2. ! 1
FADE IN.
INT. BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING.
MARY (20) awakes from her slumber wearily. She sits down at a
dressing table and places a crucifix necklace round her neck,
gazing at a photo of a young man attached to the wooden frame
of the mirror. Noticing the time, she quickly begins to pre-
pare herself for the day ahead, applying make up and brushing
her hair.
INT. KITCHEN - LATER THAT MORNING.
Mary, dressed in a dark floor-length domestic dress, walks
into the kitchen to find her daughter RUTH (6), also in a lit-
tle dark dress, standing on a chair throwing ingredients such
as flour and butter into a mixing bowl. The kitchen is a mess.
Utensils litter the surfaces and the counter and Ruth’s face
and apron are all coated in flour. Shocked, Mary, moves to-
wards Ruth and takes her off the chair, wiping the flour off
her eyes. She surveys the kitchen, then gives Ruth a hard look
of disapproval. Grabbing her wrist Mary leads Ruth towards the
door.
MARY
[pushing RUTH away]!! !
Go to your room.
Noticing the time on the clock, Mary rushes round the kitchen,
putting appliances back into cupboards and shoving used pots,
pans and utensils into the sink. She starts to wipe the sur-
faces clean. The door opens slowly. Ruth creeps back into the
room carrying a box of crayons and a stack of coloured card
paper. Sitting down at the kitchen table, she begins to ar-
range and organize the coloured pencils. She shakes the box
and bits of crayon and rubber shavings fall out. Mary watches
from the sink. Ruth sharpens pencils and brushes the mess
across the table. Whilst drawing and colouring, she starts
humming the tune of ‘Happy Birthday’ under her breath. Notic-
ing this, Mary strides over to her. Ruth is writing the text
“Happy Birthday”.
MARY
[uncontrollably shouting] ! !
Ruth, he’s gone! I’m sorry but
he’s never coming back!
Ruth stares up at her with eyes welling. She collects up her
crayons and card and runs out the room. Mary returns to the
sink, harshly scrubbing plates and pans in bubbly water.
3. ! 2
EXT. FRONT DOOR - LUNCHTIME
A middle aged female SOCIAL WORKER, dressed in smart attire,
rings the doorbell.
INT. LIVING ROOM - LUNCHTIME
Fresh tea steams from the mugs on the small coffee table in
the middle of the room. A tray of cakes and finger sandwiches
lie next to the drinks. The Social Worker sits down on the
sofa opposite Mary and Ruth.
SOCIAL WORKER
So, how are you managing?
MARY
[fumbling with her hands] !
! ! Okay.
SOCIAL WORKER
Good. And how’s little Ruth?
Is she coping okay?
Social Worker smiles at Ruth, who looks down at her hands shyly.
! ! ! RUTH!! ! !
! ! ! Yes.
Mary grabs hold of Ruth’s hand and squeezes it lightly.
! SOCIAL WORKER! ! !
! And how much have you have
you managed to save so far? [she
scribbles notes on a pad of lined
paper]
Mary slowly shakes her head.
SOCIAL WORKER
Right... well I need to take
down some notes...
MARY
I’m trying...But I can never
keep hold of the money.[pause] I can
only work a few hours [pause] at the
local shop whilst Ruth...whilst
Ruth...[pause]is at school...And
even then the pay isn’t enough to
fund two people for a week.
4. ! 3
[trying to find the words] Ruth
seems to keep ruining her clothes...
which I can no longer afford to re-
place. Then there’s food costs and
the appliance bills [she breaks down
into tears].
The Social Worker hands Mary a hanker-chief as Ruth cuddles up
to her mother and kissed her cheek.
EXT. WINCHELSEA BEACH. THE LIFEBOAT HOUSE - EARLY EVENING.
Mary walks hand in hand with RUTH across a rural landscape un-
til they reach the wooden lifeboat house. Ruth breaks away
from her hold and runs down to the sea as Mary places a bou-
quet of flowers and a note “thinking of you” along side the
desolate structure. At the beach the waves crash onto the
shore. Ruth clutches the now complete birthday card with a
drawing of her and her Dad on the front. Mary walks down to
join her and pulls a glass bottle from a bag. She hands it to
RUTH who rolls up the card and places it inside the bottle.
She then drops it into the waves, and they both watch it drift
out to sea as it’s becomes swallowed by the tide. Mary kisses
the top of Ruth’s head.
![! 1
FADE IN.
INT. BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING.
MARY (20) awakes from her slumber wearily. She sits down at a
dressing table and places a crucifix necklace round her neck,
gazing at a photo of a young man attached to the wooden frame
of the mirror. Noticing the time, she quickly begins to pre-
pare herself for the day ahead, applying make up and brushing
her hair.
INT. KITCHEN - LATER THAT MORNING.
Mary, dressed in a dark floor-length domestic dress, walks
into the kitchen to find her daughter RUTH (6), also in a lit-
tle dark dress, standing on a chair throwing ingredients such
as flour and butter into a mixing bowl. The kitchen is a mess.
Utensils litter the surfaces and the counter and Ruth’s face
and apron are all coated in flour. Shocked, Mary, moves to-
wards Ruth and takes her off the chair, wiping the flour off
her eyes. She surveys the kitchen, then gives Ruth a hard look
of disapproval. Grabbing her wrist Mary leads Ruth towards the
door.
MARY
[pushing RUTH away]!! !
Go to your room.
Noticing the time on the clock, Mary rushes round the kitchen,
putting appliances back into cupboards and shoving used pots,
pans and utensils into the sink. She starts to wipe the sur-
faces clean. The door opens slowly. Ruth creeps back into the
room carrying a box of crayons and a stack of coloured card
paper. Sitting down at the kitchen table, she begins to ar-
range and organize the coloured pencils. She shakes the box
and bits of crayon and rubber shavings fall out. Mary watches
from the sink. Ruth sharpens pencils and brushes the mess
across the table. Whilst drawing and colouring, she starts
humming the tune of ‘Happy Birthday’ under her breath. Notic-
ing this, Mary strides over to her. Ruth is writing the text
“Happy Birthday”.
MARY
[uncontrollably shouting] ! !
Ruth, he’s gone! I’m sorry but
he’s never coming back!
Ruth stares up at her with eyes welling. She collects up her
crayons and card and runs out the room. Mary returns to the
sink, harshly scrubbing plates and pans in bubbly water.](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)