Strangers and a Box

By

Peter Hennessy

Deanfield Ave, Henley-on-Thames RG9 1UH

INT. MYSTERIOUS ROOM – TIME UNKNOWN 1

The room is sparsely filled, the main piece of furniture

being a table in the centre of the room, surrounded by
five chairs. The room is windowless and somewhat
oppressive. The characters enter the room, glancing at
each other warily and taking seats around the table on
which stands the titular box.

(V.O) GAME MASTER

On the 23rd of April you are invited to

participate in a game. This game is unlike any
other, and the reward is that which you most
desire…

Cuts to various shots of the characters receiving this

message and reading it.

(CONT. V.O) GAME MASTER

…At the location enclosed in this message

There will be a building, the door will be
unlocked and you will go inside. Upon entering you
will notice a box; the box will be locked…

We see the characters entering the building, and then

looking curiously at the box, one of them tries to open
it and gets frazzled.

(CONT. V.O) GAME MASTER

…The task is simple: guess what’s inside

the box, and the contents are yours. Good
luck and may the best man win!

STRANGER 1

I assume we all know why we’re here?

Those around the table nod and murmur their agreement.

 2
Stranger 1 nods in approval and then plants his hands
firmly on the table.

STRANGER 1

Right then, I suppose we should try to

work out what’s inside this thing.

He gestures towards the box and all eyes fall onto it.
The Stranger that had been frazzled just a moment before
gets up and dazedly looks around.

STRANGER 2

D-don’t touch the box guys, it’s

a bit of a zinger.

STRANGER 1

I think our friend here is right. Exhibit A:

the massive amounts of electricity running
through his body right now.

STRANGER 3

So if we can’t open the box how do we find out

what’s inside?

Suddenly a voice seems to come out of thin air. The

Strangers look around at one another and around the room
in confusion.

GAME MASTER

I think it’s about time I set down some

ground rules, people. You cannot open the
box by force, you also cannot leave this
room until the box is open.

The door locks noisily, the strangers looking startled.

 3

There is a moment of awkward silence, then they all

simultaneously rush to the door to try to open it. It
doesn’t budge. The Game Master’s laugh cackles through
the speaker system.

GAME MASTER

Any attempts to leave the room or open the

box by force will be met by instant
disqualification.

STRANGER 1

Well then, looks like we don’t have a choice

in this anymore. Is it just me that’s wondering
why I decided to do exactly what a weird anonymous
message told me to?

STRANGER 3

Nah man, I do that all the time, just last week

Some guy asked for my Spotify login details - matter
Of life or death he said – Now my family are in a
Ukrainian POW camp, and I’m damn near penniless.

They all stare at him for a moment. Stranger 1 claps

loudly to get everyone’s attention.

STRANGER 1

Okaaay…! Now I think we can all agree that our

friend here has made some…questionable…decisions,
but lets not let that distract from the fact we made
one too. Now lets go and get this box open. Agreed?

They all go and shuffle along to the table and sit down
again. STRANGER 4 is looking agitated.

STRANGER 4
How are we supposed to guess what’s inside, it
could be literally anything…!?
 4

They all look dejected for a moment, then Stranger 1

looks excited and pulls his phone up, looking at the
invitation.

STRANGER 1

You guys remember the invitation message

we got, right?

Strangers 2 and 4 nod, but 3 puts his hand up awkwardly.

STRANGER 3

You guys got invitations?

STRANGER 1

Errrm, yes? This place is literally in the

middle of nowhere, how’d you find it without
directions?

STRANGER 3

I hang around here all the time, I just saw all

you guys going in here and thought I’d see what
was up, y’know.
(under breath) really starting to doubt my
judgement…

Stranger 1 shows his phone to them, pointing out a

relevant line of the Game Master’s message.

STRANGER 1

See here, it says the prize is what you most

Desire…!

STRANGER 4

And…? Doesn’t do us much good if we can’t open

the thing.
 5

STRANGER 1

But remember what he told us just now! Whatever

is in the box IS the prize, which means that the
thing inside is whatever we most desire!

The strangers all begin to look hopefully at each other.

STRANGER 2

That’s a start, but now we gotta think of

something we all have in common; what’s in the
box must be the thing we all want most, right?

STRANGER 1

Hmm, that is true, I think we need to learn a

More about each other. There must be a reason
we were all picked for this.

STRANGER 4

Well my name is-

STRANGER 1

Just minute, I think it’s best if we don’t

know each other’s names. To preserve our
anonymity

STRANGER 4

Alright then…I’m an IMAX screen cleaner, I

Live alone, no family, no friends…all alone…

He fades to silence, staring forward sadly. The other

look around at each other awkwardly. Suddenly someone
comes out of a side room, the sound of a flushing toilet
can be heard. He walks over confidently, taking the free
chair. He waves at the other people and smiles.
 6

JARED

Hello all, I’m Jared!

Stranger 1 puts his hand to his head and sighs.

STRANGER 1

Hello…Jared…we were just talking about not

Our names, but ah well…

JARED

Oh…oopsie…you can just forget I said that…

STRANGER 4
I literally can’t think of any other word than
Jared now, my brain is just “Jared”…

STRANGER 3

Hey Jared, I didn’t expect to see you here, how

You been?

Jared does not respond and Stranger 1 turns to Stranger 3

with an eyebrow raised.

STRANGER 1

You two know each other?

STRANGER 3

Yes.

JARED
(simultaneously) No.
 7

STRANGER 3
you don’t remember, you and me, a few years back?

JARED
Um, nope, I’m sorry but we’ve never met before.