A Room of One’s Own

J Leigh (SerenityValley)

1

RIVER (whispering)

Do you know what it's like to have no one believe you?

SIMON

What?

RIVER (babbling, getting louder)

It's not a good feeling; feeling of secrecy. Can't tell anyone, but you'd love to show them that you know something they don't. Not good. Can’t keep a secret, what's that say about us?

SIMON

River, what are you…?

RIVER

I bet you've never seen the inside.

SIMON

No, mei-mei, I…

RIVER (still babbling)

Sure, you've seen the core of your nightmares. You've seen everything that they tell you it's like. They say so much, all words and no truth. There's more, oh so much more. It’s not about the building itself, but what it contains. I know who it contains. You think you know, but you would have never imagined, never imagined in your wildest dreams what lies beyond those big white doors. So much more than a big white room with padded walls. So much…

SIMON

All right, that’s enough. Maybe you should just have a lie down…

RIVER (speaking quickly, babbling)

No! No Simon! Windows! Windows are life. Not the life you live, but the life you could have lived, or you couldn't. What do you see? Possibilities, but not opportunities. Possibilities that don’t come true. Dreams. The life you never got to live.

SIMON

River, if this is about you still feeling guilty about my career, I told you, I’d rather have you here than…

RIVER (whispering urgently)

Do you know where the psychos live?

SIMON

Well…no, but…

RIVER

Of course not, because if you did, you'd move as far away as you could. (laughs) But that's not true. The real psychopaths aren't found in the creepy spacecrafts with black windows. They’re here.

SIMON

My head?

RIVER

We all live in our own padded rooms. Your mind buzzes around it. Constantly buzzing. Buzzing. (whines) Driving one to insanity that she’s already arrived at. Insanity is not a destination, it is a habitat. Simon. Simon!

SIMON (sympathetically)

What is it?

RIVER

Simon, I remem