Scene 1: In
the Hotel Hallway
(Dave, Tim,
Jonathan)
This scene takes place inside a hotel in London, England. Tim, Dave, and Jonathan are walking down the hallway toward their hotel room.
This scene takes place inside a hotel in London, England. Tim, Dave, and Jonathan are walking down the hallway toward their hotel room.
DAVE
Where’s our hotel
room, Tim?
TIM
Just down this
hall, Dave.
JONATHAN
(joking)
Boy, look at
the time. Ashley’s birthday celebration has extended into day two.
TIM
(half-joking)
So much for
going to bed early tonight, huh, Jonathan?
JONATHAN
(joking)
Yeah, I
haven’t slept in almost twenty hours.
DAVE
That’s
nothing. I’ve gone days without sleep.
JONATHAN
(joking)
But not
nights?
DAVE
(annoyed)
Hardy-har.
Tim
(joking)
You seemed to
get a lot of sleep on the plane… with your arm around Alexis.
JONATHAN
(joking)
Yeah, and your
head on Kevin’s shoulder.
Tim and
Jonathan start laughing.
DAVE
(sarcastic)
Oh, you two
are a riot.
TIM
(still laughing)
I tell you,
I’ve never laughed so hard at a birthday party as I did tonight.
JONATHAN
(still
laughing)
I’m sure
everyone at the restaurant appreciated our presence.
TIM
(chuckling)
The waiters
probably thought we were a bunch of loonies.
DAVE
(impatient)
Aren’t we at
our room yet?
TIM
(chuckling)
What’s the
matter? You need to use the restroom?
DAVE
Yes, and I
need to go now.
TIM
Don’t sweat it.
This is our room right here.
Tim unlocks
and opens the door.
TIM
(to Dave)
After you.
DAVE
Oh, thank you,
thank you. Thank you.
Dave runs into
the bathroom and closes the door.
TIM
(calling to
Dave)
You’re
welcome. Just don’t be in there forty-five minutes like Jonathan was!
DAVE
(calling back)
I think I will
be!
JONATHAN
(to Tim)
How droll. I
think Dave and I are finally coming down with the bug that’s been going around
our group.
TIM
(joking)
Oh, that’s
great. I’m in a room full of “sickies.”
JONATHAN
(chuckles)
TIM
So, are you anxious
to get home?
JONATHAN
(thoughtful)
No. No, not
really.
TIM
You’re not?
JONATHAN
No, but I am
ready to go home – at least I am now.
TIM
(knowingly)
Oh. Meaning
that you weren’t ready to go home earlier?
JONATHAN
That’s right.
There was too much going on earlier, but after these past couple of days, I
don’t know, something seems to be different. The tide seems to be turning. The times
seem to be changing… and they seem to be changing for the better… almost.
(beat)
Well, it’s
getting late, and we have a plane to catch tomorrow.
TIM
(happy)
Look out,
Odyssey. Here we come.
Scene 2: In the Hotel Room
(Tim, Rachel,
Jonathan, Dave)
TIM
(on the Phone)
Yeah, so that
was how we celebrated Ashley’s birthday tonight. It was pretty hilarious.
RACHEL
(over the
phone)
That is pretty
funny.
TIM
Kevin made
himself sick by drinking a bunch of cherry syrup which he then deposited in the
facilities… but then forgot to remove the evidence before a customer walked in…
and then quickly walked back out.
RACHEL
(over the phone)
That’s
disgusting.
TIM
It was pretty
gross… but all the same we could hardly keep a straight face whenever that poor
customer would walk by. He had a perpetual scowl…
RACHEL
(over the phone)
I wonder why.
TIM
We all dared
Ashley to stick her face in her chocolate birthday pie. She thought it was a
great idea until she actually leaned forward to do it… but then Dave jumped in
and leant a helping hand. Dave was also the one who went down to the hotel
restaurant with a shower cap on his head. He told the waiter that wearing
shower caps in public was all the rage back in the states.
(beat)
Speaking of
Dave, he sure is taking forever in the bathroom. Good grief. He’s as bad as Jonathan.
JONATHAN
You know I am
here in the room with you…
TIM
(to Jonathan)
Yeah, I know.
(to Rachel)
Kevin was also
wearing a shower cap to dinner… along with some paper sandals that he made or
himself after his shoes got wet when we went to the swimming pool.
(beat)
But anyway…
that’s probably enough talk about youth group shenanigans at restaurants in
foreign countries.
(beat)
So, anything
interesting happen to you lately? You already told me all about Rebecca’s
drawings.
RACHEL
(over the
phone)
Nothing really
out of the ordinary. I had to take a different route home from the school today
because there was what looked like a really bad car accident.
TIM
Well, that’s
no good. I hope everyone was okay.
RACHEL
(over the
phone)
That’s about
it. Nothing really crazy or exciting around here… nothing like what you guys
have been going through.
TIM
Yeah, well,
I’m just glad it’s over. Tonight was a good time for all of us to just relax
and laugh out loud together. Laughter is a nice stress reliever.
RACHEL
(over the
phone)
Well, you guys
must have been pretty stressed.
TIM
Well, it’s
getting pretty late here, so I should probably let you go.
RACHEL
(over the
phone)
Alright, see
you tomorrow. I love you.
TIM
I love you,
too.
Hangs up
phone.
TIM
(yawns deeply)
Ooh, I’m
sleepy.
(beat)
Good grief,
Dave. Get out of the bathroom, already.
Dave walks out of the restroom and into the room. He lies down on his bed.
JONATHAN
Look, Tim, he
got out fifteen minutes early.
TIM
(joking)
Yeah, by your
standards. – How’s it goin’, Dave?
No answer
TIM
Are you
feeling okay?
DAVE
I’m bored.
TIM
(slightly confused)
You’re bored?
DAVE
Yes.
TIM
Oh. Well, you
can play some games on my laptop if you want. I’m gonna use the restroom, and
then I’ll head over to Anthony’s room for a minute. I’ll be right back.
Tim walks into
the restroom and closes the door.
DAVE
(moaning)
JONATHAN
(to Dave)
What?
DAVE
I’m bored.
JONATHAN
Yeah, you said
that.
DAVE
(grunts)
Might as well
see what kind of games he has on this thing.
Hits key.
DAVE (CONT’D)
Nope.
Hits key.
DAVE (CONT’D)
Nope.
Hits key.
DAVE (CONT’D)
Nope.
Hits key.
DAVE (CONT’D)
Nope.
Hits key. – Silence.
JONATHAN
Did you find something?
No answer.
JONATHAN (CONT’D)
(thoughtful)
Hmm.
DAVE
(tired)
If you could
stack up my boredom, it would reach past the moon.
JONATHAN
(uninterested)
Oookay.
Tim walks out
of the restroom.
TIM
(to Jonathan
and Dave)
Well, I’m
gonna head over there now. I’ll be back in a minute.
Tim opens
hotel room door.
DAVE
Hey, Tim?
TIM
Yeah?
DAVE
Can I go chill
with my sister?
JONATHAN
(sarcastically
to himself)
Yeah right.
TIM
Can you go chill
with your sister?
DAVE
Yeah.
TIM
Don’t you
think there might be a problem with that?
DAVE
No.
JONATHAN
(to himself)
Oh boy.
TIM
Isn’t she in a
room with other girls?
DAVE
Yeah. So?
TIM
So the answer
is no, you can’t go chill with her.
DAVE
Why not?
TIM
Because there are
other girls in there.
DAVE
They don’t
bother me.
TIM
No, but you
might bother them.
DAVE
We’ve always
been allowed to chill before. Why can’t we now?
TIM
You can chill,
but not right now - and especially not in their hotel room. And you shouldn’t
have been allowed to be in their room on other trips either. You can come with
me over to Anthony’s room for a minute though.
Short pause.
DAVE
Okay. Kevin’s
in that room. Maybe I can chill with him.
Tim
Alright, let’s
go.
Tim and
Jonathan walk out of the hotel room and close the door behind them, leaving
Jonathan by himself.
Jonathan
(to himself)
What’s up with
Dave? It probably has something to do with what he said about moving away. He
probably wants to spend as much time with his friends as he can before he
can’t. I just wish he’d stop having these highs and lows. I guess I can’t blame
him though. I mean, I was in a low earlier and now I’m in a high.
(short pause)
Boy, I sure
had a great night, despite everything that’s gone wrong. I’m glad Jessica sat
across from me at the restaurant.
(happy)
We both
ordered the same thing. It probably looked like I was copying her. I wasn’t
though. I guess we just both have good taste. - Apple pie ala mode and cherry
lemonade.
Scene 3: On
the Plane
(Jonathan)
JONATHAN
(thinking to
himself)
Well, here we
are. – Flying out of this place.
(beat)
It’s over.
(beat)
We all made it
after all. – And everything just feels so perfect… though that’s probably
because I’m sitting next to Jessica on a six hour flight. She’s asleep right
now… and so beautiful.
(sighs deeply)
Well, it’s
time to wrap this thing up and come home.
The sound of
an airplane passing overhead is heard, and then the sound of a plane landing.
Scene 4: At
the Airport
(Lady on
Intercom, Kurt, Judy, Rachel, Peter, Rebecca, Jonathan, Pastor Weis, Tim,
Jessica)
LADY ON INTERCOM
Welcome to
Odyssey Regional Airport…
KURT
Hey! There
they are! Jessica! Over here!
JUDY
Here they all
come.
RACHEL
Do you see Tim
yet?
JUDY
Uh, yeah,
there he is – right there.
PETER
Hey! There’s
Jonathan!
PASTOR WEIS
You’re right.
That is Jonathan. It looks like they all got a bit of sun.
KURT
Ha ha, and
they said they were going to be working all day. - Looks like they spent a day
at the beach.
The group
walks up.
JESSICA
Hi, Dad!
KURT
Hi, Jessica.
Welcome home. It’s good to see you again.
Tim walks up
to Rachel and Rebecca.
TIM
Hi, Rachel.
Tim and Rachel
kiss each other.
REBECCA
Daddy!
TIM
Hey, Becky!
Tim picks her
up and holds her.
TIM
How’s my
little girl?
He kisses her.
REBECCA
Happy!
TIM
I’m happy to
see you, too.
Jonathan walks
up to his family.
PASTOR WEIS
It’s good to
see you again, Jonathan.
JONATHAN
You, too.
PETER
We went
camping without you.
JONATHAN
Heh, yeah, I
heard about that already.
PETER
There was a
really bad storm while we were out there. A tree came crashing down and landed
right where Kurt was going to put his tent. -
But he had changed his mind at the last minute.
JONATHAN
Wow, that’s
crazy.
PETER
I know. There
was a car crash in front of the church, too.
JONATHAN
Oh, yeah, I
overheard Tim talking to Rachel on the phone about that last night. Was
everyone okay?
PASTOR WEIS
Well… I’m
afraid not. Not everyone made it out of there alive. They had to bring in the
Jaws of Life to pry what was left of the car open. It was pretty bad. There
were four girls inside, but only two made it out alive. They’re at the hospital
in critical condition. But we don’t need to talk about that right now. Let’s
get you home, Jonathan.
JONATHAN
See you later,
Tim.
TIM
See ya.
PASTOR WEIS
He wasn’t too
much of a handful for you was he?
TIM
Who, Jonathan?
Nah… not all. He was the best.
Tim shakes
Jonathan’s hand.
TIM
Good to get to
know you better.
JONATHAN
You, too.
Calm, but
strong music begins for a bit, but then quickly becomes very soft and tragic as
the next scene begins.
Scene 5: In a
Quiet Room
(Dave)
DAVE
(reading from
the newspaper)
Odyssey mourns
the loss of two high school students who died in a tragic car accident at noon
on August 6th when their car lost control on a hill and careened into
busy lunch hour traffic near Odyssey Community Church.
(beat)
Freshmen
Andrea Sears…
(choking up)
…and Brittany
Hartle were killed instantly…
Dave begins
trembling and loses his voice.
DAVE (CONT’D)
Oh, no, no,
no.
(continues
reading)
Friends,
Jessica Lieman and Jori Carlisle remain at Odyssey General Hospital in critical
condition…
Dave drops the
newspaper.
DAVE (CONT’D)
Oh, God… Oh,
God, no, please, no… not her… not her… Please, God, please don’t take her away…
please…
Dave starts
crying uncontrollably.
Scene 6: At
the Memorial
(Jonathan)
Thunder can be
heard in the background. Jonathan is standing at the scene of the crash, where
a small memorial has begun to emerge.
JONATHAN
(to himself)
Well… this is
where it happened.
(beat)
This is where
they died.
(beat)
It’s
remarkable how many flowers and letters and crosses and teddy bears have
already been placed here.
Long silent
pause.
JONATHAN (CONT’D)
(to himself)
It’s… it’s
hard for me to comprehend something like this, God.
Long silent
pause as thunder can be heard again and rain begins to fall softly on the
ground by the side of the road.
JONATHAN (CONT’D)
(sighs deeply
to himself)
They were only
girls. It wasn’t their time yet.
Begins raining
harder.
JONATHAN (CONT’D)
(to himself)
I guess the
rain falls on the good and bad alike, doesn’t it?
Scene 7: At
the Church
(Ann, Dave)
ANN
Do you… do you
want to talk about it, Dave?
DAVE
(sighs deeply)
It’s just…
it’s just too much coming at me all at once.
– Everything in the Middle East that we went through last week… it was
just… so… so crazy, and… and awful. And… and my dad’s moving us back south
again, and… I don’t think I’m ready for that.
ANN
I understand.
DAVE
And at the
same time, I want to run away from this place as fast as I can. I… can’t stand
it here anymore. – I can’t stand driving by that awful memorial everyday… and I
can’t stand the thought of going back to school and not seeing her there
anymore either.
ANN
How close were
you to Andrea?
DAVE
I… I don’t
know. We were friends, but… we… we were more than just friends. She… she was
special. (beat) I liked her.
ANN
(knowingly)
Aah. I’m
sorry.
DAVE
I know you are.
I know. Everybody’s sorry about what happened. But being sorry isn’t
going to bring her back.
ANN
I’m sorry for
you.
DAVE
I’m not the
one who’s dead.
ANN
But I care
about you, and I can see that you’re hurting. And I know that you don’t deserve
any of this either.
DAVE
But I do
deserve it. Do you know what I was doing when she died? Huh? Do you know? – I
was flirting with Ashley. That’s what I was doing.
ANN
Sometimes we
make bad choices. – And sometimes we think we’ve made bad choices and we feel
awful about it, but we don’t realize that we’re sometimes being too hard on
ourselves. – Because, you know what? God’s grace is greater than anything we
can do – it’s greater than whatever mistakes we may or may not have made.
DAVE
But… but she
wasn’t even supposed to be in that car. She wasn’t old enough to be driving.
But her friends let her get behind the wheel… and now… and now she’s dead. – Both
her and Brittany. She and Brittany are both dead because she wasn’t where she
was supposed to be. And… and… some people from school have been telling me that
Andrea didn’t go to heaven because she wasn’t a Christian. Does God’s grace go
that far? I don’t know if she ever prayed Jesus into her heart. What if she
didn’t? How can live knowing that?
ANN
God’s grace
extends to everyone, Dave. God’s call reaches out to everyone… even people who
have never prayed a prayer in their life.
DAVE
But does that
mean that everyone just goes to heaven in the end? It doesn’t matter what we
do?
ANN
Our choices do
affect our future, but, Dave, heaven is more than just something that happens
to us after we die. Heaven is living in the presence of God, both now and after
we die. And if heaven itself can exist here in this world… then I’m sure that
Andrea is in God’s hands right now. He knows her heart… he loves her, too, and
he knows what’s best for her now. Remember, in the end, God will make
everything right again.
DAVE
But… but how
can I ever make everything I’ve done right again? How can anything ever
go back to normal after all of this? How can God make this horrible place good
again?
ANN
I don’t know
how, but what I do know is that all we can do is rely on God because without
him we don’t have any hope at all.
DAVE
I’m… I’m just
not sure I can do that anymore.
Scene 8: At
the memorial
(Dave)
Dave stands alone
at the makeshift memorial by the side of the road and slowly voices his
good-bye to Andrea.
DAVE
Here it is.
(beat)
This is the
place where you died.
(beat)
I’m going to
miss you, you know.
(beat)
I’m… I’m a
little angry with myself… for not being here with you.
(beat)
You might not
have gotten into that car if I had been here.
(beat)
I… I just don’t
know.
(beat)
And I’m kind
of angry with you, too, for… for leaving me like this… I know… I know… that’s
really heartless of me… you died, and I’m angry at you… but it’s the truth, and
I need to confess that to you.
(beat)
You were special
to me. You were beautiful. And I know I should have told you that before… but I’m
telling you know.
(beat)
I wrote the
rest down in a letter.
(beat)
Here…
Dave places the
letter on the memorial.
DAVE (CONT’D)
I’ll leave it
here for to read if you want to. – If you can.
(beat)
Good-bye,
Andrea.
(whispers)
Good-bye.
Scene 9: Outside
an Elderly Couple’s House
(Dave,
Jonathan, Kevin, Alexis, Ashley, Jessica, Christopher)
The Youth
Group is working outside an elderly couple’s house, cleaning things up, and
taking down old Christmas decorations. Dave and Jonathan are standing on ladders,
trying to pry off some nasty old Christmas lights from high up on the side of
the house. Jonathan, Ashley, Jessica, and Alexis are standing on the ground,
looking up.
DAVE
Could you hand
me that hammer, Jonathan?
Jonathan picks
up a hammer and hands it up the ladder to Dave.
JONATHAN
Here you go.
DAVE
Thanks.
KEVIN
Well, here we all
are again. – Working on some random service project together like the good old
days. We just can’t seem to get away from each other, can we?
ALEXIS
That’s because
we’re all just such amazing people.
ASHLEY
You got that
right.
Kevin drops
some nails to the ground from the top of the ladder.
KEVIN
Ouch.
DAVE
You okay?
KEVIN
Yeah, I just pricked
my finger on this nail.
(beat)
Man, they
really stapled these Christmas lights in here good, didn’t they?
ASHLEY
Heh, that’s
probably why they’re still hanging all over their house at the end of August.
JESSICA
Not that
there’s anything wrong with enjoying Christmas all year round.
ALEXIS
I love
Christmas. – Especially when I get to curl up under a warm blanket by the
fireplace and sip on some hot Cocoa and watch all of the lights flash and glow…
and all to the sound of some Bing Crosby… or maybe some good old Charlie Brown.
JESSICA
I love
Christmas, too.
ASHLEY
Yeah, well, I
think these lights are beyond enjoying at this point. They’re pretty tacky
looking. – But don’t tell the elderly couple who lives here I said that.
Christopher
walks up.
CHRISTOPHER
Oh, I’m pretty
sure they already know.
JONATHAN
Yeah – If they
wanted them to stay up the rest of the year they wouldn’t have called us.
(beat)
How’s the back
deck looking, Christopher?
CHRISTOPHER
Much better
now that we’ve picked up all the tree branches and pine needles off of it.
DAVE
Look out
below!
Dave rips a section
of the lights off the side of the building, some of the bulbs shatter on the
ground below.
JONATHAN
Hey! Watch it!
You’re pelting us with broken bulbs.
DAVE
Sorry. –
Here’s some more.
Dave drops
some more bulbs on the ground, which shatter.
KEVIN
Ha ha! Don’t
you just love the sound of breaking glass?
JONATHAN
Only at Jewish
weddings.
CHRISTOPHER
Nice.
(beat)
Well, I think
I’m gonna go sit down over there for awhile and watch this mess from a
distance.
ASHLEY
What’s the
matter, Christopher? – Afraid of a little falling glass?
CHRISTOPHER
Deathly. – and
of sixteen year olds on ladders as well.
KEVIN
What – are you
afraid we’re going to fall off and die?
DAVE
Hey, if we
fall and die, then we fall and die. No big deal. It is the way of things.
Everybody dies sometime.
CHRISTOPHER
(muttering to
himself)
Oh, the great
wisdom which manifests itself in the better judgment of sixteen year olds.
KEVIN
Hey, now, what
are you saying about our judgment?
DAVE
He just thinks
he’s superior to us because he’s eighteen.
CHRISTOPHER
That’s true. I
am eighteen. And I am superior to you. Now get back to work, you lazy bums. I’m
going to go sit in the shade.
Christopher
walks away.
JONATHAN
I think I’ll
join you.
They sit down
on the edge of the porch.
CHRISTOPHER
This is a nice
view from up here.
JONATHAN
It is. – Nice
weather today, too.
CHRISTOPHER
As long as
it’s not as hot as the middle east, I’ll be happy.
JONATHAN
Here’s to
that.
(beat)
So…
CHRISTOPHER
So what?
JONATHAN
So I’ve been
thinking quite a bit about our recent experience overseas.
CHRISTOPHER
Heh, I’ve been
trying not to think about that.
JONATHAN
Heh, yeah, I
can understand that.
(beat)
But in light
of some things that happened… I’ve just been wondering… I mean, what do you
think about mind-altering technology?
CHRISTOPHER
Oh, you mean
like crazy devices that make people get on busses to random cities and boats to
random islands while erasing their memories of the experience at the same time?
JONATHAN
Uh-huh, yeah, something
like that.
CHRISTOPHER
What about it?
JONATHAN
Well, you know…
I was just wondering about it, that’s all.
(beat)
I mean… is
that kind of thing even possible? ‘Cause it sound sa little insane to me. What
do you think?
CHRISTOPHER
Well… they’ve
been able to that kind of stuff on Batman forever, so whatever they come up
with in that regard… I blame it all on Batman.
JONATHAN
(chuckles)
Yeah… that’s
good. I like that.
Jessica comes and
sits next to Jonathan.
JESSICA
Mind if I join
you?
JONATHAN
No, not at
all. Go right ahead.
A moment of
silence.
CHRISTOPHER
Well… how
about them Cardinals?
JONATHAN
Huh?
CHRISTOPHER
Never mind.
JESSICA
Speaking of
Cardinals, there’s one right there. See?
JONATHAN
Where?
JESSICA
Over there.
JONATHAN
Oh yeah. Cool.
I like Cardinals.
CHRISTOPHER
So do I…
though of a completely different sort. I was never much of a bird watcher.
JONATHAN
I can be at
times. I like to get up early and sit at our kitchen window and watch the
robins and the wrens prancing about in our back yard.
JESSICA
I’m not much
of an early riser… but if I were, I would probably do the same thing.
CHRISTOPHER
Well… that’s
nice.
A moment of
silence.
JONATHAN
It really is a
wonderful view from here. You can see Trickle Lake off in that direction… and
Forest Mountain over that way… It’s just beautiful.
JESSICA
(dreamy)
Yes, you are
very beautiful…
(catching
herself)
I mean… the
view is very beautiful.
JONATHAN
(chuckles)
Well now, I
knew I was a rather handsome fellow, but I never expected to be called
beautiful.
JESSICA
You know what
I meant.
ASHLEY
(Calling from
a distance)
Hey, Jessica!
Come over here!
JESSICA
(calling back)
I’m coming! –
I’ll be right back, Jonathan.
Jessica gets
up and walks away.
JONATHAN
(chuckles)
Well… that was
an awkwardly funny moment.
CHRISTOPHER
I’m pretty
sure she enjoys looking at you more than the view.
JONATHAN
Ha ha, well,
that’s probably on account of my beautiful face.
(chuckles)
Oh, that’s
funny. That happened to me the other day – the words that came out of my mouth
were not the words that were in my head. What was it?
CHRISTOPHER
Oh, I’m pretty
sure she said exactly what she was thinking.
JONATHAN
(stops short)
Oh? Well, I,
uh… (chuckles) uh… well, uh… Hmm…
