Scene 1. Summer’s here

The camera pans over a small, suburban cul de sac on a warm, sunny, summer’s day – it appears to be late morning. Our view then drops to the entrance of the area where we pass slowly through a narrow street lined by fully blossomed trees and the occasional car. We see that the street is the home to quaint, two-floor terraced houses with white gravel walls, and gleaming windows looking into living rooms and upstairs bedrooms.  Birds and insects pass by our view – you can almost feel the warmth radiating from the pavement and roads.

The camera then dips closer to the street where we pass some charming features such as an old, red phone box with fading, cracked paint….
a small convenience store with its advertising board inviting onlookers onto the entrance path….
a narrow lane where garage doors, back garden gates, and patches of unkempt grass and spring flowers are in full bloom.

We soon reach the end of the straight part of the street where a final set of houses sit in front of a wall – maybe 7 foot in height. Beyond this wall, we catch a glimpse of some trees and what appears to be a hospital building with flower bed arrangements and well-maintained shrubbery patches leading down from its front path.

Finally, the camera moves towards the left where the curve of the road has come to its end – a car park of maybe 10 spaces in a row provides convenience for the residents whose back gardens lead onto this area. This car park is aligned with an unfenced, grass play area, and a final line of houses. There is no path for traffic to pass any further, but we can see a tiny lane that must lead through to the pavement of another street

Two teenage children come into view – they are scampering through the car park whilst kicking a football to each other. Their sense of freedom and excitement is apparent as they kick the ball from the kerb and continue running towards the grass play area:

Jacob: “So, what are we doing tonight? Are Jonny and Clinton coming round to your place?”

Dominic: “I don’t know – Summer is coming to stay for a few weeks, so Mum will probably want me to spend time with her”

Jacob: “Why does she have to visit this time every year?  You always have to look after her, and she doesn’t really like the things we do!”

Dominic: “Well, I don’t mind too much – she doesn’t have any parents, so Mum says we should try our hardest to be like a family to her when she visits.”

Jacob: “I know why you don’t mind her, but you’re never going to have the guts to do anything about it!”

Dominic: “I don’t fancy her! Plus weird things always happen when she’s around – it makes me nervous!”

Jacob: “You’ve never told me about what happens when she visits – do you start having dreams about her, and waking up in a sweat?!”

Dominic: “Shut up! I told you about what happened last year– I think she’s jinxed or something.”

Jacob: “That’s not very fair!  What if it’s YOU who’s jinxed?!  …… I reckon you make things happen so that she comes running into your big, strong arms!”

Dominic: “I’m telling you – even though I don’t mind her visiting, something weird or bad will happen over the next few weeks. I bet you!”

Jacob: “So, when is she arriving?   Have we got time to go to the shop and see Jonny for a while?”

Dominic: “Well, her bus should have dropped her off in town this morning, so probably in the next hour or so.”

Jacob: “Great – so that’s the Summer over, then?!”

Dominic: “No!   I’ll just be busy helping Mum for a while during the day, and then she can spend the evening catching up with Summer.  I’ll come out and see you guys shortly after dinner.”

Jacob: “Okay… well I’m going to the shop to annoy Mr Towsey, and then I’ll see if Jonny can put-up with meeting Summer again.”

Dominic: “Yeah…I don’t know why they fell out last year, but he needs to get over it – she doesn’t interfere THAT much with what we do!”

Suddenly a voice comes from the end of the street:

Sarah: “Dominic! That’s Summer on her way – she’ll be at the end of the street in a few minutes. Can you and Jacob give her a hand with her bags?!”

Dominic (looking unimpressed): “Yes Mum!” He shouts.

Jacob: “Haha! You’re going to be one of the girls for the rest of the holidays!”

Dominic: “I wouldn’t laugh – my Mum always manages to rope you into doing stuff!”

Jacob: “What can I say – I’m just a nice person!”

Dominic and Jacob walk towards the main part of the street. As they do so, we can see that Sarah is watching from the house that sits at the very end of the street – the 7 foot wall stands over the garden and the lower part of the house. We notice that the house number is 32 Elm Place.

Sarah smiles at the boys as they begin their short walk down the street. The sun is shining even brighter now, and a shimmer of heat is emanating from the unsheltered parts of the road.

Just as they reach halfway down the street, a figure comes into their view from behind one of the trees – it’s Summer.  She has a thin jacket raised above her head and her luggage laid down next to her in the shade of the tree.  Dominic looks confused…

Dominic: “Hey Summer – you okay!?”

Summer: “Yeah, sort of…I think it’s about to rain!”

Jacob looks at Dominic with a confused expression on his face.

Jacob: “I doubt it! Look how blue the sky is!”

As Jacob finishes uttering his words, a dark rain cloud passes over the sky just in front of them. Summer screams playfully as drops can be heard hitting the leaves and branches nearby…the spots of rain above her quickly turn to a heavy downpour. Summer’s screams become more excited as she stamps on the wetting ground.

Dominic and Jacob look shocked but amazed… the cloud covers the sky above them and the drops of rain begin to soak into their clothes…

Jacob: “Shit! Where did that come from?!”

Dominic: “Wow!  Look at the steam coming off the road!”

Dominic and Jacob look over to the uncovered road, as the sun starts to rip through the tail-end of the rain cloud. The rain drops react with the heat of the road, and steam begins to rise – creating an almost tropical wet climate for a spell of around thirty seconds…

Jacob: “Aww – that is so cool!”

Jacob and Dominic check the road for traffic and then walk through the light mist rising from the ground.  For a brief moment, it looks as if the rain is rising in the same droplet form as it fell from the sky – almost as if in slow motion, Jacob and Dominic watch the particles move past them. 

As the mist clears, we begin to see more clearly that Summer is shaking her jacket dry. Collecting her belongings from the ground, and coming closer to the boys with her luggage in hand.

Dominic: “How did you know that was coming!?”

Summer: “It’s been following me since I got on the bus…. not LITERALLY following me, but I’d been keeping an eye on it.

Summer looks to the sky, sighs, and then looks towards the boys:

Summer:  “So what’s the plan for the rest of the day? We need to have some fun! ”

Summer smiles a beautiful grin as the boys check their soaked clothing before approaching her to help with the baggage.

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