Embedded Files
Middle aged Doris Schwartz had somehow found herself back in the 80s at the school of the arts, where her teenage self had been a student. Interacting with her old friends and the school’s faculty had disrupted the time line and when Doris tried to save her friend Nicole Chapman dying in a car accident it had dire consequences, resulting in Danny Amatullo being killed instead. All this disruption had meant that differing time lines had merged into one and her friends from 6 different years had all met up together at a hospital. All now stood watching Doris awaiting some kind of explanation from her...
Doris struggles for air and begins to feel faint as she watches a mysterious hooded figure trying to suffocate another Doris Schwartz, who lies unconscious in a hospital bed. Doris sees a bright light coming from the other end of the corridor as it gets closer to her she sees her mother looking like an Angel approaching. She passes Doris without acknowledgement and then enters the hospital room. At that moment the door to hospital room 421 is suddenly slammed shut by Greg Crandall, who had been watching the terrible events unfold.
The door slamming breaks the hold on Doris and she is finally able to breathe again. She gulps in as much air as possible filling her oxygen starved lungs. She is visibly shaken by her ordeal, not understanding what was happening in the room and who or what was trying to kill her other self and why it was affecting her. She reaches for the door handle and is shocked to find it is red hot to her touch. She quickly pulls her hand away but the burning sensation can still be felt in her hand. Doris is even more confused as to what is happening. She pulls the sleeve of her clothing down over her hand, to protect it and tries turning the door handle again but to her frustration, the door won’t open. She bangs on the door but it doesn’t help.
Doris: “Let me in, Let me in! What the hell is happening in there?”
Feeling exhausted Doris slumps to the floor and leans against the hospital wall. She takes a moment to rest and regain her composure, her hand still tingling from the heat of the handle. As she turns and looks up she sees the faces of Lydia, Leroy, Nicole, Danny, Holly, Coco, Bruno and her teenage self all looking back at her. She looks from face to face expecting one of them to say something to her but instead there is silence.
As Doris looks closer she can see that none of them are moving and it’s as though they are all frozen in time. Doris looks up and down the corridor and can see the other people are also not moving. She walks over to the group and waves her hand in front of Lydia’s face but there is no reaction. Doris is puzzled and walks back up the corridor but stops when she hears a strange noise. She turns round to see a weird light creating a silhouette around Coco. Doris watches as Coco disappears then she sees the same strange light surrounding her own hand, which then begins to move across her whole body. Suddenly there is a flash of light and Doris finds herself back in the lobby at the School of the Arts!
The corridor is dark and Doris slips into the teachers lounge so as not to be seen. She holds the door slightly ajar so that she can see out. She sees Coco standing at her locker in the corridor while Morloch, Miss Grant and a number of other teachers exit from the school office.
Lydia “Goodnight Mr Morloch.”
Morloch: “Oh Miss Grant?, that er.. Break dance competition? How’d that finally turn out?”
Lydia: “Oh I’m sure it was fine... If they’d had any problems, we would have heard about it by now”.
Morloch: “Yeah, I’m sure... Well Goodnight.”
Lydia turns to leave not noticing Doris watching her: “Goodnight!”
Morloch locks the office door and places the keys into his pocket but then hears a noise coming from the corridor behind him. He slowly walks to get a closer look.
Morloch calls out questioningly: “Hernandez?”
Morloch walks further down the corridor to where Coco is emptying her locker.
Morloch: “How’d you get in here?”
Coco replies a little hesitantly: “Erm, Mr Koenig let me in; he’s one of the janitors.”
Morloch is puzzled: “Yeah, I know who he is but why’d he let you in at this hour?”
Coco pauses for a moment before answering: “So I could get my stuff!... I gotta go on a trip.... Excuse me.”
Coco closes the locker door and moves past Morloch who watches her hurry towards the exit.
Morloch calls after her: “Hernandez? Where’s this trip taking you?”
Coco turns to look back at him a sense of excitement, fear but total self belief swells inside of her.
Coco: “To the Stars, man...”
She pauses for a moment then a smile breaks out over her face as she throws her hand up into the air and clicks her fingers to make her point even more confidently.
Coco: “To The STARS!”
Morloch watches as Coco then turns and continues towards the exit. She pauses for a moment thinking she'd seen something in the teachers’ lounge. For a moment Doris thinks she’s been seen but Coco dismisses it and quickly heads down the steps and out of the building. Doris breaths a sigh of relief but at that moment the light appears around Doris’ body and she suddenly finds herself back in the hospital corridor.
Doris feels a little shaky after the experince and as she looks at her friends in the corridor she notices that Coco is no longer there. Instead there is just an empty space where she had previously stood. Feeling even more puzzled Doris walks closer to the group but doesn’t get very far before she notices the strange light start to engulf Bruno. As he disappears the light starts to surround her body too.
Doris: “Oh, No not again!”
Again Doris finds herself back at the school and again it’s dark. This time she is sat in the back row of the auditorium. As her eyes adjust to the light the door opens and a solitary figure stands looking into the room. For a moment there is a long silence until the figure turns to open the door to leave but is stopped by a voice from the darkness.
“Mr Martelli?”
Bruno stops and turns to see Sherwood standing behind him. As she walks closer she smiles sweetly.
Sherwood: “May I show you to your seat?”
The lights in the auditorium comes on and Doris notices Shorofsky sat further down in the stalls, while on stage is Lydia and a bunch of the kids. Doris wonders if anyone has noticed her but no one seems to.
Bruno is a little hesitant and surprised as he slowly approaches Sherwood.
Bruno: “I didn’t even know myself I was going to stop by the auditorium... How did you know?”
Sherwood: “We know you better than you know you.”
Sherwood encourages Bruno to take a seat next to Mr Shorofsky. As he seats down Shorofsky smiles and pats Bruno's hand.
Doris watches as the music starts and the kids perform a song to mark Bruno leaving the school.
“Here's a simple 'I love you', before you go your way,
And where you go, my heart will follow.
It's too darn hard to say goodbye, especially to you,
But we've gotta try to make it through.
Keeping up with you was close to madness,
Though it was gladness.
There can be no joy without the sadness,
Whoa oh...
What would I ever do without you?
You're one of a kind.
What would I ever do without your
Music and your rhyme?
What would we ever do without you?
I'm telling you one more time (what would we do?)
What would we ever do without your love?
Some times I feel like screaming out, can life be so unfair?
There you go and we can't follow.
Through the years and down the road, wherever you may go,
You're a part of me and you should know.
You should know that keeping up with you was close to madness,
Though it was gladness.
There can be no joy without the sadness.
Whoa oh..
What would I ever do without you?
You're one of a kind.
What would I ever do without your
Music and your rhyme?
What would we ever do without you?
I'm telling you one more time (what would we do?)
What would we ever do without your love?
What would I ever do without you?
You're one of a kind.
What would I ever do without your
Music and your rhyme?
What would we ever do without you?
I'm telling you one more time (what would we do?)
What would we ever do without your love?
What would we do?
What would we do?
What would we do?
What would we ever do without your love?”
After the music stops there is a moments silence until Bruno stands up, pulling his bag onto his shoulder he starts to clap his hands.
Bruno: “Bravo! Bravo for just now and all things before.”
As he turns to leave Lydia calls out after him.
Lydia: “Hey Bruno, wait honey, wait, we’re not finished yet. Bring your bones up on this stage!”
Coco adds her encouragement: “Come on!”
Bruno: “Wait, wait a minute...I.. Know there’s probably punch and cookies and somethin’ nice planned but I..I...I can’t deal with that right now... I’ll see you around.”
Teenage Doris yells angrily after him: “Dammit Martelli, you’re leaving the school you’re not walking out of our lives!”
Bruno: “Look! You know I love you and you know I’m gonna miss you... and this school.....(he pauses).. What the hell else is there to say?!”
Doris watches as she feels Bruno’s emotion. At the door he gives her a confused look but he can’t stop as he angrily opens the door and leaves.
Doris’ attention it brought back to the auditorium as she hears Shorofsky calling after him.
Shorofsky: “Martelli!”
At the moment Doris can feel the strange sensation she gets just as the light starts to surround her body and she finds herself back in the hospital corridor. This time both Coco and Bruno are missing from the group and Doris feels totally confused as to what is happening and why people keep disappearing. She realises she is witnessing their final moments at the school but she doen't know why. The jumping backwards and forwards is also making her feel quite dizzy.
There’s no time to catch a moments rest as she notices the light surrounding Lydia and Leroy. As they disappear the light moves back across Doris’ body and she signs deeply.
This time Doris finds herself in the busy street outside the School. It’s night time and it takes a moment or two for Doris to adjust to where she is. People are moving frantically around her and a flashing light from an ambulance is bathing the whole area in red glow.
Doris is startled by a hysterical scream coming from across the street. She turns to look and sees Sherwood holding Lydia in her arms. They are both look a lot older and Lydia is crying uncontrollably, while Sherwood who also looks upset is trying to comfort her friend.
Lydia: “No..No...This can’t be happening...”
Paramedics then come out of the school carrying a trolley with someone lying on it. Doris thinks the person must be dead because the body is fully covered by a black body bag. As the paramedics load the trolley into the ambulance Lydia begins to cry louder.
Lydia: “Oh God No! ....How can this be?.... Elizabeth, he has so much to live for, so much more to achieve... He’s always been my star pupil; there’s never been anyone who has had more natural talent...”
As the paramedics close the ambulance doors Lydia screams at the top of her voice.
Lydia: “L E R O Y !”
To be continued......
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