Laughing Shadows Script Draft
INT. BEDROOM
We’re at the base of a large wooden bed, looking up at the
long wooden beams of the ceiling. A foot slip’s out from underneath the sheets,
towards the camera. A young girl, sleeping peacefully in her bed, twists and
turns under the covers.
The narrators voice slowly comes into the scene
NARRATOR
I was never afraid of the dark as a child. Monsters in the shadows,
creatures under my bed. It was all fantasy…
A shadow slips past the camera, low sounding laughs echo around
the room. Bleary eyed, the young girl
sits up in her bed. Confusion on her face as she scans the room contemplating
what she heard.
The room stays silent, slowly slipping back into bed the
girl falls back into a deep sleep.
NARRATOR
That night changed the way I saw the dark for many years.
Another laugh comes out of the darkness, more shadows flit
past the camera. Around the room shadows begin to move in the corners, spinning
and dancing around the walls. The laughing gets higher and higher.
The girl jumps up in her bed, wide awake now, eyes darting
from one side of the room to the other. We get a first person perspective of
the room, illuminated by a small nightlight in the corner. Nothing is seen at
first. Then the shadows start to move, dancing along the walls, the laughing
getting higher and louder.
NARRATOR
The shadows started off slow at first, circling me, their large grins
and sharp eyes piercing through me.
The shadows stop, eyes begin to appear in their soft black
forms, large open and close, taunting the girl, as they stare. No longer
moving, just staring. The young girl pulls the covers up to her chest, hiding
herself from the creatures surrounding her. She closes her eyes. The laughing
stops once again.
NARRATOR
The shadows taunted me, as I hid behind my sheet the laughing came to a
stop
Slowly opening her eyes, the girl slowly looks around the
room. Seeing nothing and hearing nothing. She lightly steps out of bed and
walks to the middle of the room, blanket in hand. Concealing herself as much as
possible. Standing in the centre of the bedroom she slowly spins. Holding up
the nightlight she investigates the dark corners of the room.
She backs off into the middle of the room once again,
shadows crept from behind the furniture. The room begins grow and morph with
the darkness. Becoming large, unfamiliar shapes. The young girl hides
underneath her blanket. Watching the shadows dance around her through the thin
layer of sheet. They begin to play with the sheet, pulling and pushing it
around as the young girl wraps herself tighter and tighter under it.
The laughter getting louder and louder, the shadows continue
to spin and move around the room.
EXT. BEDROOM WINDOW
Tree branches slowly batter the window, dull shapes can be
seen moving through the fogged glass, illuminated by the faint glow of the
nightlight.
NARRATOR
I was never afraid of the dark. Not until that night.
INT.BEDROOM
Under the sheets the young girl sits, eyes closed, faced
wrought with terror. Tears being to stream down her face. The shadows
continuing to circle her. In a panic she jumps up and runs for the bed, now
twisted and dark. Clambering up the sheets, she buries herself underneath. Hiding
away from the shadows.
From above we see the shadows circle the small shape hidden
beneath the covers, getting closer and closer. The laughing getting even
stronger and louder.
A bright light illuminates the room; the girl slips out from
under the covers to see a room, completely silent and ordinary. With a look of
relief and confusion on her face, the girl leaps out of bed and leaves the
room. Shutting the door behind her.
NARRATOR
I was never afraid of the dark.
The room settles into the darkness, shadows once again
emerge. Their smiles fill the room as the camera cuts to black.
END.
