Safe Space

Safe Space is the story of Tilly. She is a 14-year-old girl going through what most of us have at school, bullying. Tilly has been isolated from the rest of her classmates, she's an outcast and constantly picked on. She only has one friend in the world left, Masie. Masie runs into Tilly, literally, after she is bullied yet again on the way home. Masie asks if she wants to come to her place but Tilly says she'd better get home.

Tilly returns home from school where her drunk father is wallowing in his own pity and anger. She receives messages and phone calls further bullying her within the four walls of her home but instead of blocking or ignoring them, engages with them.

Masie knocks on her window and finds her friend very upset. She offers Tilly to come around to her place again but Tilly is called out to dinner by her father. It's at the dinner table we learn that Tilly's mother is absent and her father holds nothing but contempt for her mother. An angry outburst from her dad sends her crying to her room.

Later that night. Masie and Tilly sit talking quietly. Tilly is going over and over all the bad things in her life and sits in the cupboard to hide from the world. Tilly’s face is lit through a crack in the cupboard door. Masie joins her inside and sits at the other end back in the shadows and once again offers for them to go to her place, where none of the bullies will be able to get her. Tilly accepts the offer.

Tilly’s father comes to his senses and wakes up to himself. He’s clearly a man in pain, suffering from the separation from his wife that he doesn’t know how to deal with.

Tilly is in her closet. She looks worn down and tired. She asks Masie if she’ll be safe at her place and if the bullies won’t be able to find her there. Time and time again Masie reassures her all will be well. Tilly asks again if they can go but Masie assures her in a deep demonic voice that they’re almost there. Masie leans forward from the shadows to show her true face. Tilly is terrified, and she chokes for air as her breath disappears.

Tilly’s father makes 2 mugs of hot chocolate in the kitchen. He’s combed his hair and changed his clothes, it looks like he’s had a shower. He approaches Tilly’s room with the two mugs and makes a heartfelt apology and promises to make sure he’s a better dad moving forward.

He receives no answer and calmly enters the room. He sees neither Tilly or Masie anywhere and notices a crack in the cupboard door. He opens it to find a horrific sight no father should ever see. The only thing we see is a belt tied to the cupboard rail, strained and pulled tight by a heavy weight.

Out on the street, Tilly’s father’s pained screams for his daughter pierce the night as we fade to black.

About the script:

I wrote Safe Space after my daughter went through some significant bullying over the last couple of years and it's a culmination of my fears of what could have happened if as a family we didn't pull together and support her. This shows a darker side of what can happen and yes there is a supernatural twist, but it shows what can potentially happen when people become lost in their own pain and ignore the pain of others that rely on them.

Masie is an embodiment of suicide and how it constantly is at the back of some bullied kids minds constantly poking at them before unfortunately, some of them give in. It can seem like the safe space they're looking for, but it isn't.

I haven't noted any ethnicities of characters or body types in this script but the location country is Australia, where I'm from, as the dialogue will reflect.

I have placed this script as available for free and if someone wishes to produce this script please feel free to contact me.