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When I Reach the Top

By Lucy Murphy

Arden spends every day climbing the same cliffside until their arms give out. Their mother wants them home. Their best friend Jules wants them to rehearse before attempting the crux. Their former stepfather and boss wants them on a flight somewhere warm. Arden just wants to reach the top. Moving between a dangerous ascent and memories of two friends camping beneath it, When I Reach the Top follows Arden’s determination to finish a climb that has come to mean everything.

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The sky above seems to expand as ARDEN disappears from the wall and reappears at the base of the rock face, now lounging, seated half inside a closed sleeping bag with a sketchbook in their hands.

ARDEN is a few years younger here, in different clothing, jeans, and a loose button-down, nothing suited for climbing. Their hair is longer. They lazily sketch the landscape of the canyon in their sketchbook.

JULES enters carrying firewood. She looks the same/wears the same clothing as before. She plops the firewood down directly onto the fire, all at once.

ARDEN

Oh- didn’t wanna be strategic with the firewood, or?

JULES

Nope!

JULES plops herself down and gets comfy on top of her own sleeping bag, folding it and bunching it beneath her to create a pillow. She pulls out trail mix and starts munching on it like a raccoon.

ARDEN observes JULES silently as she does this, cracking a smile, giggling a bit, then getting serious when JULES doesn’t say anything.

ARDEN

I was joking, you know… I want a big fire too–

JULES

(breaking from trance)
–Hm? Oh yeah, I know. I know!
(messing with them)
I’m just not sharing any of the trail mix with you now. It’s a strategic move. Made by me.

JULES turns and faces away from the fire and ARDEN, hiding the train mix on the opposite side of her.

ARDEN

Juuuuules, please! I didn’t mean it like that–

Switching up completely, turning back to Arden with a mischievous smile, Jules shrugs and pops up from her seat, with the trail mix.

JULES

–Ok fine I forgive you, I need body heat.

JULES runs to ARDEN’s side of the fire, hopping back and forth between her two feet (in only socks)

JULES

Unzip Unzip!! Let me in!

ARDEN fumbles to unzip the sleeping bag, moving as fast as they can.

ARDEN

I’m– I’m trying. Okay! Wait, one sec, one sec…AGH, so sorry.

JULES

Let me in, let me innnnn, let me, let me lemme lemmelemmelemme–

ARDEN

Okay but, no, wait one sec! Sorry!

ARDEN finally rips the zipper down, and JULES sticks her feet in, next to ARDEN’s. ARDEN quickly zips it back up. They are now both half inside the same sleeping back, zipped in from opposite ends. They face each other.

JULES

Phew! Warmth. Ahhhhhhh….

ARDEN

AH! Warmth! Your feet are freezing, godDAMN!

ARDEN’s ‘DAMN’ echoes loudly through the canyon, getting both ARDEN and JULES look at each other, a bit spooked.

JULES

So, I’m the one who lacks survival skills? You just alerted every coyote in a three-mile radius of our camp location–

ARDEN

I’m sorry, geez! You were playing that damn JBL speaker way louder earlier, blasting through Glee: The Music, volumes one AND two, AND singing along, but my voice is the one that somehow breaks through the fucking sound barrier of Black Canyon.

JULES

(half-joking)
Or it’s because you keep taking Lord's name in vain.

ARDEN

Oooooh, I guess that’s it! I’m going to hell! Guess I’m a sinner at heart. Can’t be saved.

JULES

Damn, Hot Topic Arden makes a comeback!

ARDEN

Ok, first of all, I still shop at Hot Topic, to. this. day.

ARDEN, knowing that this will annoy JULES, bursts into a mumbled, nasal, closed-mouth rendition of “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”, clenching their fists to their chest, a truly passionate 5-second performance.

ARDEN

And also, why do you get to say ‘DAMN’ but when I do, I’m going to hell and burning forever–

JULES

(she’s caught)
I said ‘damn’, a dainty swear, unrelated to our Lord and Savior, thank you very much.

ARDEN

Wow! Sunday School Jules makes a comeback!

JULES

(censoring herself)
And, you said ‘G*D DAMN’ –

ARDEN

–Well, that’s basically just, that’s just basically saying it–

JULES

–Then! You swing right in with the, the ‘G-E-E-Z’? What’s that short for? You guessed it? Lord and Savior? Name in Vain. What’s your excuse for that, ma’am?

ARDEN

Okay, now you’re just literally morphing into Mrs. Flondick.

JULES gasps.

JULES

Oh. My. God. Mrs. Flondick was my Sunday School teacher! She was! We weren’t even friends back then. How the fuck do you even remember that?

ARDEN

I remember everything about you, bitch! Even your annoying-ass proselytizing phase in middle school! Uhhh, Mrs. Flondick says this is a sin! Mrs. Flondick says that is a sin! Mrs. Flondick says it’s ok for me to slap my friends as hard as a WWE wrestler if they say a swear word–

JULES

OKAY, yes, but I was NOT slapping people… in Middle School. I stopped that in elementary.

ARDEN

I liked that side of you. I think you should bring it back.

JULES pulls her hand back, threatening to smack ARDEN (not really)

JULES

Oh, you think?!

ARDEN giggles and yelps, lying back away from JULES and sheltering their face, leaning against the rock behind them.

JULES

Don’t worry, you’re safe from religious Jules. She’s not real. She can’t hurt you.

ARDEN stays in that position, guarding their face. JULES starts crawling up through the sleeping bag.

ARDEN

(laughing)
Agh! What are you?! Doing?

JULES weasels her way fully into the bag, her head finally poking out next to ARDEN’s elbow.

JULES

Just getting comfy. You know, I’m thinking of trying boxing lessons?

ARDEN

You are ridiculous. Have you ever heard of personal space?

ARDEN grabs JULES’s hood and pulls her up to a seat next to them.

JULES

No, what is that? Did you hear the boxing thing?

ARDEN

Of course! Of course, you’d try another sport where you hurt yourself.

JULES

Ummm, hey, I do lots of fun sports, but none where I hurt myself.

ARDEN, incredulous, gestures to the rock wall behind them.

JULES

Don’t! Don’t make it seem like I’m torturing myself for fitness or something–

ARDEN

Then why are we out here?? Every day, for weeks?

JULES

Not to hurt myself! That’s for sure! And it's also not for you to draw the same canyon over and over.

JULES reaches over ARDEN, grabbing for their sketchbook. ARDEN lets them look at it for a split second before snatching it out of her hands. She slumps over ARDEN’s legs.

JULES

Ok. Fine. So when can I see it?

ARDEN

When it’s done.

JULES

Aaaand when will it be done?

ARDEN

I don’t know. When I’m done with it. It’ll just be done when it’s done. It’ll tell me.

JULES

Ugh, you artists and your process…

ARDEN

(pointing to the rock face)

When will you be done with this?

JULES

Well… when I’m done, I won’t know, but the wall…the rock…it will tell me. It will speak its way into my soul, and then the message of my climb being complete will be communicated not to me but through me—

ARDEN

Ugh, alright, alright!

JULES

It’ll be done when I reach the top.

ARDEN

And then what? What happens after? Like, is there a really great view or something?

JULES

You’ve been out here with me this whole time, and you still don’t get it!

ARDEN

I guess not.

JULES

It’s about the moment. The moment of fear, your goal right ahead of you, all neurons firing in your brain at once–

ARDEN

–I don’t think that’s how neurons–

JULES

–Shut up, ok, your brain is just going crazy, ok, but in this moment, this moment that I’m talking about, that I’m doing this for–

ARDEN

When you reach–

JULES

–The top. Yes, that moment. In that moment, everything is just… silent. You exist solely for the goal in front of you, the final reaching, the grabbing on, the holding, the straining, that’s all that exists. The moment, captured, forever, in memory. Like the beauty of ripples on water, lightning in a dark sky.

ARDEN

I thought I was supposed to be the artist!

JULES

Bro, we’re in AP Lit together… I can be a jock and write poems!

ARDEN

You ARE a jock! WAIT– Jules, have you ever realized how Troy Bolton-coded you are?

JULES

Please, I really just don’t…we’ve talked about this–

ARDEN

Ohh, no, I did tell you that, yeah…

JULES

I disagree! He’s way too straight to be me. I’m more Corbin Blue.

ARDEN

Right, right…

a beat, the silence goes a little too long.

ARDEN

But no. Um, about the, the moment thing? I get it. That’s why I like portraits way better than landscapes. Captures the moment, but only really in my memory– the end portrait is filtered through the lens of my perspective.

JULES

Then why do you literally only draw landscapes?

ARDEN

(shrugging)

I’m an introvert.

JULES laughs and snuggles into ARDEN. ARDEN puts their arm around JULES and reaches over to their notebook with the other arm, tearing out a specific page, folding it, and putting it in JULES’s pocket.

JULES

What was that?

ARDEN

My first portrait. If you don’t like it, I can make another one. Like I said, I have a million memories of you to choose from. I can’t escape you, goddammit.

JULES looks up at ARDEN tenderly. She smiles suddenly, getting an idea.

JULES

I’ll look at it as a reward.
When I reach the top.

JULES presses her forehead against ARDEN’s, then kisses them on one cheek, and then the other. They both look deeply into each other's eyes.

Feature screenplay · In revision

Angie’s Worlds

By Lucy Murphy

Determined to find the man she fell in love with, Angie builds a device that takes her into alternate versions of their life together. Her search for a world where their relationship works leads her through a succession of realities, each with different rules, memories, and versions of the people she knows.

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INT. ANGIE'S TOY EMPORIUM - FLASHBACK

Angie walks into that memory she had been trying to trigger, her laundry basket turning into a cardboard box of kids' toys and prizes. She is restocking the front window shelves at an incredibly small toy store. She wears a name tag reading: 'ANGIE' with MANAGER below it in smaller print. Angie looks much younger than we've seen her thus far. She restocks some small dolls, similar to the one in Angie's current universe, but harder and more plastic. They have hats on, too, little ball caps that are either green, red, or brown. As she restocks, she slows down her movements, noticing a presence right off her shoulder. She turns her head slowly to see James, looking right at her. He smiles, like it's not weird to stare.

ANGIE

Um, can I help you?

She takes a step back, still holding one of the dolls, this is the only one with a purple hat. James points to it.

JAMES

Just waiting.

Angie puts two and two together and slowly puts the doll on the shelf. He reaches for it, grabs it, then hands it back to her.

JAMES (CONT'D)

I'd like to buy this.

This gets Angie, and she chuckles.

ANGIE

Alright.

She walks him back to the register.

ANGIE (CONT'D)

(teasing, too harsh) Could've just said so. Instead of hanging off my shoulder like that.

JAMES

(suddenly serious) Oh. I'm so sorry. If I made you uncomfortable, that was not my intention-

ANGIE

(backpedaling) Oh no! No, I didn't mean it in a serious way at all-

James is incredibly apologetic, backing away slightly.

JAMES

No, I am so sorry, I'll just go, I'll leave-

ANGIE

No! I sometimes do that, I've been told I- I accidentally am super mean when I'm talking to someone cute-

James drops the act. He smiles, and Angie freezes. He wasn't sorry; he was joking.

ANGIE (CONT'D)

Oh. You were being sarcastic.

JAMES

(grinning mischeiviously) Yeah... sorry.

Angie starts to ring James up silently. Her face is burning red, and she keeps her gaze down. James can't help but chuckle.

ANGIE

Whatever. Your total is $9.50

He hands her a 10-dollar bill. When she reaches out to grab it, she makes eye contact with him. His smile is warm, and although she's embarrassed, she doesn't look away.

JAMES

I am sorry. I do that sometimes. I've been told I'm accidentally super sarcastic when I'm talking to someone cute.

Angie smiles, she can't help it. He turns and walks towards the door, looking at her for an extra second too long. He looks down at the doll before leaving, then freezes.

ANGIE

(confused) Do you need a bag for it or something? You don't have to run out of here...

Just then, James is forced to move aside as a gaggle of teens enters the store, followed by two moms, walking behind them and not supervising whatsoever. Angie straightens up a a bit, but still stares at James, who walks back over to the counter with the doll.

JAMES

Ok. So, I did just notice this one has a scuff.

Angie, thinking he was coming back over to ask for her number or something, deflates a bit. She grabs the doll from him and looks at where he was pointing on its arm. There is indeed a scuff where the black paint had been scratched off.

ANGIE

Yep. I see that.

She hands the doll back to James. He looks at her expectantly. She expects him to communicate.

JAMES

Right. And I just bought this because I told my sister-in-law two weeks ago that I'd get my favorite nephew his favorite new doll in his favorite new color...

Angie is disappointed to see James' fall from grace. It's not that he didn't want the scuffed one, just that he was so lame about it.

ANGIE

Great. Cute. You can get a refund or get a different doll from over there...

JAMES

Oh so I can just grab another?

ANGIE

...yeah, of course.

James thanks Angie and runs back over the shelves. Angie shakes her head and heads towards the teens that had formed a line in the corner of the shop, waiting for an attraction of some sort. James quickly pivots around and runs back to the counter.

JAMES

Hey excuse me! Hey, so sorry, one quick thing-

Angie, getting annoyed now, walks back over to the counter.

ANGIE

Ok what, you want a refund? A bag?

JAMES

No, there's just no purple.

Angie looks at the shelving display, then at the doll in James' hand, then at her empty restock box. That was the only doll with a purple hat.

ANGIE

That's the last one. Unfortunately. Sorry.

James looks at her, stumped. She's confused. He shakes it off.

JAMES

You know- no problem. Thanks so much.

James stays at the counter, staring at the doll. Angie glances at him in suspicion as she walks back over to the line of teens. In the back corner of the shop, there is a large, brightly colored plastic chair with a large, hair-dryer-like dome that comes down with big padded shoulder straps, over the head of the participant. Above this chair is a large sign that reads, in bright LEDS, 'The World-Famous Magical, Wondrous, Quantum Hopping Machine!'. The teens wait in anticipation, tapping hurriedly through a slideshow on the touchscreen next to the chair, selecting which universe they want to hop to for a visit- prehistoric, World War III, human-animal hybrids. As Angie approaches, they narrow down their final decision.

TEEN #1

Ok- I wanna do the one with the animal people, let's go to that one!

All the other teens laugh

TEEN #2

That one's for weirdos and kids and perverts. Everyone knows-

TEEN #1

Hey! I didn't know that!

TEEN #2

I wanna do-

TEEN #3

LISTEN. We are going to the World War three universe. It is the reason I said I'd come with you guys.

The other teens groan

TEEN #1

Again?!

TEEN #2

Yeah, we did it last time.

TEEN #3

You said, we'd do it one more time before prehistoric or whichever baby one you wanna do.

TEEN #1

It's NOT-

ANGIE

Hey, settle down, guys! Listen, you did your waivers? Yes?

All of the teens, silent now, nod their heads. Angie takes out her work phone and checks their waivers.

ANGIE (CONT'D)

Alright, and your guardians are here-

Angie turns back to look at the moms chatting in the lobby, but gets instantly distracted by James, who is still there, now by the shelves where the dolls were, fiddling with something in front of him, trying to conceal it, badly. Angie gasps.

ANGIE (CONT'D)

Excuse me for a minute.

The teens groan but go back to bickering with each other. Angie stomps over to James, alerting him right away. He whips around, hiding what was in his hands behind his back.

ANGIE (CONT'D)

Where's the doll?

JAMES

Why do you need to know where my doll is?

Angie pushes past him, and he counters, turning his back away from her again. She rolls her eyes and examines the dolls on the shelf. She gasps again and grabs one with a red hat.

ANGIE

AHA!

She holds up the doll by its arm. Dangling it in James' face. James is silent. The two moms in the store watch on, judging Angie hard.

ANGIE (CONT'D)

What's this then?!

JAMES

(nonchalantly) This... is a doll...

ANGIE

Oh, don't- don't get smart with me. Come here.

She grabs his arm and gently pulls him over to the counter. He is instantly happy to have her pull him anywhere, hiding his glee badly. When she gets to the counter, she puts down the doll she was holding, then points to the empty spot next to it on the counter expectantly.

ANGIE (CONT'D)

Your doll. Now.

He smiles and does what he's told. He's been caught. Angie smiles back and points at the scuff from before, now gone from the doll with the purple hat, which has somehow jumped to the doll with the red hat.

JAMES

It seems that little scuff has a mind of its own.

ANGIE

Ugh, what did you change out, the head? The hat?

Angie picks up the purple doll and starts pulling on the head, the hat, and then the arm. It pops right off.

JAMES

The arm.

ANGIE

So you stole the arm of a doll.

JAMES

No- I bought a mostly good doll and exchanged out a bad part. It's still the same doll, just better.

ANGIE

You bought 80% of the doll. You stole 20% of another doll. Another doll entirely.

JAMES

Well, it's really the same doll. I don't know how much, um, philosophy you've studied...

ANGIE

(rolling her eyes again) Oh.. oh wow-

JAMES

Yeah, I'm going there. How about the Ship of Theseus, you know, Greek mythology-

ANGIE

I'm familiar.

JAMES

(really storytelling) Right, so, the point being, that the ancient Athenians preserved Theseus's ship as it rotted away, piece by piece, year by year... by replacing and repairing the damage. That doesn't make it a different ship! And this is the same old doll...doll...

Angie winces at the 'doll' comment.

JAMES (CONT'D)

Sorry for that last part.

ANGIE

Okay well then, I can counter it with the same philosophical twist as the Ship of Theseus- what if someone were to collect all those rotten pieces, and make a ship out of them?

ANGIE (CONT'D)

Would that be the ship, or would the new one, made of all-new material, somehow be the real true Ship of Theseus? Now, that doesn't seem right. Right?

James gulps but grins in excitement. There is a growing electricity between them.

JAMES

A ship has to float, has to be a ship though, and one made out of rotten planks...No floaty.

ANGIE

So you admit you fixed your ship and left my store with a pile of rotten planks?

The teens, still waiting in the back of the room, let out a chorus of "ooooooohs."

JAMES

(floundering) No- hey, listen, I'm just arguing for my doll. I need this doll, with a purple hat, for my nephew. I exchanged the arm! So what! Tiny, little arm. There are so many red hat dolls!

Angie is dissapointed. She'd thought James would try to debate her further. He notices this and jumps back in,

JAMES (CONT'D)

Besides, you probably wouldn't even know what I'm talking about if I try to reference Parfit.

ANGIE

Bitch, my thesis was CALLED Parfit and the Quantum Travel Implications-

JAMES

Okay, you know your stuff! Then you must know what I mean when I say... I'm just a believer in psychological continuity. So.

Angie knows that he's trying to stump her by giving a bad faith argument, but suddenly, she knows she has him another way. While she stands there, looking him up and down, she catches him glancing towards the back corner, at the teens lined up for the machine with disgust.

ANGIE

So then I'm sure you'll take a spin on The World-Famous Magical, Wondrous, Quantum Hopping Machine! You can skip the line! I'll waive the fee!

The teens groan loudly, annoyed that this random guy gets to go before them.

ANGIE (CONT'D)

C'mon let's get you in there, I'm sure you've filled out a waiver from a previous visit.

Angie grabs him by the arm and starts pulling him toward the counter again. He is resisting this time.

JAMES

Oh, no, no I want a WAIVER A WAIVER IS ACTUALLY NEEDED!

He digs his heels in, in fear. Angie freezes and walks in front of him again.

ANGIE

(fake confusion) Wait- I thought you'd be a big fan of Quantum Hopping and Inter-timeline travel... as a 'big believer in psychological continuity'. Ohhhh, feeling scared? It's not scary, of course... Maybe going over the waiver will calm you.

Angie circles around James, running her fingertips creepily over his shoulders as she reads off the details from the waiver on her phone with her other hand.

ANGIE (CONT'D)

All it is, is: taking apart your body, breaking it down into subatomic particles, sooooooo small that there's not even pain or blood, you just cease to exist for a moment! and then...

Angie scrambles her hands up and down his back in an irratic, upsetting manner.

ANGIE (CONT'D)

Mix mix mix alllll the pieces up! The particles are excited! And some never come back ever again; they just get transformed completely. You're essentially becoming a whole different arrangement of particles, permanently killing off certain aspects of yourself that, of course, you will get back when you return to your original universe, but mainly just a copy of a scan of that particle taken by the machine when you first get in it. Oh yeah! This machine scans every single subatom in your body. And because these machines are contracted out by Schrodinger Quantum Labs, I have no idea what they do with the collected data!

Angie is still circling. James reaches out and grabs her gently by her shoulders. He's had enough.

JAMES

I lied. I hate it. Don't do it to me. Please.

In the background, the moms who just overheard the details of what their teens would be getting up to, run over to their kids, dragging them all out of the store to shouts of protest. Angie doesn't really care. She's happy she won.

ANGIE

It's ok. You can say you're scared.

James plops down on one of the two seats in the store.

JAMES

I'm not scared. It just gives me the heebie-jeebies, I'm just not really a believer in psychological continuity, I guess. I guess I'm just trying to get away with stealing this doll's arm.

Angie sits next to him. She extends her hand to shake his. They shake.

ANGIE

I'm Angie.

JAMES

James.

ANGIE

You can have the doll. Sorry to freak you out.

JAMES

No freak. I mean, no, you didn't freak me out.

Angie laughs. There is a silence while James awkwardly blushes and looks around, nervous to say what he wants to say.

JAMES (CONT'D)

Uh, I guess the other reason I'm still here. Well, this, and making you lose business.

Angie is silent, making him do this the hard way.

JAMES (CONT'D)

(forcing it out) Dinner, tomorrow night, please? More philosophy talk, maybe music, wine? Agh.

ANGIE

(also awkward) Yes. Yeah ok.

They stare at each other for a moment, sitting way too close already. Angie stands and holds the doll out to him. He takes it.

JAMES

Meet you here?

ANGIE

Yeah sure.

He laughs at her sudden stiffness. He looks at her one last time before leaving wordlessly, a move that makes her cheeks burn again. She turns and grins, biting her lower lip and staring at the other doll, the scuffed one, before holding it tight to her chest and squealing like a giddy little girl.

EXT. JAMES AND ANGIE'S CABIN IN A FIELD - CONTINUOUS

Back in Angie's current reality, she emerges from her memory, holding the doll from this universe in the same way she was in her memory.