Hide & Seek (part 1)

A/N: Here's some information on the cast if you're interested but I'm actually keeping it here for future reference.

Florence: Nickname, Flower. Age, 54. Appearance, short, plump, brown hair with streaks of white, glasses (with really high prescription). Who she is: Joshua’s mother, Belle’s mother-in-law, William’s wife. (Also, good ol’ Will is her second husband. Her first husband is dead.)

William: Nickname, Will. Age, 57. Appearance: tall, chubby, black hair, balding from the top, round glasses, similar to Harry Potter’s. Who he is: Florence’s second husband, Joshua’s step-father, Belle’s father-in-law.

Joshua: Nickname, Josh. Age, 24. Appearance, average height and weight, wispy black hair, brown eyes, always in a tee and jeans. Who he is: Florence’s son, William’s step-son, Belle’s husband. (Also, he plays video games a lot.)

Belle: Nickname, Beautiful (but only Josh calls her that). Age, 22. Appearance, average height, as skinny as a model, brown bangs hang over her brown eyes. (And she’s got a rich father who pays the rent of the house that these four live in.)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this!

Ten o’clock in the morning. FLORENCE and WILLIAM in the living room.

FLORENCE: I’ve become it.

WILLIAM: What?

FLORENCE: You know when you sit for long, you become it.

WILLIAM: Fat?

FLORENCE: No, no, when you sit for long and you have nothing to do.

WILLIAM: What?

FLORENCE: You’re so dumb.

WILLIAM: Hey! I’m your husband, gimme some respect.

FLORENCE: Oh! Yes! Bored! You’re boring.

WILLIAM: What?

FLORENCE: You’re boring, and I’m also boring - no, bored. I’m bored. I’ve become bored.

WILLIAM: What should I do?

FLORENCE: We should do what little kids do.

WILLIAM: Cry?

FLORENCE: No, what little kids do when they play.

WILLIAM: Steal?

FLORENCE: Tsk, no. When one kid hides and the other seeks. Hide and seek. Yes, we should do hide and seek.

WILLIAM: Play hide and seek, Flower.

FLORENCE: You can play hide and seek? I thought you do hide and seek.

WILLIAM facepalms. FLORENCE makes a face at him.

FLORENCE: Okay, you count, I'll hide.

WILLIAM: Okay.

WILLIAM puts his hands over his glasses. FLORENCE waddles behind the couch, then she goes out the front door, then she goes across the street and into the park where she hides behind a bush. TONY (20) and JIMMY (23) are behind it as well.

FLORENCE: Are you two hiding from him as well?

TONY: Who?

FLORENCE: My him.

TONY: Your who?

FLORENCE: The one I'm married to.

JIMMY: We don't know who you're married to. Leave us alone, old hag.

FLORENCE takes off her heels and smacks both men with it.

TONY: What was that for?

FLORENCE: You called me old hag.

JIMMY: Forgive us, lady, get lost.

FLORENCE: I can't! I'm hiding from him!

JIMMY: Who are you hiding from?

FLORENCE: Earl.

TONY: Who's Earl?

FLORENCE: My husband, idiot. I'm hiding from him. We're playing hide and seek and he'll give me loooots of money when he finds me.

TONY and JIMMY look at each other mischievously.

JIMMY: He has a lot of money?

FLORENCE: Yes, he has a lot of money.

TONY: If we kidnapped you, would he give us money?

FLORENCE: Huh?

JIMMY: He means nothing, he's just sick in the head.

FLORENCE: Oh, okay.

JIMMY: We have a very good place to hide you...

FLORENCE: Okay, let's go then!

TONY, whispering to JIMMY: She's the one sick in the head, man, what the hell are you talking about?

FLORENCE: Put my shoes back on.

TONY: Okay, let's go now. The motorbike is over there.

JIMMY: How are all of us going to fit on that?

TONY: You come running. You have a lotta fat anyway.

TONY vrooms away on the motorbike.

Back in the house.

WILLIAM: A thousand forty nine... a thousand fifty... a thousand fifty-one...

JOSHUA enters the living room.

JOSHUA: Whatcha doin'?

WILLIAM: Be quiet, I'm counting.

JOSHUA: Are you giving your grade one teacher your exam?

WILLIAM: No, your mom and I are playing hide and seek.

JOSHUA: Have you guys lost your memory or something? You're both in your fifties.

WILLIAM: Be quiet, I'm trying to count! A thousand fifty-five...

JOSHUA: Lalalalalalalalalaaaaa.

WILLIAM: Are you trying to take my hearing away?

JOSHUA: No, I'm trying to make you lose your number.

WILLIAM: Shut up!

JOSHUA: Where's my mother? I looked for her all over the house earlier, and I can't find her. Also, Belle is gone to the marketplace. Three hours ago, she said she's come in an hour. It's been three hours, Will! Three hours! My wife is lost!!

WILLIAM: She's probably kidnapped.

JOSHUA: WHAT?

WILLIAM: And now I lost my count! Flower, I'm coming!

WILLIAM walks out of the living room.

JOSHUA: William!

FLORENCE, JIMMY, and TONY are in an abandoned building. FLORENCE is sipping on juice.

TONY: What's your husband's phone number?

FLORENCE: I dunno.

JIMMY: Seriously?

FLORENCE: Mhm.

TONY: Do you know your house address?

FLORENCE: I live in Antartica. Right in the middle.

JIMMY: What the hell?

FLORENCE: No, I don't live in hell, I live in Antartica.

TONY: Ugh.

FLORENCE, singing: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0

JIMMY: You think she might be saying someone's number?

TONY: Maybe, let me dial it. (pause) It's ringing. (pause) Hello, we have your wife.

PERSON 1: Shut up, idiot, I am with her.

JIMMY: What did he say?

TONY: Nothing. Lady, what's your name?

FLORENCE: Angelina Jolie.

TONY: Tsk, what's your real name.

FLORENCE: Scarlett Johansson.

JIMMY: Uff.

Back in the house, outside the kitchen. Bell rings.

JOSHUA: Who could that be?

WILLIAM: Go check.

JOSHUA: I was going to.

JOSHUA goes to open the front door.

JOSHUA: Belle! You're okay!

BELLE: Hm? Of course I am.

BELLE and JOSHUA both walk into the kitchen, with WILLIAM on their heels.

BELLE: Why are you following me?

WILLIAM: Where are the kidnappers?

BELLE: What?

JOSHUA: Love, don't you know what kidnappers are?

BELLE: I do.

JOSHUA: Where are they?

BELLE: Where are who?

WILLIAM: The kidnappers!

BELLE: I don't have kidnappers!

JOSHUA: Then why did you take so long?

BELLE: Because the check out line was so long. And these three dresses carried me away.

WILLIAM: Then where's Flower?

JOSHUA: She might be here somewhere. Let's go look outside.

A few minutes later, JOSHUA and WILLIAM return, looking sad.

BELLE: Did you find her?

JOSHUA: No...

WILLIAM: We looked everywhere.

BELLE: Then she's kidnapped.

WILLIAM: What?

BELLE: Less mouths to feed. And anyways, both of you know you can't stand it when she keeps on forgetting things.

JOSHUA: Belle!

BELLE: JOSH!

BELLE storms into her room. JOSHUA is quietly sobbing. WILLIAM is staring at the front door expectantly.

WILLIAM: We need to do something.

JOSHUA: I know!

Comments

Points: 1612
Reviews: 31

Donate

Fri Oct 09, 2020 1:00 pm

View Likes

omer wrote a review...

Hey Liberty!
First of all, I really like the tidy writing format, it makes it very easy to follow the script and understand the text while having a clear seperation between directing notes and the dialouge.
-
"FLORENCE: You’re boring, and I’m also boring - no, bored. I’m bored. I’ve become bored."
I really enjoy this kind of confusing and confused charachters. It's hard to get it just the right amount - not too little, but also not to much. especially when the story continues and people can get the idea and lose interest. Just keep that in mind!
-
"FLORENCE: My husband, idiot. I'm hiding from him. We're playing hide and seek and he'll give me loooots of money when he finds me."
I got confused at that part, because they didn't talk about money before. If it's part of Florence's memory's issues and you want to keep it, I'd suggest making it more clear. In addition, I'd get rid of the multiple O's in "loooots" and make it a simple "lots". If you want Florence's actor to emphesize this word, you can write it in the directing notes, or italicize that word.
-
"TONY: If we kidnapped you, would he give us money?"
Tony is planning on kidnapping Florence, which is a really good development of the plot, but why does he say it out loud? I think it would be more interesting and funnier if Jimmy and him would take Florence somewhere to "help her hide", and only then their true goal will be revealed. That way, it's less forced, as well.
-
"JOSHUA: Lalalalalalalalalaaaaa."
I'd remove the extra A's and replace them with an exclamation mark, and maybe add some dashes in between, like that: "La-la-la-la-la-la-la!"
-
"JOSHUA: Where's my mother? I looked for her all over the house earlier, and I can't find her. Also, Belle is gone to the marketplace. Three hours ago, she said she's come in an hour. It's been three hours, Will! Three hours! My wife is lost!!"
Right after Joshua fools around with William and has some fun, he suddenly gets very nervous and worried of something he already knew about, and it looks a little strange. It's like getting all calm into the room, telling a joke, and then freak out about something that happened before you entered the room. You can get a little connection in between these two parts to make it smoother.
-
"TONY: Do you know your house address?

FLORENCE: I live in Antartica. Right in the middle.

JIMMY: What the hell?

FLORENCE: No, I don't live in hell, I live in Antartica."
Brilliant.
-
"JOSHUA: Then why did you take so long?"
I believe you mean - "Then why did it take you so long to get back?" or something like that?
-
"BELLE: Less mouths to feed. And anyways, both of you know you can't stand it when she keeps on forgetting things.

JOSHUA: Belle!

BELLE: JOSH!"
I don't really understand why does Belle gets upset with Josh at the end of the scene. Could you make it more clear?
-
Sorry for the slightly messy answer, I don't know how to take the script's lines and put them in a nice quotes box like others do!

I love that script! it's very funny, and has so much potential. You're very creative and clever. Looking forward for more scenes!
Omer.

Lib says...

Thanks so much for the review! <3 I enjoyed reading it.

Points: 1612
Reviews: 31

Donate

Fri Oct 09, 2020 12:48 pm

omer says...

Points: 14090
Reviews: 351

Donate

Tue Sep 15, 2020 1:53 am

View Likes

mellifera wrote a review...

Hey Lib!

I hope you don't mind if I drop by for a review today! I'm not well-versed in reviewing or writing scripts, so hopefully I can do your piece justice!

No, no, when you sit for long and you have nothing to do.

I think you meant "when you sit for a long time"?

FLORENCE: Oh! Yes! Bored! You’re boring.

WILLIAM: What?

FLORENCE: You’re boring, and I’m also boring - no, bored. I’m bored. I’ve become bored.

The way this dialogue comes out sounds really stiff? I've never heard someone say "I've become bored" unless they're being really dramatic about it, but the context this is put in, it doesn't really sound natural? I kind of wanted to say the same thing about the beginning ("I've become it") and suggest rephrasing that in a way that makes it more clear that Florence forgot the word bored and isn't just being purposely cagey, but I thought it was plausible enough to leave as it was. However, I would suggest italicising it so it's a little more clear she's putting an emphasis on that, at least on the second line that she speaks (because then it makes it clear she's trying to insist on something but isn't quite sure what year).

I would suggest reading the dialogue out loud! Does it sound natural when you say it out loud? If it sounds stiff or too formal, you might want to think about rewriting the lines!

FLORENCE: No, what little kids do when they play.

WILLIAM: Steal?

FLORENCE: Tsk, no. When one kid hides and the other seeks. Hide and seek. Yes, we should do hide and seek.

There's something about the way Florence speaks that makes it sound like she doesn't understand how humans work? She was a kid too once (OR WAS SHE 👀), and I understand forgetting what something is called (I do it all the time it's the worst), but she also forgot "bored", so is she that forgetful or...not human??

WILLIAM: Play hide and seek, Flower.

FLORENCE: You can play hide and seek? I thought you do hide and seek.

WILLIAM facepalms. FLORENCE makes a face at him.

FLORENCE: Okay, you count, I'll hide.

WILLIAM: Okay.

So, she seems to understand how hide and seek works, but the way she's constantly misspeaking makes it seem like she doesn't? I'm...confused about Florence's speech here.

FLORENCE waddles behind the couch, then she goes out the front door, then she goes across the street and into the park where she hides behind a bush.

Why does she go to the back of the sofa first? If she thinks better of that and decides to go outside instead, why don't you mention that? (also, I don't know where William is in the house, or the layout of the house at all, but does she open the door quietly so that he doesn't hear it?)

FLORENCE: Are you two hiding from him as well?

why,,, would they be?

FLORENCE: Earl.

TONY: Who's Earl?

FLORENCE: My husband, idiot. I'm hiding from him. We're playing hide and seek and he'll give me loooots of money when he finds me.

Is Earl the nickname for William? Also, they never mentioned money, so why is she bringing it up now?

JIMMY: He has a lot of money?

FLORENCE: Yes, he has a lot of money.

TONY: If we kidnapped you, would he give us money?

FLORENCE: Huh?

JIMMY: He means nothing, he's just sick in the head.

FLORENCE: Oh, okay.

JIMMY: We have a very good place to hide you...

FLORENCE: Okay, let's go then!

TONY, whispering to JIMMY: She's the one sick in the head, man, what the hell are you talking about?

It seems like Tony and Jimmy's motivations are sort of interchanged here? Tony first proposes the kidnapping, Jimmy dismisses him after Florence doesn't seem to understand anyway, but then Jimmy is the one to move back to the kidnapping train, and it's then Tony who seems reluctant? The switch is kind of odd between them. If one is going to be reluctant, I would keep the same one reluctant the whole time.

TONY vrooms away on the motorbike.

By the conversation, it seems like he took Florence with him (and left Jimmy?), but it's not mentioned, so...?

WILLIAM: A thousand forty nine... a thousand fifty... a thousand fifty-one...

lol is he just going to keep counting

JOSHUA: Have you guys lost your memory or something? You're both in your fifties.

LET THEM BE CHILDREN AGAIN JOSHUA

JOSHUA: Where's my mother? I looked for her all over the house earlier, and I can't find her. Also, Belle is gone to the marketplace. Three hours ago, she said she's come in an hour. It's been three hours, Will! Three hours! My wife is lost!!

I think "she said she's come in an hour" is meant to be something like "she said she'll come in an hour"?? Also,,, joshua, have you heard of a phone. and did you not just hear your father say that he and mum are playing hide and seek. catch up with the times joshua.

(also also, generally you don't need more than one exclamation mark!)

FLORENCE, singing: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0

JIMMY: You think she might be saying someone's number?

lol

TONY: Nothing. Lady, what's your name?

FLORENCE: Angelina Jolie.

good answer

BELLE: I don't have kidnappers!

JOSHUA: Then why did you take so long?

BELLE: Because the check out line was so long. And these three dresses carried me away.

Why did they assume she had been kidnapped? I thought William was making more of an off-hand comment/joke. That seems like a little bit of a stretch, but I guess it's an assumption.

WILLIAM: We looked everywhere.

yes, everywhere. she has mysteriously stopped existing.

This is an interesting premise for a script! I wish there was a little more tension in it, since Florence does literally get kidnapped and held for ransom after all. I'm not saying there's no place for the humour, but a little more a balance to make the humour more effective couldn't hurt!

I don't have much to say about the structure. Again, I'm really not a script reviewer, so I can only hope my comments on your dialogue was helpful since that's more up my alley.

If you have any comments or questions about anything I said, please let me know!

Otherwise, I hope you have a wonderful day, and Happy RevMo!

Lib says...

However, I would suggest italicising it so it's a little more clear she's putting an emphasis on that, at least on the second line that she speaks (because then it makes it clear she's trying to insist on something but isn't quite sure what year).

Thanks so much for that tip! I'll keep that in mind next time I'm writing her. :p

I'm...confused about Florence's speech here.

She has a weird memory lol. The stuff she has wouldn't be in normal humans but she usually just forgets some words and has a reallyyyy bad memory and does childish things even though she's like fifty or something.

why,,, would they be?

xD Like I said before, she does some prettyyy childish things and has a bad memory and mistakes strangers for people she knows.

Is Earl the nickname for William? Also, they never mentioned money, so why is she bringing it up now?

memoryyy

Thanks so much for the review!! It was definitely helpful. =D

Points: 2600
Reviews: 127

Donate

Fri Sep 04, 2020 5:54 pm

View Likes

mythh wrote a review...

(Also, he plays video games a lot.)

UM... WHAT? I'M TOTALLY IN!!!!

Just kidding. I got a bit too hyped there. Anyway, that aside, hey Lib! The Myth here to review this hilarious script. No, really! Let me get started without further ado

FLORENCE: No, no, when you sit for long and you have nothing to do.

WILLIAM: What?

FLORENCE: You’re so dumb.

Aw Lib, why you do my man WIll like that? Good one though. I really like how you've written the couple in the first few lines and introduced them to us. Entertaining! What I find funny about Florence is that she's both very childish and also very adult-talky, if you get what I mean. She's a well-thought character and I can tell from the first few lines. Good job!

JOSHUA: Where's my mother? I looked for her all over the house earlier, and I can't find her. Also, Belle is gone to the marketplace. Three hours ago, she said she's come in an hour. It's been three hours, Will! Three hours! My wife is lost!!

WILLIAM: She's probably kidnapped.

JOSHUA: WHAT?

WILLIAM: And now I lost my count! Flower, I'm coming!

Oh, God! William is such a hilarious character. He's counting to find Florence but that conclusion he drew! Sounds very convincing to me! I really love this already!

WILLIAM: The kidnappers!

BELLE: I don't have kidnappers!

JOSHUA: Then why did you take so long?

BELLE: Because the check out line was so long. And these three dresses carried me away.

WILLIAM: Then where's Flower?

JOSHUA: She might be here somewhere. Let's go look outside.

Oh, God, that escalated quickly... You sure do know how to make my head tremble with laughter! The oblivion and chaos are just so entertaining. You really know where all the tickle bones in the brain are.

BELLE: Less mouths to feed. And anyways, both of you know you can't stand it when she keeps on forgetting things.

JOSHUA: Belle!

BELLE: JOSH!

I'm such a BELLE!!!! I love what just happened. It's just so vivid and lively in my head, I wanna cry with laughter!

The ending is just as dramatic as it should be. I loved the entire piece. WHERE IS PART 2??? It's been like FOUR MONTHS!!!

Anyway, I expect more sooner or later.

Yours sincerely,
Myth <3

__|_|__

Lib says...

Omg idk where you found this from but sure I'll take the review xD Glad you enjoyed it so much! I might do part two very soon maybe idk...

Thanks for the review, fren! <3

Points: 22098
Reviews: 455

Donate

Mon May 18, 2020 8:43 pm

View Likes

Hijinks wrote a review...

Hi Lib! I'm here for the requested review!

First of all, I just need to say that this is hilarious and very well written. It was very easy and fun to read, and right off the bat we get a feel for Florence's wonderful character.

There are no spelling mistakes that I can see, and I just have a few small grammar suggestions - though, since this a script and these are supposed to be people talking, grammar doesn't need to be perfect.

FLORENCE: You know when you sit for long, you become it.

This sentence seems like it's missing something, and I would personally recommend adding to it, like so:

FLORENCE: You know when you sit for a long time, you become it.

But if that isn't the style of talking that Florence has, feel free to leave it as is.

FLORENCE: My husband, idiot. I'm hiding from him. We're playing hide and seek and he'll give me loooots of money when he finds me.

It comes across as a bit informal when you alter the spelling of a word to give emphasis, and I personally would suggest italicizing "lots" instead of changing its spelling. However, that's a style and preference thing, and really not a huge deal.

TONY: You come running. You have a lotta fat anyway.

"You come running" sounds a bit strange, though maybe that's just how Tony talks. However, I think it might make more sense if he says "You can run" or something along the lines of that.

I just have one more minor critique, which is about names. Since there are only 4 characters, it's not a huge deal, but "Jimmy" and "Joshua" both start with J, and if you really want to make things easy to read, it might help if you changed one of their names so that they don't start with the same letter. This definitely doesn't matter that much, and it's really just a small thing, but it could be possible for the reader to mix them up.

I really only have one general suggestion, which is to vary line length a little bit more. A lot of the lines are fairly short, and creating some longer ones could make a nice change in pace. As it is, some of the conversations feel a bit too back and forth. It's not necessarily a bad thing, if you want the conversations to feel silly and light and easy to read, but it's just something to keep in mind.

I'm really impressed with how well you've developed the characters, in such a short time, just through dialogue and nothing else. Already the reader has a clear idea of what Florence, Belle, and William are like. And I gotta say, Florence is an amazing character!

FLORENCE: I live in Antartica. Right in the middle.

JIMMY: What the hell?

FLORENCE: No, I don't live in hell, I live in Antartica.

The script is full of hilarious exchanges, including the one above. This is listed under humour, and it's definitely humorous! It's hard to make dialogue sound funny without it feeling forced, but the jokes in the script feel entirely natural, so well done!
One small thing about the above quote - "Antartica" is actually spelled "Antarctica". It could be you're trying to convey how she pronounces the word, but if not, I just thought I'd point it out.

Overall, this is really, really well written. It's got humour, drama, likeable characters, and ends on a cliffhanger. I would love to read Part 2!

I hope this review was helpful, and if you have any questions feel free to ask. Thank you for requesting this on my review thread!

Keep writing!

whatcha

Lib says...

Thanks so much for the review! It was very helpful!

Points: 81482
Reviews: 672

Donate

Sun May 17, 2020 1:21 am

View Likes

Plume wrote a review...

Wow! I thought that the script format did a lot for this piece. I liked how you put the character descriptions at the beginning. Oftentimes with scripts, it's hard to convey character appearances, but I think you did a good job with that.

It looked all fine, grammar-wise. I noticed that someone in an earlier review said to replace who with you, but I don't think that's necessary. It hinders the meaning of the question in context, so leave it as it is.

I wondered if you meant this script to be a satire. It certainly read that way; the characters were very much caricatures of themselves and a lot of the dialogue wasn't realistic. This isn't a bad thing, but if you had wanted it to be a more naturalistic script, I'd suggest revising it.

Overall, I think you did a very good job combining both the dramatic elements with the humor of the situation. It's completely outlandish and altogether entertaining. I can't wait to read more!

Lib says...

Ah, thanks for the review! Glad you enjoyed it~

Points: 3050
Reviews: 174

Donate

Fri May 08, 2020 5:46 pm

View Likes

JesseWrites wrote a review...

Hey Lib. It's Jesse here to review.

GENERAL OPINION-

I enjoy the fact that this is written in a play. I never thought it would work out, but it did. I have prejudice against character profiles in the beginning. It is almost like it dumps info onto a work, so It looks a little sloppy. I do find your way quite neat.

GRAMMAR AND SPELLING-

" Where are who?"
Who should be replaced with you. Easy fix and very simple. It happens to the best of us, so don't be angry.

Nothing else from scanning.

CAPITALIZATION-

I see no errors. Good on that, Lib.

CHARACTERS-

You gave a good idea of looks, personality, and relevance. I would have liked to imagine a bit more, but not my story.

OTHER-

I did enjoy this, but it was short. I hope you continue on as I find this riveting and new. A fresh start for a experienced writer.

SUGGESTIONS-

Practice as it never fails me, so it won't for you. We all need a push.

Farewell for now,
Jesse.

Lib says...

Thanks for the review! It was very helpful.

There's going to be a part 2.

Young Writers Society

Hide & Seek (part 1)

Comments

Sponsors

About / Info

Forums & RPG

Literary

Resources