Editor's Note: This is the original script, as shared by the author.
(The food section of a Walmart Supercenter. Present Day. The only visible customers are 9 year old WILLIAM and his 5 1/2 year old sister, JANE. WILLIAM is filling a cart with snack foods and candy. JANE watches, concerned.)
JANE: William, Mrs. Johnson isn’t going to let us buy all this junk food.
WILLIAM: Mrs. Johnson works for us, Jane. Our parents pay her, so she can’t tell us what to do. It’s like we’re her bosses.
JANE: But she said to pick out one treat. You have like 5 zillion. I don’t wanna get in trouble.
WILLIAM: What’s she gonna do? Tell mom and dad? They don’t care.
(SUNSHINE enters searching for her mom)
SUNSHINE: Mooom… Mom? Mom! (she approached WILLIAM and JANE) Have you seen my mom?
WILLIAM: How should I know?!
JANE: What does she look like?
SUNSHINE: She’s tall and pretty and really nice.
JANE: (shakes her head) Haven’t seen her.
SUNSHINE: We were looking at books together and I got really interested in this one book I found and then when I stopped reading to ask if I could buy it, she was gone!
JANE: You should ask a policeman for help if you’re lost.
(LACEY and JOEY enter)
JOEY: Lacey, we’ll find him. Stop being a baby.
LACEY: Why would Dad just leave without telling us where he was going??
JOEY: I don’t know. But we’re fine. I’m eleven. I can totally take care of us.
SUNSHINE: (to LACEY) Excuse me, did you say your dad is missing?
LACEY: Yeah.
SUNSHINE: My mom disappeared too!
LACEY: (notices WILLIAM and JANE behind SUNSHINE) Oh! Hi, William! Are these your sisters?
WILLIAM: Hi, Lacey. (indicates JANE) This is my little sister, but I just met the other girl. I don’t even know her name.
SUNSHINE: Her name is Sunshine. Nice to meet you. (SUNSHINE extends her hand to shake hands with LACEY. LACEY doesn’t know how to respond. Gives her an awkward high five.) How do you two know each other?
LACEY: We’re in the same class. William’s at my table.
SUNSHINE: Oh. I’m homeschooled.
JANE: (to LACEY) And your dad disappeared just like Sunshine’s mom?
JOEY: Our dad didn’t “disappear.” He prolly just had to poop or something.
LACEY: Ew, Joey! Gross!
JOEY: He’ll find us eventually.
JANE: Maybe our nanny can help you find your parents!
WILLIAM: We don’t even know where Mrs. Johnson is. She said she’d be right back, but that was a long time ago… (he looks around) You know, I actually haven’t seen any grown ups lately.
LACEY: (she looks around) Me neither.
JOEY: They must just be in different aisles.
SUNSHINE: Let’s spread out and look.
(The kids search the store, calling out for their respective adult guardians. They reconvene in full panic mode. Overlapping:)
SUNSHINE: They’re all gone! All of the adults are gone! What am I supposed to do without my mom? I need my mom!!
LACEY: What are we going to do, Joey? There weren’t even any cashiers or security guards! Everybody’s gone except for us!
JOEY: I don’t know. What would dad do? Does this mean I’m the man of the house now? Oh my God, I’m 11. I can’t be the man of the house! I can’t even think straight.
JANE: Who will take care of us now? How will we get home? William, how will we get home? What happened to all of the grown ups?
WILLIAM: No adults in the whole store! This is crazy! Where did everybody go?? I can’t believe Mrs. Johnson abandoned us. She is totally fired.
JOEY: Everybody, shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! (the kids get quiet and look at JOEY) Does anybody have a cell phone?
JANE: Doesn’t everybody have a cell phone?
LACEY: No.
SUNSHINE: I don’t have one either.
JANE: Oh. Well, William has one and I do too.
WILLIAM: I don’t have mine. Mrs. Johnson took it away this morning. Remember?
JANE: Oh. Well, I have one! (holds up her iPhone)
JOEY: Whoa! You have an 11Pro?! Aren’t you, like, 4?
JANE: I’m 5 and a half!
SUNSHINE: You were here with your nanny, right? (JANE nods) Can you call your parents?
JANE: Oh, they won’t answer. Mommy’s working and Daddy’s in Italy.
LACEY: But this is an emergency!
WILLIAM: They never answer when they’re busy.
LACEY: Can I try to call my mom, then?
JANE: Sure (hands her the cell phone)
(LACEY looks at the cell phone blankly)
JOEY: What are you doing, Lace? Call mom.
LACEY: I don’t know her phone number!
JOEY: Ugh. You’re so stupid. Give it to me. (he dials and waits)
LACEY: I’m not stupid.
JOEY: Sh! It’s ringing.
LACEY: (quieter) I’m not stupid.
JOEY: No answer.
SUNSHINE: Let me try my dad. He always picks up. (she dials and waits. Everyone waits with bated breath.) He didn’t pick up… I think they’re all gone.
WILLIAM: I guess we’re really on our own.
JANE: Can I please have my phone back? (SUNSHINE hands it to her. She talks to Siri.) Siri, where are the grown-ups? [SIRI VOICE: “Here’s what I found.”] It says they’re at The UPS Store.
LACEY: So, what do we do now?
JANE: I’m hungry.
JOEY: Me too. Let’s get some food.
WILLIAM: I have a whole cart full!
SUNSHINE: That’s not real food. That’s junk. We need to eat healthy food.
(JANE, JOEY, and SUNSHINE start searching the food shelves. LACEY sits down beside WILLIAM. )
LACEY: Are you scared, William?
WILLIAM: A little. I wish I knew what was going on.
LACEY: And if they’ll ever come back.
WILLIAM: Yeah.
LACEY: I miss my parents already.
WILLIAM: I don’t really.
LACEY: You don’t?
WILLIAM: I mean, no parents is kinda normal for us. It’s weird that Mrs. Johnson and the cashiers and stuff are all gone, but my parents are always working and traveling so we don’t really see them anyways.
LACEY: That’s so sad.
(WILLIAM shrugs his shoulders as JANE and SUNSHINE return with bananas, carrots, bread, peanut butter, and jelly. JOEY returns empty handed)
JANE: I found bananas and baby carrots! It’s healthy food.
SUNSHINE: I’ll make PB&J.
JOEY: Everything I found needs to be cooked! Ugh. I’m so hungry! Do you think we could order a pizza?
LACEY: Who would make it?! I doubt there are any adults left at the pizza shop!
WILLIAM: Mrs. Johnson makes the best lobster mac and cheese. Do you think we could make that?
SUNSHINE: Sorry, guys, you’ll have to settle for PB&J today. We need to work with what we have and what we know.
JANE: I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! I tasted a bite of my friend’s one day at school.
SUNSHINE: Great! Do you want to help me make them, Jane?
JANE: Sure! But we need to use hand sanitizer first! Always use hand sanitizer before you touch food.
SUNSHINE: Good idea. Let’s go find some.
(JANE and SUNSHINE exit)
LACEY: I’m bored.
JOEY: Me too. We’ve been stuck in this store forever.
LACEY: Maybe the TVs are playing a good movie.
WILLIAM: There are TVs here?
JOEY: Have you… never been to Walmart before?
WILLIAM: My parents don’t shop here. Mrs Johnson had to do some personal shopping today and made us come along.
JOEY: Wow. Do you live under a rock?
WILLIAM: No. I live in a huge mansion.
JOEY: Oh.
LACEY: C’mon. Let’s go see what’s on the TVs. (They walk towards the TV section. She sees from a distance and gasps) It’s Frozen 2!!! I love this movie! (She begins to sing along with the movie) “Into the unknoooown. Into the unkno-own.” (JOEY and WILLIAM cover their ears as
LACEY exits singing a virtual duet with Elsa:) “Into the unkno-oh-oh-own.”
JOEY and WILLIAM: (uncovering their ears and shaking their heads) Girls.
JOEY: I am not watching Frozen.
WILLIAM: Me neither. I hate those movies.
JOEY: Let’s go find some bikes or scooters or something and ride them around the store!
WILLIAM: There are bikes and scooters here??
JOEY: Everything is here, Mansion- boy. Except lobster mac & cheese.
(WILLIAM and JOEY exit searching for sporting goods. After they are gone, LACEY enters still singing along with Elsa.)
LACEY: (she stops singing abruptly when she sees she is alone. She begins breathing rapidly, panic rising, and says quietly:) Joey?… William?… Sunshine? Jane?…Oh no… Oh no…
(SUNSHINE and JANE enter. SUNSHINE is carrying a tray of sandwiches, bananas, and carrots. JANE is carrying a bag of chips and a bottle of hand sanitizer.)
SUNSHINE: Dinner’s ready!
LACEY: You’re alive! (she runs to them and wraps both girls in a bear hug. Overlapping:)
SUNSHINE: Whoa! Careful!
JANE: You’re crushing the chips!
LACEY: (releases them) I thought everybody had disappeared and I was totally alone!!
SUNSHINE: We were just getting the food together. Where are the boys?
(WILLIAM and JOEY ride across the stage on a bike and scooter, respectively.)
WILLIAM: Best. Day. Ever!
JOEY: Wahooo!
SUNSHINE and LACEY: (shaking their heads) Boys.
JANE: No fair! I wanna ride! (She runs offstage after the boys)
SUNSHINE: She’s so cute. I’ve always wanted a little sister. Or a brother.
LACEY: You’re an only child?
SUNSHINE: Yeah. It’s lonely sometimes. But, I’m really close to my parents, so that helps… or… it used to help… Now that they’re gone, I guess I’m, like, actually alone.
LACEY: No you’re not. We’re here. We can be like your brothers and sisters.
(WILLIAM, JOEY, and JANE loudly return and park their riding toys)
JOEY: Jane said it’s dinner time! I’m starved.
WILLIAM: Me too!
JANE: Hand sanitizer first! (she runs to get the bottle and share it with the group.)
SUNSHINE: Everyone sit down. Let’s hold hands and pray before we eat.
JOEY: Pray?!
WILLIAM: Hold hands?!
JOEY and WILLIAM: Why?!
SUNSHINE: Because in my family we hold hands and pray before meals and Lacey said the five of us are family now.
(The kids reluctantly and awkwardly join hands.)
SUNSHINE: (closes her eyes and bows her head. The other kids watch her intently.) Dear God, thank you for this strange day and my new brothers and sisters. Please help us to be okay. Please help us to take care of each other and make good choices. Thank you for this food and this store and the hand sanitizer. Amen. (SUNSHINE opens her eyes. Everybody is still staring at her.) What?
JANE: You have a good name.
SUNSHINE: What do you mean?
JANE: You make things brighter like sunshine.
WILLIAM: Jane’s right.
LACEY: You brought a lot of light to our dark day.
JOEY: And food. Thank you for the food.
SUNSHINE: (shyly) You’re welcome.
LACEY: It’s weird. I still have no idea where all the grown ups went or what will happen tomorrow, but right now, at this exact moment, I’m actually pretty happy.
SUNSHINE: Me too.
JOEY: Let’s eat!
(They all laugh and dig in. Chatting happily.)
(CURTAIN)
