1. “Shard”
[SOCIAL REALISM]
Epsom Downs, early evening. Charlie, 17, and five friends (four also aged 17
and one aged 18) sit on the field smoking cannabis. The group chats and they
laugh as the joint is being passed round. Smoke slowly fills the air around
them. Yas, the only girl of the group, sits opposite Charlie. There is an
exchange of looks between them as their eyes meet across the group. Shyly,
Charlie looks away. Yas is passed the joint. She stands up, walks over and
sits down next to Charlie. She takes a toke and holds it out for him to take.
Charlie tells her that he does not want to as he is driving. Yas persuades him
to do some and so he does. The London sky line is picked out by the setting
sun. “Dude, have you seen that thing that they’re building over there by
London Bridge… it’s ridiculous, such a waste of money!” says Jake. “Naa
man, it’s so cool. It actually looks like a shard.” comments Michael. The joint
continues to be passed round the group. Perry cracks open a beer and hands
it to Yas. She drinks some and then passes it to Charlie. He looks at it for a
second and then takes a swig. Jake spots a hub cap left nearby. He asks the
group if they want to play Frisbee. “Ahh awesome, sure.” says Jay. He leans
back on his hand to get up. Landing on broken glass, he quickly moves his
hand and looks at it to find blood oozing from the wound. Panic fills the faces
of the others. Yas, his sister, is worried and wants to get him home. Michael
asks Charlie to drive them, and Jake also begins to put pressure on him to
drive. Charlie refuses to drive as he is stoned and does not want to lose his
licence. Jay assures everyone that he is fine as he puts a tissue on it as he
sits back down. Yas tells him that he needs to get it checked out as it may be
infected. She says that she will walk with him to the hospital. Jay reluctantly
gets up. Perry says: “You’re not gonna let her walk, are you Charlie?” Charlie
decides he should walk with them to the hospital. Yas walks on one side of
Jay, linking arms with him, whilst Charlie walks on the other. Jay’s head
drops. Looking faint, he begins to stare at the ground and walks with a slower
pace. Yas looks anxiously at him and then looks intently at Charlie. Charlie
looks back and then looks at Jay. Looking once again at Yas he says: “Come
on, I’ll drive.” The three of them make their way to the car. Now on the road,
Charlie drives slowly and carefully. Yas sits in the front seat and Jay in the
back with his head rested against the window. Charlie’s eyes are fixed on the
road ahead of him. His eyes are wide and panicked. Sounds around him
become muffled and distant. Driving through the main high street, he slowly
looks to the left to see police officers in an unmarked vehicle. He watches
them in his rear view mirror. Yas assures him that they have not been seen
and she tells him to speed up. He turns his attention back to the road. He
continues on and takes a nearby side road. He looks round in his seat to
check on Jay. Once again looking back to the road, he slams on the brakes.
Tires screech. A small child picks up their ball from in front of the car and
walks back to the path. He looks at Charlie. The three are left staring at the
road.