THE BEHIND LOST Chapter I

C laire and her two new friends

from school Tasha and Ellie
relax on a slowly spinning
children's merry-go-round in the
playground of a park. They play the
word association game and then
discuss their plans for that night.
Tasha's friend Mike is having a
house party while his parents are
away.
Sarah clearly wants to go but is a
little embarrassed, not having
anything appropriate to wear.
Tasha and Ellie say they'll help her
out.
A clear blue sky fills the atmosphere
over which we hear a slow,
repetitive squeaking sound.
GIRL #1
“Milk.”
GIRL #2
“Cow.”
GIRL #3
“Field.”

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 THE BEHIND LOST Chapter I

GIRL #1
“Grass.”
GIRL #2
“Green.”
GIRL #3
“Apple.”
GIRL #1
“Adam.”
GIRL #2
“Eve.”
GIRL #3
“Sex.”
A beat then the sound of laughter
filled the whole scenario.
It's a beautiful day. The sun beams
down on three fifteen-year-old girls:
TASHA, ELLIE and CLAIRE, lying on
their backs on a spinning merry-go-
round with their feet pointing to its
center. They giggle, staring up at
the sky.

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 THE BEHIND LOST Chapter I

Claire is dressed a little frumpy and

her general appearance is more
understated than her fashion-aware
friends who are both wearing make-
up and some bling.
“Start again, Ellie?”, Tasha shouted.
“Okay. Vacuum”, Ellie answered.
Claire smiles.
“Sex”, she said with a smirk.
They explode with laughter again,
rolling about in tears. Claire seems
pleased by her friends' response.
“Girl, you've got it on the brain!”
“I'd rather have it on the bed!”
They crack up even more then calm
themselves, wiping happy tears
from their eyes.
“What are we doing tonight?”, Ellie
added.
“Mike's parents are away. He said
bring some beer”, Tasha replied.
“Why the hell have we gotta get
it?”, Ellie continued.

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 THE BEHIND LOST Chapter I

“Guess he's broke. What about you,

Claire?”, Tasha exclaimed.
Claire looks a million miles away.
“Hey! Earth to Claire!”
“Sorry?”
“Party - tonight! You comin’?”
“Oh, I… I've gotta do that paper for
McGregor.”
Her friends exchange an
unimpressed sidelong glance.
“What? It's important! And I
haven't even found a topic yet.
Besides, I haven't got anything to
wear”, Claire concluded.
Her friends smile deviously.
“We'll take care of that”, Ellie
smiled.

Tasha and Ellie take Claire clothes

shopping and find a nice dress for
Claire but she can't afford it.

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 THE BEHIND LOST Chapter I

Ellie then reveals her and Tasha's

ploy to steal the dress, something it
seems they have been doing for
some time and are past masters at.
Ellie slips a larger size of the dress
over a smaller one and heads into
the dressing room while Tasha leads
Sarah outside. Ellie then puts the
smaller dress under her own clothes
and exits the dressing room,
handing the larger size back to the
store assistant. She leaves with a
smile and rejoins her friends
outside.
Claire looks concerned.
A funky 70’s disco track kicks in as
the three girls look around the busy
store. Tasha holds up a sequined
number in front of Claire but Ellie
shakes her head.
Claire still seems flummoxed but is
clearly enjoying herself. Tasha pulls
out a blue silky dress, holds it in
front of Sarah - this time Ellie's face
lights up.

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 THE BEHIND LOST Chapter I

“Perfect.”
“I can't afford that!”
Tasha just smiles and slips a larger
size of the same dress over the
smaller size, keeping only one of the
hangers.
“What're you doing?”
Tasha hands the dresses to Ellie who
saunters theatrically over to the
dressing rooms.
“Don't worry, we're professionals.”
Claire suddenly realizes what's going
on and watches pensively as Ellie
takes the dresses into the dressing
room. From the store assistant's
view, it looks like Ellie only has one
item. Tasha takes Claire’s hand and
leads her outside.
Ellie takes off her clothes, slips on
the smaller dress.
Tasha stares down over the lower
levels of the shopping mall at the
many people below but Claire keeps
glancing anxiously back to the store.

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 THE BEHIND LOST Chapter I

Ellie swipes the curtain back and

strides out in her original clothing,
carrying the dress. She hands it to
the assistant.
“Sorry, no good”, Ellie allegedly
asserted.
Claire sees Ellie and quickly taps
Tasha on the back. They watch on
tenterhooks as Ellie hands swaggers
toward the front exit without a care
in the world. They both rush up to
her as she makes it out of the door.
“Well?”, Tasha asked.
Ellie pops open a blouse button,
revealing the blue dress beneath.
Tasha starts laughing but Claire
looks troubled.

Claire leaves Tasha and Ellie in the

posh suburbs and heads home to
her rundown apartment building on
the other side of the tracks where
we meet her over-worked mother
and baby brother. Claire asks for

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 THE BEHIND LOST Chapter I

permission to go over to her friends

to study that night. Her mother
seems surprised to hear that she has
a friend and agrees.
Claire heads into her room and
secretly takes out the dress Ellie
stole for her.
The girls amble quietly down the
road in what appears to be a rather
affluent area full of sports cars,
gardeners, private security and
white picket fences. Claire stops.
“I'm going this way...”, Claire said.
“Where do you live?”, Tasha turned
her head to her.
“Not that far.”
Ellie takes Tasha's arm, leads her
away.
“We'll meet you here at eight-
thirty!”
“Hope it fits!”, Ellie joyfully
screamed.

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 THE BEHIND LOST Chapter I

Claire smiles awkwardly as the two

girls wander off, fooling around and
giggling. She heads home, alone.
Claire drags herself up to the
entrance of this beat-up old building
on the "other side of the tracks".
She opens the door for an old lady
with a walking cane on her way out.
“Hi, Mrs. Lieberman.”
“Hello, sweetheart. How's mom?”
“She's fine, thanks.”
“You take care now.”
Claire’s over-worked mother and
baby brother are in the kitchen. Her
Mother looks up from her ironing as
Sarah enters the house. The place is
a mess. Laundry are all over.
“Hi, honey. Had a nice day?”
“Yeah, is it okay if I go over to study
with my friend tonight?”
Claire’s baby brother, who's eating,
throws his spoon to the floor. His
Mother puts down the iron, scoops
it up.

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Her mom gently went to the baby.

“What’s the matter? Don't you like
it?”
She rinses the spoon, hands it back.
Claire seems irritated.
“Mom is it okay?”
“Is what okay?”
“If I go over to my friend's?!”
Claire’s mom is pleasantly surprised.
“Friend?”
“Tasha.”, she proudly said the name.
“Oh, well sure. Just don't be back
late.”
Claire nods and exits the room. Her
Mother looks a little intrigued but
turns back to her ironing.
Claire shuts the door, slumps down
on the bed and quickly pulls out the
beautiful blue silky dress from her
school bag.

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She stares at it, contemplating. And

her mind, she thought of the things
that might happen:
 She might end up behind the
bars or;
 Had a good time at the party

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 THE BEHIND LOST Chapter I

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

heresa B. Timonan writes books,

which, considering where you’re
T reading this, makes perfect sense.
She’s a second-year student in

Silliman University taking up

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.
She also loves reading and doing her
to-do list all the time.

pg. 13