The Beginning (Transcript)

It is April 2002 and we go meet our protagonist.

Tommy: (narrating) Hi, I’m Tom Simons but you can call me Tommy and I’m going to turn 16 this month. Little did I know, it was going to change my life forever. I was born on the 9th of April 1986 in Nottingham but my family had moved to Brighton when I was 10. And you gotta meet my friends.

Then, Toby starts narrating.

Toby: (narrates) Yo, call me Toby, I’m Tobias James Smith. I had just turned 16 4 months ago. That changed my life forever but Tommy didn’t know that. I was born on the 23rd of December 1985 in Bognor Regis but I moved to Brighton and met Tommy. Along with a few other friends, gotta meet them, they’re so cool.

After that, Aimee starts narrating.

Aimee: (narrates) I’m Aimee and I turned 16 4 months ago and like Toby’s, it also changed my life. Born on the 11th of December 1985, I’m from Wales but I moved to Brighton. Eryn, you’re up.

Eryn became narrating after Aimee’s turn.

Eryn: Erm…

Tommy: C’mon Eryn, you gotta let the camera know who you are.

Eryn: What is this for?

Toby: Our filmmaking club for the sixth form. We have to do it in groups.

Eryn: Oh, okay. Hi, I’m Eryn and I’m 15-years-old, turning 16 in 4 months. Specifically on the 29th of July. And like Tommy, I was born in 1986 in Nottingham but our families shifted us to Brighton.

Tommy stopped recording.

Tommy: Brilliant, Eryn.

Eryn: Thank you.

Toby: Wait, where’s Freddie?

Freddie: Sorry guys, I’m late.

Freddie came in running because he was late.

Tommy: Finally, you’re here. What took you so long?

Freddie: Mum’s stalling me again. Is this for our filmmaking GCSEs?

Tommy: Yes, I mean, how can we even go to Oxford or Cambridge if you kept on being late?

Aimee: Yeah, you’re late all the time and you know we should always be in a group. We need to submit this before the summer break.

Tommy: Next thing you know, all of us would be far away attending college while you stay at home with your mum.

Freddie: Okay, alright, I won’t be late next time. Just tell me what we should do.

Toby: Introduce yourselves and show people around Brighton.

Freddie: Easy.

Toby: But, you shouldn’t show people around the nude beach.

Ranboo: Did you say something about a nude beach?

Everyone was shocked when Ranboo came out of nowhere.

Tommy: Ranboo, you’re late.

Ranboo: I know, I’m sorry. I’ve been so distracted by my parents wanting me to go back to America.

Aimee: America?

Ranboo: Yeah, that’s where I’m from.

Tommy: Alright everyone, so we’re gonna introduce ourselves, show people around Brighton and that’s it. That’s a wrap.

Toby: Alright.

Aimee: Yes.

After filming everything, Tommy was satisfied with the results. He watched all the videos on his camera.

Tommy: Looking good, you guys.

Ranboo: I agree.

Tommy: I’ll go and edit this once we get home.

Toby: Why can’t I do it? It’s your birthday tomorrow.

Tommy: I don’t think my 16th would ever change my life. Like, look at Freddie.

Freddie: Why’d you say that?

Eryn: Tommy, look, even if your 16th isn’t that special, at least you have us.

Ranboo: Yeah.

Aimee: Speaking of that, what do you want to do on your birthday?

Tommy: I dunno. See something new in the movies, maybe see NSYNC or Blink 182 on tour or watch something new in the movie theatre.

Toby: Let’s see what’s up in the movie theatre.

The group of teenagers went to the movie theatre to see what was showing.

Toby: Okay, so we got Ice Age and that’s all the cool films that will show right now.

Aimee: What about Beauty and the Beast?

Toby: Just a re-release.

Aimee: Aww man, Lilo and Stitch won’t be released until a few months by now.

Tommy: Screw it, we’re watching something cool on my DVD player.

Eryn: That’s some birthday you got.

Tommy: So, tomorrow’s my birthday and we’re all meeting up at night to watch a movie.

Ranboo: And who will pick the movie?

Freddie: Let Tommy pick the movie, he’s the birthday boy after all.

Tommy: Alright guys, we’ll meet at my house tomorrow after school.

Aimee: You bet.

After meeting up with his friends, Tommy walked back to his house. He put down his bag, changed into his casual wear out of his uniform, took out his camera, and connected his camera to his Windows XP computer to start editing the video. It wasn’t until his mum called him from downstairs.

Tommy’s mum: Thomas!

Tommy: Yeah mum?

Tommy’s mum: Come downstairs, it’s dinner time.

Tommy: Okay.

Tommy went downstairs to see his mum and dad.

Tommy: Hey mum, hey dad.

Tommy’s dad: Hi Thomas, aren’t you excited about your birthday?

Tommy: I am. Can’t wait to be 16.

Tommy’s mum: What were you doing upstairs?

Tommy: I’m just editing a video project my friends and I did. It is for our school.

Tommy’s mum: You gotta focus on trying to get to Cambridge or Oxford.

Tommy: Mum, I’ve been applying to multiple universities and I still didn’t get an acceptance letter.

Tommy’s dad: Alright, it’ll take some time to get an acceptance letter. Just be patient. So, how’s Wilbur?

Tommy: Wilbur? Well, he’s been busy with university.

Tommy’s dad: Why don’t you talk to him about it?

Tommy: Okay, I guess.

Tommy’s mum: Dinner’s ready.

Tommy and his family ate their dinner. After that, Tommy went back to his room to finish his video. Before he decided to call Wilbur.

Wilbur: Hello?

Tommy: Hi Wilbur, how are you doing?

Wilbur: Doing great.

Tommy: How’s college?

Wilbur: Awesome, met some new friends. Wanna meet George?

Tommy: About that, tomorrow’s my birthday. Do you mind if you come? Everyone in town misses you.

Wilbur: I’m not sure, my schedule’s pretty tight today so there’s a chance I won’t come.

Tommy: But if you did-

Wilbur: I’ll bring George with me if that’s okay with you. What are you gonna do on your birthday?

Tommy: Just gonna watch some movies on my DVD player.

Wilbur: Cool. Hey, even if I missed your birthday, I’ll come to visit during the summer break. Around June.

Tommy: Alright, see you then.

Wilbur: Take care, Tommy.

Tommy: You too.

The next day, it’s Tommy’s 16th birthday. However, at exactly 12 am while his parents were asleep, an unknown parcel arrived. He went downstairs to see where it was from.

Tommy: A parcel? In the middle of the night? It came from Freole in Suffolk? Is that even a place?

Tommy ran up to his room with his parcel with him and opened it. The first thing he saw was an envelope. When he opened it, there was an acceptance letter, it read:

“Dear Thomas Simons,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Freole Academy. As you happen to be in the Human World, we have to tell you that you were a Human-born Spirit. All necessary books and equipment are in this parcel.

Term begins on the 1st of September 2022 (or 2002 in the Human world). Please get your train tickets from London King’s Cross Station no later than the 31st of July.

Yours sincerely,

Vikram Singh Barn,

Headmaster”

The next morning, it is time for Tommy to go back to school so he met up with his friends at the basketball court.

Toby: Yo Tommy, happy birthday. Why the long face, dude?

Tommy: I gotta tell you guys something.

Aimee: Eryn, go with Freddie for a bit. This is something the older kids should talk about, alone.

Eryn: Oh, okay.

Tommy: Yo, I got the video edited, do you mind sending it to our teacher?

Eryn: Sure.

Eryn and Freddie entered the school building while Ranboo, Aimee and Toby talked to Tommy.

Aimee: So, what's this about?

Tommy: On the night I turned 16, I got this mysterious parcel from Freole. I might be going mad.

Toby: Mad? We also got that parcel. You're a Human-born Spirit.

Tommy: Wait what?

Ranboo: Yeah, that's true.

Tommy: That's how I'm going to celebrate my birthday? Realising that I'm not human?

Toby: Look, we'll help you, okay? Just focus on celebrating your birthday, okay?

Time flew by really fast and Toby, Ranboo, Aimee, Eryn and Freddie came over at Tommy's house to watch a movie. Followed by Wilbur and George.

Tommy: Thanks for coming, guys.

Wilbur: No problem, Tommy, this is my friend, George.

George: Hi.

Toby: So, what movie are we going to watch?

Tommy: I decided to watch Forrest Gump.

Aimee: Forrest Gump? That's cool.

Tommy: Come on in.

Tommy and his friends got inside his house as Tommy picked out Forrest Gump for his friends to watch.

George: So, you decided on Forrest Gump out of all movies?

Tommy: Yeah. There aren't any really good movies coming out right now but I'm looking forward to Lilo and Stitch.

Wilbur: What about Ice Age?

Toby: Too kiddish.

George: C'mon you guys, you're still kids. Maybe watch a kids movie for a change? I mean, you've just turned 16, nothing much is gonna change.

Tommy: It changed mine.

Tommy's mum: Kids, you gotta eat dinner first.

Freddie: Eryn and I will go to the table first. Whatever you guys are talking about, it's not gonna be our business anyway.

Freddie and Eryn went to the dining table while the others discuss the parcel.

Tommy: I got a parcel last night, there's like this acceptance letter and some strange technology. There's like this holographic pen and some sort of watch-phone.

Toby: Yeah, we did get it too.

George: Yeah, you're a Human-born Spirit like all of us. Not sure for Eryn or Freddie though.

Tommy: So you know...

Wilbur: Mr Singh? Of course we do, he's the headmaster of Freole Academy.

Aimee: Is that something we should know before we start our first term?

George: Yes.

Tommy: So is Freole a real thing?

George: Yes, to the Spirit world. Humans are not aware of it's existence. The Spirit World calendar is 20 years ahead of the Human World.

Tommy: So that means that because this year is 2002, it'll be 2022 in the Spirit World.

Wilbur: Yeah, and you'll learn more once you get there.

Aimee: Excited aren't you?

Tommy: Yeah, I just hope either Eryn or Freddie joins in.