FIVE

Written by

Natalie Walsh
A black screen.
The sound of a light switch being flicked on and off five
times.

ALICE (V.O)
(Whispered)
One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
This repeats five times.

PAUSE
TITLE: FIVE
F

INT. ALICES BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING

(P.O.V) ALICEs eyes focus on the dust that floats around
the room above her. Sunlight creeps through a gap in the
curtains making the dust visible to the naked eye.

An alarm clock starts to ring, reading 7:30am. ALICEs

hand slaps down on top of the clock to switch it off.
She lies in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

The bedroom is tidy, organized and doesnt have much

personality. White walls, grey curtains, a single bed,
bedside table holding a lamp, watch and alarm clock, a
wardrobe, a chest of drawers and a desk on top of which
sits a closed laptop and a brown leather journal.

ALICE sits up in bed. Her dark hair is pulled back in a

pony tail, she is wearing a plain blue pajama top and
shorts. She looks around the room and sighs. She stands,
slips her feet into her slippers and picks up the watch
from the bedside table. She puts it on while she walks
over to the window. She opens the curtains with both hands
and sunlight streams into the room. She squints and turns
away.
INT. UPSTAIRS LANDING

ALICEs bedroom door opens and she walks out, closes it

behind her and walks down the corridor towards the
bathroom.
ALICE (V.O)
One, Two, Three, Four,
Five One,Two, Three, Four, Five.
 2.

INT. BATHROOM
ALICE walks towards the sink.
ALICE (V.O CONTD)
One, Two, Three, Four, Five
She looks at her reflection in the mirror and frowns.
ALICE
(Whispered)
One, Two, Three, Four, Five
One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
She taps her left index finger against the side of the
sink five times, pauses and then repeats.

She grabs her toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste from a

glass on a shelf above the sink. She starts to brush her
teeth.
A rhythm as she brushes. Five brushes to the left, five to
the right, five in the middle. She spits into the sink and
repeats the actions again. She bends down, fills her hand
with water from the tap and tips it into her mouth.
She rises and looks at her reflection again, takes her
hairband out and combs her fingers through her hair. She
smiles at the mirror and tucks her hair behind her ear.
She stops smiling, sighs, rolls her eyes and walks out.
INT. KITCHEN
ALICE walks into the kitchen, a large, open room with
appliances along one wall and a big window opposite. There
is a small table in the center of the room with three
chairs around it. On the table sits a bowl of cereal, a
spoon and a glass of juice. There is a pile of letters
addressed to ALICE on the kitchen counter.

ALICEs mother JULIE DUGGAN (45) walks in. She is dressed

in a shirt and blazer, her hair is tidy and her make up is
pristine. She smiles at ALICE and walks over to kiss her
on the cheek.

JULIE
Morning Darling. How did you
sleep?
ALICE picks up the pile of letters and brings them over to
the table where she sits and starts to eat the cereal.

ALICE
(Mouthful)
Fine.
JULIE frowns at her disapprovingly and walks to the
fridge.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 3.

JULIE
Right. Okay well Ive got a
meeting this morning and then
appointments until four thirty so
Ill be back around five, maybe
just after.
She takes a box of salad from the open fridge and motions
to the food inside.

JULIE
Theres plenty in here so youll
be fine to sort your own lunch
right?
ALICE turns away from her mother and rolls her eyes as she
eats another spoonful of cereal.
ALICE
(Mutters)
Yeah, Mum Im not an invalid.

JULIE takes a deep breath and puts the salad in her bag
before grabbing her keys from the counter.
JULIE
Alright well dont forget your
appointment with Doctor Fry at
two.
She walks over to ALICE and puts her hand on her shoulder.
ALICE
Yeah, yeah. I know Mum.
She looks up at her mother and forces a smile. JULIE
smiles back and walks towards the door.
JULIE
Okay love, see you later.
She leaves the room and ALICE rolls her eyes again.
ALICE
(Calls)
Bye.
JULIE
(Calls)
Oh Alice!

JULIE re-enters the kitchen holding a small bottle off

pills. ALICE turns in her chair and JULIE shakes the
bottle and looks at her pointedly before placing it on the
counter.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 4.

JULIE
Dont forget.
ALICE
Yep. Fine. I know. Bye Mum.
She turns away and scowls to herself.
JULIE
Okay darling, bye.

She exits the room and her footsteps get quieter.

The front door slams shut and ALICEs eyes land on the
pile of letters in front of her. She stops chewing and
swallows. She taps her fingernail on her spoon five times
and then drops it into the bowl. She grabs the top
envelope and turns it over. She rips it open and pulls out
the letter.
ALICE
(Whisper)
Dear Miss Duggan, We are pleased
to inform you that your
application to study Art History
with us has been accep...

She trails off and looks up, shocked. Then back down at
the page.
ALICE(CONTD)
Accepted.

Her eyes scan over the letter again. She bites her lip and
places it on the table. She reaches for the next envelope
and opens it slowly.
ALICE
(Whisper)
Dear Miss Duggan, Thank you for
your application. I am pleased to
offer you a place...
She trails off again and furrows
her eyebrows. She puts the letter
down and reaches for the next.
And then the next. And the next
after that. She stares at the
pile of opened letters.

ALICE
(Quietly)
Fuck.
She taps her fingernails on the table five times and sits
back in her chair.
 5.

She pauses for a moment and then grins. She laughs loudly
and stands up, grabbing the letters and running out of the
room, leaving her half eaten breakfast on the table.

INT. DOWNSTAIRS LANDING

ALICE rushes towards the door, passing various photographs
of herself and her mother throughout her childhood hung on
the walls, grabs a navy coat from a hook and flings off
her slippers, shoving her feet into a pair of grubby
wellington boots. She grabs a key from a bowl by the door
and rushes out of the house, ignoring the fact she is
still wearing her pajamas.
EXT. JESSS FRONT PORCH - MORNING

ALICE looks down the street of terraced houses, at the

parents ushering their uniform clad children into cars and
people walking their dogs in the morning sunshine. She
looked down at the letters in her hand, grins again and
starts to run down the street.

She dodges people on the pavement as she sprints down the

street, almost slamming into a woman coming from the
opposite direction.
ALICE
Oh Im so sorry! Excuse me!
She takes off running again still smiling and crosses the
street before running up the path to a house almost
identical to her own. She pounds her fist on the door five
times and waits, breathing heavily.

ALICE
(Whisper)
One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
One, Two, Three, Four, Five.

ALICEs breathing is starting to slow.

ALICE (CONTD)
(Whisper)
One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
One, Two, Three, Four...
The door opens and JESS PARKER (18) smiles at ALICE.
ALICE lurches forwards and waves the letters in front of
JESSs face.

ALICE
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,
oh my god, oh my god, look Jess,
look!

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 6.

JESS takes the letters from ALICE, slightly startled at

her outburst. She starts to read the first letter and
shrieks.
JESS
(Shouts)
Holy shit! Alice! Oh my god!
She reads the other letters with wide eyes. She looks up
at ALICE who is grinning at her. Both girls are quiet for
a moment and then both start to simultaneously scream.
They grab hold of one another and hug hysterically for
several seconds.
JESS pulls back from ALICE but keeps hold of her arms, the
letters now somewhat crumpled in her hand.

JESS
Babe! Oh my god congratulations!
Youre a fucking genius.
ALICE laughs and JESS pulls her towards the house.

JESS
Stay for a cuppa? We have to
celebrate! If Mum hadnt found my
stash Id offer you something
stronger.

JESS rolls her eyes. ALICE raises her eyebrows and laughs.
ALICE
Teas fine with me you alcoholic.

JESS grins and both girls walk into the house and JESS
closes the door behind them.
INT. JESSS KITCHEN
The kitchen is modern and attractive but clearly lived in.
The sink is filled with dirty breakfast bowls and boxes of
cereal have been left on the large dining table.
JESS
Right so Mums gone all fancy and
all we have is Earl Grey.

JESS wrinkles her nose and rolls her eyes at ALICE who
laughs.
ALICE
Trust your Mum, for fucks sake.
Dont worry itll be fine.
JESS laughs and fills the kettle at the sink. ALICE walks
over to a cupboard and takes out two mugs. She knows her
way around this house as well as she does her own. She
goes to the fridge and takes out the milk.
 7.

INT. LIVING ROOM - MID MORNING

ALICE and JESS are sitting on a sofa each holding a mug.
There is a plate of biscuits between them.

JESS
Wait, Im confused, your Mum has
no idea youve applied anywhere?
How did she not find out? And why
didnt you tell her in the first
place?
ALICE sips her tea and grimaces at JESS.
ALICE
Oh, well you know what my Mums
like. Shed happily keep me
locked up in that house for the
rest of my life. Any time I tried
to talk to her about uni she just
changed the subject or suddenly
had to rush off to work.

JESS
Oh god Al. What are you going to
say? Hey Mum how was your day?
What do you fancy for supper, oh
and I got accepted to...
JESS is quiet for a moment as she counts the letters next
to her on the sofa.
JESS (CONTD)
Five unis today.
She pauses for a second and then snorts.
JESS
(Laughing)
Oh my god. Five.
ALICE glances at her friend and starts to laugh
hysterically.
ALICE
(Laughing)
Bloody hell, I know right! The
fucking irony. My life is one big
cosmic joke.
She rolls her eyes and both girls laugh until JESS starts
to splutter into her mug. She takes a deep breath and
grins at ALICE.
JESS
Seriously though, what about your
Mum?

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 8.

ALICE bites her lip looking concerned.

ALICE
God, I dont know. She treats me
like a child. I get that she
worries about stuff but Christ!
Im almost twenty!
JESS
I get it Al, I do, but...

She pauses and looks down into her lap, then back up at
ALICE.
JESS (CONTD)
Well, uh...

She nods down at ALICEs hand which is tapping violently

on her knee in groups of five taps repeatedly.
ALICE follows JESSs gaze down. She looks back at JESS
sharply with a cold expression.

ALICE
(Snaps)
Thats got nothing to do with it.

JESS looks down at her hands, embarrassed.

JESS
(Quietly)
Im sorry, thats not what I
meant. I mean it was but... it
wasnt-
ALICE interrupts.
ALICE
Well which is it?

JESS
Huh?
ALICE
(Angry)
Did you or didnt you mean that
im too fucked up to handle going
to uni or having a life at all?
JESS looks panicked and moves closer to ALICE on the sofa.

JESS
No! Of course thats not what I
was saying! You know it wasnt! I
just meant that your Mum has her
reasons for worrying.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 9.

ALICE takes a deep breath and brings her legs up towards

her chest and hugs her knees. She looks at JESS and chews
her lip.

ALICE
Shit. Im sorry. Overreaction of
the century.
She laughs and JESS smiles at her timidly.

JESS
No. I get it but, um... dont
bite my head off but it seems
pretty bad today. Did you take
your pills?

ALICE rolls her eyes and picks up a biscuit from the plate
next to her.
ALICE
You dont half sound like my
Mother.
She pauses and takes a bite of the biscuit in her hand.
ALICE (CONTD)
(Mouthful)
Dont worry Jess, ive got it all
under control, honestly.
JESS seems to relax a little, she smiles.
JESS
Okay then, if you say so.
She grins at ALICE and quickly leans forward to grab the
half eaten biscuit out of her hand which she shoves into
her own mouth.

JESS
(Mouthful)
Mine.
ALICE narrows her eyes and shoves JESS hard enough to push
her onto the floor. Both girls laugh loudly.

JESS catches sight of the clock on the wall and suddenly

jumps up in a rush.
JESS
Oh crap! Im late, How do I look?
Im going out with that guy from
the pizza place after school.
JESS smoothes her hair and fiddles wth her skirt. ALICE
winks at her.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 10.

ALICE
You look amazing and you know it.
JESS grins and the two girls move towards the living room
door.
EXT. JESSS FRONT PORCH
The front door opens and the two girls emerge from the
house. JESS is carrying a backpack and is applying
lipstick as ALICE reaches to pull the door shut behind
them.
They walk alongside one another back up the street towards
ALICEs house. As they approach her front porch they hug
before JESS continues up the road to school, waving to
ALICE who waves back and pulls out her keys from her coat
pocket before heading inside.
INT. DOWNSTAIRS LANDING
ALICE heads upstairs and walks into her bedroom. She makes
her bed and then moves over to the window and opens it.
She looks out over her small garden to the street behind
it. Her breathing is loud.
Her fingernails drum on the windowsill in a rhythm of five
beats, over and over.
ALICE
(Whispered)
One, two, three, four, five
one, two, three, four, five
one, two thr-
ALICE shudders and moves away from the window. She shakes
her hands violently and takes a deep breath before heading
for the door.

INT. BATHROOM
ALICE is stood in the shower, rinsing shampoo out of her
hair. She closes her eyes and puts her face under the
running water.

She turns the shower off and steps out with a towel around
her. She wraps another around her head and picks up a
bottle of moisturiser which she starts applying to her
arms, facing the mirror as she does so.
The shower is making a slight dripping noise and this
catches ALICEs attention. She stares at the shower head
behind her in the mirror and her fingers start to twitch.
Each drip is in slow motion as it falls and she counts in
her head.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 11.

ALICE (V.O)
(Whispered)
One, two, three, four, five.

She catches sight of herself the mirror and stares at her

reflection. She suddenly whips around and adjusts the
shower tap so the dripping stops. She then looks back at
her reflection for a moment before walking out of the
room.

INT. KITCHEN - MIDDAY

ALICE enters the kitchen wearing a pair of blue jeans and
a grey jumper. Her hair is damp and has left a wet patch
on her back. She is carrying the leather journal which was
on her desk. She sits at the kitchen table and opens it to
reveal that it is full off sketches. Many drawings of a
pair of hands as well as a couple of her mother and JESS.
She starts to draw but is soon distracted by the bottle of
pills JULIE had left on the counter for her.

ALICE looks back at her sketches quickly but is distracted

once again by the little bottle. She scowls and walks over
to pick it up.
She hesitates and then takes two tablets. She takes a deep
breath and leaves the bottle on the counter.

EXT. STREET
ALICE walks down a busy street. She turns off and heads
for a side street. She approaches a building with a sign
outside which reads ASHGROVE MEDICAL UNIT - MENTAL HEALTH
CENTRE. ALICE walks through the door.
INT. DR. FRYS
ALICE sits with her ams crossed on a small sofa in a
private consultation room. There are several windows and a
number of paintings on the walls.
DR FRY
(O.S)
Have you been doing the
visualisations we talked about
last time?
ALICE yawns and glances out of the window to her left.
DR FRY
(O.S)
Alice?
ALICE lulls her head back and sighs.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 12.

DR FRY
(O.S)
Is there anything in particular
youd like to discuss for the
remainder of our session?
The room is silent for a while. ALICE crosses her legs
looking bored. She looks up, chews her lip and after a
moment, reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out the wad
of letters which she drops on the table in front of her.
She sits back looks at her hands in her lap.
DR FRYs hand reaches out and she picks up the letters
from the table.
(O.S) She rustles them as she reads.

DR FRY is sat opposite ALICE on an identical sofa. She is

wearing black trousers, a white shirt and a blazer. Her
hair is dark and short.
She looks up from the letters in her lap and smiles at
ALICE.
DR FRY
Alice! This is brilliant! You
never mentioned that youd
applied anywhere!
Congratulations!
ALICE looks surprised.
ALICE (V.O)
I thought youd say I couldnt
go.
DR FRY frowns.
DR FRY
(Shocked)
Why on earth would I say that?
ALICE shrugs.
ALICE
Because im... You know. Weird.
DR FRY stands up and walks over to ALICE. She crouches
down so they are at eye level with one another.
DR FRY
Listen to me Alice. This is what
is going to happen. Youre going
to choose one of these
universities. Youre going to
move away, youre going to start
again somewhere new. Ill set up

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 13.

DR FRY
a transfer so that you have a
local clinic you can go to any
time you need to talk to someone.
Ill give you my phone number so
you can contact me whenever you
need to. Your Mum will ring you
daily I imagine.
ALICE frowns.

DR FRY (CONTD)
What did she say when you told
her?
ALICE
(Mumbles)
Nothing
DR FRY looks confused, then her face softens and she sits
on the sofa next to ALICE.

DR FRY
You didnt tell her.
ALICE
No.

DR FRY
Why not Alice? Shell be
thrilled.
ALICE laughs and shakes her head.

ALICE
Doubtful. She barely lets me out
of her sight.
DR FRY
(Quietly)
Alice. Tell her. She might
surprise you.
Alice looks at DR FRY and smiles.

INT. KITCHEN - LATE AFTERNOON

ALICE walks into the kitchen and sits down at the table
still wearing her coat. The clock reads 4:30pm.
The sound of a key turning in the lock and the front door
opening.
JULIE
(Calls)
Alice. Im Home. My last few
appointments were cancelled.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 14.

ALICE ALICE takes a deep breath and pulls the letters out
of her pocket. She places them on the table and looks up
at the kitchen door.

JULIES footsteps are getting louder as she approaches the

kitchen. The door opens.
Black screen.
ALICE
Hi Mum.
FADE OUT