The Sound of Silence

(Contains following: mental health, substance abuse, physical abuse)

Int. Fourth Floor Apartment 4B Bedroom

A man walks across the floor, crunching glass underfoot. He slams the door as he leaves. A woman picks herself up, grabs a broom, and begins cleaning.

Tears fall softly as she picks up a shattered picture frame.

A photo of herself and the man on their wedding day.

Int. Third Floor Apartment 3A Bedroom

A woman zips up a slim-fitting, satin red dress as a man grabs a few hundred-dollar bills from his wallet.

The front door opens, startling both of them. He quickly and quietly ushers the women into the closet and closes the door just as his wife enters the bedroom.

She hugs him and softly kisses him on the cheek, pretending not to notice he smells of a perfume she doesn’t own

Int. Fourth Floor Apartment 4C Bedroom

A little girl steps over empty boxes and shopping bags, trying to get to the kitchen.

She opened the fridge to find it empty, like most days.

She grabs a cup a goes to fill it up in the sink.

She turns the faucet and is met with a hollow sound of a pipe with no water.

Her mother comes from off the balcony, tags still on her clothes, a lit cigarette in her hand.

The little girl goes back to her room, wraps herself in a blanket, and cries herself to sleep.

Int. Second Floor Apartment 2A Bedroom

A young girl surrounded by books, various empty water bottles, and food boxes lies in a bed. The curtains are drawn, and only a dim light from her phone illuminates her face as she numbly scrolls through various videos, audio cutting in and out.

Int. Fourth Floor Apartment 4B Bedroom

The woman steps out of the shower.

Standing in the mirror, she traces her fingers over her bruises, old and new.

She takes her makeup and begins covering up her bruise, a ritual since she married five years ago.

Int. Third Floor Apartment 3A Bedroom

The man's wife goes into the kitchen ot make breakfast.

The man, closing the door behind his wife, helps the woman out of the closet and out through the window.

Int. Fourth Floor Apartment 4C Bedroom

The little girl wakes up a few hours later.

Her mother, sitting at the dining room table, takes out boxes spread out in front of her.

The little girl grabs a box of food, the first warm thing she’s had in days.

As she sits down to eat, she notices the white powder around her mother's nose.

Whenever she had the powder around her nose, she was always nicer and happier.

Int. Second Floor Apartment 2A Bedroom

The girl sits up, looking around her room, wondering how it got to this state.

Between her classes and life, she slowly slipped through the cracks.

Friends stopped calling.

Her grades started dropping.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had showered or brushed her teeth.

Int. Fourth Floor Apartment 4B Bedroom

The woman, wanting to appease her husband, cooked his favorite dinner paired with his favorite wine.

She looked over the apartment.

It was cleaned, it smelled nice everything was in place.

She nervously bit her finger as she waited for him to come home.

She knew he would find something; he always did.

Int. Third Floor Apartment 3A Bedroom

The woman silently wiped away tears as she made her husband coffee.

For years, he had been pulling away, but lately he seemed happier and content yet paranoid and still slightly distant.

She heard the bedroom door close behind her and wondered how he was going to sneak her out today.

Int. Fourth Floor Apartment 4C Bedroom

The little girl started on chores.

She wasn’t sure what her mother thought when the apartment was cleaned.

She started on the dishes, which always seemed to pile up, whether or not they had food.

She picked up trash and collected laundry, which there wasn’t very much of.

She cleaned the bathroom, careful to avoid the medicine cabinet, which she was instructed never to go into.

The only room she didn’t touch was her mother's bedroom; she had seen the inside maybe twice in her whole life.

Int. Second Floor Apartment 2A Bedroom

The young girl stared at he room.

She opened her curtain, letting in warm sunlight.

Starting in one corner, she began collecting trash, slowly making her way around her room.

She swept and mopped the floor.

Put fresh sheets on the bed.

She took a shower and even brushed her teeth.

She knew eventually it would end up like before, maybe even worse, but at least for today, it was good.

Int. Fourth Floor Apartment 4B Bedroom

As usual, her husband wasn’t satisfied.

Broken plates and dishes were scattered in the dining room.

He had a bad day at work.

It was always a day at work.

A traffic jam.

Dinner was late or cold.

She didn’t seem happy when he came home.

She was never good enough.

She was never enough.

But now, now she had had enough.

Int. Third Floor Apartment 3A Bedroom

The man watched his wife walk out the door, not locking it behind her.

A few minutes later, the woman in the red dress walked in, now wearing a short black one.

This time, he locked the door behind her.

He pulled off her dress, revealing a matching white lingerie set underneath.

Leading her back to the bedroom, he found a note sitting on his pillow.

It read: I’ll be long gone by the time you find this. I understand if our love was fading, but since you didn’t have the respect or dignity to tell me to my face, I refuse to give you the same.

Under the note lay her wedding ring.

Int. Fourth Floor Apartment 4C Bedroom

While the little girl was cleaning the bathroom, she heard the front door open.

Voices followed by heavy footsteps grew louder as they went to her mother's bedroom.

The little girl knew it would be a few hours before she saw her mother again.

She wondered if she would get dinner tonight.

As she rinsed out the sink, she was met with water, cold water, but at least there was water.

At least today, she could take a bath.

Int. Second Floor Apartment 2A Bedroom

The girl, now in her clean room, stared at the medicine bottle.

She wondered if she should take them.

Sometimes things get too much.

She was always tired.

Always numb.

She would get tired of feeling but tired of being numb.

Int. Fourth Floor Apartment 4B Bedroom

The woman with her phone hidden in a closet quietly dialed a number.

Int. Third Floor Apartment 3A Bedroom

The woman, now sure her husband had read her note, took her seat on a bus.

She wasn’t sure where she was going.

All she knew was that her husband and whatever shiny new toy he had were no longer her problem.

Int. Fourth Floor Apartment 4C Bedroom

The little girl knew her mother's friends had gone home more than a few hours ago, but she was still i her bedroom.

Quietly, she crept to her mother's bedroom door, opening it slightly.

Her mother lay face down on the bed, asleep.

Int. Second Floor Apartment 2A Bedroom

Pills in one hand, her phone in the other.

Not trusting herself to speak, she texted instead, hoping someone would respond.

Int. 911 dispatch center

911 operator

Hello, 911, what’s your emergency?