Scene 1: An eye flickers open. It sees people around.
A mobile phone with a video conferencing screen appears. A man's face can be seen on it, smiling and cooing with a pout.
"Helloooo princess"
The man is the infant's father.
Scene 2: The baby is drinking milk. The phone rings. It is again a video conference. The father's smiling face appears again.
"Helloooo princess"
The baby looks at the screen, mostly disinterested.
Scene 3: The baby has started to crawl and mumble words. The phone on the table rings. It is again a video conference. The father's smiling face.
"Helloooo princess"
The mother picks up the baby and shows her to her father via the video app.
"Daaaady, daaaady", the mother says, pointing to the phone.
The girl smiles for the first time, and the father sounds ecstatic in the background.
Scene 4: The phone rings, and the girl, who can now walk, runs towards the table
"Daddy, daddy, daddy," she screams.
The mother picks up the phone, and the girl tugs at her skirt.
The mother lifts the baby in her arms.
"Daddy", she shrieks into the phone.
The father laughs loudly.
"Hellooo princess"
Scene 5: The girl is celebrating her first birthday.
She sees everyone on their phones. She walks up to them and tries to pull on their phone.
"Daddy, daddy, daddy"
Her mother pulls her away and props her on her feeding chair.
The girl refuses to eat. So the mother switches on the phone and calls her husband.
"Helloooo princess," the father calls out.
Seeing his face, the jubilant girl smiles,
"Daddy, daddy, daddy"
She bites into her cake and the cream is plastered all around her lips. She giggles as her father looks at her and makes funny faces.
Scene 6: The mother and daughter are at a funeral.
The girl sees another kid typing something on a phone nearby. She starts pointing to him, shouting
"Daddy, daddy, daddy"
The boy, who thought he was not being noticed, looks embarrassed as everyone looks at him. He sheepishly keeps the phone inside.
The girl gets down from her mother's arms and runs towards the boy.
"Daddy, daddy, daddy," she keeps mumbling.
Scene 7: The mother takes her away. She wipes her eyes and they return home.
Scene 8: The mother puts a plate of food in front of the angry child. The girl pouts angrily, and refuses to eat her food and keeps saying
"daddy, daddy, daddy"
Scene 9: Exasperated and angry by now, the mother keeps the phone away and angrily walks into the kitchen, ignoring the child's cries.
Scene 10: The girl sees the mother go in and stops crying. She sees the phone lying on the table and walks towards it.
YOU ARE READING
The Man in the Phone - 2 minutes read
Short StoryWhat happens when a 3-year old toddler who has only seen her father via daily Skype calls, meets him in real? The Man In The Phone is a story written for production as an animated short. It has 1 part.
