his bag is hanging off one
shoulder. He shuts the door and drops the bag onto the floor. He
picks up the box and carries it into his bedroom.
INT. BEDROOM – CONTINUING
He opens his door wide them sits down on his desk chair and
places the box onto the desk. He opens it carefully. The bedroom
door slams shut violently. He turns his head quickly in that
direction. He turns back to the box and shuts the lid. He
carries it back downstairs and places it by the door to be
thrown out with the other rubbish.
INT. LIVING ROOM – MORNING
THEODORE is sitting on a sofa playing a video game: he is
engrossed. You can only hear the music from the game. There is a
faint scream from upstairs. THEODORE picks up the remote and
turns the volume down. Silence. A few seconds later he hears
another two screams upstairs. They sound like his parents, so he
abruptly stands up and runs out into the hallway.
INT. HALLWAY – CONTINUING
He stands at the bottom of the stairs the screams are continuing
and are getting a little bit louder. He quickly runs up the
stairs.
INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY – CONTINUING

4. Once he has reached the top of the stairs, he opens his parent’s
bedroom door and looks inside. He turns back around and slams
the door shut behind him. He has a blank looks on his face.
INT. BEDROOM – MORNING
THEODORE jumps up out of bed. He realises that his parent's
screams were just a dream, but it felt so vivid he goes out to
their bedroom to double check.
INT. PARENTS BEDROOM – CONTINUING
He walks into the room, slowly and lightly opening the door.
Over his shoulder we see that the bed is empty. He leaves and
shuts the door. He looks more concerned.
INT. DINING ROOM – MORNING
As THEODORE walks into the dining room he can see a note. It is
from his parents: they left early for work. You can see the
sudden relief in his face. He walks into the kitchen and makes
himself breakfast.
He walks back to the table and sits down. He gets his phone out
of his pocket to check his notifications. He starts scrolling
through his phone. There is a loud bang upstairs. He stands up
to go and check the noise. He creeps up the stairs, keeping
aware of all his surroundings.
INT. BEDROOM – CONTINUING
As he reaches the top of the stairs THEODORE sees that his
bedroom door is wide open. He sneakily peaks into the bedroom.
He sees that it is empty so slowly wanders in. His eyes are
instantly drawn to the box which has appeared onto his desk. The
top is open. He walks cautiously towards it. He picks it up to
look inside. It is empty. He places it back down and shuts the
lid.

5. INT. LIVING ROOM – AFTERNOON
THEODORE suddenly wakes from a nap. He does not understand how
he got to where he is. The doorbell rings.
INT. FRONT HALLWAY, FRONT DOOR – CONTINUING
He opens the door and his friend is standing on the other side.
He looks very concerned. His FRIEND looks at him for a few
seconds, then looks more relieved.
FRIEND
I was just checking in that you’re okay. You
scared me.
The FRIEND starts to turn around and walk away.
THEODORE
O-okay.
He shuts the door. It cuts to black.
The doorbell rings. THEODORE opens the front door. The same
FRIEND is standing at the door. THEODORE moves to the side to
let his friend in as he started to let himself in.
His FRIEND walks through the hallway.
INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY
THEODORE is sat on a sofa with his legs crossed. He looks down
to the floor and sees his FRIEND lying there. In a panic he gets
onto the floor and starts shaking him.
FRIEND
(tiredly) Stop.

6. A relieved face appears on THEODORE. They both get up.
EXT. WOODS – DAY
THEODORE and his FRIEND are walking through the woods to clear
their minds of everything that has been happening. They both
walk in silence. We see a close-up of THEODORE’s face as he
become drowsy and doesn’t feel alright. He faints.
He wakes up a few moments later, but he is standing above a
body. His hands covered in blood. He looks muddled. He steps
back to look at what he thinks he has done.
FADE OUT:
THE END