‘A LIFETIME IN TIME’

A SHORT FILM

WRITTEN BY
LIBBY CLARK
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 1

(INT.) - A DARK ROOM - EVENING

A black screen. A crackling radio begins to play faintly.
The shot fades into view, an old fashioned radio sits on
a table, covered in scattered newspapers within a dimly
lit room.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
According to Einstein’s theory of special relativity,
time is an illusion. The physicist described time as a
fourth dimension, it is simply another co-ordinate within
the equation. Time conventionally moves forward, making
everyone, by default, a time traveller. However, I know
what it means when those co-ordinates change, and time
moves backwards.
For any normal person, the phrase ‘a lifetime’ is often
used to describe an undesirably long period of time. It’s
a simple exaggeration anyone can use.
Oftentimes it’s the length of someone’s life, which is
much more accurate. Lifetimes can be long or short. They
can be messy and confusing, or they can be refreshing and
full of excitement.
That, however, is down to the person who owns said
lifetime.

The newspapers are in better view now, their headlines

talk of war. They’re old and used but have clearly been
looked after well.

DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
Every generation tells the next to live life to the
fullest, to reach out and grab every opportunity as if
it’s the last of its kind. Out of everyone who has heard
this wisdom, how many have really done so?
One thing many people are terrified of is regret. They
have this lingering fear in the back of their
consciousness, whispering to them that they’ll regret
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 2

CONTINUED:
their actions, that they’ll regret not taking the chances
served to them.

(EXT.) – AN OPEN FIELD - MIDDAY

The field is empty yet filled with silence. It’s bright,
and the sun is shining down on the open space as birds
fly above without a care.
There are trees scattered around the space providing some
shade.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
Until today, regret had been a foreign concept to me.
I’ve never stopped long enough to consider the movements
I have made, the opportunities I have turned down, or
promises I have broken. It wasn’t until this very moment
that as I watched everything crumble before my very eyes,
that I began to regret everything I have ever done.
I’ll never regret that day though, not for as long as I
live.
I think it’s impossible for me to do so, for that would
mean regretting him.

A young man walks into the field. He stands tall, a book

tucked under his arm and his hands in his pockets. He is
dressed for the warm weather, his hair styled back so
that the sun can hit his face.
He walks slowly across the field, taking his time. He is
at home with the silence around him.

DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
Charles Hopkins was an uptight know it all, with a strong
desire to follow the road set out before him.
He obeyed every rule and avoided trouble as though it
were the plague.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 3

CONTINUED
DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
His biggest downfall was saying no.
To me at least.

The young man, CHARLIE, sits down on the grass. He is on

a hill, steep enough that he can lean back, but not so
steep that he is bolt upright.
He pulls his book out from under his arm and opens it.
From his pocket he produces a fountain pen. He begins to
write, the book leaning against his knee.

DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
I met Charlie the first time I travelled. I had been
wandering around an empty field, with my grandmother’s
empty radio in hand for the best part of an hour when I
came to a stop before him.

Charlie stops writing for a moment. He looks straight

ahead as though watching something interesting. He
squints, raising a hand to block the sunlight.

DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
He must have been watching me as I circled the grass. I
know he’d never admit it, but he found my confusion
amusing.
“Near London,” He’d answered when I’d asked where we
were, and it wasn’t that I didn’t believe him, but there
was something about the way he spoke. Maybe it was his
accent, or maybe it was his manners, but something told
me I wasn’t anywhere near home.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 4

CONTINUED:
Charlie sits up a little, looking towards the camera out
of the corner of his eye before continuing to write.
Every now and then he looks back at the camera where
Daniel sits out of shot, attempting to figure out the
intentions of the stranger beside him.
Eventually Charlie relaxes, leaning back against the hill
again.
DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
I’d sat down beside him then, sitting silently as he
continued to write.
He didn’t ask any questions, and he didn’t ask me to
leave. Instead he seemed unfazed, as though my sudden
appearance were an everyday occurrence.

(EXT.) – THE FIELD – AFTERNOON

Charlie sits facing the camera, leaning back on his
hands, his feet out in front of him. His hair now falls
in his face a little, no longer slicked back.
He is laughing as he talks to DANIEL who is out of shot
in place of the camera.
His book remains open on his lap, his usual fountain pen
balancing on his leg. We see the neat scrawling across
the completely filled in pages.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
He never did ask where I came from, but he found out
eventually. While we didn’t speak much at first, Charlie
seemed to sense that I needed someone there, that I had
come from far away and needed a companion within this new
environment.
It didn’t take long for us to become friendly. For my
silent questions to be answered, and Charlie’s silence to
grow loud. As the days crept past, we became close, and
most afternoons were spent out in that same field, just
talking quietly.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 5

CONTINUED:
DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
Charlie told me about his family, about his girlfriend,
and the dreadful job he maintained at the local book
shop.

(INT.) – A BOOK SHOP – MID MORNING

A shot of books fills the screen. Charlie walks through
the book shop, pulling book after book from the shelves
and piling them up in his arms, humming softly as he does
so.
It seems as though he is alone until he turns to walk
backwards, facing the camera. Charlie tips his head back,
signalling for Daniel to follow him.
He disappears behind the shelves.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
He helped me fit in, he leant me clothes, filled me in on
the gossip, and introduced me to the locals, most of whom
were friendly towards me.
All of this came at a price though. Charlie wanted to
know my story, he wanted to understand how I claimed to
be from the future.

(EXT.) – THE FIELD – LATE AFTERNOON

Charlie sits across from the camera again, leaning
forward in concentration as he frantically writes in his
book, his usual neatness exchanged for speed and
messiness.
The sun is disappearing over the edge of the field,
leaving a cool breeze behind.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
So every evening, as our long afternoon’s lazing out in
the sun came to an end, Charlie would pull out his
notebook and I would begin to talk.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 6

CONTINUED:
I didn’t have a lot to tell him, but whether I was
talking about boring old politics, or the new music
festival I went to last summer he never failed to look
fascinated. As the evening’s wore on, Charlie’s scribbles
became more frantic, as though he wanted to note down
everything I said.

(EXT.) – THE FIELD – EVENING

The sun has set now, and Charlie is laying back on the
floor. His book lays open, face down on his chest. He
stares up at the sky, looking across at the camera every
now and then with a small smile. He continues to listen
as Daniel talks, nodding along.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
At first I never paid any attention to his actions, just
happy to talk about my struggles with someone who had the
outside perspective to end all outside perspectives.
However, as time went on, and I ran out of things to say,
I began to wonder exactly what it was he was writing.
‘Notes’ He had told me with a shrug, as if that were all
they were, and all they ever could be.
It wasn’t until something truly went wrong that I grew to
realise they would serve as something much more
important.

Charlie’s gaze returns to the sky again, shadows dancing

across his face. His eyes fall shut and he relaxes
completely, letting himself fall asleep beneath the night
sky.

(EXT.) – A STREET – EARLY MORNING

Charlie sits on the side of the road outside his house.
The title on the newspaper clutched in his hands reveals
that England has joined the war. He frowns as he leans
back against the wall, shifting the newspaper in his
grip.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 7

CONTINUED:
DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
Although I had proven otherwise, time continued to move
onwards and forwards and before either me or Charlie
could consider it, the Second World War was upon us.
I knew a lot about the wars, for I had sat through many a
history lesson, but looking back now, I had every
opportunity to warn Charlie and prepare him for the
horrors that would come.
I didn’t though.
And maybe that is the first thing I regret.
I’m not sure.

(INT.) – A KITCHEN – MIDDAY

Charlie sits across from the camera at a table, holding a
mug of warm coffee between his hands. He doesn’t drink it
though, instead he chooses to slide it between his hands,
his eyes moving between Daniel and the newspapers spread
out across the table.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
I had taken every opportunity to ramble about my own
personal downfalls and worries, so much so that I didn’t
see the chance to warn my best friend about possibly the
biggest downfall he’ll ever live through.
Of course being the heroic saviour he was, Charlie
enlisted.

Charlie talks slowly to Daniel, looking up at him from

beneath his hair, which has fallen in his eyes from
pulling his hands through it all morning. He’s not
stressed, he’s desperate. Desperate for Daniel to join
him.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 8

CONTINUED:
DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
From the get-go he had tried to convince me to join him,
claiming that we could lie, produce fake documents, and
join the war effort together.
Charlie had this grand scheme planned out, a way for me
to finally settle in and prove myself to everyone we
knew.
I however, never considered this an option.

(EXT.) – A STREET – AFTERNOON

Charlie walks through the street, his back to the camera.
He is wearing a smart uniform with his head held high and
his back straight. His hands swing by his side as he
moves, each step full of purpose. He is determined and
full of pride to fight for his country.

DANIEL KELLY(V.0)
Charlie had looked so smart the day he left, but when had
he ever looked anything but?
With his hair styled, and his shirt pressed, his mother
took a photo. He stood straight and proud with not an
ounce of regret in his eyes as he walked by on his way to
battle.
Maybe that was the second thing I regretted.
Not joining him.
I could have kept him safe out there, maybe even
protected him with my limited knowledge. It was better
than nothing, yet I chose to deprive him of that, instead
filling his small booklet with nonsense.

The camera slowly moves through the same street,

following the route Charlie took before, although the
place seems empty now that he’s gone.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 9

CONTINUED:
The town and its streets have no meaning for Daniel now
that he is alone.

DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
After Charlie left everything changed.
The kind smiles from those around me faded into distaste.
I should have been out there, fighting for our country,
their country.
It had never truly been my country. My country was a
society 80 years into the future, but no one but myself
and Charlie would ever understand that.
It was about three months after Charlie left that I did
the one thing I will never forgive myself for.
I ran.

(EXT.) – THE FIELD – SUNSET

The field is completely empty again, much like when
Daniel first arrived. The sunset casts a golden light
that sits across the open space.
Charlie’s usual spot against the hill is empty now, his
presence easily missed.
The air is empty, the breeze continues to blow against
the trees but the sound fades out.
Silence.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
When most people run away they leave town, or simply take
a walk before returning home.
Now I considered returning home, not to Charlie’s home,
but my home.
The only problem was that the prospect of facing
everything I had ever left behind was almost as
intimidating as staying in the past.
So I chose the middle ground.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 10

CONTINUED:
I didn’t want to run to either home. Instead I settled
for almost 60 years into the future.

(EXT.) – A BUS STOP – NIGHT

GRACIE sits at a bus stop, her arms wrapped around
herself in an attempt to keep the cool night’s wind out.
She is leaning against the wall, her trainer clad feet
stretched out in front of her.
The light from the nearby streetlamp lights up her face,
and she looks up as a stranger approaches. Daniel. She
looks nervous at first but that quickly changes to a
smile once Daniel starts talking.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
It was a lot easier to settle in this time around.
Everything was familiar, and I found it easier to blend
in with people my own age. It was here that I met Gracie.
I met her on a night out. I was with some of the boys I’d
met the day before when I stumbled across her waiting at
the bus stop.
I let the group go ahead and stopped to speak to her. I
wasn’t sure why, but I felt like I needed to get to know
her, to talk to her.
In that moment I was sure that if my time with Charlie
had taught me anything, it was that I needed to take
every opportunity, and not look back.
If I let fear consume me again I’d never live happily,
I’d just continue to run.

(EXT.) – A BEACH – MIDDAY

Gracie is running through the sand of the beach,
laughing. She looks back every now and then to make sure
Daniel is still following. After a while she turns around
to face him, slowing down to walk backwards facing the
camera.
Her hair flies around loosely in the sea breeze, as free
and relaxed as she is.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 11

CONTINUED:
She is without a care in the world.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
Gracie was everything I had ever looked for, she was
smart, funny, and carefree.
We had fun together, simply being young.
It was everything Charlie should have had before the war
had stripped him of that freedom.

Gracie sits on a sea front wall, her bare feet hanging

over above the sand while her shoes sit safely beside
her.
She looks out across the sea, the breeze dancing around
her.
Gracie doesn’t sit still. She never does.

DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
After a few years I decided that I could trust Gracie
enough to explain everything. I told her how I’d come to
join her in the 90’s and how I had spent years before in
the 30’s.
She seemed as enthusiastic as Charlie had been, although
her excitement was much louder.
Instead of waiting for me to continue in silence, she
asked questions, and instead of just sitting and
listening, we danced.

(EXT.) – THE BEACH – SUNSET

Gracie stands at the water’s edge, waiting for it to rush
up around her ankles.
She shrieks on impact and rushes back, before going back
for more.
She dances around in the water as the sun begins to set.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 12

CONTINUED:
Every now and then Gracie turns to the camera with a wide
grin. She’s happy here with Daniel.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
It was our favourite past time, dancing.
Though not the loud rave kind of the times, it was
instead the warm intimate kind.
The kind you do in the rain when you don’t mind your hair
getting wet, or the kind you do in the sand as you avoid
the waves.
I think that was when I really began to recognise my
regret.
I was living.
For the first time ever, I was living my honest and
truthful existence, yet I had deprived the person who
taught me how of that same liberty.

Gracie walks along the sand beside Daniel. She is

watching him out of the corner of her eye, her shoes
swinging in her hand by her side.
She stays close to him, as though she’s worried that if
she moves too far away she won’t find her way back.

DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
It was Gracie’s idea to go back to Charlie. She didn’t
mean permanently though. Instead she was offering me the
chance to fix my mistakes, to warn him and to convince
him to join us.
At first I wasn’t sure, but once I had been given the
chance to bring Charlie back into my life I began to
realise that I couldn’t pass by this opportunity like I
had everything else.
So I went.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 13

(EXT.)- THE FIELD – MORNING

The field again, this time at mid-morning. It is the same
it has always been, the birds flying overhead, and the
familiar trees leaning in the breeze.
The sun is streaming through the trees into the open
grassy space.
Daniel sees the field from a new angle. It’s not the
familiar one he is used to, instead it’s foreign and
uncomfortable, as though the wind has changed direction.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
I took the old radio once more and I tuned it just right
so that I found myself back in that field.
I knew that my calculations had been precise, for Charlie
was nowhere to be seen, but the previous version of
myself was sat asleep on the hill.

(INT.) – THE BOOK SHOP – MORNING

The bookshop stands as it always did, the shelves filled
with book after book. Everything is in its place, as it
should be when Charlie is working a shift.
At the desk sits Charlie himself, poring over, his
notebook once again. Only this time his actions are
slower, much more precise.
He is drawing, the ink filling up the double page spread
with ease.
He looks up as Daniel approaches.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
I don’t remember a lot from that day, but I do remember
the overwhelming, suffocating feeling that came with the
desperation I felt. I don’t remember stopping to read the
date on a newspaper, and I don’t remember the strange
looks I received as I made my way down the road.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 14

CONTINUED:
Charlie’s face falls as Daniel begins to explain why he
shouldn’t leave, why instead he should go with him to the
future.
DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
The one thing that stands out the most from that day
though was how I was just in time to stop him. If I had
made it just a few days later he would have left me, all
over again.

Charlie grows angry and frustrated as Daniel continues to

speak. He isn’t a coward. He wants to go, he wants to
fight.
He doesn’t want to hear what Daniel has to say about the
war, no matter how horrible it may be.

DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
I’m not sure what I had expected from that day, but it
wasn’t to be met with resistance.
I’ll never know if Charlie had known it was me, the older
version of myself, that is, but I like to think he did.

Charlie pushes away from the desk, standing up to face

Daniel properly. He begins to argue back, explain why he
can’t go.
He accuses Daniel of being scared, when out of everybody,
he would be the most prepared soldier out there.
Charlie doesn’t want to know what Daniel could tell him
to help, instead he wants Daniel to use his own advice.

DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
I don’t think I could ever regret anything more than I do
that day. My decision to go back and get Charlie will
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 15

CONTINUED:
forever be the greatest mistake I have ever made, and I
will have to live with that choice for the rest of my
life.
Charlie’s refusal was like a slap in the face.
He had always enjoyed his life. He had a road planned out
in front of him and he was eager to follow it. He always
had been.

Charlie looks at Daniel one last time, his disappointment

obvious. He then turns on his heel and disappears amongst
the shelves. His notebook remains on the desk, his
drawing on show.

DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
My journey back that day did in fact influence Charlie’s
decision.
However it did so in the worst way.
As I discovered upon returning to Gracie, Charlie had
hesitated, he had waited a few days longer before
enlisting, and as a result he was put in with a different
group of men.
The same group of men that would go on to be killed in
action.

(INT.) – A DARK ROOM – EVENING

The dark room from the start of Daniel’s story. The radio
is still in place, although the newspapers are now spread
out across the room and have been rifled through
frantically.
DANIEL KELLY (V.O)
People live in fear that they’ll reach the end of their
lives and look back with regret. They spend every day
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 16

CONTINUED:
DANIEL KELLY (CONT’D)
(V.O)
trying to make the most out of life to avoid this, yet in
forty, fifty, or sixty years’ time they will still look
back with regrets.

(INT.) – THE BOOKSHOP – MORNING

A shot from before Daniel had returned for Charlie.
Charlie is leaning against the desk, drawing in his
notebook.
DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
Regret is a normal part of life, and I find that if you
act on it, you will only live to regret it more.
Up until today I could count on one hand the things I
regret but looking back I regret everything.

(EXT.) – THE FIELD – LATE AFTERNOON

Charlie sits on the grass. He faces the camera like
before, scribbling frantically in his notebook, listening
to Daniel.
Charlie asks no questions, he simply listens.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
I regret not talking to Charlie more.
I regret not warning him.
Not helping him.
I regret not asking what his notebook meant.
I have since found out that they were reports of
everything I said, which did in fact make up advice
Charlie could follow into the future. I just didn’t know
it yet.
It was in those few moments that I lived in the present,
where I merely existed with no strings attached, did I
actually have the biggest impact.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 17

(EXT.) – THE FIELD – EVENING

Charlie is laying back on the floor, and open book laid
on his chest. He stares up at the sky, looking across at
the camera every now and then with a small smile.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
So this is my report for Charlie, and anyone else
currently living through time.
You don’t need to go anywhere to time travel, for you are
doing so right now, every second, of every minute, of
every day.

(EXT.) – THE BEACH – SUNSET

Gracie dances on the sea front. She grins at Daniel as
the sea rushes up to meet them.

DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
The best way to experience life is without looking
forward, and without looking back. For if you look back
you will only see your mistakes, and if you look forward
you will spend so long trying to avoid the mistakes that
you won’t realise you are making them.

(INT.) - A DARK ROOM – EVENING

The radio continues to stand in its place. It’s Daniel’s
only constant. It’s crackling still, faint music playing
out into the dark room.
The room is full of warm light emitting from a tabletop
lamp.
The radio grows in size as the shot moves closer towards
it.
DANIEL KELLY(V.O)
Just exist, that is all you can ask of yourself.

The lamp turns off.

Darkness.
A Lifetime In Time – FINAL DRAFT 20.03.21 18

CONTINUED:
DANIEL KELLY(CONT’D)
(V.O)
Just exist.