A Good Name

written by

Isobel Cartlidge
Mason Dilnott
Archie Dobson
Isabelle Garforth
INT. UNKOWN ROOM - UNKNOWN TIME OF DAY
A worn out room full of boxes, there's no natural or
artificial lighting. It doesn't look like anyone has been
here in months, with dust clinging to every surface.
Towards the back of the room, the boxes pile up high as if
they are leaning against the wall. The dust is somehow more
scattered, as if the back is more frequently used.

INT. BELA'S FLAT - DAY

BELA (20) sits straight-backed at her desk, her laptop screen

facing her at the perfect angle as she reads the news. A
brightly coloured room filled with plush animals and streaks
of pink and yellow, a hyper clean, meticulously ordered hub
of all things innocent, with photos of family, friends, old
pets and faded memories, with a scrupled up, slightly dirty
dog leash oddly and slobbishly thrown over her bed side table
where a framed picture of her dog sits.
Bela carefully closes her laptop lid and moves it to be
perfectly horizontal with the desk and everything else on it.
She stands and carefully tucks the chair in.
Bela takes a pair of perfectly clean trainers from the wooden
shoe rack by the door and carries them over to her perfectly
made bed, placing them on the floor before sitting.
She leans over to remove her slippers and puts on the
trainers. Hidden beneath her bed lies scattered boxes of
various medications, labels for antipsychotics barely
visible.
Once her shoes are on, she stands up straight and slowly
circles her neck, letting out a sigh of relief and rapid head
shake as she finishes. As she walks towards the door, her
hand automatically reaches to the misaligned plant pot on her
desk, turning it to be in the perfect position. Bela leaves
her room.

INT. HALLWAY - DAY

Bela enters the hallway, a dimly lit and relatively clean
room, she sees her roommate LEAH (20) banging on the door of
their other roommate DYLAN (20). The knocks are quiet but
rapid in succession, only to be met with eerie silence. Leah
sighs and turns around to see Bela awkwardly standing just
outside her door.
 2.

LEAH
Hey, do you know where Dylan is? I
haven’t seen him in a few days.
BELA
No idea, I thought he’d been here
the whole time.
LEAH
He might've gone home for a few
days, I’ll just try and call him.
Bela smiles and with purpose; hops to the door and turns
back to Leah.
BELA
Oh, can I ask you a quick question?
LEAH
Uh - yeah, sure.
BELA
What do you think a good name for a
dog is? A boy?
LEAH
Oh, erm, well my dog back home is
called Woody.
BELA
Hmm... I just couldn't bring myself
to name my dog after a toy.

Bela opens the door and leaves the flat, Leah left standing
there slightly insulted.

EXT. DRIVEWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Bela gleefully skips out of the front door over to the
garage, she opens the door and quickly enters.
Bela soon comes back out of the garage with an empty food
bowl which she places by the door. As her sleeve briefly
rises up her arm what looks like a fresh bite can be seen,
she slowly massages the area before pulling the sleeve back
down.

INT. MULTI-STORY CAR PARK - LATER

PETER (21) is walking through the multi-story carpark to his
car with his dog and a shopping bag.
 3.

Bela is heading to the staircase in a spritely manner, but

gets distracted by Peter's dog and bends down to stroke him.
BELA
He's gorgeous!
Peter turns to smile at Bela as she kneels to stroke the dog.
BELA (CONT'D)
What's his name?
PETER
Arthur
BELA
That's stronger.
Bela continues to stroke the dog.
It‘s a good name. I'm trying to
think of one for mine at the
moment, any ideas?
PETER
It'll probably just come to you.
Bela looks up at Peter with a wry unpredictable smile before
stroking Arthur one last time, Peter has a look of distrust.
Bela heads up the stairs to the next level. She is here to
meet a man about some cheap dog food and other animal
supplies. She sees the man, only known as RINGO, and skips
over. Stood at the back of his van filled with miscellaneous
things he sells, Ringo is a man of great stature, dawning a
leather coat, ragged black jeans, a dirty white Guns N' Roses
tee with a cigarette hanging out of the left side of his
mouth.
BELA
(excitedly)
Hey! You must be Ringo?
RINGO
That's right, I'm guessing you're
Bela.
BELA
(Letting out a playful
chuckle)
That's me!
Ringo turns and starts rummaging through the items in the
back of his truck.
 4.

RINGO
So you're looking for cheap dog
food, is that right?
Bela tries to peer over Ringo's shoulder to see what he's
doing.
BELA
Uh- yeah I heard you were good for
that. I wanted an ear tag as well -
Ringo slams the big bag of dog food in front of her.
RINGO
Twenty quid.
BELA
Uh- Oh. Sure.
What about the ear tag?
Ringo gives Bela a harsh stare.
RINGO
Seriously?
BELA
It's what we used to do on the farm
to make sure nobody ran away.
Ringo shakes his head but turns back around to find the tag
in his truck. He throws it on top of the dog food.
Bela Scuffles through her hand bag to find her purse, and
pulls out a £20 note and a £5, Ringo snatches the note from
Bela's hand.
RINGO
Pleasure doing business with you,
love.
BELA
You too!
Ringo quickly turns and walks away from Bela as she lifts her
items off the ground.

EXT. OUTSIDE FLAT - DAY

Bela approaches her house struggling to carry her supplies,
picking up the dog bowl as Leah watches from the window.
 5.

INT. KITCHEN - EVENING

Bela walks into her kitchen, exhausted from her long day, and
places her purchases on the side, before picking up the dog
bowl and filling it full to brim with food.

INT. UNKNOWN ROOM/GARAGE - MOMENTS LATER

Bela stands in the worn out room full of boxes, it is her
garage.
Quiet whimpering and scuffling can be heard from the back
Bela carefully begins to walk to the back of the garage.
BELA
(babyish voice)
Shhh shhh, it's okay, you don't
need to be scared
Bela gets to the wall of boxes, bending down as she rounds
them.
BELA (CONT'D)
(she continues in the
babyish voice)
I won't hurt you, shhh.
Bela places the bowl of dog food on the floor and bends over
to scratch what seems to be a dogs head.
BELA (CONT'D)
You're a good boy aren't you?
She continues scratching his head as she pulls the ear tag
out of her pocket. Bela goes further behind the boxes out of
view, then the agonised screaming begins.
BELA (CONT'D)
Shhh it's okay!! It's all done now,
and I finally have the perfect name
for you. Dylan!
The dog is revealed to be a now malnourished, dirty and pale
Dylan, half naked with a rope tying him to the wall and a gag
in his mouth. A soiled puppy pad beneath him. The fragile,
dead white husk of a person he once was, staring Bela in the
eyes with nothing but fear.
BELA (CONT'D)
Don't worry. You're safe here.
THE END.