Working Title: Teachers
Genre: Drama
Logline: A teacher finds an unconscious child on route to her first day back at work after the lockdown. She struggles to keep the child alive as her neighbours slowly congregate offering their opinions on the matter.
Story Synopsis: Teachers (working title)
ACT ONE
The world has gone mad. No-one agrees anymore, and in the midst of a pandemic and leaving the E.U, everyone has something to say. It’s Kath’s first day back at school, teaching primary age children. She is full of contradicting emotions as she gets her bag together. Extra pens for the kids and apples she always brings in case any of the kids don’t have snacks. She looks down at her list for the new items she needs to pack, hand sanitiser, masks and gloves and a first aid kit. She looks in the mirror and checks her appearance, apprehensive about leaving but excited to get back to work.
She heads out of her flat and walks down the stairs that lead out of the estate. As she arrives at the footpath that leads to the main road, she spots a small child lying face down in the middle of the path. Kath rushes over yelling for help but it’s early and no-one else is out yet. She rolls the child over, realising it’s Evie, a young girl from the estate who often plays exuberantly in the courtyard. She checks Evie’s airways and they seem clear; however she is not breathing so Kath calls for an ambulance and puts the phone on speaker. They ask if she knows CPR and she explains that she has already started chest compressions but is nervous because she did her first aid training online. She tells them to please hurry.
ACT TWO
The other neighbours are starting to wake up and Kath spots a geezer in a cap walking his British Bulldog, so she calls out to him for help. The man siddles up and looks down at Kath frantically trying to keep the girl alive. He suggests Kath tries giving the child RNR and an old lady walking by, pushing a shopping bag pipes up contradicting the geezer suggesting it’s RPR. Kath finding all of this extremely unhelpful continues to give CPR to the child.
We hear a little voice coming out of the phone reassuring Kath she’s doing great and the ambulance is on it’s way. A middle aged couple heading out for a stroll come across the scene and the lady shouts out and loudly demands to her husband Henry that they need to pray. They both fall to their knees praying. Henry never says a word.
A busy-body housewife has been peering out of her window at the scene and decides to come out and use her knowledge of detective shows to decide what could have happened. Kath has been there for ten minutes by this point and it feels like an eternity to her. Still trying to keep the girl alive, now with five onlookers who are all being equally unhelpful. Suddenly a lady tears down the road towards them screaming that she knows Evie, she’s best friends with Evie’s mum and has anyone told her yet!? Kath suggests that she goes to find Evie’s mum, who has yet to be notified. The busy-body housewife starts suggesting that it’s always those closest to the family in situations like this and starts arguing with the friend of the family. A seventeen year old lad cycling past, stops to call 999, but when he realises they’ve been called he just stands there and films everything on his phone.
A hippy woman with a baby strapped to her front offers to run back and get her crystals which starts a heated discussion with the praying woman who believes the power of God will be enough. Two teenage girls are walking past on their way to school. Seeing the commotion one girl exclamations “Oh my God!”. She’s left her phone behind. The other girl reassures her that she has her phone with her and they can use that to film the exciting incident. The voice on the end of Kath’s phone reassures her that she’s doing great and the ambulance coming.
By this point the busy-body housewife is questioning Kath as if she were a suspect, whilst Kath just looks around for someone to take over from her as she is getting very worn out. A creepy middle aged man starts spouting conspiracy theories about what could have happened to the child and distracts the housewife into an argument, which Kath is quite pleased about, as it means she can get on with the task at hand.
Twenty minutes in and the hippy and the geezer are arguing about whether all this is the government’s fault, the housewife is reading an article aloud about Madeleine McCanne and a mother is explaining to her son why a teacher really isn’t as good as a nurse. The schoolgirls are debating whether they can stay another few minutes, seeing as they haven’t been to school in four months. A paranoid person walks past, covered from head to toe in protective equipment, and yells at Kath to get away so she doesn’t catch Corona. The schoolgirls squeal with excitement at their decision to stay. Kath’s phone says “the ambulance is near, keep going.”
ACT THREE
The ambulance finally arrives and two paramedics get out and start checking over the child and asking Kath important information. By the time Kath has conveyed what limited information she has, the child is packed into the ambulance and we can hear a heartbeat on the monitor. Evie’s mum appears and jumps straight into the ambulance, totally focused on Evie. The hysterical friend shouts something encouraging and walks away. The paramedics thank Kath and race off.
Kath stands motionless for a moment on the street, surrounded by all her disgruntled neighbours who, realising the spectacle is over, slowly start to disperse. Kath stands there trembling, as the mother with her son reminds Kath that she has a job to go to. Kath shakes herself out of the shock and tries to find her phone to let work know what has happened. “Teachers” the neighbour mutters.
