Someone Is Practicing My Disappearance
A location scout finds a perfect replica of her flat on an abandoned film set, where strangers rehearse the day she is supposed to vanish.
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How it begins
The mug on the fake kitchen counter had the same chip as Tess's.
That was the detail that stopped her.
Not the wallpaper. Not the cheap brass handles. Not the narrow window facing a brick wall that existed nowhere outside the studio.
The mug.
She picked it up.
Someone had copied the small brown crescent she had broken from its rim three winters ago, on the morning she decided not to marry Paul.
"Tess?"
The voice came from behind her.
She turned and saw herself entering the room.
Not quite herself. The woman was shorter, with a straighter back and a better coat. But she carried Tess's bag and pushed her hair behind her ear with a gesture Tess had never noticed making.
The woman stopped.
"Are you continuity?"
Tess put down the mug.
"Location department."
"Oh, good. They've finally fixed the window."
Beyond the set walls, the abandoned studio stretched into darkness. Tess had been hired to assess whether it could serve as a warehouse location. Nobody had mentioned a kitchen. Nobody had mentioned her kitchen.
A man with a headset called from the shadows.
"From the missed call, please."
The woman took out a phone.
It rang.
She looked at it, hesitated and placed it facedown on the counter.
Tess felt a cold pressure behind her ribs.
She had done that yesterday.
The man called, "Now the envelope."
"What envelope?" Tess asked.
Both of them looked at her.
An electrician on a ladder slowly lowered his drill.
The actress pointed toward a drawer.
"It's the scene before she leaves."
Tess opened the drawer.
Inside lay her passport, a train ticket and a handwritten note.
The handwriting was nearly right.
Nearly.
She read the first line.
PLEASE DON'T LOOK FOR ME.
The electrician climbed down.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
Tess looked at the actress waiting patiently in her life.
"Yes," she said. "I don't think I'm supposed to be here for this part."
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Outline and characters
- Tess discovers a replica of her flat while scouting a studio.
- She watches actors rehearse her ordinary routines and eventual disappearance.
- Noel helps her identify the production's hidden funding.
- Tess changes her habits and sees the script adapt.
- The rehearsal is designed to create convincing evidence that she left voluntarily.
- She discovers the scheme protects a fraud she unknowingly photographed.
- Her attempt to expose it becomes another scene the organizers can edit.
- Tess and Noel create independent witnesses outside the production's control.
- A live public inspection reveals both the replica and the falsified evidence.
- Tess returns home after changing the locks and the work that made her invisible.
Characters
- Tess Rowan, 40. A location scout whose home has become a rehearsal set
- Noel Price, 46. A production electrician who suspects the job is not a film
Series possibilities
- Tess finds another replica set already dismantled after its production supposedly finished.
