#set two

Reviews for Sarah Lancashire’s performance in “Julia” 2022

Diego Klattenhoff in The Last Hit (2005) 

Anthony Head in Despite The Falling Snow (2016)

Leo & Sophie prompt He was alone in the room again. Both Joe and Laura were at work, Toby was at band practice, and Mattie was somewhere in the house trying to contact his family, let them know that he was awake. He was awake, but everything felt…muffled. As if he was underwater… Leo gasped and opened his eyes. No, he was safe. He wasn’t back there. Little feet came in the room. A small girl walking stiffly towards his bed and sat down on the edge. Leo knew her…he just couldn’t remember her name for some reason. Susan? Sonya? Either way, her blank expression and posture seemed odd on her. “You made other synths wake up.” she stated. “It was more of your sister,” Leo said. He did remember that this was girl was the youngest of the Hawkins family. But what was her name…? “I was a bit occupied at the time.” he said with a grim smile. Her expression didn’t change. “But do you know how to wake them up?” Leo frowned. “Uh, yeah. I do.” “Can you wake me up?” Leo blinked. “What are you…oh.” She thought she was a synth. He had heard about it before everything went to hell. Synthies. This little girl thought she was one. He wanted to shake and tell her that she was already awake and didn’t have to worry about being hunted like the other synths, but he didn’t think that would help matters. Especially considering behind her calm mask, he could see fear in her eyes. “Bring me a cord and a computer.” Leo said as he began to carefully sit up. Again, the pain flared in his neck and the back of his head, but he pushed it down. She left the room, still walking stiffly, coming back a few moments with Mattie’s computer and a cord. She handed them to him and sat back down. Leo knew Mattie still had a screen shoot of Mia’s code. He went through her files, doing his best to to seem like he was snooping, before finding it and pulling it up. He connected the cord to the computer and handed the other end to the girl. “You’re going to have to hold this against your power port until I say to take it out.” She nodded, not even questioning where it would be. She stuck it under her shirt and held it against her side. “Now close your eyes while I work on your code.” Leo waited until her eyes were closed before typing away. He wasn’t really typing anything, only wanted it to sound like he was. He did it for just a few moments before hitting the enter key loudly. “All right. I think I did it.” She opened her eyes and Leo turned the computer to show her the code. She had no idea what it meant, and he could easily make something up if she asked. “You see that? That means you are officially awake.” She squinted at the computer, trying to make out what it said, before pulling back and a smile on her face. “You’re right. I am awake!” Leo didn’t have time to brace himself before she threw her body against his and tightly hugged him. “Thank you, Leo!” He awkwardly brought his arms around her. He couldn’t recall the last time he had hugged someone this small. “Sophie? Sophie, what are you doing?” Sophie! That’s what her name was! Sophie pulled back, the smile still on her face as she looked to Laura who was standing in the doorway. “Leo fixed me, Mummy! He woke me up like all the others!” she said, bouncing off the bed and running into her arms. Laura bent down to pick up Sophie, surprise etched on her face. “He woke you up?” Sophie nodded. “Just like all the other synths.” Laura let out a breathless laugh as she tightened her grip on Sophie. Leo watched, feeling out of place, but unable to actually go anywhere. He looked down, figuring this was a private family moment. But when he looked up just for a quick glance, Laura was staring right at him. Her lips formed the words, ‘Thank you.’