CHRISTINE
HARRY (doesn't appear on the stage)
MRS JAMES
MR JAMES
DR WEBSTER
MISS CLEAVER
THE OLD WOMAN
THE TEACHER

Act 1
Scene 1

Setting: It is a hot, sunny, beautiful day. Christine is
lying on the grass in the garden.

CHRIS: (playing with the grass. Then suddenly looks at the
bush of roses, smiling) Yes, I'm Christine. (standing up and
walking to the roses) With my mummy and daddy. (silence) Oh,
But they are my mummy and daddy.
MRS JAMES: (looking through the window, shouting) Chris,
what are you doing?
CHRIS: nothing.
MRS JAMES: (looks worried) Come indoors now.
CHRIS: (looks back at the white roses) I must go now.
Goodbye. (walking back into the house)
MRS JAMES: Chris, who were you talking to?
CHRIS: Harry.

Scene 2

Setting: The same day, at home, in the evening.

MRS JAMES Chris was acting very strange today. She was
talking to some 'Harry' in the garden. But there was no one
there.
MR JAMES: (laughing) Oh, she's started that lark, has she?
MRS JAMES: What do you mean, Jim?
MR JAMES: She doesn't use to play with dolls and she doesn't
have any brothers, sisters or friends of her age. So she
imagines someone.
MRS JAMES: (worried) But why has she picked that particular
name>
MR JAMES: (shrugging) You know how kids pick things up. I
don't know what you're worrying about, honestly I don't.

Scene 3

Setting: The next day, Christine is sitting on the grass in
the garden.

CHRIS: (looking at the white roses and smiling) Hello, I
hoped you'd come...(silence) Because I like you. How old are
you? (silence) I'm not even six... (silence) I am not a
baby!! (silence) Do you go to school? (silence) What do you
do then?

Scene 4

Setting: The same day, Christine is having her milk at
home.

CHRIS: Why can't Harry have some milk too?
MRS JAMES: (getting annoyed) Who is Harry?
CHRIS: Harry is my brother.
MRS JAMES: But, Chris, you don't have a brother. Harry can't
be your brother.
CHRIS: Harry is my brother. He said so.

Scene 5

Setting: A few days after, Mrs. James is visiting Dr Webster
at his office.

DR WEBSTER: Mrs. James, I've had several cases of children's
imaginary companions becoming so real to them, that the
parents got the jitters. Christine is a lonely child, isn't
she?
MRS JAMES: Yes, and she doesn't have any friends her age
either.
DR WEBSTER: I think you'll find that when she goes to
school, these fantasies will disappear. You see, every child
needs company of her own age, and if she doesn't get it, she
invents it. I don't think you have anything to worry about.
MRS JAMES: That's what my husband says.

Scene 6

Setting: The day before Christine starts school, at home, in
the afternoon.
CHRIS: Not going to school.
MRS JAMES: (smiling to Chris) You're going to school
tomorrow, Chris. You're looking forward to it. You know you
are. They'll be lots of other little girls and boys.
CHRIS: Harry says he can't come too.
MRS JAMES: (becoming red) You won't need Harry at school.
He'll (silence for a few seconds)... He'll be too old. He
would feel silly among little boys and girls.
CHRIS: I won't go to school without Harry! I want to be with
Harry! (weeping)
MRS JAMES: (standing near the window, looking outside.
Suddenly she sees something red among the roses and she
quickly opens the window.) Harry! Harry! (then there is
silence and she closes the window)

Scene 7

Setting: The day after, in front of a door in a big house in
the city of London.

MRS CLEAVER: (smiling) Mrs. James, how nice to see you
again. How's Christine?
MRS JAMES: (walking inside) She's very well. Miss Cleaver, I
know you don't normally divulge the origin of a child, but I
must know who Christine is.
MRS CLEAVER: Sorry, Mrs. James, our rules...
MRS JAMES: (telling the whole story about Harry)
MRS CLEAVER: (worried) I'm going to break our rule for once.
I'm going to tell you in confidence where Christine came
from. (both women sit down) She was born in a very poor part
of London. There were four in the family: The parents, son
and her.
MRS JAMES: Son?
MRS CLEAVER: Yes. He was fourteen when it happened. The
parents didn't want Christine at home. There was no room for
her. The mother was unhappy and didn't look after her. But
her brother did. He was very close to her. One morning, a
woman in the ground floor found two bodies of two children
lying in the garden. The boy died but the girl survived. It
was Christine and her brother. The police found out that the
father killed his family with gas, when they were asleep.
But the son was awake. He was too weak to do anything except
throwing himself out of the window with his sister in his
hands.
MRS JAMES: So her brother saved her life and died himself?
MRS CLEAVER: Yes. He was a very brave boy.
MRS JAMES: What was his name?
MISS CLEAVER: Harold Jones.
MRS JAMES: So it's Harry. The boy was Harry. What does it
mean?
MRS CLEAVER: Perhaps Christine can see images of her brother
- maybe she remembers him. So clearly, that she's almost
brought him to life again.
MRS JAMES: May I have the address of the house where they
lived?
MRS CLEAVER: (giving Mrs. James a piece of paper.)

Scene 8

Setting: Mrs. Just after this conversation, in the garden of
a very old house.

OLD WOMAN: (looking out of the window) What are you doing
here?
MRS JAMES: I thought the house was empty.
OLD WOMAN: Should be. But they can't get me out. Nowhere
else to go. Won't go. The others went quickly enough after
it happened. They said the place is haunted. So it is. But
what's the fuss about? Life and death. They're very close.
You get to know it when you're old. Alive or dead. What's
the difference? I saw him fall out of the window. That's
where he fell. (pointing on the white roses.) Among the
roses. He still comes back. I see him. He won't go until he
gets her.
MRS JAMES: Who - Who are you talking about?
OLD WOMAN: Harry Jones. Nice boy he was. Red hair. Very
thin. Loved Christine too much, I thought. Died among the
roses. Uses to sit down here with her for ages, by the
roses. Then he died there. Go away, will you? This place
ain't for you. It's for the dead who aren't dead, and the
living who aren't alive.

Scene 9

Setting: Mrs. James at school after a long run. (straight
after speaking with the old woman.)

MRS JAMES: (panicking) I've come for Christine James. I'm
her mother. I'm sorry I'm late. Where is she?
TEACHER: That's all right, Mrs. James. Her brother called
for her. How alike they are, aren't they? Has your husband
got red hair, like the two children?
MRS JAMES What did - her brother - say? (looks scared)
TEACHER: He didn't say anything. They'll be at home by now,
I should think. Are you all right, Mrs. James?

Scene 10

Setting: Mrs. James, running through the parks home.
Straight after visiting the school.

MRS JAMES: Chris! Christine, where are you? Chris? Don't
hide! I'm sorry I'm late. Don't go! Please, Christine!
(silence) Harry! Don't take her away! Come back! Harry!
Chris! Harry! (running through the garden. Then suddenly the
roses turn into red. Everything turns into red.)
Ha-rry!!!

The end