Episode 1 by Lauren Harrington

SOUND: CLICK OF A RECORDER

DR. BRIGHT New patient. Session 1. Female, mid-20s, no history of psychological counseling. She was skittish when making her appointment. Condition unknown.

SOUND: KNOCK ON DOOR

DR. BRIGHT Come in.

SAM Dr. Bright? Um, yes, hi I’m here for a session...for a therapy session that is. 2 o’clock. I have a 2 o’clock appointment. It’s my first time. In therapy, I mean. That’s probably obvious. I’m Sam - Samantha. My name is Samantha Barnes but you can call me Sam. Or Samantha. Either one is fine. Whatever you’re comfortable with. It’s your office.

DR. BRIGHT Which would you prefer?

SAM Sam, I suppose. If I had to pick.

DR. BRIGHT Well, Sam, why don’t you come in?

SAM Oh right, gosh, sorry.

SOUND: CLOSING DOOR

DR. BRIGHT Please, take a seat.

SOUND: SAM SITTING

SAM I don’t have to lie down do I? I never understood that - Freud is so insistent about it and it just always

1 seems so weird.

DR. BRIGHT (amused) No, you’re not required to lie down. (pause) What did you mean by that?

SAM By what?

DR. BRIGHT The comment about Freud?

SAM Oh, that. Um, nothing - I didn’t mean anything by it. I mean, I don’t know Freud personally or anything - I mean, it’s not a personal interest of mine. I think I probably just read something somewhere about Freud and his intense need for people to lie down while talking to him. I’m a researcher, so I spend a lot of time on the computer. And you know the Internet - just full of information. (forced laugh) So yes, I probably just read about Freud while I was doing my Internet…ing (pause) I mean, I’m sure you know all about Freud, being a psychiatrist and all.

DR. BRIGHT I’ve read his works, yes.

SAM Right, so, well...anyway, that’s a relief - that I don’t have to lie down, I mean. It just seems silly.

(SILENCE)

DR. BRIGHT So, Sam, how are you feeling today?

SAM Good, yes, I’m good. Great. Things are great.

DR. BRIGHT Is there anything in particular that’s on your mind?

SAM No, no, not really. (pause) I don’t really need therapy - I’m not, you know, depressed or suicidal or anything.

2 I mean, I have a nice life. A job I like, a nice apartment...a very understanding cat. Things are good. I just saw your listing in the paper and it looked intriguing, that’s all.

DR. BRIGHT What about it intrigued you?

SAM Well, "therapy for the strange and unusual". I just- that sounded, well, unusual.

DR. BRIGHT And you like things that are unusual?

SAM (laughing awkwardly) Um, no I wouldn’t say that exactly.

DR. BRIGHT Then why did the listing attract you?

SAM (uncertain but curious) What did you mean by it? Why put a listing in the paper for therapy at all? (more to herself) Seems a little weird…

DR. BRIGHT (casually vague) I’ve learned that some people have problems that aren’t exactly found in psychology textbooks. And a lot of those people don’t know where to turn for help. That’s where I come in.

SAM What do you mean? What kinds of problems?

DR. BRIGHT I’m afraid I can’t discuss any of my past or present patients.

SAM Right, of course, of course you can’t. I’m sorry. It’s just...I think...I think I might qualify for that. For the "strange and unusual”.

DR. BRIGHT (light mock surprise) Oh? Why do you say that?

3 SAM Well...ever since I was about 10 years old...wait, you can’t tell anyone about this right? The doctor-patient confidentiality agreement still applies?

DR. BRIGHT Of course. I can’t tell anyone what you tell me in this office.

SAM And you can’t report me to any law enforcement or government agency or anything right?

DR. BRIGHT Well, if you’ve hurt someone, or plan to, I would have to-

SAM (rushing to interrupt) No! No, no, it’s nothing like that. It’s just...well, you will probably think I’m completely insane. I mean, I think I’m completely insane - have thought for fifteen years. But well. Here’s the thing. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been able to do this thing that, for all intents and purposes should not be possible. And I’ve read every single book that I could get my hands on and scoured what feel like the entire Internet and I have never come across any kind of explanation for it. And you probably won’t believe me, but, essentially, unbelievably, I can time travel. (pause) And it sucks.

(SILENCE)

DR. BRIGHT (completely unfazed) You don’t enjoy it?

SAM ...what? No, I don’t, I mean it’s - wait, aren’t you even just a little bit curious about the time travel part? You don’t find that…strange?

DR. BRIGHT It is certainly...(searching for a nice word) atypical, but no stranger than anything else I’ve ever heard.

4 SAM Wow. Wow, okay. That’s-. Really? (pause) I guess that’s sort of...comforting? (considering) Have you ever met anyone else that can...that can do what I do?

DR. BRIGHT I’m afraid that pesky doctor-patient confidentiality makes it impossible-

SAM Right, right of course. That makes sense. It would just be nice to know if someone else had the same condition.

DR. BRIGHT Condition? Why do you call it that?

SAM Well, it’s sort of...involuntary? I mean, it’s not like I hop into the TARDIS and sail off through time. I just go. Unexpectedly, at any time. I- I don’t have a choice. It just happens.

DR. BRIGHT (very interested now) Can you elaborate on that?

SAM Um, well, I get this sort of light-headed, dizzy feeling. And the edges of my vision go hazy and then there’s this weird, intense tightness in my chest and poof, I disappear. Or, at least, I assume I disappear. I mean, I don’t know, I’ve never seen it from the other side. Obviously. And then I just...reappear. Usually just a few minutes later - regardless of how much time I spend in the other place.

DR. BRIGHT And no one has ever seen this happen?

SAM (stutters nervously) Um...I tend to just avoid…people.

DR. BRIGHT You don’t have a family? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Friends?

5 SAM My parents are dead. And I’m an only child. (PAUSE)

DR. BRIGHT Where do you go when you disappear? Or, I suppose I should ask when?

SAM I go everywhere - every time, I mean. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes its significant historical events, sometimes there isn’t another living soul around. I really have seen Freud though - I’ve accidentally sat in on a few of his sessions. Those trips are okay. Not too eventful but usually pretty interesting.

DR. BRIGHT And Freud doesn’t mind the intrusion?

SAM How could he?

DR. BRIGHT (genuinely confused for the first time) What do you mean?

SAM He couldn’t see me. They can never see me. I’m just there. It’s like being stuck inside someone else’s memory. I can move around but I can’t talk. I’m basically a ghost. Or like, a reverse ghost. Not dead, but invisible. Well, not even born yet, I guess. (growing frustrated with her explanation) Ugh, I don’t know.

DR. BRIGHT (absorbing the information) That...that must be difficult.

SAM (quietly) It’s horrible.

DR. BRIGHT

6 And you say this has been happening since you were a child?

SAM Yes. I think I was 10 years old the first time it happened? I was so scared...but it was also exciting. I remember, I went back to Ancient Greece. It was - (smiling at the memory) it was really cool to be honest. When I came back, I thought I had just fallen asleep and had the most vivid dream. (the smile drops) The second time it happened, I knew I wasn’t dreaming

DR. BRIGHT And when was that?

SAM About a year later. The trips didn’t happen very frequently when they first started. (pause) When...when I was a teenager, they started happening all the time.

DR. BRIGHT Why do you think the trips increased?

SAM (quietly) I...I don’t know.

DR. BRIGHT May I ask - what happens on these trips? You begin to feel ill, you disappear, and then? What happens next?

SAM I open my eyes and I’m somewhere else. Sometimes it takes me a little while to figure out where. Especially if I’m out in the country or there’s no one else around. Sometimes it’s really obvious. Like Greece was; or Victorian England, or the Civil War. (pause) That was loud.

DR. BRIGHT (encouraging) It must be very interesting - seeing these things that are only familiar to us through history books. You get to witness events that no one else does.

7 SAM Yeah, I guess. It was definitely really neat at first. But now...now I’m just tired. (pause) I honestly think I would just prefer to go see an IMAX movie. It would probably smell a lot better. (AWKWARD PAUSE)

DR. BRIGHT I’m curious Sam, why come to therapy now? After all these years?

SAM Um...well. I don’t know. I’m just fed up, I guess. This week...this week I turned 25. And my parents -well, in their will - well, I got the rest of the family money on my 25th birthday. And it’s a lot of money. And what am I supposed to do with it? (using her whole voice for the first time) Share it with all the friends I don’t have? Save it for a big wedding that will never happen? What’s the point of buying a nice house or traveling around the world if I can’t enjoy any of it?

DR. BRIGHT Why wouldn’t you be able to enjoy any of it?

SAM (becoming increasingly agitated) Because I can’t enjoy anything! I’m terrified all the time. When I’m not actively disappearing, I’m worried about disappearing. I’m worried about being caught, about hurting someone, about not coming back. When I go away, I’m nowhere, I’m invisible, I’m no one. And it’s not better here, where I have no life, no friends - I don’t exist anywhere, I’m so scared of everything and I’m starting. to lose. my mind. (LONG PAUSE AS SAM STRUGGLES TO CATCH HER BREATH)

DR. BRIGHT (in full therapist mode) Sam, you do exist. You’re here, right now, with me. You are important, and you are part of this world. Even though it seems like you can simply vanish, you will never truly - Sam? Are you alright? You look very pale.

SAM (laughing darkly, annoyed) I don’t believe it, of all the times...oh god, I’m sorry about th-(her voice cuts off abruptly)

8 SOUND: SOME SORT OF DISAPPEARING/VORTEX-Y POP/WHOOSH SOUND: FRANTIC SCRIBBLING OF PEN ON PAPER SOUND: TICKING CLOCK

DR. BRIGHT (into her recorder) Patient grew increasingly panicked and vanished. No sign of a vortex or any other manipulation of space. Her person flickered slightly before disappearing but there were no other symptoms beyond a paleness in her face. (pause - dropping out of scientist mode) I’ve never seen anything like it.

SOUND: CLICK OF THE RECORDER BEING TURNED OFF

END OF EPISODE 1 (run time approx. 10 min)

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