Title: Seth
Time: Saturday morning
Place: Seth and his dad’s house
At rise: Seth’s dad is making breakfast

Seth walks to his kitchen; his father’s back turned to him as he makes scrambled eggs over the stove.

FATHER
How many eggs do you want, Seth? Any more?
SETH
Nope, that’s good, dad.

Seth’s father scrapes the yellow fluff onto Seth’s plate and leaves the pan, crusted with yellow, in the sink.

SETH
Aren’t you going to eat?
FATHER
No, I’ll just stick with coffee for now.

The morning is cold and gray, anticipating an autumnal rain. The gutters are filled with red, and gold leaves are clicking on the pavement outside. Seth finishes his breakfast, leaving his father at the table with the newspaper. Seth goes upstairs to his room and opens the door. His father is sitting at the end of his bed, looking pale and panicked.

SETH
Dad, how did you get up here so fast?

His father hushed him and began to whisper.

FATHER
I don’t know who that is.
SETH (puzzled)
Downstairs, you mean?
FATHER
Seth, I have been up here hiding. I saw him this morning. I have no idea what’s going on.
SETH (beginning to panic)
Oh God, what was in those eggs?
FATHER
You believe me, right?
SETH
Of course I do.

But part of Seth wondered if the man downstairs was really his dad, or if he was hallucinating everything around him. But he couldn’t say that to the upstairs dad, in case he wasn’t his real father.


SETH (whispering)
What do we do?
FATHER
We’ve got to kill him.