The Falling Page #3

---

the communal areas.

You will not attend assemblies,

and you'll be

taking games alone.

On now.

They stink.

May I have absolute silence?

I want to hear a pin drop.

We're very fortunate

to have Mrs. Maud Leese

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.

Girls.

They are frequently

either burns or...

Girls. For crying out loud.

I'm so sorry.

Oh...

"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..."

Now, girls...

"Everything that dies

serves to moon."

Now today

I'm going to talk to you

about the devil.

The devil can enter you

in many ways.

So please cross you legs.

I feel so crummy.

"Accidents in the..."

"Accidents in the Home."

I have brought leaflets

which can be given out.

Shows the test results.

I haven't got a decent coat.

Go on, mum.

Do it for me,

for me.

Take anything she might need.

Good idea.

Why can't you care?

That what you were doing?

Mm...

The school has been shut down.

Shh!

Kenneth Nevercan.

You're the brother. Yep.

You must believe

something's wrong now.

I suppose all this

can't be from nothing.

It's them and us, Titch.

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.

Right.

I don't know.

It's like Ouspensky said...

"To be free,

one must be conscious."

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 anymore...

Yeah? Yeah.

Yeah.

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.

Oh.

Poor Abigail Mortimer.

She thought she knew it all,

naive, little thing.

Abbie and Lydia, so very close.

Those skirts.

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 heart.

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?

Ohh...

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.

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 M...

Miss Charron.

She's been sick, too.

She's close in age to you?

That's important, isn't it?

I think so, too.

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 3 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 patronize 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 I've never known

got to do with all this?

Have you ever had

irregular periods

or excessive bleeding?

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... I feel...

it...

I f... It's... I... It's...

I... I feel...

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?

He's prescribed

tranquilizers for all of us.

They don't seem to want

to believe we're ill.

My advice...

don't take the pills

and try to hide your symptoms.

I'm finding, being in

the more advanced stages,

that my symptoms don't

show as much, anyway.

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.

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.

The standards of behavior

must be kept.

This is a school.

It's not a mental institution.

This generation,

they think they're

so misunderstood.

If they'd any idea

what it's like

to be a middle-aged woman,

they'd know what

misunderstood meant.

Oh...

Ha!

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 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!

Everything has to be

brought to you!

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes