Ouroboros

By Braxton Katz
 Ouroboros

NARRATOR
SHEPLEY
CURATOR
SCENE ONE: INT. OFFICE
(Shepley)
SOUND: FLORECENT BUZZING, SOUND OF CLOCK TICKING
AND SHEPLEY WAKING UP.

SHEPLEY What? What was I…? Oh, work, yeah work…

SOUND: KEYBOARD CLACKING, CLOCK TICKING, LOW

HUMMIMNG FROM OUTSIDE DOOR, SHEPLEY STANDS
UP, SWIVLING OF CHAIR, WALKING SOUNDS,
CONFUSION NOISES.

NARRATOR: (MUFFLED) Shepley stands confused, as he

looks at the clock, “I swear its been ten
minutes!” he thinks to himself, though the
clock reads that no time has passed at
all!

SOUND: WALKING, DOOR OPENING, FRANTIC PAPER

SHUFFLING.

NARRATOR: Shepley, wary of the issue with his clock

Walks out of his office- earlier than
expected!

SHEPLEY: What- where are you? Who are you?!

NARRATOR: Shepley yells into the distan-

SHEPLEY: stop that! (YELLING)

NARRATOR: excuse me- Shepley RUDELY stops the

NARRATOR from finishing his sentence

SOUND: RUSTLING OF PAPERS, OPENING OF DRAWERS,

FRANTIC RUNNING.

SHEPLEY: where are my co-workers? Who- what are

you?

SOUND: NARRATOR SIGHING, PAPERS BEING PLACED

DOWN.

NARRATOR: Shepley, can we please get on with the

story?

SHEPLEY: what story?!

NARRATOR: THE story Shepley! The one I’ve chosen YOU

for.
SHEPLEY: your insane! Let me go home!

SOUND: NARRATOR SIGHING AND SHUFFLING PAPERS.

NARRATOR: SHEPLEY yells into thin air, looking like

a mad man, though for some reason he feels
a compulsion to walk through the office.

SHEPLEY: what? I’m not “yelling into thin air”? I’m

yelling at YOU.

SOUND: CREAKING OF WOOD AND METAL.

SHEPLEY: How? How did you do that?

NARRATOR: two doors appear in front of Shepley that

weren’t previously there before.

SOUND: DOORS OPENING.

NARRATOR: SHEPLEY goes through the LEFT door.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS. PAUSE. FOOTSTEPS.

NARRATOR: though, apparently, he decided to go

through the right door instead.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS- CONTINUED

NARRATOR: Shepley walked through the hallway-

SOUND: RUNNING, SIGHING, PAPERS SHUFFLING.

NARRATOR: Shepley RAN through the office, taking a

small detour from the conference room
where he was SUPPOSED to go to. He looked
around the breakroom, admiring it and all
its perfection, thinking “How wonderful,
such a beautifully crafted breakroom! So
many textures and wonderous colou-

SOUND: LIGHT FOOTSTEPS AND A DOOR CLOSING.

NARRATOR: No! instead Shepley wanted to run along!

And ignore the hard and tumultuous work
the narrator put into the breakroom!

SHEPLEY: (TEASINGLY) your fault for trapping me

here! You could’ve- y’know- not done that?
SOUND: DOORS SLAMMING, NARRATOR HUFFS.

NARRATOR: (ANGRY) Shepley you seem to not yet

understand, this is MY story, my anecdote
to create and write and have others
experience fully, “oh we love this story,
Shepley’s inferno! Its so fascinating!”

SHEPLEY: My life’s a story to you? I’m a real

person you fuck!

NARRATOR: No your not Shepley! You are a character I

created for this!

SOUND: WOOD AND METAL CREAKING, LOUD FLORECENT

BUZZING, SHAKING.

NARRATOR: you don’t understand Shepley! I CREATED

YOU! I MADE YOU! And until you realise you
have NO INPUT I will rese-

SOUND: SILENCE BROKEN BY LOUD BUZZING AND

RINGING. BREAK. AND SOFT BUZZING AND
TICKING.

SHEPLEY: I’m back? I’m back in the fucking office!?

NARRATOR: Shepley stands and looks at the clock “I

swear its been ten minutes-“

SOUND: DOOR BEING SLAMMED OPEN AND RUNNING,

JIGGLING DOOR KNOB AND SLAMMING AT DOOR
BREAK, PAPERS SHUFFLING AND ANNOYED GROAN.

NARRATOR: Shepley ran like a mad man through the

office, sputtering nonsense about a
handsome narrator trapping him! He- OW. He
rudely slammed on a door, to no answer.

SHEPLEY: Let me out! Open this fucking door right

now!

SOUND: DOOR BEING KICKED AND WINCING.

NARRATOR: OW! Shepley angrily and manically kicked a

door for no reason! Had he gone insane? Or
maybe- maybe he thought kicking the door
would make it open! But no!

SOUND: METAL AND WOOD CREAKING, PAUSE. DOORS

OPENING.
NARRATOR: Shepley goes into the LEFT door, LEFT.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS, DOOR CLOSING.

NARRATOR: NO SHEPLEY NO! THE LEFT DOOR!

SOUND: NARRATOR SIGHS, SHUFFLES PAPERS, METAL AND

WOOD CREEAKING, SHAKING.

NARRATOR: (FRANTICALLY) suddenly! The boardroom

appeared around Shepley! Though no one was
there! “no ones here either?” thought
Shepley.

SOUND: DOOR OPENING. LIGHT FOOTSTEPS.

NARRATOR: Shepley walks through the door. Trying to

find an exit.

SHEPLEY: what if I don’t?

Silence.

NARRATOR: Shepley walks through the door. Trying to

find an exit.
Silence.

SOUND: SHAKING, BUZZING SLOWLY BECOMING LOUDER.

NARRATOR: Shepley. Walks. Through. The door.

SOUND: SLOW FOOTSTEPS. DOOR SLAMMING LOUDLY.

Silence.

NARRATOR: Shepley walks through the barren hallway,

shuffling his feet one after another.
Until he found a bridge!

SOUND: ELECTRICAL WHIRRING.

NARRATOR: Shepley carefully walks towards the

bridge.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS, WHIRRING. ECHO

Silence.

SHEPLEY: no.

NARRATOR: no? what do you mean “no” Shepley?

SHEPLEY: no! I’m not doing this!

SOUND: WIND WHISTLING, METALIC FOOTSTEPS.

SHEPLEY: its my life! I don’t want a dickhead like

you controlling it!

NARRATOR: now Shepley don’t be irrational! Shepley

steps away from the ledge.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS METALLIC.

NARRATOR: oh stop being dramatic! Shepley walks away

from the ledge.

SOUND: HEAVY BREATHING, FOOTSTEPS, WIND. BREAK.

RINGING AND BUZZING.

SOUND: SOFT BUZZING, CLOCK TICKING.

NARRATOR: (MUFFLED) Shepley stands confused, as he

looks at the clock, “I swear its been ten
minutes!” he thinks to himself, though the
clock reads that n-

SOUND: GARLGING NOISES

SHEPLEY: what-

NARRATOR: stop making those noises Shepley! I know

your stubborn but this is just
unacceptable!

SHEPLEY: no! it wasn’t me I don’t think…

SOUND: GARGLING AND SQUEALING.

NARRATOR: stop it! Shepley stops making those noises

and steps outside his office.

SHEPLEY: fine. Fine.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS. DOORS OPENING AND CLOSING.

NARRATOR: Shepley walks through the office.

Bewildered that that there was no one
 here. Stepping into a corridor he found
two doors, and went through the LEFT one.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS, PAPERS RUSTLING.

NARRATOR: good Shepley!

SHEPLEY: piss off.

NARRATOR: shepley hits himself on the head.

SOUND: SLAPPING AND GRUNTING

SHEPLEY: ow-

NARRATOR: (AMUSED) shepley walks towards the stairs.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS AND LIGHT GURGLING. MUSIC

NARRATOR: shepley walks into a room filled with soft

music light and colour! It fills him with
a sense of calmness.

SOUND: SOFT ZEN CHIMES AND LOW BUZZING.

NARRATOR: you see shepley! This is all I wanted you

to experience! True calmness and zen! Just
relax and let the calmness overtake you.

SHAPLEY: yeah- this is pretty good. Its- its warm

here, but still chilly. Its nice, this is
nice narrator.

NARRATOR: you see shapley- I don’t want to hurt you-

I want you to be calm.

SHAPLEY: I see that now. Thank you.

NARRATOR: your welcome, and its just where I wanted

the story to go (trailing off)

SOUND: EERY RINGING AND BUZZING RETURNS AND THE

SOUND OF GARGLING AND MONSTEROUS NOISES
CONTINUES. FOOTSTEPS.

NARRATOR: shepley- shepley where are you going!

Please stay in the zen zone! Please-
Silence

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS AND RINGING

NARRATOR: shepley don’t go up those stairs! Theres
no ending you can get hurt!

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS ECHOING.

NARRATOR: shepley please no! I know I was mean to

you before but I promise to be better!

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS ECHOING STOPPING.

NARRATOR: shepley please no-

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS AND FALLING. ECHOING SOUND OF

FALL. INTENSE RINGING.

NARRATOR: good, your not too badly hurt. Can we

please go back to the zen room now?
Silence.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS ECHOING

NARRATOR: shepley no. please?

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS AND FALLING. ECHOING. LOUDER

BUZZING

NARRATOR: (pained cry) please shepley, stop this,

please can we go back to the zending.

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS, INCREASING GARGLING, ECHOING

FALLING.
Silence.

SOUND: BUZZING, TICKING, RINGING AND INTENSE

MONSTER NOISES AND STRUGGLE.

NARRAROR: (DEGECTED) Shepley stands confus- Shepley?

SHEPLEY: (DEEPENED AND MONSTROUS) What- whats

happening?

SOUND: GARGLING, SCREAMING AND RIPPING.

SHEPLEY: (SCARED) Narrator- whats happening?

NARRATOR: shepley! Im going to try and stop this um-

one more reset might do it!

SOUND: LOUD BUZZING AND RINGING. TICKING,

MONSTOROUS NOISES INTENSIFY.

NARRATOR: oh god Shepley no, please.

SHEPLEY: (GARGLED SCREAMING) help!

NARRATOR: (FRANTIC AND SHUFFLING PAPERS) shepley

returns to normal! Shepley stops being a
monster, shepley is normal!! Damnit,

SHEPLEY: (THROUGH CRIES) end it.

Silence.

SOUND: INTENSE GARGLING.

NARRATOR: I cant. Im- im sorry… when I made this-

this wasn’t this isn’t- this isn’t logic!
This is- this is-
Silence.

CURATOR: what playing god does?

NARRATOR: what? Whos there?

CURATOR narrator, please give the reigns to me. I

told you this wasn’t supposed to happen

NARRATOR: who even are you?!

CURATOR: that doesn’t matter now. For now I need to

put this creature out of his misery.

NARRATOR: (PANICKED AND ANGRY) NO!

SHEPLEY: (howls in discomfort)

CURATOR: narrator, your actions have consequences,

and this is one of them.

SOUND: METAL AND WOOD CREAKING

NARRATOR: go on Shepley! Escape! Ill meet you out of

bounds!

CURATOR: narrator don’t you dare, im doing this for

the both of you!

SOUND: THUNDER AND YELLING.

NARRATOR: leave shepley! Ill hold her off!

SOUND: SHEPLEY RUNNING OFF, FIGHTING ENSUES AS WE

ARE LEFT ON THE BUZZING OF THE FLORECENTS.
AND THE TICKING OF A CLOCK.
THE END