1.

EMPTY SPACE
FADE IN:
INT: HOSPITAL DAY
A patient lies in bed unconscious. Across from him is a
woman who is watching. The door to the room opens up
and two doctors walk in.
DR. SMITH
Mrs. Johnson, I hope you dont mind the
intrusion. Id like to introduce you to
my colleague Dr. Clark who does private
practice here in town.
DR. CLARK
Nice to meet you.
She says hi back and shakes hands with Dr. Clark. Clark
is wearing nice clothes and a baseball hat. Clark takes
off his hat and gently places it to the side. Clark
looks at the patient. He walks over to the patient and
checks for a pulse.
DR. CLARK
How long has he been in a coma, Mrs.
Johnson?
Mrs. Johnson
About six months since the accident. He
hasnt shown any sign of movement since.
DR. CLARK
Good thing you called me Dr. Smith, we
might still be able to save him.
Clark walks over to Dr. Kent.
DR. CLARK
Would you bring me the prototype?
Dr. Smith nods his head and leaves the room. Clark
leans in to talk to Mrs. Johnson.

2.
Mrs. Johnson
What prototype?
DR. CLARK
Mrs. Johnson, I have a new invention
that might just save Mr. Johnsons life.
This invention allows a person to be
able to enter the subconscious of
another. I believe that he is still
alive. Hes just trapped inside his
subconscious. If its fine with you, I
would like to try to see if I can wake
him up from the inside. At least, if his
mind doesnt reject me.
Mrs. Johnson looks at Mr. Johnson. She looks at her
husband with pain in her eyes. She sees the other
doctor walk in with his prototype. She sighs.
Mrs. Johnson
At this point, Im willing to try
anything. Go ahead.
Clark gets up and turns around to help Smith set up his
prototype. He sticks two plugs attached by a wire to
Mr. Johnsons head. He then sticks two identical plugs
to his head. He sits in a chair next to Mr. Johnson.
DR. CLARK
Trust me, Mrs. Johnson. He will be awake
before you know it. He just needs a good
dose of reality.
He turns to the doctor and nods his head. Clark relaxes
and closes his eyes. The doctor clicks a button and
Clark is transported into the mind of Mr. Johnson.
CUT TO:
INT: DAVIDS MIND
Clark opens his eyes and finds himself lying on the
ground surrounded by whitespace. He hears the sound of
a ping pong ball bouncing on a table. He looks up and
sees two guys playing ping pong. He gets up and walks
over to them. Mr. Johnson is wearing athletic clothes
and is playing ping pong with one of his friends. He
scores the final point to win the game.

3.
DAVID
YEAH! 68 games in a row!
DYLAN
Youre just too skilled, David.
David makes fist pumps in the air as Clark walks up to
him.
DR. CLARK
Excuse me, are either of you Mr.
Johnson?
David stops and looks at Clark. He has never seen him
before so he introduces himself.
DAVID
That would be(he points at himself)
this guy! Ping Pong Champion of the
world! Right, Dylan?
DYLAN
Thats right, David.
DAVID (points at Dylan)
Yeah! This guy gets it! (pause) Wait a
minute, where are my manners? Let me get
rid of this stuff real quick. Sorry
Dylan, we can play again later.
He snaps his fingers twice. Both the ping pong table
and Dylan disappear. David walks over to Clark and
shakes his hand.
DR. CLARK
Nice to meet you Im Doctor Clark.
DAVID
Hey Doctor, David Johnson. World Champion
Ping Pong player.
He snaps his fingers and a photo appears of him in his
left hand. He hands it to Clark.
DAVID

4.
Here a picture of me when I played Andrew
Baggaley in the World Championship. Pretty
sweet.
Clark examines the photo. He sets the photo.
DR. CLARK
Interesting. Ok David, I just need you
to answer a few questions for me. So,
what is this place?
Clark examines the empty space.
DAVID
That is a good question. Let me show
you
David snaps his finger and a football appears on the
ground. Clark picks up and examines the football.
DAVID
You want to play football, no problem.
(He snaps. A soccer ball appears).
Soccer, not a problem either! You like
drawing, forget paper, the world is your
canvas!
David starts drawing a smiley face in the middle of the
air. Clark looks at him drawing.
DR. CLARK
Ok, but what do you do about friends?
DAVID (Finishes smiley face)
Ah! Now thats art!
He looks at it for a second. Clark coughs to get his
attention. He looks at Clark.
DAVID
Oh yeah. The friend thing, as for that.
David snaps his fingers three times and makes all the
objects disappear. He snaps his fingers again and a
person appears, a ping pong player.
DAVID

5.
I never get lonely because I can make
anyone appear. Like Mike over here.
Mike waves at Clark and Clark slightly waves back.
MIKE
You want to go throw a football around
David?
DAVID
Sure bro, once Im finished talking with
Doc.
DR. CLARK
Um. David, Im not sure how to say this
but, none of this is real, this is all
in your imagination, in your mind.
DAVID
Impossible. How do you think you prove the
difference between reality and the mind?
Clark walks over to Mike who is standing around. He
puts his hand on his shoulder.
DR. CLARK
Ok, lets do a test, I want you to ask
Mike to do something that you want to
do, but he doesnt. Go ahead.
DAVID
Ok, (turns to Mike), Mike, do you want
to sew a quilt with me?
MIKE
Sure!
DAVID
What about put on makeup?
MIKE
Sounds good!
David pauses, genuinely surprised and caught off guard.
DAVID
Let me try a different person.

6.
David snaps his fingers and Mike goes away. He snaps
again and a new guy appears.
DAVID
Do you want to build sand castles with
me?
FRIEND 1
Absolutely!
DAVID
Ugh! (He snaps twice) Do you want to clean
toilets?
FRIEND 2
Definitely!
DAVID (Snaps Twice)
Lets go jump off a cliff?
FRIEND 3
Anything for you brother!
DAVID (Angry. Snaps Twice)
Say no.
FRIEND 4
Ok.
DAVID
Well, arent you going to say no?
FRIEND 4
Why would I say no to you David?
DAVID (Enraged. Snaps twice)
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!!!
DR. CLARK
Uh, David, thats just a stuffed dinosaur.
David looks and sees a stuffed dinosaur on the ground.
He covers face and thinks about all that happened. He
snaps and the dinosaur goes away.
DAVID

7.
Ok Doc, Ill admit it, none of this is real.
DR. CLARK
Good. See, now we are making progress!
DAVID
But, in here, I dont have to deal with
the outside world. You dont what it's
like to have everything taken away from
you in a single moment. Im in control
here and not you or anyone else can take
that away!
Clark moves closer to David to try and calm him down.
DR. CLARK
David, this isnt reality. You have
friends who need you. Your family, your
career(David interrupts)
DAVID
Thats enough. I think youre done here.
Goodbye Doctor.
David puts his hand in the air and prepares to snap.
DR. CLARK
David wait
David, staring intently at Dr. Clark, holds up two
fingers where he can see them clearly. He snaps.
CUT TO:
INT: HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Dr. Clark looks wide-eyed around the room. Mrs. Johnson
goes over to check on him.
MRS. JOHNSON
Are you ok, Dr. Clark?
Clark regains his composure and relaxes his breathing.
DR. CLARK
Im fine. How long was I gone for Mrs.
Johnson?

8.
MRS. JOHNSON
About five minutes. Did you see him? Is
he ok?
Clark looks at David for a second. He sighs.
DR. CLARK
Thats a difficult question to answer.
Hes still alive inside. Hes just lost
inside an illusionary world he created.
Now, I just figure out a way to convince
him to leave.
MRS. JOHNSON
I dont know if this information will help
but earlier this year he was disqualified
from the Ping Pong World Championships for
unfair play and throwing his paddle.
DR. CLARK
Do you believe that could have led some sort
of depression? Did you notice any strange
behavior after he was disqualified?
MRS. JOHNSON
I cant say. We rarely talked after the
competition. All I can say for sure is
that Ping Pong was his life. It meant
everything to him.
Dr. Clark thinks for a second. He then checks the plugs
to make sure it is still on.
DR. CLARK
I need you to send me back inside
Davids mind. I need to talk to him.
Press the enter key on the laptop.
Mrs. Johnson walks over to the laptop.
MRS. JOHNSON
Good luck.
Clark closes his eyes. She clicks the button and Clark
goes back into Davids mind.

9.
CUT TO:
INT: DAVIDS MIND
Clark is on the ground but gets up quickly to see if
David is around. Clark sighs. David is actually
directly above him, floating in the air upside down. He
is staring intently at a ping pong ball.
DR. CLARK
I dont know where you are David, or if
you can even hear me. David, you need
come back. Just because you lost in the
World Championship, doesn't mean you
lost everything. Out there, you have a
purpose, people that need you and love
you. Not because they were created too,
but because they choose too. That kind
of love is something that cant be found
in an empty space.
David looks at the ping pong ball. He drops the ball
and it lands next to Clark. Clark sees the ball bounce
and looks up but David has already teleported over in
front of Clark. He walks up to Clark.
DAVID
How could the likes of you understand
what I've been though. You don't know
what it's like to be disqualified based
on groundless claims. They erased me.
Took everything from me. But here, I'm
in control.
David puts up his hands and snaps. All his friends
appear behind him.
DAVID
Tell me Doctor, why should I suffer reality
when I have everything I want right here
behind me.
Clark shows all the people to David.
DR. CLARK
Because you have everything you want,
but nothing you need. You need reality
David, and you dont have to face it

10.
alone. (Shows friends to David) All
these people are here to help you along
the way. Im not promising you that
reality will be easy. But, I believe
that somewhere inside the easy times,
and the hard ones, true happiness
exists, you just have to find it.
Clark turns around and puts and hand out to him. David
looks at his hand, then looks at Clark and everyone
else.
DR. CLARK
What do you say David. Everyone is
waiting.
David thinks for a second. He hesitates, then decides.
DAVID
Ok, Ill give reality one more try.
David grabs his hand and they shake. Everything starts
to cave in and Clark snaps back to reality.
CUT TO:
INT: HOSPITAL ROOM DAY
Clark wakes up in the chair he was sitting in. He looks
around and sees Mrs. Johnson walking up towards him.
MRS. JOHNSON
Did it work, what happened?
DR. CLARK
See for yourself.
David slowly opens his eyes and looks up at Mrs.
Johnson. As they talk, Clark takes off his plugs and
Davids plugs.
DAVID
Wait, who invited this loser in here?
MRS. JOHNSON
David!

11.
Clark grabs his prototype device and walks towards the
door. He grabs the hat he originally took off and puts
it back on. He walks out the door. As he goes down the
hallway, The door closes behind him.

THE END