Inside the Hidden Mind
What you are about to read came to me before going to
sleep, recently. I decided to put this sleepy
idea of a Gallagher storyline on to a Word doc. This is simply my thoughts on paper, nothing more,
as my writing talent doesn’t run that deep, I’m afraid. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think.
We see the Gallagher house.
It is a bright, sunny Saturday afternoon. You can hear noise coming from inside the
house. Lots of laughter and (incoherent)
talking.
As we step inside the house we see Fiona fighting with Liam
over a shirt he does not want to give up. Fiona exclaims that the shirt is now too
small and should be given to Dana.
Dana, a friend of Fiona’s, is collecting clothing and other
items to donate to a local charity. Fiona
stated, unceremoniously, to all the Gallagher’s, to go through their closets,
drawers, the floor, and any other place they would be stashing clothes they
haven’t worn since the previous summer, to give to Dana.
Liam, still clinging to that shirt, yells out that he doesn’t
want to give up his favorite shirt because it was the last thing Mommy bought
him. Fiona, standing silently while
looking at a sad Liam, gives up the fight and tells him to put it away. Liam runs upstairs.
Dana knocks while walking into the Gallagher house. Dana is the same age as Fiona. She is average height (about 5’4”), slender
build, light-haired brunette, hazel eyes, pretty smile, and a laugh you can
hear for miles around. Fiona met Dana a
few months earlier at the diner. She
noticed a pretty but sad young woman, sitting in a booth by herself,
crying. Fiona offered a free piece of
pie and some sound advice about men.
Dana, surprised, wondered how Fiona knew that is was about a guy. Fiona rolls her eyes and lets out a deep
breath, “I have been you, in a booth, like the one you are in now, so many
times.” Dana starts to smile and laughs
a bit nervously. “I’m cried out,
Dana.” They became fast friends.
Fiona points at several bags of clothing, shoes, and something
resembling a winter coat, but no one is certain whose it is or how it got into
their house. Lip runs down the steps,
cigarette between his lips, unlit, saying he has an appointment to get to. He politely thanks Dana for taking all their
‘ghetto shit-wear’ out of the house.
Dana smiles and waves goodbye to Lip.
As Lip runs out the door, Debbie walks in with Franny in a
stroller. Debbie apologizes to Dana; all
of Franny’s old clothes were given to friends of hers who needed them and that her
old stuffed animals were a bit ‘rough’ looking and thought it best to not give
them away. Dana smiles and tells Debbie
it is not a problem.
Fiona goes to the kitchen to make lunch as Debbie and Dana sit
down on the couch. Dana notices that Debbie
looks tired and a bit distracted. Turning
her head, she blurts out that life with Neil is not working out the way she had
hoped. He is continuing to have issues
related to his head injury that has left him argumentative and cold; especially
when it comes to Franny. His constant yelling
wakes her up, crying, and that causes Neil to yell even more. The neighbors are complaining, and the
landlord is threatening to kick them out if Neil doesn’t calm down. Debbie doesn’t want to leave Neil but doesn’t
see an immediate resolution to the problem.
Dana holds her hands, and, with a warm smile, offers her home for a night
or two, if things get worse. Debbie hugs
and thanks Dana.
Debbie, at times, feels closer to Dana than to her own sister. She has even noticed how Liam interacts with
Dana in relation to Fiona. He talks,
excitedly, about school, friends, and how he feels about his Mommy going to a ‘fictitious
heaven preached by lackeys of the bourgeoisie to keep the poor in a permanent
state of poverty’. Dana, realizing this
is Frank’s influence, takes it all in stride and helps Liam focus on what
should be important to his young life.
Debbie wishes Dana was around years ago when she really needed someone
like that in her life.
As Fiona, Dana, Debbie, Franny, and Liam sit around the
kitchen table, eating, Ian stumbles down the stairs. Sleep is still in his eyes after a long
double-shift at the station. Ian looks
around and asks what time it is. Fiona tells
him its 12:15pm. Ian throws himself on
the couch and turns on the t.v. Fiona
asks if he wants some lunch, but he fans the air and says, “Later…maybe.” Fiona goes back to telling her story about
one of the crazy tenants living in the apartment building she now owns. Everyone is laughing…except Dana.
After lunch, Debbie leaves and Liam goes to his bedroom. As Ian continues to flip channels on the
t.v., Fiona notices how quiet Dana has become.
Fiona asks, in a lowered voice, “Did Ian say or do something to piss you
off?” Dana, looking nervous yet surprised, “No, I hardly speak to Ian.” Fiona, now suspicious, walks to the sink to
wash the dishes. Dana suddenly springs
from the table, notes the time, and insists she must leave. She hugs Fiona goodbye and, while walking briskly
toward the door, says not a word to Ian.
