InterConnected - Estranged

INTERCONNECTED
“Estranged”
Written by
Charlotte Mason-Mottram
© Charlotte Mason-Mottram 2020
E: cmasonmottram@hotmail.com
T: +44(0)7535 515777

1.
INTERCONNECTED
“Estranged”
FADE IN:
INT. CAMPBELL HOME – EVENING
BRYONY “BRY” (mid 40s) – visibly anxious, she chews her
fingernails on her right hand while apprehensively
watching the clock on the wall.
In the background, the RUMBLING of the dishwasher and the
DULL DRONE from a television off-screen; a newsreader
affirming the number of fatalities and issuing advice on
social distancing.
BRYONY
Can’t do it.
Silver-haired and sporting large reading glasses,
Bryony’s husband, ROLAND “RO” (late 40s) gets up from his
chair and strides over to kiss Bryony on the cheek.
ROLAND
Yes, you can.
He turns to face the television, hands behind his back.
ROLAND (CONT’D)
(shaking his head)
Right, that’s enough news for
tonight. I’ll give you some space.
Roland switches off the TV and starts to head upstairs.
Bryony does not acknowledge this.
BRYONY
Do you regret not having kids?
ROLAND
(frustrated)
Not this again...
He pauses on the stairs and smiles sympathetically while
resting his arms on the banister.
After a few seconds, his smile fades into a frown.

2.
ROLAND (CONT’D)
She’s getting to you, isn’t she?
Just say what you need to say and
then call it a day.
BRYONY
What if she doesn’t want to talk
to me?
ROLAND (CONT’D)
(sighing)
Look, you don’t need me to tell you
this, but she’s complicated. You
might not get what you want out of
this chat...
(nodding towards the TV)
...but now’s the time to put aside
your differences and just talk. OK?
Roland disappears off-screen.
Bryony retorts but to an empty room.
BRYONY
I don’t know what I want from this.
A glance at the clock on the wall. 19.02.
Bryony reluctantly saunters over to her desk and SLUMPS
in front of a brightly-lit laptop which now ILLUMINATES
her face, drawing attention to her uneasy expression.
SHAKILY she places half a glass of red wine down beside
the laptop on the desk.
Then, with a DEEP BREATH, she straightens her posture and
presses several keys all at once. ‘SKYPE’ opens up and
her face suddenly appears on the screen.
BRYONY
(muttering)
Please don’t pick up.
Please don’t pick up.
The familiar ‘Skype’ jingle signifying an outgoing call
begins to play.
Moments later, the call CUTS OFF abruptly with no
response. Bryony’s face appears discernibly relieved.

3.
She places a hand at the top of the screen and begins to
shut down the laptop...
Then, AN IDEA.
Bryony grabs her mobile phone and swipes to unlock her
front-facing camera and begins video-recording.
BRYONY
(clearing her throat)
Hi, Mum. I know you probably don’t
want to talk to me. Or you’ve
forgotten. Or the instructions I
sent weren’t very good.
(speaking quickly)
Anyway, things are getting crazier
by the day and if something happens
I want to make sure you hear this...
Bryony studies her own face on the computer screen as
though coming to some sort of realisation.
She bites her lip.
A LONG PAUSE.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
(awkward laughter)
You know I’m not very good with
words, but I’ve been thinking a
lot about you in all this madness.
I guess, what I’m trying to say is,
there’s some stuff I want you to
know and I think I’d regret not
telling you exactly how I feel.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
(voice trembling)
Um. Look, I just want you to
know that I do love you. I know
I was difficult. But so were you.
And we clashed. Mostly because I
got frustrated when you weren’t the
Mum I thought you should be.
(pause)
I couldn’t bear to see you as
somebody who was fragile or weak.
And I know that I wasn’t patient
with you when Dad left and you were
struggling.
(MORE)

4.
She stops.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
(pause)
In my mind, you had to be invincible,
or, indestructible. No matter what.
I felt angry when you weren’t. But
I’ve realised that anger was just fear.
I was afraid that if you weren’t strong
for me, then nobody would be. And that
something really bad would happen.
Takes another DEEP BREATH.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
(eyes watering)
They say the greatest gift you can
ever give to your children is to be
yourself. So yeah, I’ve had this
realisation – you could say - that
you didn’t really need to be strong
for me. At least not all the time.
Because you were human. You wore your
heart on your sleeve and you felt
every single emotion.
(pause)
You represented every ripple in the
tide of life. You were just Mum, and
that was enough. You taught me that
life has its hardships, and that it’s
okay to not always feel tough.
(pause)
You showed me when you were scared so
that I’d know what fear looked like.
I looked fear in the eye; I looked
grief in the eye; I looked life in
the eye. All because you were you.
SILENCE fills the room in the absence of the running
dishwasher and the television.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
And because you cried whenever
you felt like it.
(laughing)
Oh my God, did you cry...
(pause)
Do you know I actually think you
could have cried for England?
(MORE)

5.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
Remember when you cried for two days
straight after accidentally treading
on a snail and crushing its shell –
sorry, its ‘home’... You were
totally inconsolable. Hysterical!
(pause)
Oh, and remember when you played
Stevie Wonder at such an outrageous
volume at seven o’clock in the
morning on every single one of my
birthdays? You offended ‘weird
neighbour Brian’ that one time
and he threatened to call the police
with that passive aggressive note
through our letterbox. But that
didn’t stop you.
(pause)
I’ll never forget how you managed
to pull everything out of the bag
every single Christmas, just to
give me the most-special day. You
did it all even if you weren’t
feeling festive, and even when your
purse was empty.
A moment of reflection; Bryony appears lost in thought.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
(spoken sternly)
I never wanted to be a Mum. I was
terrified of having kids, in case
things weren’t perfect, in case...
in case we didn’t get along.
(pause)
I’ll never forget the fights we had
behind closed doors. The shouting.
The tears...
(tearing up)
But I know now that being
a Mum means being worn, torn and
dishevelled. There’s no hiding
from who you are. It really is the
most-important job in the world,
and I want you to know that you
gave me everything and more.
She closes her eyes and starts to cry.
Briefly, she looks away from the screen, concealing tears
and contemplating what to say next.

6.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
(rubbing eyes)
No idea where all this is coming from.
Maybe there should be more pandemics.
Gets people to open up about things.
(pause)
I thought we could go to our special
café when all this is over. Only if
you’re feeling better and you want to.
I’d really like that.
(smiling directly at the camera)
Happy birthday, Mum.
Bryony ends the recording after her birthday wishes and
shares the video with her Mum via email.
A further moment of reflection is interrupted with an
INCOMING CALL from ‘ALAN’.
BRYONY
(into phone)
Hello?
ALAN (V.O.)
(sounding desperate)
Hello?
BRYONY
(into phone)
Hi, Alan. Is everything OK? I was
just trying to get hold of Mum but -
ALAN (V.O.)
(snivelling)
They’ve taken her to the hospital.
BRYONY
(into phone)
What?!
ALAN (V.O.)
She’s been very sick. I didn’t know
what to do -
BRYONY
(defensively interjecting)
I know that! I thought she
was recovering. Jesus Christ.
When did this happen?
An exchange of SILENCE; no response from Alan.

7.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
(into phone)
What can I do?
ALAN (V.O.)
(voice wobbling)
I don’t think there’s anything
we can do.
(pause)
I can’t live without her, Bry.
A simultaneous EXHALE from both ends of the phone.
ALAN (CONT’D - V.O.)
(speaking through sobs)
I just can’t do it.
Bryony immediately de-escalates from being angry with her
stepfather, to consoling the man worried about his wife.
BRYONY
(into phone)
I know, I know. It’s OK. It’ll
be OK. Get some sleep. Will you
let me know if the hospital rings?
OK love.
ALAN (V.O.)
BRYONY
(into phone)
Night, Alan.
(hangs up)
Bryony sits back in her chair and begins INTENSELY
WEEPING, head in hands.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
(shaking her head)
No, no, no, no...
Instinctively, Bryony snatches the glass of wine and
downs it in one.
BRYONY (CONT’D)
(to herself)
I love you, Mum. I’m sorry.
TEARS STREAM down both of her cheeks.
FADE OUT.

8.
FADE IN:
INT. HOSPITAL – DAY
JEAN (70s) lies in a HOSPITAL BED, SQUINTING and closely
studying an iPad, which she grasps with both hands. She
wears a NASAL CANNULA to assist with her breathing.
BRYONY (V.O.)
I thought we could go to our special
café when all this is over. Only if
you’re feeling better and you want to.
I’d really like that...
A SMILE spreads across Jean’s face, followed by TEARS.
Jean has reached the end of the video shared by her
estranged daughter, who we now know to be Bryony. She
eases her neck forward to land a soft peck on the large
iPad screen.
We then see her pressing the device close to her chest,
as though caressing a new-born baby.
THE END
FADE OUT.