Still There

(We see a man on a leisurely run just after sunrise. He runs

through an older part of town, and he comes to a seemingly

abandoned building. The windows are broken and boarded up, the

walls are covering in dust and cracks. Inside we hear someone

quietly sobbing. The man stops for a moment looks around and then

goes inside.)

Man: Hello? Is someone in here?

(His words echo through the building. The crying continues. He

moves through the building, following the sound of the crying.

Eventually, he comes to a room with a young boy, about 8-9 years

old.)

Man: Hello? Are you alright?

(The boy is sitting on the far wall with his knees up and arms

around his knees. He has no shirt or shoes on. His hair is matted

and his body is dirty. The boy continues crying.)

Man: Hey, what are you doing here?

(The boy stops crying.)

Man: Where are your parents?

(The boy simply looks at the man.)

Man: Do you have a name?

(No response. The man crosses to the boy. As he enters the room

more, the boy slides away into the corner away from the man.)

Man: What’s your name, kid?

(Again, no response.)

(Beat)

(Beat)

Man: Do you want some water?

(The boy looks at the man’s water bottle. The man begins to walk

towards the boy to give him the water, but the boy stiffens.)

Man: Alright, that’s fine. I don’t need to come over there.

(He rolls the water bottle to the boy who very tentatively picks

it up. The boy looks at the man nervously for a moment, holding

the bottle, then drinks.)

(They both eye each other for a moment. Neither sure what to do.)

Men: You know, I grew up right around here. Is this where you

live?

(Beat)

(The boy nods.)

Man: How long have you lived here?

(The boy shrugs.)

Man: Do you live here alone?

(The boy nods.)

Man: Have you always lived here alone?

(The boy shakes his head.)

Man: Where’s the person who takes care of you?

(The boy just looks at the man.)

Man: How long have you been alone?

(No response.)

Man: Great. We’re back to not answering.

(They sit in silence for a moment, looking at each other.

Finally, the man stands and begins to leave.)

Man: Look, kid, I’m sorry, but if you aren’t going to say

anything then I can’t help you.

Boy: Don’t go.

(The man stops in the doorway, shocked that the boy has said

something.)

Man: (turning to the boy) If I stay will you answer some

questions?
(The boy nods.)

Man: (Coming back into the room and sitting opposite the boy.)

Ok. What’s your name?

(Beat)

Boy: I don’t have one.

Man: What?

Boy: I don’t have one.

Man: (Confused) Ok. Where did the person who took care of you go?

Boy: I don’t know.

Man: (Under his breath) A lot of good talking is doing.

(Beat)

Man: (realizing) How do you eat?

(The boy looks at the man and shrugs.)

Man: When was the last time you ate?

(Beat)

Boy: I don’t know.

Man: (Getting up to leave.) Come on. I’ll get you something.

Boy: I can’t.

Man: What?
Boy: I can’t.

Man: You can’t eat?

Boy: I can’t leave.

Man: Why can’t you leave?

Boy: This is where I have to stay.

(Beat)

Man: Ok, here’s the thing kid, I want to help you. I do. But if

you won’t leave I can’t do that. I can’t stay here all day. I’ve

got responsibilities, other things I need to take care of.

(The boy nods at the man as if familiar with this excuse. The man

is slightly taken aback by the boy's response.)

Man: (After a moment) I guess I can stay a little longer.

(They sit in silence, again, for a long time. The man inspects

the boy from across the room. The boy sits staring at his feet.)

Boy: Will you play a game with me?

(Beat)

Man: Sure.

(The boy's face lights up with excitement at the thought of

having someone to play with. It has been an incredibly long time

since he has been able to do something like this.)

Boy: Really?!

(The man gets up and makes his way over to the boy. This time the

boy does not flinch or move. The boy grabs two rocks off the

floor and hands one to the man. He then starts to carve a nine-

square grid for tic-tac-toe into the wall.)

Boy: (Carving a circle into one of the nine boxes) There isn’t

much to play with here so we can just play this. Your turn!

Man: (Carving an X) Do you play this a lot?

Boy: Not anymore. We used to play a lot. We used to play make-

believe and board games and a bunch of stuff. I can’t really play

those things anymore. He got rid of all that stuff. And I haven’t

had anyone to play with so I haven’t played this in a while. We

played this some times though. We always liked it. It’s easy. I

win! Let’s play again!

(The two continue playing throughout the scene, starting a new

game whenever they finish a game.)

(Long Beat)

Man: What changed?

Boy: Huh?
Man: Well I assume when you say “we” you mean you and the guy

that took care of you.

Boy: Oh, yeah.

Man: You used to play together a lot and then he just got rid of

everything you played with and left? Why?

Boy: I don’t know. He started talking about how we need to grow

up. He said that there are more important things than playing and

you can’t just be a little kid all the time. He said something

about how he doesn’t have the kind of energy to play all the time

and he can’t just be so care-free anymore. I don’t know.

Man: He left you here because he had to grow up? He’s supposed to

take care of you, take you with him. Just because you have other

responsibilities doesn’t mean you abandon your kid.

(The boy stares at the man. He tried to leave the boy too because

he “had other responsibilities.”)

Man: What?

Boy: (Looking back at the tic-tac-toe grids) You’re not very good

at this.

(The boy has one every single game so far. They both laugh, the

boy more so than the man.)

Man: Yeah I guess not. I haven’t done anything like this in

years. I must be out of practice or something.

Boy: Why’d you stop playing?

Man: Don’t get me wrong, your friend shouldn’t have left you, but

he was right about some things. There’s no room in the real world

for playing. You have to grow up. You have to get a job, take

care of people, take care of yourself. You can’t do any of that

out there if you’re playing. In the real world, people who play

around don’t make it. You have to be serious and work hard. You

lose a lot of energy just working so you don’t have any to spare

playing games, running around, and shouting like a kid. There are

a lot of things to worry about. You can’t play.

Boy: You’re playing.

(The man stares at the boy shocked at this.)

Man: (Shaking off what the boy said) This isn’t common, though.

People think of you differently when you act like a kid, and that

means a lot in the real world.

Boy: Why?

(Beat)

Man:(Not quite sure how to answer.) It just does.

Boy: That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.

Man: It’s harder to do that out there.

Boy: I think it’s worth it. It’s important. Everyone needs a

break.

(The man sits in silence for a moment. The boy waits for him to

take his turn in the game.)

Boy: (Laughing and waving his hand in front of the man’s face)

Hello? Anybody home? It’s your turn!

Man: Sorry.

Boy: Hey you won! See it’s not that hard!

(The man stares at the grid, pleasantly surprised at his victory.

The boy begins laughing as he tosses his rock in the air, playing

catch with himself. The man watches the boy and a grin slowly

begins to grow on his face. He looks down at the rock in his

hand, then begins to play catch with himself as well. The two of

them lay back on the ground, repeatedly throwing the rock up in

the air and catching it above them. They both begin to laugh, the

man enjoying himself for the first time in a while. They laugh

and play for a while and then the boy sits up and watches the man

playing.)
Boy: See! I don’t mind so much that he got rid of all of the

things we played with before. You don’t really need anything to

play.

Man: (Sitting up) I don’t know why he hasn’t come back.

Boy: He probably thinks I’m gone. He said that before he left,

that eventually I would be gone too, that I had to go.

(Beat)

Man: Why haven’t you left?

Boy: What if he want’s to play again? I don’t want him to forget

how to play like you did and not have someone to help him.

Man: You said he hasn’t been here in a long time. He’s probably

not coming back. You should leave, take care of yourself.

Boy: He might though.

Man: If he doesn’t think you’re still here then there is no

reason to stay. He was right too. It was fun to be a kid for a

while, but eventually you have to grow up too.

(The boy looks at the man, disappointed but not at all

surprised.)
Man: (Standing up) I have to go now. I can’t stay any longer. You

should come too.

(The Boy just stares at the man.)

(Beat)

(The man begins to leave, as he reaches the door he turns back

around.)

Man: Thank you… for letting me be a kid again.

(He turns and leaves. The boy looks at the doorway a moment, then

gets up, goes back to the far wall, and sits once more with his

arms wrapped around his knees.)

Boy: (Both happy and remorseful) I’m glad you came back.

(The next day we see the man running again. As he passes by the

building where the boy lives he stops. Cut to the boy sitting in

the room. We hear the footsteps of the man as he comes to a stop.

The boy looks up at the doorway in anticipation. Cut to the man.

He considers going in for a moment.)

Man: (To himself) He’s probably not still there.

(Cut to the boy. He is still staring at the doorway. We hear the

man’s footsteps outside again. They begin to fade as he moves on

past the building. The boy puts his head against his knees,

covering his face. Fade to black.)

The End