The Falling

# The moon is like a boat, my love

# Of lemon peel afloat, my love

# And with a sail of gauze, my love

# She seems to slightly pause

# Upon her silent way

# All on her starry way

MUSIC: Voyage of the Moon by Mary Hopkin

This film contains some scenes of a sexual nature

# She seems to linger long, my love

# As if spelled by a song, my love... #

PANTING

# I know she tarries not, my love... #

PANTING INTENSIFIES

# Her journey unforgot

# She makes her starry way

# She makes her starry way... #

SONG ECHOES

ABBIE: "There was a time when meadow, grove and stream

"The earth and every common sight

"To me did seem apparelled in celestial light

"The glory and the freshness of a dream

"It is not now as it hath been of yore

"Turn whereso'er I may, by night or day

"The things which I have seen I now can see no more."

BELL RINGS

Hey.

What's wrong?

Nothing.

Butterflies.

Hmm.

GIRLS GIGGLE

-ALL:

-Good morning, Miss Mantel.

-SHE SIGHS

-Sit.

To the front, please, Abigail.

School regulations dictate,

as you well know, skirts should be

no more than 2 inches from the ground when kneeling.

MISS MANTEL SIGHS

Up.

And those are not regulation.

Stop your clowning!

It'll get you nowhere, Abigail Mortimer.

SHE CHUCKLES

An egg is a cell.

It has a nucleus and a membrane.

When the yolk matures, the follicular sac ruptures.

If any blood vessels cross the stigma,

a small drop of blood may get on the yolk

as it's released from the follicle.

It's what causes most blood spots in eggs.

Egg first or chicken, Mr Hopkins?

The egg's still a mystery to scientists.

It's complex.

It's a tiny centre of life.

-LYDIA:

-And then she's like...

-ABBIE GIGGLES

So you're, like, scurrying through the corridor.

"Abbie, wait!"

THEY GIGGLE

What's in it?

I used to have hair your colour.

Have I told you that?

No, I don't think so, Mrs Lamont.

Oh, come on! You've heard it millions.

CLATTERING

Thanks, Abbie. You're an angel.

SHE COUGHS

Just look.

-LYDIA:

-Imagine what it's seen.

"The time-dismantled oak."

Let's meet underneath it

the same day every year for the rest of our lives.

ABBIE: "The moon doth with delight

"Look round her when heavens are bare

"And waters on a starry night

"Are beautiful and fair."

ABBIE: "There was a time when meadow, grove and stream

"The earth and every common sight

"To me did seem apparelled in celestial light

"The glory and the freshness of a dream

"It is not now as it hath been of yore

"Turn whereso'er I may, by night or day

"The things which I have seen I now can see no more."

"The rainbow comes and goes

"And lovely is the rose

"The moon doth with delight

"Look round her when heavens are bare

"Waters on a starry night are beautiful and fair."

Try not to be quite so emphatic.

"The sunshine is a glorious birth

"But yet I know, where'er I go

"That there hath past a glory from the earth."

That will do.

PERCUSSION AND PIANO PLAYING

MUSIC CONTINUES

GIRLS VOCALISING

MUSIC ENDS

When that's gone all the way in,

slide the other tube up, too, then pull them both out.

TOILET FLUSHES LYDIA: Hey, presto.

SHE SIGHS

As you know, I'm a virgin.

So?

Virgins can use them.

Anyway...

-Let's establish your status, shall we?

-Oh, Lamb.

You lost it, Abbie, didn't you?

He had a car. What can I say?

I don't get it.

Close your eyes, kiss your lips.

SHE LAUGHS

It takes you somewhere else.

BELL RINGS

Abbie?

That's why you're upset.

But...

I can't be.

He pulled out early, said it was a really Catholic thing to do.

Yeah, we know, the bell's rung.

Sorry. They're not my rules.

Don't tell anyone,

but we think I'm pregnant.

SHE LAUGHS

STYLOPHONE PLAYING

NOTES ASCENDING

SHE LAUGHS

Crowd goes wild.

So, not seen you in a while, Abbie.

I've been busy, Kenneth Never Ken.

Mmm.

Looks that way.

SHE LAUGHS

It's your turn to go to the launderette.

Yeah, yeah, Crazy Face.

Don't get your knickers in a twist.

-LYDIA:

-Come on.

Abbie, do you mind just grabbing a couple of the things

from the bottom of the launderette basket?

Stop.

OK.

HE PLAYS NOTE ON STYLOPHONE

ABBIE: I was an egg.

Now I've made an egg.

Actually, we're already born with all our eggs.

I feel so crummy.

Pregnancy's not good for you.

-And look at our mothers.

-SHE CHUCKLES

You've always had it in for your mum, haven't you?

Me?

Morty?

She's had it in for me since the day I was conceived.

SHE SIGHS

SHE CHUCKLES

Gin and a knitting needle.

-Yeah.

-SHE GROANS

I'm definitely bigger.

They're killing me.

DOOR OPENS

-You've changed.

-SHE CHUCKLES

Did we extend the invitation?

It'll loosen you up, Crazy Face.

I don't wanna be loose.

Oh, nice.

"Everything that lives serves the purposes of the earth.

"Everything that dies serves the moon."

-KENNETH:

-Hmm?

You know I'm pregnant. SHE SIGHS

-She's telling everyone.

-You're in trouble?

Kenneth!

Let's do some magick, with a K, to dispel it.

I could do a spell.

-Oh, yeah? When's that ever worked, hmm?

-You know, most people think it's bad,

-but all the occult actually means is "hidden".

-Ooh.

On a more practical note, a bit of...

..vigorous exercise might get rid of it.

Let's go dancing.

Yeah. Where?

Not far.

MUSIC: It's Your Thing by The Isley Brothers

BOTH GIGGLE

-THEY SING ALONG:

-# I can't tell you

# Who to sock it to

# It's your thing Do what you wanna do

# I can't tell you who to sock it to

# If you want me to love you Maybe I will

# Believe me, woman It ain't no big deal

# Oh, you need love now

# Just as bad as I do

# Makes me no difference now

# Who you give your thing to

# It's your thing

# Do what you wanna do

# I can't tell you... #

GRUNTING

Come on...

I want you... I want...

Come to me...

Come to me, come on.

Come on.

GRUNTING

DOOR CREAKS OPEN

Lamb.

This situation has made you so unpredictable.

I'm sorry.

I don't know what came over me.

It's just...

You're...

-You know, everything and...

-And vice versa.

It didn't mean a thing, truly.

SHE SCOFFS It's only Kenneth.

He went on about the laws of love, you know.

Free love. SHE CHUCKLES

And you told Susan about your situation.

I wanted shock on that innocent little face.

THEY GIGGLE

I think I've wet myself.

Maybe you're losing it.

No, it's...

It's just a bit of...

You know.

He said the French call an orgasm a small death.

That's what it's like, you know.

When a guy's inside you and you get it right.

Feels like you're blacking out.

Dying.

SHE CHUCKLES

MUSIC: Little Things by Tracey Thorn

# Little things

# Lie in wait to catch you out

# Leave you with the taste of doubt

# Hidden in your mouth

# Little lies... #

BELL RINGS

INDISTINCT CHATTER

# Hide behind the new sunrise

# Leave you wondering

# Leave you wondering

# Leave you wondering... #

WRITING ON BLACKBOARD

Abigail Mortimer and Lydia Lamont.

Detention.

During the war, I always managed to arrive on time.

Even contending with doodlebugs.

One day you'll realise that even you,

Abigail,

are living history.

SHE VOMITS

Oh, for crying out loud! Oh...

Janet, go and get a mop.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Shame to waste it.

Do you think it tastes metallic?

That happened when my mum was pregnant.

ABBIE SIGHS

I didn't say anything.

According to Lydia, my body has become a situation.

We'll soon be dealing with the situation.

You're not gonna get rid of it yourselves?

We've got it under control.

It's not passed you by its legal nowadays?

Not for the likes of us.

-Abbie?

-SHE GASPS

ABBIE CHUCKLES

So, you will each learn these recipes off by heart.

Can't we learn a poem instead, Miss Mantel?

No.

I'll be back shortly.

DOOR CLOSES

SHE SIGHS

Her breath stinks.

Puking up on her is probably the most attention she's ever had.

SHE LAUGHS

Never lived.

LYDIA SIGHS

"Savoury turnovers make a tasty dish

"and a pleasant change from the ordinary fare..."

I keep thinking about keeping it.

I know you don't want it.

I'll get medical books from the library, Morty.

Nothing will go wrong.

I know.

It's just a feeling.

But you can't trust feelings.

We're not kids any more, Lamb.

We've got to face up to it. There's a real world out here.

Yeah, and you're the centre of it.

-What's that?

-All this because he had a car.

And what the hell was Kenneth?

He's my brother.

Why is doing it so important to you anyway?

I don't get it.

I feel so crummy.

I can't focus properly, Miss Mantel. Honestly, I feel so awful.

DOOR CLOSES

-For crying out loud!

-MISS MANTEL SIGHS

Oh, I have better things to do with my time than this.

Out! Out!

DOOR CLOSES

Say something, please.

We'll always be, whatever happens.

What do you want me to say? I'm sure you have something in mind.

You always seem to these days. You even sided with my mother.

Oh, don't be like that.

Come on!

I know she's awful. Please, I'm really not up for a fight.

Admit it. You think we're over.

Say it.

You're getting it up and I'm not right any more.

-I'm feeling...

-You and your feelings!

Millions of women have had babies, Abbie.

It's nothing special. It's life.

And life only.

Abbie?

Abbie?

Abbie! Abbie!

It's Lamb. It's Lydia. Come on, Abbie!

Help! Please, someone!

Come on! Come on, Abbie.

Come on, Abbie, don't be silly.

Sit up. Come on, Abbie!

Someone's coming. It's gonna be fine.

-MISS MANTEL:

-What's the matter?

-Miss Mantel!

I think she's losing the baby!

Well, let her get some air!

Abigail? Abigail!

Get an ambulance!

SHE GASPS

MUSIC: Are You There? by Tracey Thorn

# Oh...

# Oh...

# Oh...

# Oh...

# Are you there?

# Are you there?

# Oh...

# Oh... #

-LYDIA:

-Abbie!

Abbie!

Abbie!

# Are you there... #

DOOR OPENS

# Are you there? #

Abbie's dead.

SHE WHIMPERS

It's true.

She's dead.

It wasn't something bad?

She's dead.

Well, it wasn't...

-What?

-Drugs.

It was natural.

Natural.

Abbie's young.

Her poor mother.

RHYTHMIC THUMPING

'..the race has been run and won.

'A look at the arguments by Julian Peddle.

'To most of us, man's breath-taking adventure in space looks...'

THUMPING CONTINUES

We are grieved and shocked

to announce the death of Abigail Mortimer.

Abigail... Abbie was a girl of rare charm,

a most lively...

A talented and popular pupil who had a promising future ahead of her.

Teachers have praised her performance as a committed pupil

who was energetic.

And dependable.

Her passing is a true loss to us all.

She will be remembered as

a loyal friend who enjoyed art and reading poetry

and as the founder of the alternative school orchestra.

Abbie's life was full and happy

and we shall remember her with respect and affection.

As a memorial,

it has been decided to establish

the Abigail Mortimer Fifth-Form Poetry Prize.

Miss Fanshawe will now lead assembly in non-denominational prayer.

SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

Let us take a minute to remember Abigail in silence.

You were such a friend to us all.

For Abbie Mortimer.

"The good die first." Wordsworth.

She liked him.

-SUSAN:

-"There hath passed away a glory from this Earth."

-JANET:

-She was beautiful.

You're up there with the angels.

She would have made a great mum.

Close your eyes.

Pucker your lips.

Do it.

It takes you somewhere else.

MUSIC: Follow Me Down by Tracey Thorn

# Oh...

# My friend, my friend

# Uncurl, unbend

# I'll be your guide

# Stay by my side

# And follow me all the way down

# Down, down, down

# All the way down

# Oh. #

I'm late, Miss Mantel.

SHE EXHALES

ABBIE: "The glory and the freshness of a dream

"It is not now as it hath been of yore

"Turn whereso'er I may, by night or day

"The things which I have seen I now can see no more."

Abbie?

Oh.

It's you.

You fainted.

BELL RINGS

-SHE SIGHS

-Don't...

I can't remember much.

But now,

I've never felt so bad.

Tell me about it, Lamb.

I'm feeling rotten. Didn't wanna say.

-LYDIA:

-It was this feeling...

SHE SIGHS

Yeah.

I don't remember anything before or after.

Just this spacey...

WHOOSHING

It's showing us that

there is enough energy in a slice of cake to walk a mile.

It also helps explain the combustion engine.

-MAN ON TV:

-'And at the end of it all, there's a little purified

'argon gas from the huge tank.

'The gas holds a few radioactive atoms containing neutrinos.

'Later, the radioactivity will be measured in his laboratory.

'Already they've given one important answer...'

SHE SIGHS

Let's meet under it the same day every year

for the rest of our lives.

-LYDIA:

-What was it like with her?

She was something else.

Like...

..a warrior queen.

What's my future?

DOOR OPENS

-EILEEN:

-Can someone go to the shop?

WOMAN ON TV: 'I am terrified.

'I am terrified by his arms, by his nuclear destruction.

'I think this is perhaps a prophetic sign...'

What if we said we're never gonna go to the shops for you ever again?

I mean, you'd have to face the real world then, hmm?

When was the last time you went outside, Mother?

What are you so afraid of?

Come on, Crazy Face.

Titch, time, please.

I guess I forgot to wind it.

Who else with the time?

-CONNIE:

-It's not working.

Susan?

It's stopped.

-MISS CHARRON:

-It's a coincidence.

Susan, fetch some water.

SHE EXHALES

MUSIC: They Only Do Harm by Tracey Thorn

# Yes, they only do harm... #

SHE EXHALES

# Yes, they only do harm... #

SHE BREATHES RAPIDLY

# Yes, they only do harm. #

SONG STOPS ABRUPTLY

MISS CHARRON GASPS

Gwen, would you read?

"So he, trembling and astonished, said,

"'Lord, what do you want me to do?'

"Then the Lord said to him..."

Gwen?

MUSIC: All The Seasons by Tracey Thorn

# All the seasons turn around... #

Gwen, if you...

SONG REPEATING

SONG STOPS ABRUPTLY

It's just a few neurotic types.

Relax. You think the medical officer should be brought in?

We'd be the laughing stock.

A few girls trying it on, making a display of themselves.

We used to put wet blotting paper in our shoes.

Why?

It draws the blood from one's head and can cause a faint, you see.

They all seem to have their mind elsewhere these days.

SHE SCOFFS

CREAKING

MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO

-KENNETH:

-Mmm.

DOOR OPENS

Ooh! Sickles.

And Pickles.

The sick chicks.

Are you sure you're fit to go to school?

Susan?

Right.

Let's go.

We don't want to be late.

And just look at the result of not being educated.

ALL: # All things bright and beautiful

# All creatures great and small

# All things wise and wonderful

# The Lord God made them all

# Each little flower that opens

# Each little bird that sings

# He made their... #

Settle down. Miss Charron has merely fainted.

Return to your seat, Lydia.

Please continue, Miss Fanshawe.

-MISS FANSHAWE:

-# He made their glowing colours

# He made their tiny wings. #

SHE SIGHS

I feel pitiful.

I could do a spell.

As you know, I don't believe in magic.

I'm a rationalist.

Oh, a rationalist.

-I'm not so sure.

-I know my mind.

HE SIGHS

What's it all about, then, Crazy Face?

It's not about anything.

You see this?

That one runs through the heath and under your school.

Ley lines.

They have this energy -

sacred, sublime.

ABBIE: # The moon is like a boat, my love

# With lemon peel afloat, my love

# And with a sail of gauze, my love

# She seems to slightly pause

# Upon her silent way

# All on her silent way. #

SHE BREATHES HEAVILY

THEY MURMUR

BELL RINGS

MUSIC: It Was Always Me by Tracey Thorn

# I've been waiting for a long time... #

SHE GROANS

# I've been looking for the wrong sign... #

-MR HOPKINS:

-Open the windows.

# I've been staring at the skyline alone

# I've been watching as the seas break

# I've been hoping for a keepsake

# I've been wondering if we'd make it home

# Cos it was always me

# It was always me

# It was always me

# You know, you know You know, you know... #

INAUDIBLE

# It was always me

# You know, you know You know, you know. #

What's happening, Lydia?

She...

-She was so...

-I know.

I know.

Lydia!

I don't know what's happening.

Miss Charron fainted. It's not just us.

-How come you're not ill, Titch?

-I don't know.

For whatever reasons, Titch,

you're immune.

Titch doesn't believe us.

I mean, why hasn't Miss Alvaro got the doctors in?

Oh, such a woman of the world.

She is!

SHE SCOFFS

She's the one thinking you're making it up.

I don't like to criticise,

but the handling of this has not been great, has it?

Some people just want to bury their heads in the sand.

DOOR OPENS

MISS ALVARO: It's been a difficult time, I know.

Don't throw your potential away.

Do you need some time off school, Lydia?

No. No.

There's been some concern expressed.

You're quite an influence on the others with what you are doing.

I'm not doing anything.

I'd like your parents...

Your mother, to come and see me.

There you go.

-Bye.

-Bye.

-Bye.

-Bye.

SHE SIGHS

Don't you know beehives are completely outmoded, Mother?

Miss Alvaro would like to see you.

You know,

I reckon it's in my official records that my father ran off.

Should I say driven off?

Should I make you an appointment to go in?

SHE RUSTLES PAPER

Hmm?

Monday?

Tuesday?

Any day of the week?

DOOR OPENS

What have you done?

Nothing.

"The late Carl Jung

"wrote of changes in the constellation of psychic dominants

"which bring about long-lasting transformations

"of the collective psyche.

"Old secrets rise to the surface..."

HE SNIGGERS

Sorry.

I don't know why I'm shaking like this.

-Why are you dancing?

-SHE GIGGLES

You're laughing at me.

Well, I'm laughing at me, too, but it's not funny, Kenneth.

THEY LAUGH

"..to the surface

"and dissolve into the consciousness of the human race

"to fertilise the seed of evolutionary growth."

MUSIC: When Two Worlds Collide by Jim Reeves

# Your world was made up of things sweet and good

# My world could never fit in

# Wish it could

# Two hearts lie in shambles

# And oh, how they've cried

# That's what happens when two worlds collide. #

SUSAN: "The fullness of your bliss,

"I feel it,

"I feel it all."

-Crazy witches!

-HE CHUCKLES

-MISS MANTEL:

-Don't look at me.

Stand.

You are not to fraternise with any of these girls.

-But, Miss Mantel...

-No buts.

We'd like you to observe silence in the corridors and the communal areas.

You will not attend assemblies and you'll be taking games alone.

CLATTERING

On. Now.

They stink.

BELL TOLLS

INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS

INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS

May I have absolute silence?

I want to hear a pin drop.

BANGING STOPS

We're very fortunate to have Mrs Maud Leece

from the Stockshire Women's Circle joining us today

to give a talk entitled "Accidents in the Home."

Good morning.

I wonder how many girls are aware of the work of the Women's Circle.

I see.

Well, I have brought leaflets that can be given out afterwards.

As Miss Alvaro has informed you,

I'm here today to talk about accidents in the home.

Unfortunately, your home is the place where...

-I'm sorry...

-..accidents are most likely to occur.

-MISS ALVARO:

-Girls!

-They are frequently either burns...

Girls! For crying out loud.

MUSIC: Follow Me Down by Tracey Thorn

# Oh...

# Oh... #

-MISS ALVARO:

-I'm so sorry.

# Oh...

# Oh...

# Oh...

# My love, my love

# Serene above

# The moon, your guide

# Is in the sky

# You follow her all the way down

# Down, down, down

# All the way down

# Oh...

# Oh. #

THEY GASP

GIRL COUGHS

GIRLS MOAN

-LYDIA:

-Everything that lives serves the purposes of the earth.

Everything that dies serves the moon.

Everything that lives serves the purposes of the earth.

Everything that dies serves the moon.

-MISS FANSHAWE:

-Now, girls...

VOICE ECHOES

..I want to talk to you about the devil.

The devil can enter in many ways,

so please cross your legs.

INDISTINCT VOICES OVERLAP

-MRS LEECE:

-Accidents in the home. In the home...

VOICE ECHOES

-GIRL:

-Show us the test results.

MUSIC: Wet Dream by Max Romeo

WOMAN SCREAMS, SONG ENDS ABRUPTLY

I haven't got a decent coat.

Go on, Mum, do it for me.

For me.

I'm taking her things she might need.

Good idea.

Why can't you care?

That what you're doing?

POTS CLATTERING

DOOR CLOSES

The school's been shut down.

-NURSE:

-Shh.

-Kenneth Never Ken.

-You're the brother.

Yep.

You must believe something's wrong now.

I suppose all this can't be for nothing.

It's them and us, Titch.

SHE CHUCKLES

Don't look at me like that.

You make me feel I'm making this up.

If it's how you feel, it's how you feel.

All right?

I don't know. It's like Ouspensky said...

"To be free, one must be conscious."

It seems simple, but it's not simple.

It's all about perception.

Sometimes I wonder who you see when you look at me.

I see my friend, Lydia.

And I see a powerful personality.

Powerful.

Nobody knows who I am any more.

What I'm really like.

What I think about doing.

I wanted you to know I've been discharged.

Most of the other girls, too.

They didn't find anything wrong?

Just...

All my tests were clear.

-That's wonderful.

-Hmm.

-MISS MANTEL:

-Poor Abigail Mortimer.

She thought she knew it all.

Naive little thing.

Abbie and Lydia.

So very close.

Those skirts!

SHE CHUCKLES

Lydia...

Unhinged.

She'll move on.

The young always do.

I'm sorry we have to let you go.

It's OK. It's all right.

I...

I was getting a little...

Anyway, I have my art.

Are you going to have it?

I didn't think you'd be so understanding, Miss Mantel.

It's not as if I'm married.

Neither was I.

You mean...

Contrary to popular belief,

I was never a nun.

No, I was going to say, you had a child?

SHE SIGHS DEEPLY

-MALE PSYCHIATRIST:

-Let's see, Susan...

-Susie.

Is there any friend in particular you especially look up to, admire?

So, who was the first person in your age group to show symptoms?

If you don't want to talk about it, just say.

Any history of illness in the family?

My cousin, she has fits.

Have you witnessed a seizure?

When you first noticed your symptoms,

had anything happened?

Exams?

An illness around you? A death?

If I were a fly on the wall in your house,

what would I see, Janet?

Just... Like a normal family.

Normal, like normal.

-PSYCHIATRIST:

-Your teachers, what are they like?

Well...

Miss Alvaro, she wouldn't care if we were all dead.

And Miss Mantel,

she's a malicious prude.

I like...

Miss Charron.

LYDIA: She's been sick, too.

PSYCHIATRIST: She's close in age to you?

That's important, isn't it?

I think so, too.

-PSYCHIATRIST:

-Have you had sexual intercourse?

Yeah.

No.

I can't really remember.

Your mother? Well, is she?

I haven't caught anything off her, if that's what you mean.

Do you like the attention you get from your mother when you faint?

I hate it if she gets concerned about me.

Have you had your first sexual experience, Lydia?

-I don't do things like that.

-Could you expand?

I don't put dates on things.

You know, I read...

that one person is really like three people.

The person you think you are, the person other people see,

and the person you really are.

-You're a bright girl, aren't you?

-Don't patronise me.

-Is that what you think I'm doing?

-I don't know what you're doing.

If anything.

I'm...

I'm not...

..mad. I'm not.

Your father?

I don't know him.

She drove him away. She squeezes the life out of everybody.

You've talked to your mother about him?

What's a man that I've never known got to do with all this?

Have you ever had irregular periods or excessive bleeding?

Do you ask everyone that?

Just the female patients, of course.

It's important to have

a record of all your physical symptoms.

All I know is that...

I'm... I'm feeling...

..is that I'm feeling...

I feel...

It...

I feel...

It's... I...

It's...

I... I feel, er...

What do you feel, Lydia?

Ill.

No-one wants the truth, do they?

That does make me angry. Write that down.

I think there's quite a lot going on under that anger.

It's racing.

It's like it's gonna jump out.

I resent this idea that we're just emotional.

This is real.

It's real in its consequences, yes.

What's important here is that it's real to you.

Real to me? What does that mean?

It's real to all of us.

Something's seriously wrong.

Why is everyone ignoring us?

SHE SIGHS

He's prescribed tranquilisers for all of us.

They don't seem to want to believe we're ill.

My advice?

Don't take the pills.

And try and hide your symptoms.

I'm finding,

being in the more advanced stages,

that my symptoms don't show as much anyway.

-The advanced stages?

-Yeah, Connie.

Being further along, I'm ahead.

You just can't stand that we're all feeling ill, too.

No! I'm glad you're ill.

Well, no, not glad, but you know what I mean.

I'm gonna get my parents

to arrange for us to see a leading medical specialist.

-Susan!

-Susie.

Come on!

I'm not gonna let you down.

MUSIC: Are You There? by Tracey Thorn

Hysterical contagion, that's the diagnosis.

The wandering womb.

-Pardon?

-Hysteria.

From the Greek for uterus.

Hippocrates believed that the disordered womb led to hysteria.

MISS MANTEL: Standards of behaviour must be kept.

This is a school, it's not a mental institution.

This generation, they think they're so misunderstood.

If they had any idea what it's like to be a middle-aged woman,

they'd know what misunderstood meant.

THEY CHUCKLE

THEY LAUGH

Sounds to me like they didn't find anything wrong.

The tests weren't advanced enough.

You didn't go mentioning me to them, did you?

The world doesn't revolve around you, Eileen.

You know, I'm supposed to go and see another psychiatrist.

I don't think you'll have much choice but to come.

They'll ask lots of probing questions about you, you know.

They're very interested in exactly why I am like I am.

Have you got any idea what it's like having you as a mother?

It's so unfair! I never asked to be born to you!

Get away from me!

DOOR OPENS

-KENNETH:

-Wow.

What's Crazy Face gone and done now?

DOOR CLOSES

You know, I'm definitely in the advanced stages, too.

That specialist of yours will just put it down to female hormones.

I mean, it could be all kinds of things.

For all sorts of reasons.

Tastes metallic.

You're nothing like her, you know.

You've never actually cried for Abbie, have you?

Anyway, I've not come to see you.

I came to see Kenneth.

Kenneth.

We've started seeing each other now.

You know, we've got a real thing.

I requested to see you, Lydia, because...

You never liked her, did you?

Excuse me?

Her name's Abbie.

As much as I'd like to take a close interest in every pupil...

Are you going to tell me exactly what's going on?

Are you?

-You're afraid of me.

-SHE SCOFFS

You're merely a girl.

-What are you writing?

-It's nothing.

It's about me.

You go around in that thing.

You're so...

You're so...

The school secretary is personally visiting your mother this morning to deliver the news.

It is for the best, Lydia.

It is with regret that I must inform you...

You can't.

You can't get rid of me. I have rights.

-MISS ALVARO:

-So we thank you, Miss Charron,

for your invaluable contribution in recent years

and give you good wishes for the future.

And finally, in response to recent events,

I wish to clarify

that absolutely nothing has been found in any tests

on the school or on the pupils.

We have a reassuringly clean bill of health.

Anyone that says otherwise is wilfully wrong.

You'll never get rid of me.

I will not tolerate such conduct in this school.

-You all know something is wrong.

-Get her out.

Are you not gonna fight for the truth?

What have you been reduced to?

-MISS ALVARO: Prefects, get her out.

-Inertia?

You're all asleep.

To be free you must be conscious.

Kill the system. It's killing you!

-PIANO PLAYING MISS MANTEL:

-Up, up, up.

ALL: # He who would valiant be

# 'Gainst all disaster

# Let him in constancy

# Follow the master... #

-MUTTERING:

-Same day every year for the rest of our lives.

Same day every year for the rest of our lives.

-SOBBING:

-Abbie.

Lydia?

You really should leave.

To be free, you must be conscious.

Why does everyone want to get rid of me?

Get off me.

There's something here.

I can feel it. Something so poisoned, so wrong.

Lock the door.

Stop it.

-What have I done to you all?

-Done? You haven't done anything.

He should have kept me in the hospital.

I'm mad, I'm crazy.

You are not crazy, Lydia.

You are not crazy, you're not mad.

We're normal.

If it's real to me...

I made it up.

I've never really been ill.

-SUSAN:

-What? What about us?

-We've all had it, Lydia.

-I've not.

We've all got it. Nobody can just faint.

I guess I started it.

Well, it happened to me very early and I can assure you I'm no faker.

I'm... I'm not a copycat.

All of the tests were negative.

And how come the others recovered so quickly?

That psychiatrist said if it was real to me...

-I don't think it is.

-You know what, Lydia?

You're the fake.

SHE THUMPS WALL

Everything's wrong.

DOOR OPENS

-LYDIA:

-So...

-DOOR CLOSES

-SHE PANTS

-..I'm expelled.

Good for you.

-Teenagers!

-DOOR SLAMS

ABBIE: It feels like you're blacking out, dying.

# The moon is like a boat, my love

# Of lemon peel afloat, my love... #

-LYDIA:

-Even you don't want me.

It's not like that.

You know it's not.

LYDIA BREATHES HEAVILY

BOTH BREATHE HEAVILY

PANTING

Blacking out.

Small death.

DOOR OPENS

Get off!

Get away from her!

Go on, you get the hell away!

Get out of my house! Get out!

-Stop it!

-Get off me!

Go on, get out of my house!

Go on!

Stop looking at her. I mean it!

You disgust me.

You ought to be locked up.

You're dangerous.

I...

I forgot he was my brother.

-SHE SCOFFS

-You forgot?

Oh, you've not been ill,

but you are sick and you're sick in the head.

There's not a man to be trusted.

I know he went and left you, but you must have trusted him once.

-I mean, you had two kids with him.

-One.

Two. There's me, remember?

-One.

-Two!

I can count.

-SHE SCOFFS

-What?

You're not his.

SHE SCOFFS

That's why he ran away.

Whose am I?

-Forget it, it's history.

-It's my history.

Who is he? Is he still alive?

Oh, come on, you've got to tell me!

Well, was there...

Is there something wrong with him?

There was, wasn't there?

What's wrong with me? Who am I?

He came from the shadows.

What?

And then he...

He...

You mean...

You were...

You were...

I'm...

SHE SCOFFS

SHE SIGHS

And I look like him, don't I?

I've grown up looking like him.

SHE SIGHS

I always knew something was wrong. Now I know.

It was me. It's always been me.

-I should never have said.

-I'm glad I know the truth.

FOOTSTEPS RUNNING

SHE SOBS

ABBIE: The time-dismantled oak.

Let's meet underneath it the same day

every year for the rest of our lives.

The time has come...

Abbie!

Abbie!

Abbie!

Abbie!

I feel so free!

Lydia?

Lydia, sweetie, please come down.

Look at me, Mum! Look at me! Watch me!

Watch me! Watch me!

-No, sweetie, please! Just come down.

-Abbie!

Lydia, please. Come down.

We could go to the seaside.

SHE LAUGHS

That'd be nice. We've never been to the seaside.

I feel so real.

I feel so awake, free!

So conscious.

Lydia.

Abbie!

INDISTINCT VOICES WHISPER

WATER SPLASHES

There's nothing wrong with you.

SHE SOBS

MUSIC PLAYS

ABBIE: # The moon is like a boat, my love

# Of lemon peel afloat, my love... #

"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting

"The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star

"Hath had elsewhere its setting And cometh from afar."

LYDIA GASPS

SHE SOBS

MUSIC: Let Me In by Tracey Thorn

# You're up there in your room with all your demons

# I'm down here in the kitchen with my pans

# I'm sitting here thinking

# What is it you're inking on your hands

# On your hands

# Confiding all your secrets to your notebook

# I'm confiding all my worries to my friends

# And screwed up in the bin

# All the poems you begin but can't end

# You can't end

# Oh, let me in

# And light is on its way

# Oh, the air is thick with things we can't say

# We can't say

# Oh, let me in

# Oh, let me in

# Oh, let me in

# Oh, let me in

# Oh, let me in. #