Final Talk (2019)

Final Talk

by Sophia Lauther

Hampton Bays High School

Click here to watch Final Talk

Scene opens with a girl’s bedroom, includes a bed, a tall mirror, a dresser close to the mirror, and a rack of clothes

MUSIC CUE: THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
LIGHT CUE: LIGHTS UP
SLIDE: SLIDE #1 – GIRL’S BEDROOM

[GIRL sitting on her bed legs crossed, looks down at her phone]

GIRL: I don’t deserve this.

(REFLECTION then appears above her.)

REFLECTION: He did not answer you. He did not answer you because he found someone else. Someone better.

[GIRL puts phone down, and pulls out books and paper from her school bag. She turns to lie on her stomach, and REFLECTION walks over to the other side of bed to face her, and talks while walking. ]

REFLECTION: You’re going to do homework now?? Why, because you think you can have a future? You think you can be something? That’s so pathetic, you might as well be brain-dead, because you will never be smart enough.

[GIRL puts her books back in her bag, and walks over to her clothes rack while talking. Reflection follows slowly behind.]

GIRL: I should go to the movies with everyone.

[GIRL takes out an outfit with short sleeves and admires it on the hanger, with a smile. Reflection talks behind girl at least three feet away, also looking at the outfit]

REFLECTION: You want to go out and wear that? Everyone will see your scars, they will think you want attention. They will leave you, they already are tired of you.

[GIRL drops outfit on the floor and takes out a crop top with long sleeves, and smiles.]

[REFLECTION walks closer, and talks again, while girl is facing outfit.]

REFLECTION: You want to wear that? You’re not slim enough. Everyone will see how fat you are, how ugly. No one will ever want to be with you, they just feel bad for you.

[GIRL drops outfit again. She takes another one out, an old sweatshirt. REFLECTION walks closer.]

REFLECTION: You wear that and you will not fit in with anyone. You will be the outcast, the girl who does not know fashion. Can’t you put in any effort in your appearance? This is why you will never be anyone’s first choice.

[GIRL drops sweatshirt on the floor, and walks towards her bed, putting her face in her pillow. REFLECTION follows her at a slower pace, and bends down to whisper in her ear.]

REFLECTION: You’re ugly and worthless, you’re so weak. No wonder no one wants you. Look at you, just breaking.

[GIRL takes her head out of her pillow, and sits up, grasping her hair as if to pull it out.}

GIRL: Get out of my head!

REFLECTION: That is you’re fault, not mine. I am just trying to help you.

GIRL: What do you want me to do? I am so faded, how much more should I stick my finger down my throat until I gag? How much more should I brush my teeth until I bleed? [scream in pain] How much more do you want me to live in this body, in this body that is my cage!

[GIRL goes into child position, holding her head in pain. REFLECTION crouches down to whisper in her ear.}

REFLECTION: I want you to stop being you.

[GIRL lets go of her head, and sits up, talks to nothing.]

GIRL: You cause my tears that bring oceans, and I am drowning inside of them. And your thoughts only lead me to a choir of the devil’s whispers. You’re a demon that lives inside my mind, and you’re killing me!

REFLECTION: What did I ever do? It is not my fault you’re like this. Did you become like this along the way? Or were you just born this screwed up?

[GIRL speaks angrily and stands up in front of the bed talking to audience]

GIRL: What did you ever do?

REFLECTION: What did I do? I protected you. I am the one who was there when no one else was. I am the one who never left.

GIRL: You are the reason for why I cannot drain my pain away with a razor blade. I can no longer breathe, I can no longer breathe and I blame you.

[REFLECTION is next to GIRL talking to her, even though she is facing audience]

REFLECTION: I am not the reason your lungs have crumbled, if anything you should be grateful for me, you would be nothing without me.

[GIRL walks right past REFLECTION, still in front of the bed, walking to stage right while talking, and REFLECTION follows slowly behind.]

GIRL: Grateful for you? I don’t even want to be you. [stops to Scream and uses hands as if to strangle the air] Just leave me alone!

REFLECTION: If it was not for me, everyone would know you’re a whore. If it was not for me, everyone would know that all you are is trash. If it was not for me, everyone would know who you are.

GIRL: And why is that a bad thing?

REFLECTION: Because, you are disgusting. You are ugly. You are nothing but a waste of space. Why are you even still here? No one wants you.

GIRL: No you’re lying. You’re lying, it isn’t true, it isn’t true.

REFLECTION: Oh, but it is. They all left you, but not me. Not me, because I am the one who cares. I am all you have left. No one else cares about you. No one else loves you.

[GIRL paces back stage left, and talks while walking, REFLECTION watches her]

GIRL: I blame you, I blame you for my pain. I blame you, for the scars. I blame you, for the screams that no one ever hears, and I blame you, for the thoughts that make me want to drown. [Paces SR while talking.] I blame you, for I have to be trapped in this worthless body of ours, and you won’t let me escape. You won’t let me just leave.

[REFLECTION puts her fingers to GIRL’s lips to hush her]

REFLECTION: Shhhh…

GIRL: You won’t let me…

[REFLECTION walks over to girl, and loudly whispers in her ear.]

REFLECTION: Tick tock tick tock. Careful little girl, you’re going to crack.

GIRL: [mumbles angrily] Get out of my head.

[GIRL starts to walk across the room, and stops at her mirror. REFLECTION comes close behind her again. Talks louder into her ear]

REFLECTION: Tick Tock Tick Tock Little girl, you’re about to lose this war.

[GIRL talks into mirror with no reflection, her voice rises]

GIRL: Get out of my head!

REFLECTION: [in GIRL’s ear] Tick Tock Tick Tock Little Girl!

[GIRL interrupts her voice rising as she repeats herself and closes her eyes, while REFLECTION is shouting]

GIRL: Get Out Get Out Get out.

[REFLECTION walks around GIRL, and into the frame of the mirror, on the opposite side of GIRL.]

REFLECTION:You will never escape me.

GIRL: [still repeating herself, starting to scream] Get out get out get out of my head.

REFLECTION: Shut up little girl. You already lost a long time ago.

[GIRL Opens eyes, and stares at REFLECTION, talks in a quiet voice, with no hope.]

GIRL: Just let me die…

REFLECTION: Why should I? Look how selfish you are…wanting to leave. No, you deserve to suffer, you’re useless, you’re never going to be anything. Look at you, you’re a waste of space. No wonder everyone left. You’re never going to be enough.

[GIRL goes to ____ to grab a dagger (confidently), and starts walking back to mirror while talking]

GIRL: I am finally going to be okay. I am so tired, and I am so sorry. I will not carry you any longer, in this body that we made a carving canvas.

[REFLECTION shouts to be heard]

REFLECTION: You’re not going to be okay, don’t you get it? You can’t get rid of me. I will always be here. You’re never going to be okay because I am you.

GIRL: I am cutting this rope you had tied around my throat. I am going to be free.

REFLECTION: There is no cure for you. Look at the monster you have become. You created these screams yourself, and you’re the murderer, the murderer of who we are and who we were. I am disgusted by you!

GIRL: [Talks with confidence while raising dagger to her eyes] I am going to be okay. Everything will disappear. It will all be washed away.

REFLECTION: (Angrily) No, you cannot escape this. This is just who you are. You will never be okay.

[GIRL closes eyes, lowers dagger a little, tightens grip on it, and talks.]

GIRL: It is time to say goodbye I will finally be okay. I will be okay now, I am leaving the pain. It is time to join the stars, There I can finally be okay.

REFLECTION: How do you know I will not just go to the stars with you?

GIRL: I am willing to take that risk, if it means that I can be free.

REFLECTION: You never will be.

GIRL: I will finally be okay.

Reflection NO STO—-!!!!!!

[GIRL screams as she stabs herself in the chest with a dagger, and REFLECTION watches. GIRL falls to the floor. REFLECTION stares at her. The room falls silent, then REFLECTION kneels down to GIRL’s level.)

TECH CUE: BEDROOM SLIDE OUT

REFLECTION: I thought nothing could save you, but here your salty tears are. And here is the loneliness that has finally been emptied from your veins. I thought nothing could save you, but here you are, so still. I thought nothing could save you, but here you are, gone with the stars.

[REFLECTION stands up, and walks SR, sees herself in the mirror.]

REFLECTION: (continued) I am still here.

[REFLECTION takes a deep breath, looks back at girls fallen body.]

REFLECTION: (continued) I swam in your veins, and I bit your flesh into scars.

[REFLECTION takes a deep breath, and steps out through the mirror frame, looks at audience.]

REFLECTION: (continued) I am the chills in your spine, and I am the crawls on your back. I am the reason your hair stands on the back of your neck, and I am the urge to eat just one more bite, because maybe that will fill the hole in what is you. I am the reason for the shadows under your eyes, and I am the reason for your screams in the hours of silence.

[REFLECTION walks and talks to audience]

REFLECTION: (continued) I am the emptiness in your stomach, and the heaviness in your chest. I am the reason you compare, the reason for your tears, that no one ever hears. The cause for your vile smile. I am the reason for the razor blades, and the reason that you fade. I am the reason for the darkness in your mind, and for your tarnished heart.

[REFLECTION walks and talks to audience]

REFLECTION: (continued) I put chains around your neck, and I muffled your mouth. I made you my hostage, and gave you my baggage. I made you my hostage, I locked you in a cage of only you and me, where no one can hear your pleads for help. I am what haunts you at night, and holds on tight when daylight arrives. I intoxicated you with my whispers, and I am your hallucinations, that turn shadows into figures. Your vision is now blurry, your legs are no longer steady. You’re shaking and your heart is skipping, I am what causes you to stop breathing.

[REFLECTION than looks back at girls body]

REFLECTION: (continued) And now, you think you have found the way out. Goodbye little girl. I tried to help you, but I guess you were already lost before I came around. Be free now, be free in the stars.

MUSIC CUE: SIA – HELIUM

[REFLECTION stands in the mirror staring at the audience, then turns to stare at the GIRL.].

SLIDE – SLIDE #2 – SUICIDE STATISTIC

LIGHT CUE: Slow fade to black