***CHAPTER 2***
CHILDREN'S BEDROOM. 9.00 pm
Sophie, a fair-haired little girl of seven, is sitting up in bed, the red night light glowing pink on her expectant face. In the moonlight that steals through the brightly patterened curtains, Rowan, a chubby child of three, is crouching on the floor, amidst the chaos of Lego, dolls furniture and toy groceries, "crawling" a large plastic spider round a dolls' house, muttering to herself:..
ROWAN: ...then along here and down there..."
SOPHIE: You've had it, Rowan, when Mummy and Daddy see that mess. You've had it when they see you're not in bed. It's like Christmas. She won't come if you're not good.
Rowan gives her a scathing look and returns to her game, jabbering away as she moves the spider in and out of dolls house...
ROWAN: ...and round and round and that way and that way...
There is a peculiar high-pitched buzzing and both girls look to the centre of the room. Katherine appears, snowflakes falling off her clothes and snow still melting in her hair, her breath like icy blue smoke.
SOPHIE (smiling): Hullo, Katherine! We've been waiting a LONG time.
Katherine returns the smile. In the warmth of the bedroom some colour returns to her face and the grey of her dress slowly turns silver. Her movements are jerky to begin with and she walks woodenly over to Sophie, sits down awkwardly and strokes the little girl's hair.
KATHERINE: Hello. You must be Sophie.
SOPHIE (nodding): I knew you'd come and see us. I just KNEW!
ROWAN (reaching up to Katherine): And me, and me!
KATHERINE (placing the toddler on her lap): And so you're Rowan! (laughs at the plastic spider Rowan is carefully clutching) And who's this?
ROWAN (happily): It 'pider!
SOPHIE (condescendingly): She always takes him to bed with her. Barbie's loads better! Katherine, you can do magic, can't you?
KATHERINE: Of course! (she folds each empty hand into a fist and opens them to reveal a bar of chocolate in each)
ROWAN (laughing and rocking herself in delight): Again! Again!
KATHERINE (tickling Rowan's face): Perhaps tomorrow. It's time for your story now. Once upon a time there was a beautiful but lonely planet where nobody at all had ever lived until one day...
Fade to shadows.
*****
We see Katherine totally transformed. Her dress is emerald green, her long black hair shining and her skin glowing. It is a beautiful sunny day and crowds of laughing, chatting people head towards a funfair. There is an overwhelming feeling of brightness, in the colour of their clothes, which are the styles of the early twentieth century, in the unidentifiable flowers and trees, and in the peculiar light green, cloudless sky. Katherine sits on a sea wall, the turquoise sea behind her sparkling, boats sailing past and screeching seagulls circling the waters. She waves to the man she has been waiting for and they kiss tenderly.
KATHERINE (laughing): I can't believe it! Look at it all! How did it happen?
MAN: Nobody knows! They say it might not last forever and we should make the most of it.
KATHERINE (sadly): It could disappear again any time?
MAN: You know it always does. It never lasts. But don't be sad today. Today is perfect.
The young couple head towards a park where people picnic and sunbathe under rainbow-coloured trees. Flowers adorn everywhere while in the background swans glide gracefully on a pond. The couple sit slowly on the grass, watching the swans, listening to some children playing nearby. They are smiling but there is a strange aura of sadness about them.
*****
LIVING ROOM. LATE EVENING.
Interrupted on a dinner date and still in evening wear, Tom and Melanie talk with Kelly, a pretty girl in her early teens, who is very distressed. In their identical Winnie the Pooh pyjamas and slippers, Sophie and Rowan sit unnaturally quietly on the settee, looking very guilty, clutching each other's hands. Rowan is sucking one of the legs of the plastic spider.
KELLY: I'm sooo s-sorry I had to call you home but...but it...it's witchcraft!
TOM: Hey, hey, calm down, Kelly, it's okay. What happened?
KELLY: I put them to bed at half past eight like you said and next thing I knew they were FLYING!
TOM (amused): What?
KELLY: I'm telling you the truth, Mr Clayton. They flew down the stairs!
MEL (turning to her kids): You've been playing jumping downstairs again? I told you to be good for Kelly!
Sophie's lips tremble and her eyes dim with tears. Rowan begins to cry loudly. Melanie sits on the settee inbetwen her daughters and cuddles them both.
KELLY (hysterically): They weren't jumping, they were FLYING! And when they got to the bottom they got...they got...like, all their cuddly toys just appeared out of nowhere, except they were real, the toy dogs were running and barking and the toy cat was drinking a saucer of milk and the teddy bears walking and that...that toy spider thing was really crawling up the wall...
Tom and Melanie stifle laughter. Kelly has reached the peak of her hysteria while Sophie and Rowan pitch in with hysterical tears themselves.
MEL: Kels, you probably just fell asleep...
KELLY: No, I didn't, I SAW it!
TOM: Calm down, Kel, it's okay. Look, I'll see you home.
KELLY: Mr Clayton, I haven't moved house since I've been babysitting, I STILL only live next door.
TOM: But you're upset. I want to make sure you're alright. Look, here's something extra for all your trouble tonight.
Kelly hesitates for only a fraction of a second before snatching the cash. She picks up her bag and magazine.
KELLY: I will be absolutely fine once I'm out of here!
Tom walks Kelly to the door.
TOM (from the doorway): Thanks for minding the kids, Kel!
Kelly gives him a look of contempt as she hammers frantically on her front door. Suddenly she shivers and looks upwards. At an upstairs window in Tom's house Katherine, pale and grey, watches. Terrified, Kelly runs into her own house like a bat out of hell.
Tom returns to his wife and kids and he and Melanie exchange an amused look.
TOM: Teddy bears walking! Plastic spiders crawling up a wall!
MEL: You know, it was worth missing our night out for this. We've needed a good laugh for ages. Good old Kelly and her mad dreams!
Rowan and Sophie have begun fighting.
SOPHIE (trying to aim a kick back at Rowan, who's hiding behind her Mum): She kicked me! She kicked me!
TOM: You know, I think we're getting back to normal!
*****
Katherine and her sweetheart hold each other close as a strong wind screams all around, tearing leaves from trees. Colours fade like diluting paint, merging into a red-yellow mess and then into nothingness. People move in slow motion until they stop altogether and become grey shapes as the land ices over. An invisible force pulls a now grey Katherine away from her sweetheart.
There is silence except for the desolate wind.
*****
Tom sits at his computer. The white screen is blank. He types a word or two, but deletes immediately, unhappy with his work. He begins pacing despairingly round the back room, pausing every now and again to gaze through the window at the back garden and twinkling night time stars. On his last journey the moon breaks free from a cloud and he's startled to see, for a second or two, the outline of a woman in a long grey dress, who's gazing upwards at the house. The clouds quickly obscure the moon again and when it next shines brightly the figure has vanished. Tom takes a half full bottle of whiskey out of a kitchen cupboard. Hand trembling, he pours himself a drink, which he downs in one go.
CHILDREN'S BEDROOM. 9.00 pm
Sophie, a fair-haired little girl of seven, is sitting up in bed, the red night light glowing pink on her expectant face. In the moonlight that steals through the brightly patterened curtains, Rowan, a chubby child of three, is crouching on the floor, amidst the chaos of Lego, dolls furniture and toy groceries, "crawling" a large plastic spider round a dolls' house, muttering to herself:..
ROWAN: ...then along here and down there..."
SOPHIE: You've had it, Rowan, when Mummy and Daddy see that mess. You've had it when they see you're not in bed. It's like Christmas. She won't come if you're not good.
Rowan gives her a scathing look and returns to her game, jabbering away as she moves the spider in and out of dolls house...
ROWAN: ...and round and round and that way and that way...
There is a peculiar high-pitched buzzing and both girls look to the centre of the room. Katherine appears, snowflakes falling off her clothes and snow still melting in her hair, her breath like icy blue smoke.
SOPHIE (smiling): Hullo, Katherine! We've been waiting a LONG time.
Katherine returns the smile. In the warmth of the bedroom some colour returns to her face and the grey of her dress slowly turns silver. Her movements are jerky to begin with and she walks woodenly over to Sophie, sits down awkwardly and strokes the little girl's hair.
KATHERINE: Hello. You must be Sophie.
SOPHIE (nodding): I knew you'd come and see us. I just KNEW!
ROWAN (reaching up to Katherine): And me, and me!
KATHERINE (placing the toddler on her lap): And so you're Rowan! (laughs at the plastic spider Rowan is carefully clutching) And who's this?
ROWAN (happily): It 'pider!
SOPHIE (condescendingly): She always takes him to bed with her. Barbie's loads better! Katherine, you can do magic, can't you?
KATHERINE: Of course! (she folds each empty hand into a fist and opens them to reveal a bar of chocolate in each)
ROWAN (laughing and rocking herself in delight): Again! Again!
KATHERINE (tickling Rowan's face): Perhaps tomorrow. It's time for your story now. Once upon a time there was a beautiful but lonely planet where nobody at all had ever lived until one day...
Fade to shadows.
*****
We see Katherine totally transformed. Her dress is emerald green, her long black hair shining and her skin glowing. It is a beautiful sunny day and crowds of laughing, chatting people head towards a funfair. There is an overwhelming feeling of brightness, in the colour of their clothes, which are the styles of the early twentieth century, in the unidentifiable flowers and trees, and in the peculiar light green, cloudless sky. Katherine sits on a sea wall, the turquoise sea behind her sparkling, boats sailing past and screeching seagulls circling the waters. She waves to the man she has been waiting for and they kiss tenderly.
KATHERINE (laughing): I can't believe it! Look at it all! How did it happen?
MAN: Nobody knows! They say it might not last forever and we should make the most of it.
KATHERINE (sadly): It could disappear again any time?
MAN: You know it always does. It never lasts. But don't be sad today. Today is perfect.
The young couple head towards a park where people picnic and sunbathe under rainbow-coloured trees. Flowers adorn everywhere while in the background swans glide gracefully on a pond. The couple sit slowly on the grass, watching the swans, listening to some children playing nearby. They are smiling but there is a strange aura of sadness about them.
*****
LIVING ROOM. LATE EVENING.
Interrupted on a dinner date and still in evening wear, Tom and Melanie talk with Kelly, a pretty girl in her early teens, who is very distressed. In their identical Winnie the Pooh pyjamas and slippers, Sophie and Rowan sit unnaturally quietly on the settee, looking very guilty, clutching each other's hands. Rowan is sucking one of the legs of the plastic spider.
KELLY: I'm sooo s-sorry I had to call you home but...but it...it's witchcraft!
TOM: Hey, hey, calm down, Kelly, it's okay. What happened?
KELLY: I put them to bed at half past eight like you said and next thing I knew they were FLYING!
TOM (amused): What?
KELLY: I'm telling you the truth, Mr Clayton. They flew down the stairs!
MEL (turning to her kids): You've been playing jumping downstairs again? I told you to be good for Kelly!
Sophie's lips tremble and her eyes dim with tears. Rowan begins to cry loudly. Melanie sits on the settee inbetwen her daughters and cuddles them both.
KELLY (hysterically): They weren't jumping, they were FLYING! And when they got to the bottom they got...they got...like, all their cuddly toys just appeared out of nowhere, except they were real, the toy dogs were running and barking and the toy cat was drinking a saucer of milk and the teddy bears walking and that...that toy spider thing was really crawling up the wall...
Tom and Melanie stifle laughter. Kelly has reached the peak of her hysteria while Sophie and Rowan pitch in with hysterical tears themselves.
MEL: Kels, you probably just fell asleep...
KELLY: No, I didn't, I SAW it!
TOM: Calm down, Kel, it's okay. Look, I'll see you home.
KELLY: Mr Clayton, I haven't moved house since I've been babysitting, I STILL only live next door.
TOM: But you're upset. I want to make sure you're alright. Look, here's something extra for all your trouble tonight.
Kelly hesitates for only a fraction of a second before snatching the cash. She picks up her bag and magazine.
KELLY: I will be absolutely fine once I'm out of here!
Tom walks Kelly to the door.
TOM (from the doorway): Thanks for minding the kids, Kel!
Kelly gives him a look of contempt as she hammers frantically on her front door. Suddenly she shivers and looks upwards. At an upstairs window in Tom's house Katherine, pale and grey, watches. Terrified, Kelly runs into her own house like a bat out of hell.
Tom returns to his wife and kids and he and Melanie exchange an amused look.
TOM: Teddy bears walking! Plastic spiders crawling up a wall!
MEL: You know, it was worth missing our night out for this. We've needed a good laugh for ages. Good old Kelly and her mad dreams!
Rowan and Sophie have begun fighting.
SOPHIE (trying to aim a kick back at Rowan, who's hiding behind her Mum): She kicked me! She kicked me!
TOM: You know, I think we're getting back to normal!
*****
Katherine and her sweetheart hold each other close as a strong wind screams all around, tearing leaves from trees. Colours fade like diluting paint, merging into a red-yellow mess and then into nothingness. People move in slow motion until they stop altogether and become grey shapes as the land ices over. An invisible force pulls a now grey Katherine away from her sweetheart.
There is silence except for the desolate wind.
*****
Tom sits at his computer. The white screen is blank. He types a word or two, but deletes immediately, unhappy with his work. He begins pacing despairingly round the back room, pausing every now and again to gaze through the window at the back garden and twinkling night time stars. On his last journey the moon breaks free from a cloud and he's startled to see, for a second or two, the outline of a woman in a long grey dress, who's gazing upwards at the house. The clouds quickly obscure the moon again and when it next shines brightly the figure has vanished. Tom takes a half full bottle of whiskey out of a kitchen cupboard. Hand trembling, he pours himself a drink, which he downs in one go.