After being fatally wounded by a local bully while in her twin-sister’s body, a young woman realises the body-swaps she and her sister have been experiencing were not random, but orchestrated by her narcissistic twin.

SYNOPSIS:

The story begins with a view of a patchwork of forests and cleared land around the jagged remains of a modern city.

A young woman, KATH (20s) sneaks through a long-abandoned factory. She sees her pursuers and hides.

Out of view, she performs an incantation. Her body shakes and when it’s over, TWILA, her non-identical twin sister, looks out through Kath’s eyes in alarm. This is not the first time it’s happened to her.

NOTE: While Twila is in Kath’s body, we’ll call her “Twila–K”

Twila–K stumbles out before Kath’s pursuers, lead by local rich girl and bully, MIDGE (20s). Twila–K tries to talk to them, but they attack her.

Having been left for dead, Twila–K sneaks home to the remote caravan she shares with he sister, Kath.

Finding it empty, Twila–K sets about cleaning up Kath’s bruised body, binding her wounds and getting changed into fresh clothes. She then hides the blood-stained clothes and rags.

Soon after Kath-T (i.e. Kath in Twila’s body) arrives and pretends to be shocked by what has happened. Twila–K downplays the seriousness of the injuries while questioning how it is that when they swap bodies, it always seems to be to Kath’s benefit.

Kath-T pretends it’s all a mystery that she wished she understood, but doesn’t. Having assured herself that the damage to her body is not life-threatening, Kath-T offers to make Twila–K some tea.

While out in the caravan’s lean-to, Kath-T performs the incantation backwards. When done, Twila is relieved to find herself in her own body.

She goes to her sister, who is horrified to learn that she is dying from her wounds. Kath begs Twila to go get a medic. Twila refuses, telling Kath she doesn’t want to give her a chance to swap bodies again. Kath tries to pretend she doesn’t know why they swap bodies, but Twila makes it clear she isn’t buying it.

Enraged, Kath struggles to her feet to try and perform the incantation, but Twila easily stops her. Twila holds Kath’s hand and wishes they could’ve been friends.

That night, Twila pushes a wheelbarrow with Kath’s body, out into the darkness.

• Screenplay available upon request: robert@assortedprojects.net