Forgetting - Script Version 2

Forgetting - Forgot Forgotten

Short film by Olivia crook

Scene 1 Int. living room - Afternoon Peter in the kitchen making himself a cup of tea, whilst donna is sat at the table reading the paper. Donna looks down at her phone, pushes the home button then lifts the phone to see the time. She then puts the phone down looks at peter then continues to read the paper. Peter walks over to the arm chair slowly, on the way he places donnas cup of tea down on the table next to her, then places his cup of tea on his table and continues to watch tv. Knock at the door Donna puts the paper down on the table, gets up, walks towards the door and answers it. Dr smith Hi Ms. Crook Donna Hi, come on in Dr smith enters the house Donna and Dr smith walk over to kitchen counter Donna walks round into the kitchen side of the kitchen counter and Dr smith stays on the opposite side of the counter Dr smith begins to take files out of her bag and put them on the counter Donna Would you like a cup of tea? Dr smith Yes please, white with no sugar thanks. Donna continues to make a cup of tea Once finished making the tea donna places it on the counter next to Dr smiths files Donna continues to stand the other side of the kitchen counter as Dr smith begins talking Dr smith

So after his recent fall you know we carried out some tests and the results have come back, there aren’t any major concerns however its come to light that he has signifiers that suggest he is in the early stages of vascular dementia Donna Okayy so what does that mean Dr smith Well we will need to carry out a couple more test so see how far his diagnosis is but … Talking fades out and music fades in Scene 2 Int. bedroom, Livingroom & kitchen – morning/afternoon Montage approx. 45 seconds Peter forgets what day it, he picks up the paper and looks at it normally but squints as he finds it hard to read. So, he puts the paper on his lap, pick up his glasses case and takes out his glasses and puts them on. He then picks up the paper again and puts it closer to his face his time he is able to read the date but still looks confused so he places the paper down on the side, stands up and steps forward towards his calendar on the wall, he then realizes that it’s a Monday rather than a Wednesday. Peter is making his bed in the morning after waking up as he is plumping the pillows he finds a tooth brush or his wallet under the pillow he picks it up looking confused as he doesn’t remember putting it there. He then turns around and walks into the living room peter goes to make a cup of tea for himself, he puts the kettle on and gets a cup out ready. He then puts the tea bag into the cup then waits for the kettle to finish boiling. Once the kettle is finished he pours the water into the cup and begins to stir the teabag. He then opens the top cupboard shelf, stares blankly into the cupboard for a couple of seconds then closes it quickly. He then stands plainly for another couple of seconds then turns and head to the fridge to and takes the milk out. scene 3 int. living room – evening

Donna is in her living room sat on the sofa facing the tv, drinking a glass of red wine by herself. She takes a sip then places the glass against her head and sighs, she looks worried and tired. She looks down at a big pile of paper work that is to do with her dad, care homes and dementia. After looking at the paper work she goes and takes another sip of her wine but this time it’s a larger sip. scene 4 int. kitchen – afternoon/evening peter is in the kitchen making his dinner, he takes the plastic film off the ready meal the puts it into the microwave. He begins to turn the dial but appears confused and keeps moving it between different numbers after moving the dial for a couple of seconds he then turns it to 30-40 mins’ presses start and walks away. He leaves the kitchen the heads towards his bedroom, he goes into his bedroom and shuts the door slowly. Donna is walking up the path, whilst on her phone. As she gets closer to the door she puts her phone in her coat pocket then knocks on the door. She waits a couple of seconds but there is no answer so she knocks again but louder. Again, there is no answer. After waiting another a couple of seconds, she goes to the side window knocks loudly and puts her face up to the glass to see if she can see peter in his chair but she can’t see anything. She begins to panic and rushes back over to the door and opens the keys safe takes out the key and opens the door. As she opens the door she is hit by a thin layer of smoke. She rushes into the living room but can’t see peter so runs over to the kitchen and sees the smoke coming from the microwave she opens it and takes it out quickly and throws it in the sink. She then turns around and runs towards peters bedroom she opens the door and sees peter lying on the bed she runs over to check he is okay as she does this she shuts the door behind her to stop the smoke from entering peters room. Scene 5 Int. living room – evening Peter is sat in his arm chair watching the tv Donna is sat at the table on her phone preparing to make a phone call Donna puts the phone up to her ear and continues to make a phone call

Sound of phone waiting to connect Donna Hi Olivia, you won’t believe what grandad has done today. Olivia voice Oh, god what happened Donna So, I came around to see how he was doing and he had left his food in the oven and then went to sleep. Olivia voice Oh no, is he okay? Donna Yeah, he’s fine but I think I’m going to have call Dr smith after this because we can’t have this happening again Olivia voice Okay well I think that’s a good Idea. Also, I should be coming home to visit in 2 weeks as I will be to date on uni work Talking fades out Music fades in Donna continues to talk on the phone Scene 6 Int. hallway – morning Donna walks into the hallway and picks up the post of the floor. She is flicking through the mail and sees a letter addressed from the drs surgery. She places the rest of the mail on the shelf. She turns around and sits down on the stairs and opens the top of the letter with her finger. She then take out the letter and begins to read it. Voice of Dr smith Dear ms crook, regarding our recent discussion about putting in place a level of care for your father peter. I was able to get in contact with the oxfordshire careers and put together a care plan which will begin on Monday 20th May 2019. The plan will consist of a part time career who will go and care for peter two times a day once in the morning then once in the evening 5 days a week.

As donna reads the letter she smiles slightly as this letter brings good news Scene 7 Ext. pathway – lunchtime Donna and Olivia walking up the pathway to peters house side by side. Olivia So how long have the careers been coming for? Donna About a week now and I think it’s going well, dad seems to get on well with them Olivia Okay that’s good Donna Yeah it gives me back a lot more of my time which means I’ve been able to pick up more hours at work Donna and Olivia walk up to peters door Olivia knocks on door loudly whilst donna knocks on the window loudly. Donna puts her face up to the glass to see if she can see peter walking to the door. Donna Here he comes Peter answers the door Peter, donna, Olivia Hey Scene 8 Int. peters house – morning Donna knocks on door, there is no answer, so she waits a couple of seconds and knocks again. Still no answer Donna turns to the key safe opens it and takes the key out. She then opens the door. As she opens the door there are letters on the floor. She beds down and picks them up and continues to walk into the living room. She puts the letters down on the table and her bags on the chair. She then looks around to see the house looking untidy with mugs all on the side and clothes on the sofa. Also, peter isn’t sat in his chair where he would usually be.

Donna makes her way to the toilet to see if that where he is. She knocks on the toilet door but there’s no answer so she makes her way into peters bedroom. She opens the door to see peter sat on his bed half-dressed and there is no career to be seen Donna Hey dad, are you okay? What are you still doing in here its 11:30 in the morning? Haven’t the carers been to get you out of bed? Peter continues to get himself ready and doesn’t respond to the questions Donna helps him put his vest on then they both walk into the living room Donna sits down at the table whilst peter goes to make a cup of tea Peter Would you like a cup of tea? Donna Yeah go on then Peter puts the kettle on. He goes to get mugs out of the cupboard but doesn’t remember which on they are in so he opens several cupboards before finding the cups he then stares at the coffee and tea pots trying to figure out which one he’s making he then remembers its tea and takes ot two tea bags and places them in the cups He is slow with making the tea as he can’t fully remember what he’s doing. Once finished making the tea he carries both teas and puts donnas on the table next to her then peter goes to sit down in his chair. Donna So, how are you? Peter What do you want? Why are you here? Donna What do you mean? It’s me donna Peter No, you one of them from the hospital? Donna No dad it’s your daughter donna

Peter No donnas not coming around till lunch time and I’ve just got up so you can’t be her Donna begins to look upset but tries to stay strong and not get upset by it Donna tries to change the subject They continue to talk Music fades in talking fades out Scene 9 Int/ext. house, town – morning/afternoon Montage approx. 45 sec Donna comes home late she is looking in the fridge to make some dinner, she scans the fridge but there isn’t much in there as she hasn’t had time to go shopping. She takes out some hummus and carrot sits down at the tables and eats it very unenthusiastically. Donna gets up at 6oclock in the morning and leaves the house to go see grandad. Due to being so busy the animals are left at home all day by themselves. Donna finally arrives home as she walks in the door she sees that dogs have chewed through things and they have pooed and weed on the floor. She drops her bags on the table, she looks exhausted but goes to try to clean up the mess. Donna sleeps through an alarm and misses work she has several missed calls from them she wakes up all panicked and annoyed. She goes to a careers support group for support on how to deal with her dad she comes out from the group looking a bit less stress free In the evening donna is sat on her laptop with email opening she starts to write then deletes the text and tries again. She is writing an email to her work saying that she is going to have to quit as she is looking after her dad all by herself and working two jobs which is exhausting and she just can’t cope anymore Scene 10 Int. living room/ bedroom – night time Donna sat in bed on her laptop on the phone to her daughter

Olivia’s voice How’s grandad doing, I know I haven’t been back in a couple of months Donna To be honest, he’s not doing great. I was round there the other day the place was a mess. Olivia’s voice Hmm Donna I know I don’t go around as much but it looks like the careers aren’t even bothering anymore its awful. He also didn’t recognize who I was, he thought I was one of the careers Olivia’s voice Ohh it sounds like he’s got a lot worse over the past couple of months. Have you spoken to the careers cause surely that’s not okay to leave it in that state? Donna I tried calling but there was no answer so I sent an email. Olivia’s voice Okay good Donna I just don’t know what to do anymore I thought the careers was a good option but seeing the state he was in the other day broke my heart Olivia’s voice Maybe it’s just a blip and he’ll start to perk up on a couple of days Donna Idk maybe its time to start thinking of long term options Olivia’s voice What do you mean by long term options Donna You know what I mean and I never thought I would be considering this but we have to do what’s best and safer for him Olivia’s voice Care home? Are you sure that what you think will be best?

Donna We’ve tried everything else and nothing seems to be working Olivia’s voice Hmm I guess Donna It’s just an option nothings for definite yet Olivia’s voice Okay well I’ve got to go but I’ll call you tomorrow okay Donna Okay speak to you tomorrow, night Olivia’s voice Night Donna hangs up phone and places it on her bed side table then takes a deep breath She places her hand on the top of her laptop, she pauses, closes her eyes slowly then opens them again. She then slowly opens her laptop She places her hands on the key board and slowly begins to type and she starts typing then stops and mentally questions herself if what she is doing is the right thing. She nods her head slightly to reassure herself and continues to type.