This is actually a play for radio. I understand some people will grumble because its not technically a script or a play, just a dialogue, but as it is intended for radio (probably a special program aimed at teenagers to deal with the issues involved). It doesn't have much format (sorry) but i used it in my English coursework.
Eyes Open
(Sound of the tape rewinding)
‘OK, OK. Monday the fourth of August, 2003’.
(sigh)
‘This is a bloody stupid idea. My girlfriend, Sarah, she says I should keep a diary to look at when I’m older. Well screw writing all that stuff, can’t be bothered; I’ll just tape it, so I can hear my wonderful, youthful voice years down the line – if I haven’t burned this thing. It just seems so girly. She’s always saying stuff like that, Sarah. Reckons I should be more like Riley. So I say, ‘Go out with him then’. She gets all awkward and apologetic then – which is when I like her best.
But by God, Riley…you could write an essay on him, bloody hell. He’s at the same time the most well known and the most unknown bloke in the Sixth. How weird is that? He’s one of a kind, that’s for sure. I can’t put my finger on it…I guess it’s just that he’s so damn nice all the time, must put people off. You know? No, of course you don’t know, you’re a bloody tape recorder. This is so ridiculous. Bet Riley has a diary…’
(Sound of tape skipping forward)
‘Wednesday the twelfth of November 2003.’
‘I’m starting to like this diary stuff now. Not as bad as I thought. ‘Corse, my girlfriend’s buggered off now, after she got all temperamental, all bloody womanly on me. Sarah can go sob her heart out to Riley if that’s what she wants – he can have her, for all I care.
But that’s the thing, it’s so weird – no one really wants to get that close to Riley. I mean, he holds doors open for everyone in the bloody school – even that little prat Sweeney, the one that me and the lads hang from the coat hangers sometimes…’
(laughs) ‘Anyway. Where was I? Yeah, he holds all the doors open! And he’s always there for all these hormonal girls who need a shoulder to cry on…but that’s as close as they want to get. You know? Christ, I keep saying ‘you know’. I’m talking to a diary! What was I saying?
Oh yeah, Riley. Oh today, bloody hell, right…he did Sarah’s homework today. I mean, she’d forgotten it, right, and she was about to try and wriggle out of it with the teacher when Riley pulls out a second copy of his work. He says that someone was bound to forget, so he did another one! I wouldn’t have been shocked if he turned her bottle of water into a glass of champagne after that. Bloody show-off.
But, I ‘spose – he wasn’t showing off. I really think he just did it. Out of the goodness of his heart, like. Christ, goodness of his heart? I’m turning into a right sob story, ‘cos of this bloody diary…’
(Sound of tape skipping forward)
‘Saturday the fourteenth of February 2004. Valentine’s Day.’
‘Right, so we all went for this meal together, cos none of us are going out with anyone at the moment – Christ, too much hassle, you know? – so it was me and some of the lads, Sarah and a few of her little friends, and…well, we invited Riley, ‘cos he don’t get out much, by the look of him. Real pale, skinny, you know? Anyway, so we were just in Burger King, right – I’m not splashing out for any of that fancy foreign rubbish – and all of a sudden, Riley turns around to Sarah and says, ‘I love you.’ I choked on my fries! I was nearly hospitalised, not that anyone was paying me any attention. I mean, ‘love’? That’s a bit strong, innit? I mean, this days, you want to go out with a girl you just sorta let her know with a few hints, you know, a couple of winks, cheeky pinches, that sort of thing.
But…he sounded so sincere. I think he bloody well meant it. And I suddenly felt so sorry for him. ‘Cos, you know, she let him down. I mean, if it’s…‘love’…then there’s no way of letting him down gently. She said it right there at the table. Ouch! He just…took it, though. No fuss. He nodded, smiled…and paid for all of us. All twelve of us! He must be loaded with cash. Money, love, kindness…I think Riley just doesn’t get it. Girls don’t want that Victorian attitude anymore. Move with the times, you know? They just want a little slap and tickle once in a while…’ (laughs)
(Sound of tape skipping forward)
(Voice has become subdued and faltering)
‘Wednesday…(coughs, sniffs)…Wednesday the…uh…the tenth of March, 2004.’
(2 second pause)
(Quietly) ‘Right, now what do I say?’
(Normal tones) ‘Riley…Riley never really got over Sarah, I don’t think. If only he’d waited a bit longer, you know, when these girls grow out of the love-the-bad-boy stuff…I think she would have changed her mind. I guess we shouldn’t have laughed at him. I mean, at the time, it was just the done thing, you know? Naturally, the whole school found out about the Valentine’s thing…that last dinner we had…I don’t think it was entirely my fault. Girls blab, you know…
I…uh…I came across his diary today. He wrote his down, all proper, like. Funny…it’s not so girly, when you look at it. It’s like reading poetry, bloody hell. I mean…real tragic and all, but really…really good too. You know. Deep. It was kinda surreal, eerie, you know, reading it when…Sarah read the whole thing. She cried so much. I didn’t know what to say. I think the love thing was shared deep down after all. Kinda like Shakespeare, innit? Didn’t quite say ‘I love you too’ in time…
…I mean, I didn’t think he could get any paler. He kinda looked sad, like he always did, even when he was smiling. His eyes were still open, man, it was scary.
…No crown of thorns, though…
…Why did I say that?’
(2-second pause)
‘…should’ve…should’ve opened some doors for him too, really.’
(There is a soft sniff from the speaker, and then the tape stops with an audible click.)
Tell me what you think! Probably the scariest thing to come out of this was the fact that, although I based the character of Riley ver slightly on my own experiences (except i'm not quite that extreme), my english teacher was more ready to draw parallels with Jesus... :? (i added the crown of thorns after this comment was made). It may have been the fact that there were 12 people at the 'last supper' of Riley, i dunno...
But then my english teacher is an odd man.
Let me know!
kintaris
Eyes Open
(Sound of the tape rewinding)
‘OK, OK. Monday the fourth of August, 2003’.
(sigh)
‘This is a bloody stupid idea. My girlfriend, Sarah, she says I should keep a diary to look at when I’m older. Well screw writing all that stuff, can’t be bothered; I’ll just tape it, so I can hear my wonderful, youthful voice years down the line – if I haven’t burned this thing. It just seems so girly. She’s always saying stuff like that, Sarah. Reckons I should be more like Riley. So I say, ‘Go out with him then’. She gets all awkward and apologetic then – which is when I like her best.
But by God, Riley…you could write an essay on him, bloody hell. He’s at the same time the most well known and the most unknown bloke in the Sixth. How weird is that? He’s one of a kind, that’s for sure. I can’t put my finger on it…I guess it’s just that he’s so damn nice all the time, must put people off. You know? No, of course you don’t know, you’re a bloody tape recorder. This is so ridiculous. Bet Riley has a diary…’
(Sound of tape skipping forward)
‘Wednesday the twelfth of November 2003.’
‘I’m starting to like this diary stuff now. Not as bad as I thought. ‘Corse, my girlfriend’s buggered off now, after she got all temperamental, all bloody womanly on me. Sarah can go sob her heart out to Riley if that’s what she wants – he can have her, for all I care.
But that’s the thing, it’s so weird – no one really wants to get that close to Riley. I mean, he holds doors open for everyone in the bloody school – even that little prat Sweeney, the one that me and the lads hang from the coat hangers sometimes…’
(laughs) ‘Anyway. Where was I? Yeah, he holds all the doors open! And he’s always there for all these hormonal girls who need a shoulder to cry on…but that’s as close as they want to get. You know? Christ, I keep saying ‘you know’. I’m talking to a diary! What was I saying?
Oh yeah, Riley. Oh today, bloody hell, right…he did Sarah’s homework today. I mean, she’d forgotten it, right, and she was about to try and wriggle out of it with the teacher when Riley pulls out a second copy of his work. He says that someone was bound to forget, so he did another one! I wouldn’t have been shocked if he turned her bottle of water into a glass of champagne after that. Bloody show-off.
But, I ‘spose – he wasn’t showing off. I really think he just did it. Out of the goodness of his heart, like. Christ, goodness of his heart? I’m turning into a right sob story, ‘cos of this bloody diary…’
(Sound of tape skipping forward)
‘Saturday the fourteenth of February 2004. Valentine’s Day.’
‘Right, so we all went for this meal together, cos none of us are going out with anyone at the moment – Christ, too much hassle, you know? – so it was me and some of the lads, Sarah and a few of her little friends, and…well, we invited Riley, ‘cos he don’t get out much, by the look of him. Real pale, skinny, you know? Anyway, so we were just in Burger King, right – I’m not splashing out for any of that fancy foreign rubbish – and all of a sudden, Riley turns around to Sarah and says, ‘I love you.’ I choked on my fries! I was nearly hospitalised, not that anyone was paying me any attention. I mean, ‘love’? That’s a bit strong, innit? I mean, this days, you want to go out with a girl you just sorta let her know with a few hints, you know, a couple of winks, cheeky pinches, that sort of thing.
But…he sounded so sincere. I think he bloody well meant it. And I suddenly felt so sorry for him. ‘Cos, you know, she let him down. I mean, if it’s…‘love’…then there’s no way of letting him down gently. She said it right there at the table. Ouch! He just…took it, though. No fuss. He nodded, smiled…and paid for all of us. All twelve of us! He must be loaded with cash. Money, love, kindness…I think Riley just doesn’t get it. Girls don’t want that Victorian attitude anymore. Move with the times, you know? They just want a little slap and tickle once in a while…’ (laughs)
(Sound of tape skipping forward)
(Voice has become subdued and faltering)
‘Wednesday…(coughs, sniffs)…Wednesday the…uh…the tenth of March, 2004.’
(2 second pause)
(Quietly) ‘Right, now what do I say?’
(Normal tones) ‘Riley…Riley never really got over Sarah, I don’t think. If only he’d waited a bit longer, you know, when these girls grow out of the love-the-bad-boy stuff…I think she would have changed her mind. I guess we shouldn’t have laughed at him. I mean, at the time, it was just the done thing, you know? Naturally, the whole school found out about the Valentine’s thing…that last dinner we had…I don’t think it was entirely my fault. Girls blab, you know…
I…uh…I came across his diary today. He wrote his down, all proper, like. Funny…it’s not so girly, when you look at it. It’s like reading poetry, bloody hell. I mean…real tragic and all, but really…really good too. You know. Deep. It was kinda surreal, eerie, you know, reading it when…Sarah read the whole thing. She cried so much. I didn’t know what to say. I think the love thing was shared deep down after all. Kinda like Shakespeare, innit? Didn’t quite say ‘I love you too’ in time…
…I mean, I didn’t think he could get any paler. He kinda looked sad, like he always did, even when he was smiling. His eyes were still open, man, it was scary.
…No crown of thorns, though…
…Why did I say that?’
(2-second pause)
‘…should’ve…should’ve opened some doors for him too, really.’
(There is a soft sniff from the speaker, and then the tape stops with an audible click.)
Tell me what you think! Probably the scariest thing to come out of this was the fact that, although I based the character of Riley ver slightly on my own experiences (except i'm not quite that extreme), my english teacher was more ready to draw parallels with Jesus... :? (i added the crown of thorns after this comment was made). It may have been the fact that there were 12 people at the 'last supper' of Riley, i dunno...
But then my english teacher is an odd man.
Let me know!
kintaris