DARKNESS

               SUPERIMPOSE: Summer 1996



               INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT

                                   GIRL (V.O.)
                         My health was never particularly
                         good, come to think of it ...



               EXT. SCHOOLYARD

               There are children running around, playing on the playground
               equipment.

                                   GIRL (CONT'D)
                         But I was able to attend primary
                         school like anyone else - in the
                         summer I'd play until I was burned
                         through and through ...



               INT. SCHOOL CLASSROOM

               A GIRL, twelve years of age or so, sits at a desk by the
               window, looking out.

                                   GIRL (CONT'D)
                         It was June, just after I had
                         entered middle school. It was just
                         before the midterm tests. 



               EXT. SCHOOLYARD 

               We see here the GIRL, behind a window, looking longingly
               outwards. 

                                   GIRL (CONT'D)
                         It was the day after I ordered a
                         swimsuit for the summer. That was
                         the first day I'd been admitted to
                         the hospital.



               CLOUDS AND RAIN

               Looking UPWARDS at the falling rain.

                                   GIRL (CONT'D)
                         It was a cold, unpleasant, drizzly
                         day.



               INT. HOSPITAL BED

               The same GIRL is lying on top of a HOSPITAL BED clad only in
               her pyjamas.

                                   GIRL (CONT'D)
                         Shrouded by the rainy sky - murky,
                         white, and damp.

               The GIRL turns to look at the DOORWAY, and sits up. Several
               GIRLS enter, brandishing boquets, chocolates, etc. They begin
               conversing.

                                   GIRL (CONT'D)
                         At first my classmates came to see
                         me - almost every day. When I was
                         out of the hospital, they'd come
                         and play on the weekends too. But
                         that was only at first.



               EXT. TREES - AUTUMN

               It is clearly AUTUMN now and the leaves on the TREES are red
               and brown.

                                   GIRL (CONT'D)
                         Autumn came ...

                                                               WIPE TO:



               EXT. TREES - WINTER

               It is WINTER now - the trees have no leaves and there is a
               light dusting of snow on them.

                                   GIRL (CONT'D)
                         ... And passed into winter. I was
                         admitted and discharged, went in
                         for tests, was re-admitted ...
                         There were people in my class that
                         I had called my friends - but
                         before I realized what was
                         happening, they were merely
                         acquaintances - and then ...



               INT. HOSPITAL ROOM

               The GIRL is looking out the window once more, from the
               vantage point of her bed.



               GIRL'S POV

               The GIRL watches a crowd of PEOPLE walking on the street
               across from her window.

                                   GIRL (CONT'D)
                         Then they were strangers. With each
                         change of the seasons I had faded
                         from more and more memories.



               INT. HOSPITAL ROOM

                                   GIRL
                         I suppose they ... don't like
                         seeing me like this. If you've got
                         a normal life you wouldn't want
                         someone like me in it. 

               GIRL'S POV

                                   GIRL
                         So they blank me out ...



               EXT. HOSPITAL

               The camera is looking at the SEVENTH FLOOR.

                                   GIRL
                         I've passed all these seasons under
                         that white overcast sky, without
                         needing to speak to anyone ...

               CLOSE UP of a TEXTBOOK on a DESK.

                                   GIRL
                         My English textbook is untouched
                         from the first-year midterms ...

                                                             PAN UP TO:



               INT. BEDROOM

               The GIRL, looking at the textbook, sighs as she leaves the
               room.

                                   GIRL
                         As though ... Even time had stopped
                         for me ...



               OPENING CREDITS ROLL