JAMIE
No.
A SECOND WAIL.
JAMIE
Please! Don't make me go in there again!
A THIRD WAIL.
Tears stream down Jamie's face.
A FOURTH WAIL.
Jamie walks toward the door, as if hypnotized.
JAMIE
Fulfill my contract. Obey my orders.
JAMIE's POINT OF VIEW-approaching the door.
JAMIE
Go through my paces.
She pauses. OFF STAGE, we HEAR THE HISS OF THE DOOR SLIDING OPEN. We ZOOM TOWARD A CLOSE-UP OF Jamie's FACE: contorted, apprehensive, horrified.
JAMIE
Time. Yes, again. Time.
The door has slid open. Beyond it, we see a CORRIDOR. But as if this is Alice in Wonderland, the corridor narrows and becomes lower.
THE BEEP PERSISTS.
JAMIE
Time.
She feels her pulse.
JAMIE
The beat of my heart. The only time I know.
She takes a Walkman-sized object from a counter, straps it around her wrist, stares at a suction cup at the end of the object, and reaches beneath her Lakers sweatshirt, apparently attaching the suction cup to her chest.
At once the BEEP BECOMES A LITTLE FASTER, as if the object on her wrist monitors the speed of her heart.
JAMIE
The constant motion of time. Except that it's meaningless without something to compare it to…Without something to appreciate… Without a sunrise. I could imagine a sunrise if…Why didn't you give me a watch?
THE SIREN WAILS.
Jamie flinches, clutches her fists in fury, and glares at the ceiling.
JAMIE
All right, I'm going!
The BEEP that measures her heartrate INCREASES.
She shifts through the doorway.
The roof is low enough that she's forced to stoop now. The walls narrow until they touch her shoulders.
THE BEEP GAINS A LITTLE MORE SPEED.
JAMIE
(walking stooped, glaring up)
What I want to know is, when my heart beats faster, does that mean I'm getting older?
(swallows, staring at the crawlspace)
Would sixty-nine days that feel like sixty-three days…or however long I've been here… actually be the equivalent of a hundred and twenty days? Six months? The nine months you're paying me to stay here? Because time drags…
The lowering ceiling compels her to kneel. The narrowing walls squeeze her shoulders.
There's a crawlspace directly ahead.
Jamie shudders.
THE BEEP INCREASES.
JAMIE
But my heart feels like it's on rocket fuel. Speed. Does the speed of my heart affect time? Have I been here…
The ceiling is now so low that she's forced to drop to her hands and knees.
JAMIE
Forever?
She places a hand toward the crawlspace, about to insert her head. Trembles. Hesitates.
AND THE SIREN WAILS.
JAMIE
Give me a break! I told you I'm going! I just need a minute to…!
Abruptly the door HISSES shut behind her.
She whirls.
THE BEEP INCREASES SPEED.
And something SIZZLES, the HUM AND CRACKLE of electrical current.
She flinches, in agony, raising one hand, then another, trying to push herself off the floor. But the ceiling's so low she can't raise her back. She jerks one knee, then the other off the floor, desperate to minimize contact with the CRACKLING electrical current.
JAMIE
No! Please, stop! I'm going! 1 promise!
She scurries into the crawlspace.
At once, the CRACKLING current stops.
Her face is contorted with pain as she sprawls on her stomach. The crawlspace is so small it reminds us of an air-conditioning duct. She breathes heavily, exhausted by the electrical current, slumping in relief.
JAMIE
No more! This can't go on forever!
A sigh of despair.
JAMIE
Or maybe this is hell.
She crawls awkwardly, wincing, bumping her head on the ceiling, scraping her shoulders against the tight walls.
JAMIE
Maybe you never meant to keep your word. Maybe you're just playing with me? Are you enjoying this, putting me through my paces, watching the way I react. Am I just some kind of…? Just a cruel sadistic game to you?
With effort, Jamie reaches the end of the crawlspace and squirms toward another compartment. Her brow is moist. Her elbows and knees are dirty. The shoulders of her sweatshirt are frayed and grimy.
She musters strength and struggles to stand…wavers…leans against a wall.
Wiping sweat from her forehead, she stares ahead. What she sees makes her close her eyes in despair. She reopens them, squinting. Her voice cracks.
JAMIE
Why did you…? No! You broke the bargain again! You changed the rules! You…!
THE BEEP INCREASES.
With a sob, she struggles not to sink to the floor.
JAMIE
It's not the same! Why do you keep changing the…?
Now we see the room Jamie has entered. It's completely bare. More important, the floor tilts upward – severely.
JAMIE
Not the same. Not the same.
A SIREN WAILS.
JAMIE
I hear it, you…!
She staggers forward, reaches the incline, attempts to climb it while standing, but falls to her stomach and claws her way toward the top.
JAMIE
My name is Jamie Neal.
(claws upward)
I think.
(claws upward)
I'm twenty-eight.
(claws upward)
I think.
(claws upward)
Going on a hundred.
(claws upward)
I'm an assistant professor of…
Jamie hesitates, nods in fierce resolve, and continues crawling higher.