• They’re Just Dreams

    Character:

    Hayley:
    An odd character. Has a creepy sense of her. Speaks with a voice that is perfect for telling ghost stories. Crazy, but not laughing insanely and shaking crazy. The cool and calm kind of crazy.

    Doctor Peters:
    A friendly guy but has strong beliefs.

    Two extra nurses:
    Boys or girls.

    Patient Joe:
    Extremely Crazy

    Scene One
    Hayley and Dr. Peters

    At Rise:
    Hayley is sitting at a table looking straight with her hands on her lap. Peters enters the room slowly from behind Hayley looking at a folder. He sets the folder in front of Hayley, but across the table so she can’t get it, and pulls his jacket off. He sets a recorder in the table and pushes record. He sets it on the back to the chair and leans on the chair.


    Peters: Would you state your name and age for the recorder.
    Hayley: (Stares for a moment) Hayley Morrison, 19.
    (Peters continues opening the file)
    Peters: Please, Hayley, tell us why you’ve been placed here?
    Hayley: When I sleep, I see things.
    Peters: (Sits down in chair) What kind of things?
    Hayley: Terrible things.
    Peters: Hayley, can you please explain what these things are.
    (Hayley shakes her head.)
    Peters: (Sighs) Do you always see terrible things?
    Hayley: No. Some times the terrible things become something friendly and familiar.
    Peters: Can you tell me one of your dreams?
    Hayley: (sighs) The only one I can really remember is one about my mother.
    Peters: Can you tell me about it?
    Hayley: (Nods) I was sitting on the couch, just sitting there in the silence. Staring at the wall. Sitting still. Suddenly I seemed to notice the sound of the clock on the wall getting louder and louder. Each tick echoing through my head. (Ticking softly in the background) Then I heard a scream up stairs. It was my mother. I tried to get up to get to her but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t pull my legs off the couch. Then there was a scream again. And another until nothing. Just the ticking of the clock. Echoing through the silence. Pounding in my head. I tried to look at the stairs but couldn’t turn my head. I couldn’t. The ticking set in as I tried to listen for more sounds from my mother. The clock over powered my hearing. Then suddenly there were footsteps. Coming down the stairs. I tried once again to run, but sat still. I tried to scream, but my mouth was shut. Suddenly the footsteps stopped and the ticking continued. (Pauses and takes a shaky breath in) The footsteps suddenly continued, louder than before. They were coming to me. I heard them stop behind the couch. I started to breathe faster. I tried to turn around to see who ever it was but I was stuck. Then a hand reached to my face and placed a piece of tape over my nose. I started to scream a muffled scream. The footsteps disappeared and the room was filled with my muffled screams and the clock. Ticking away. Each tick seemed to get slower. (Closes eyes) Tick…Tick…Tick… (Gets slower) …tick…tick…tick (Long pause) …Tick. (Ticking in the back ground stops. Opens eyes and looks at Peters) When the ticking stops I’m standing over my mother’s body. The night I had that dream my mother died.
    Peters: How did she die?
    Hayley: (looks at the table and back to him) Heart attack.
    Peters: Are there any other dreams?
    Hayley: Yes, but they all seem the same. I’m sitting in a room unable to move and there is a scream of someone. Then there is a ticking. When the ticking stops, I’m looking at who ever has died. Then I wake up and someone dies.
    Peters: What do you think these dreams mean?
    Hayley: (Laughs) What I think about these dreams is the reason I’m in here.
    Peters: I don’t know what kind of doctors you had in the past, but I’m interested in knowing what you think.
    Hayley: (Is silent for a moment before replying) I think these dreams are Death’s way of telling me when people are going to die.
    Peters: Why is he telling you?
    Hayley: Maybe he likes me. Maybe because I don’t ask questions.
    Peters: And why do you think he kills you in your dream?
    Hayley: It’s Death, he’s very unpredictable.
    Peters: (nods in agreement) That is true. (Writes something down) Do you want to know what I think it is?
    (Hayley looks away and half shrugs)
    Peters: I think it just a case of trauma. You did have a rough past didn’t you?
    Hayley: You could call it that.
    Peters: Well, (looks at folder) it says your father was killed right in front of you by a terrible car accident-
    Hayley: Don’t call it that.
    Peters: Excuse me.
    Hayley: An accident implies there is no one to blame.
    Peters: Is there someone to blame?
    Hayley: Yes. There is someone to blame.
    Peters: (realizes she’s not going to tell him what it is continues) A terrible… (Searches for right word) collision. And your grandparents were both in the same room as you when they died.
    Hayley: I was 8. They died together. You know most couples only pray for that, but it came for them. Death liked them.
    Peters: Its things like that prove my pointed. Clearly the death of your family members hasn’t shown a physical effect on you, so it releases the fear and depression in your dreams.
    Hayley: Doctor, at times I believe they made the right decision putting me in here, but I know for a fact my dreams are not a form of trauma caused by a natural cause not matter how unnatural it comes. I’ve had people like you telling me the same things for several years and no matter how many years of college you went through I know what my dreams are. And they are not a form of trauma.
    Peters: (taps his fingers impatiently on the table.) Fine, Hayley, I’ll humor you. If you’re dreams are Death telling you when people are going to die, then what happens when it’s your time?
    Hayley: (is silent for a moment in thought) I don’t know. Maybe I’ll be the one screaming and I’ll wake up dead. I don’t know. That’s up to Death.
    Peters: Face it, Hayley. They’re nothing more than dreams.
    Hayley: I know what they are and I have nothing more to say on the matter. (Turns the recorder off) I would like to leave.
    Peters: (Stares for a moment then closed his folder harshly and stands.) We will continue this conversation. Good night, Hayley. (Walks out of the room.)
    Hayley: (Still sitting. Looks over her shoulder as he walks out then turns back to face forward. She hugs herself softly.) They’re not just dreams.
    (Lights go out and curtains close to set up for the next scene)


    Scene Two
    Still think they’re just dreams?


    At Rise:
    Far up right corner Hayley is laying in bed asleep. Tossing and turning. Far down left Dr. Peters is standing eating a bagel or something reading a report. They are in two different rooms. There is a faint ticking that slowly gets louder. Peters starts to choke on his food and tries to beat it out of himself. The ticks get louder and two nurses show up to help Peters. By the last loud tick Peters falls to the ground hardly breathing and Hayley sits up sharply out of her bed. She runs from her room and finds Peters with the Nurses. She stands back and watches for a moment.

    Nurse 1: Someone help!!
    Nurse 2: Quick, Suzie, ( Or Sam) call for help.
    (Nurse 1 leaves and Nurse 2 goes to get Hayley back into her room)
    (Peters looks at her faintly muttering something. Hayley breaks loose and runs to him.)
    Peters: Tick! Tick! ( He gasps)
    Hayley: (smiles) Still think they’re just dreams?
    (Nurse 2 pulls Hayley away and goes back to Peters. Peters falls limp and the curtains close.)

    Scene Three
    Or is it just the ticking?



    At Rise:
    Hayley is sitting in her room next to a speaker box listening.


    Speaker: Good morning. Today is December 9th and it is a beautiful Saturday morning. Today we remember our beloved Charles Edward Peters. Over the night he made his way to God. We all will miss, Charles, and pray that his family will find their way.
    (The speaker goes off and Hayley sits quietly)
    (Then the Speaker comes back on.)
    Speaker: Today’s lunch will be Hamburgers and Macaroni. Our special desert is Ooey Gooey cake. It’s Ooey and it Gooooooooooey!
    (Speaker shuts off.)
    Hayley: (sighs) I hate Ooey Gooey Cake.
    (She stands from her chair and walks down right thinking to herself.) Well, I hope you’re happy Hayley, you proved your point. (Sighs) I never wanted this to happen. He shouldn’t have said that, but I didn’t want him to die. But I guess it’s a little late to have second thoughts. It’s not like I did it though. Maybe he should slow down when he eats. What was that he said before he died? Tick? Tick? Maybe he heard the ticking. No, he couldn’t have. Or could he. You know I never talked to any of the people before they died. Maybe they all heard ticking. Maybe that’s how you know its coming. The ticking warns you. The ticking of a clock warns you that your time is coming to an end. It would fit. I wonder if they dream too, or if it’s just the ticking.
    (The two nurses and another patient burst into Hayley’s room. The patient first followed by the nurse. The Patient, Joe, is holding a knife and yelling at the nurses. Hayley stands near the wall at the back.)
    Nurse 1: Give us the knife, Joe.
    Joe: No! I don’t want to sleep!!
    Nurse 2: No one is going to make you sleep, just give us the knife. We don’t want anyone to get hurt.
    Joe: You promise!?
    (Hayley tries to sneak past him slowly.)
    Nurse 2: (turns to other nurse) Do you have the shot?
    (Nurse 1 nods.)
    Joe: (Starts to calm down.) You promise not to make me sleep?
    Nurse 2: Yes, Joe. We promise. Just give us the knife.
    (Nurse 1 pulls the needle out of pocket and places it behind her back. But Joe sees it.)
    Joe: You lair! (Yells and points to Nurse 1) You lied to me! (Grabs Hayley. Hayley screams and Joe puts the knife to her neck.)
    Nurse 2: Put the needle down! (He yells to the other nurse. Who slowly places it on the ground.) Okay, we put the needle down, just let Hayley go. Please, Joe.
    (Joe starts to sob and loosens his grip. Hayley hits him in the stomach with her elbow and he fall to the ground. Hayley backs away. The nurses spring towards him trying to give him the shot. Joe is yelling. He stands back and pushes the nurses away. There is a faint ticking in the background. He goes to run, but runs into Hayley stabbing her in the gut. They both pause. The nurses grab Joe as he lets go of the knife in Hayley’s stomach. They drag him out of the room and Hayley falls slowly onto a chair holding the knife. The ticking gets louder and slower. Until finally it stops and Hayley drops the knife. Nurse 1 comes back in and rushes to Hayley.)
    Nurse 1: I need help in here! We’re got an injured patient.
    (The curtains close and lights go out.)
    -BW