Bearing Reality

INT. LAILAS BEDROOM. NIGHTTIME

Laila is laying in bed, asleep. The sound of thunder makes
her body shudder in fear. A strike of lightning sounds in
the background, awaking her immediately with a shriek of
fear.
LAILA
(shrieks in fear)
She looks around her room through the dim light of midnight,
looking around her house in a sense of panic and fright. An
extreme close up shot of her hands twitching in fear cuts to
an extreme close up of her eyes looking back and forth
hurriedly. The shot then pulls into a medium close up as her
breathing patterns slowly start to calm. The shot is held
for a lengthy amount of time. In this scene, the room is
dead silent and the only things that can be heard are the
faint sounds of wind blowing against the Venetian blinds.
Then lightning strikes again and her window bursts open.
LAILA
(screams)

She looks to the right of her bed. The shot cuts to a

match-on-action shot to the open window. In the corner of
the frame, there is a subliminal shot of a shadow within the
bottom right frame. It disappears immediately. There is a
reverse shot back onto Laila.

LAILA
Wh-whos there?
Laila grabs the teddy bear that rests beside her and slowly
begins to step down from the bed. The shot focuses on her
bare feet slowly stepping upon the wood floor. The shadow
that was in the bottom right corner of the frame reenters
the frame and begins to grow in size. Lailas feet begin to
retract from the frame. Cut of Laila center frame walking
back in trepidation. Cast shadowing across her face grows as
the unknown thing becomes closer to she.
LAILA
(shuddering as she steps away)
In a wave of panic, she turns around and runs out of her
door while the image of the shadow is silhouetted against
the bare wall.
 2.

EXT. FOREST. EARLY MORNING.

Laila emerges from a strange red door in the woods as she
runs through the woods in a surge of panic, not taking in
her surroundings before she runs into a tree. She runs into
the tree head first and falls onto the ground. She looks up
at the sky where the sun shines brightly. The silhouette of
the unknown being looms over her. Reverse shot of Laila on
the ground as she inches away from the figure.
LAILA
What are you? Stop following me!
Laila runs from the shadow into the dense trees. The camera
keeps her back in the center frame as she runs away from the
shadowed figure. She trips over a tree branch and falls onto
the floor into a portal.

EXT. SCHOOL HALLWAY. MORNING.

Laila falls from the sky and lands on a concrete ground. Her
hands is scuffed and her knees have droplets of blood. The
camera tilts up as she is surrounded in a crowd filled with
students. She slowly begins to walk as she clutches her
teddy bear within her arm. The silhouette of a shadow is
cast on both sides of the hallway. She begins to hurry her
pace until she runs into an open doorway leading to a
classroom.

INT. CLASSROOM.
She runs towards an empty seat in a classroom filled with
people. With her panting breath, she settles into her seat
with her hands in her face and the teddy bear on the desk as
she begins to recompose herself. As she looks up towards the
front of the class, she sees a man in a dark suit and
fedora, the same figure that has been following her. In a
wave of panic, she grabs her teddy bear, jolts up, and
clutches it close to her bosom as she runs out the door.

INT. IN THE BACK OF A CAR. AFTERNOON.

Laila enters the back of a car. The camera is in the center
frame and can see the back seat passengers and the road
behind the car. She is out of breath and exhausted, but
still feels the need to buckle herself and her teddy bear
in. Immediately, the car slams on the gas and begins to move
at an alarming speed. Laila is thrusted back into her seat.
A reverse shot from Lailas perspective shows the man in a
black fedora driving the car.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 3.

MAN
(tips his hat at Laila)
LAILA
(screams)

Laila panics as she tries to undo the seatbelts but is

clearly fumbling. There is tension within this scene as the
shot is close up upon her face. Eventually, she gets both of
the seatbelt undone, opens the opposite car door, and jumps
out.

EXT. INSIDE A SWIMMING POOL. LATE AFTERNOON.

Laila and the teddy bear fall into a swimming pool. She is
disoriented and looks like she is having trouble to hold her
breath. She hold her teddy bear tight to her chest, trying
adamantly not to let it float. As she looks up, she sees the
figure outside the pool, looming over her. She looks down,
as if she wants to swim lower, but she cant and needs to
escape for air. She sees another portal floating at the top
of the pool and hurries into it.

EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD. EVENING.

Laila emerges from the portal on the ground to be on an
empty football field. But she cant find her teddy bear. She
is frantic, searching everywhere for it.

MAN
(Whistles)
Laila tunes her head to see the Man in the suit, holding the
teddy bear in his hand. He throws the teddy bear and there
is a close up of it flying through the air. Laila runs
backwards with her hands in the air as she tried to catch
her bear. Laila catches it before she falls into another
portal that floats in the sky.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM. NIGHTTIME.

Laila comes crashing onto a hard concrete surface with the

teddy bear in her arms. She gets up and notices a room
covered in white. Immediately it clicks into her head that
it is a hospital. Next to her is a bed, and in the bed is
the man. He is laying down and not breathing. Suddenly,
images flash into Lailas head: the man by her bed at night,
the man exploring a forest with her, the man taking her to
school, the man having fun with her in her car, the man
swimming with her, the man playing catch with her. This man
is her father. And he is dying. Laila awkwardly gives him a
hug. She then kisses the top of the teddy bear and places it
by his side.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 4.

LAILA EXITS THE SCENE

Credits roll.