After the Tone
Format: Voice-message monologue
Approx. length: 1-3 minutes
Original audition scene

A voicemail. The speaker tries to sound casual and fails.

JULES
Hi, Mum. It’s me. Obviously. Your phone says my name, so I don’t know why I announce myself like a Victorian footman.

I’m calling because the hospital rang. Not an emergency. They said that three times, which made it feel exactly like an emergency, but apparently it isn’t. They moved your scan to Friday at eleven.

I wrote it down. Then I wrote it down again because I didn’t trust the first version of me.

Also, I watered the basil. It may recover. I don’t want to make promises on behalf of a herb, but it has shown spirit.

Listen, I know you said not to fuss. I am respecting that by fussing efficiently and from a distance. There are meals in the freezer. The blue lids are soup. The red lid is something I made while anxious, so approach with rice.

I keep thinking about when I was little and you used to say, “We only worry in daylight.” I used to believe that was a rule. Like gravity. Now it’s night and I’m worrying anyway, so I’m ringing to borrow your voice.

You don’t have to call back tonight. Just... when you wake up, leave me a message saying you’re annoyed I used the good containers. That would be perfect.
