ELDERLY WOMAN in her mid 70’s is lazing about in her armchair.

She gets up and approaches a bulky side cabinet. Struggling she opens the top draw and retrieves a couple of unopened brown envelopes and a small, lilac, silk bag which she eyes at. She sprawls the envelopes onto her nearby coffee table

She opens the bag gently, with a slight tug of the string, A rye smile appears on the ELDERLY WOMAN’S as she takes in a deep breath of the bags toxins.

Emptying the contents into a well worn wooden tray, slowly a dozen or so brightly designed and coloured marbles, of quality, pour into the tray. ELDERLY WOMAN looks concerned to the welfare of the balls, as though at any moment one of them could smash. She is near breathless as each ball hits the surface of the tray.

ELDERLY WOMAN sighs in relief when all the contents are out of the bag. She peers down within the bag, ushering her right hands forefingers inside to withdraw a small, tattered, folded document. She unveils an original photograph showing the full collection of marbles. It shows the sets age.

Routinely ELDERLY WOMAN starts sorting through the balls on the tray, matching each ball to its correspondent in the photo and gives it a thorough clean.

Her rhythmic cleaning session breaks as she gets to her favourite ball, one with an intense orange tinge and black streak running through it. She stares at it with a big smile on her face, and cleans it harder than the others, adding an extra whispered blow from her lips to clean off any excess dust.

Looking in correlation to the photo ELDERLY WOMAN realises two of the balls are missing from her set. A lump appears in her throat as the thought of where they could be overwhelms her. Looking up at the clock on the mantlepiece, the time reads 10:35. A worried and stressed look appears on her face.

Frantically the ELDERLY WOMAN starts shifting through her pristine room, throwing up pillows and cushions, emptying through the cupboards and searching near enough everywhere. A whirlpool of mess constructs itself in the middle of her carpet.

Continuing her search through to the kitchen ELDERLY WOMAN passes through all the cutlery draws and checks past all the mugs.

The calendar on her wall catches her attention. Under today’s date the events box is crammed in big handwritten letters with:

PATRICIA & SARAH ROUND 1PM

ELDERLY WOMAN reconciles.

MONTAGE - PATRICIA, SARAH and ELDERLY WOMAN playing marbles on numerous occasions over several years

ELDERLY WOMAN notices a Post-It note next to the calendar, bearing different handwriting than before. She reads the message:

MUM, PLEASE REMEMBER!

THINK ABOUT IT!

LOVE EMILY X

Recognising the handwriting to be her daughters, ELDERLY WOMAN seems baffled by the connotations of the message. Noticing her attention wandering she looks condemningly up at the clock on her kitchen wall. ELDERLY WOMAN suddenly panics in recognition to the time 10:45

ELDERLY WOMAN starts combing back through the materials she has already scattered out of her cupboards and becomes increasingly frustrated and upset by her lack of success.

Frailly, an exhausted ELDERLY WOMAN collapses into her armchair, distraught with worry that she’s let her friends down.

In disgust with herself she looks once more at the clock on her mantelpiece. It bears 10:50 Realising her friends may not have left yet she decides to try contacting them.

ELDERLY WOMAN retrieves her phonebook. Opening it she sprawls to ‘B’. Her thumb measures the page down through many names and stops at ‘Sarah Biggins’.

Taking the phone’s receiver she carefully dials the corresponding number, taking care with each number dialled. Waiting for the number to ring ELDERLY WOMAN is met by the sound of a dead line and the operator’s voice informing that the number hasn’t been recognised.

Replacing the receiver a confused ELDERLY WOMAN, sure she’d had the right number, flicks through to ‘W’ scrolls the page to ‘Patricia Whitfield’ and repeats her actions, paying even closer attention to the numbers she dials. Again the line goes dead. She slowly replaces the retriever.

Stumped and increasingly worried ELDERLY WOMAN collects the receiver once more and nervously holds down ‘3’ on the dial. Her lack of knowledge of the new speed dial unsettles her and looks nervous as line connects.

JANE’S phone starts ringing and is drawn away from a cluster of her friends to take the call. Looking at the screen of her mobile the caller I.D. shows ‘GRAN’. She answers…

JANE

Hello?

ELDERLY WOMAN

Hello?… Oh JANE… is that you?

JANE seems a little concerned about the tone of voice of ELDERLY WOMAN.

JANE

Yes Gran it is, you ok? You sound a little upset.

ELDERLY WOMAN relieved to find out she had dialled JANE is a little overwhelmed by her granddaughters concern for her.

ELDERLY WOMAN

Oh JANE, thank God its you. I’m fine,just a little flustered

JANE

What is it?

ELDERLY WOMAN

Oh, it’s just, Pat and Sarah are comingover and I… Well… (laughs)… JANE… I’velost my marbles… (sighs)… Silly I know,

but I don’t want then coming over for them to find I’ve let them down.

A resignation appears upon JANE’S face and her tone changes towards her Gran.

JANE

Oh, don’t worry yourself Gran, I’ll sort something out. I’m sure we’ve got a couple lying about the house, I’ll drop home and

get them

ELDERLY WOMAN

Oh, you are a sweetheart… I am sorry to trouble you though, I’ll make it up in some way.

Dunno what I’d do without you darling

JANE

No problem, just relax now ok. I’ll see you in a bit then… Bye

ELDERLY WOMAN

Bye darling

JANE grabs her bag off the table where all her friends are sitting, throws the strap over her shoulder and leaves them with out saying anything. She has a really upset look on her face.

Hanging up the phone retriever ELDERLY WOMAN nestles in her armchair, reaching for the TV remote beside her she switch’s the TV on and switches to BBC’s coverage of the snooker. She relaxes, her shoulders slump backward into her big comfy cushion and doses off unknowingly. The clock reads 11:05am.

The clock reads 2:30pm. ELDERLY WOMAN is awoken by a knock on the door. Staring at the front door, she becomes aware that she’d dosed off. Hurriedly she attempts to get up from her armchair, her head turning her to the direction of the clock on her mantelpiece. She is shocked at the time and a sense of hysteria hit’s ELDERLY WOMAN.

She looks fraught with worry and in embarrassment and anger with herself. She looks at the mess on her floor and frets that PATRICIA and SARAH may have come and gone.

There is another knock on the door. In her panic she had forgotten about it. She freeze‘s, wondering who it could be. She frantically starts scurrying the mess away, but is disrupted my a third, more violent, desperate knock on the door.

JANE whilst reaching for her key to let herself in the door opens. Through the ajar opening the frail face of ELDERLY WOMAN peers round in an attempt to hide the mess in her house from her granddaughter.

ELDERLY WOMAN

Oh JANE it’s you, thought it was one of those Jehovah’s witnesses or something.

The ELDERLY WOMAN looks JANE squarely in the face and she sense’s something’s wrong with her Granddaughter, She looks upset. JANE looks away hiding the tears starting to fall from her eyes

JANE can’t bear to look at ELDERLY WOMAN but glances back up at ELDERLY WOMAN. She bursts into tears. ELDERLY WOMAN has a confused, but concerned look on her face. She moves to embrace JANE. Refusing ELDERLY WOMAN’S gesture, JANE struggles to find the words.

JANE

I’m so sorry Gran.

In despair, covering her face JANE turns and runs down ELDERLY WOMAN’S driveway and flees, out of view, behind the bushes. ELDERLY WOMAN tries with all her might to stop her going in a reassuring way.

ELDERLY WOMAN’S attention is diverted to the top of an old care ambulance, almost instantaneously she notice’s JANE walking back up her driveway being comforted by her mother EMILY, strangely with two WHITE COAT’S with a wheelchair.

Confused at the situation ELDERLY gives a questioning look to her daughter EMILY as they continue to walk up to her house.

EMILY, mother of JANE whiskered up the driveway in her expensive business suit her long mousy hair blowing in the wind, but looking somewhat upset herself. She gives a solemn look back at her mother, as though she meant business.

ELDERLY WOMAN looks more confused, angry and upset as she sees an uncertain intensity in her daughters eyes as she reaches her front door.

Emily replies with a purposeful glare doesn’t find the words to gratify her mother. ELDERLY WOMAN is a little frightened as she still doesn’t know what’s happening.

Biting her lip EMILY holds onto JANE as both of them watch ELDERLY WOMAN get ushered by WHITE COAT’S into the wheelchair they are remanding. As she gets wheeled away the ELDERLY WOMAN pleas begrudgingly at her two loved ones, near screaming with horror

ELDERLY WOMAN

No, Please No…EMILY, JANE, Please

ELDERLY WOMAN bursts into tears as she realises her helplessness and her felt betrayal. It all becomes too apparent to her as she reads the badge on one of the WHITE COAT’S chest that she was of to some elderly person asylum.

ELDERLY WOMAN gives EMILY and JANE one last look as she gets loaded into the ambulance, her glare shows the helplessness, betrayal, confusion and frailness that has succumbed her. It is too much for JANE who locks herself into a cocoon with her mother, she’s in tears looking with hatred at the situation.

Embracing her daughter EMILY turns and walks with JANE into ELDERLY WOMAN’S house as the ambulances back doors are closed.

Both EMILY and JANE reflect on the ordeal they had put ELDERLY WOMAN through. EMILY looks a little more acceptant, believing it was necessary and JANE looks distraught.

EMILY release’s her caring grip on JANE’S shoulder. JANE just slumps on the floor, cross-legged in a kind of trance, sobbing her heart out.

EMILY walks slowly over to the ELDERLY WOMAN’S coffee table. There lay the tray, holding all but the missing marbles. EMILY retrieves the two missing marbles from the inside pocket of her suit jacket and places on the tray with the rest.

EMILY sighs in disapproval, stopping and recollecting the memories she had of her mother and the marbles. She grasps a couple of the balls in her hand firmly, in a fist.

EMILY looks around at all the mess, it’s everywhere, she‘s a little bit baffled by the effort ELDERLY WOMAN made. She walks over to the calendar on the wall and notice’s the Post-It note on the wall. EMILY rips it off the wall with a grimace on her face, scrawling it up in a ball and throwing it on the ground. While making sure JANE’S not watching, she makes a fist and beats the wall in frustration.

INT. LIVING ROOM – ELDERLY WOMAN’S HOUSE - DAY

EMILY moves over to JANE, she still crying. Standing behind her EMILY rests a hand on her shoulder, as she’s still crying. JANE stands up and embraces her mother.

As they hug, in the corner of EMILY’S eye she sees that upon the coffee table, beneath the wooden tray, are the corners of the two brown envelopes. Releasing her grip she darts over to the table and in a rush knocks the tray aside, causing it to fall on the floor, sprawling the marbles, every which way.

FLASHBACK - EMILY putting the envelopes in the side cabinet

INT. LIVING ROOM – ELDERLY WOMAN’S HOUSE - DAY

Lifting the brown envelopes EMILY notices that they are unopened. The envelopes are addressed ’Mum’ and in the same writing as what is on the post-it note in the kitchen. A sudden sense of anguish hit’s EMILY as she tears them open.

JANE walks the short distance over to her mother, who seems to have pulled herself together a bit. She watch’s on at EMILY.

EMILY withdraws the contents of the brown envelopes, unveiling a letter and a couple of documents. She opens up the letter, in disapproval and a certain bitterness toward herself.

The letter from EMILY and JANE details a warning for ELDERLY WOMAN that a year and a half has passed since her friends have passed away. HOW JANE and EMILY can’t cope and is one final plea to try and get it through to her before they have to take action.

Emily swaps over the documents, showing two adjacent death certificates, those of Sarah Biggins and Patricia Whitfield. In an outburst of rage EMILY suddenly tears all three documents to shreds.

EMILY

Oh Mum… you never even saw the bloody letter… Christ!

In realisation EMILY starts shedding a tear herself and JANE puts it upon herself to comfort her mother. They embrace each other.

JANE notices a little glint on the carpet. Releasing her grip she glances down and studies the marble she’s looking at. Picking it up and placing it in the palm of her hand she smiles for the first time. It’s her Gran’s lucky marble. She kisses it and places it lovingly in her purse. She looks over at EMILY.

JANE

Gran will want her marbles back

EMILY nods, agreeing, JANE wipes away her running makeup EMILY and JANE search the house for marbles and the two of leave the house smiling.

THE END