This version, I hope, answers the questions the last version raised. It's a bit longer and doesn't fit on a sheet of A4 any more, so I probably could do with cutting it. In particular I wonder if I could remove the character, Edith, from this as her role is similar to Mrs Firth's, as far as this synopsis goes. Will be grateful for any advice, and thank you for all the comments on the first one. I've never had revision come so easily before!



Drawings in Sand

Stella isn’t allowed in the basement. But she’s there, hiding from the arguments above and whispering secrets to a beautiful lady in a painting. Thirty years later she still doesn’t know who the lady and her baby are; nor can she remember what she did last night. She hates herself, and she is sure that everyone else must hate her too, must think she is weak, a waster, a disorganised art teacher and a hopeless mother. This belief colours every action she takes. She rows with boyfriend, Macklin, and he walks out; she snaps at her brother, Sam, and ignores her little daughter, Kirsty.

Having long ago given up on her mother’s approval, she craves it from everyone else, especially from older colleague Mrs Firth. No hope of that with a friend like Judy, bragging in the staff-room about their boozy weekend. No hope of it with Stella lying to her boss, losing control of classes, and drifting off in the Anti-Bullying meeting she chairs.

Days later, Macklin returns, keen to live the ‘normal’ family life Stella craves. Then he collects Kirsty from nursery and they don’t come home. As Sam tries to reassure her, Stella remembers a day her father went missing. The doorbell rings.

The person Stella who is most convinced hates her is Kirsty’s father, Ross. She dumped him years ago, before she realised she was pregnant, and the first he knew of Kirsty’s existence was when he bumped into them in a supermarket. Now Stella is sure he has a new woman and plans to take Kirsty away. Nevertheless, she gets drunk again with Judy, even though Ross is due to bring Kirsty back any minute.

Next day, scheduled to run a staff meeting, Stella collapses and throw up in front of Mrs Firth and another colleague Edith. As Edith takes over the meeting, Mrs Firth takes Stella home. With nothing left to lose, Stella confides in Mrs Firth. This genuine friendship provides Stella with the courage to seek help.

She gets a counsellor, stops drinking, drops Judy, gets a cleaning habit. She is determined to change, terrified she can’t, and that Ross will get Kirsty. Her counsellor warns that buried feelings might surface. Anger at Judy, Macklin and Sam, still boozing, is no surprise. What is unexpected, and almost unbearable, is the memory of her mother’s love. As a child Stella once walked into the sea and almost drowned. Always aware of her mother’s fury, Stella suddenly remembers her terror. Stella has believed all her life that her mother didn’t love her. This illusion shattered, she has no idea who she is, or who anyone is, and she is terrified.

Kirsty gets ill, and Ross returns from off-shore. Instead of the telling-off Stella expects, Ross supports her to look after Kirsty.

As her old identity continues to crumble, Stella visits her mother, Grace, and finds a woman she barely knows. Then among her dead father’s belongings she finds a box marked ‘Amanda.’ One of his floozies perhaps, but why would her mother hoard that? Sam might know. Sam was Mummy’s angel, privy to secrets Stella never heard. But Sam’s saying nothing and wants Stella to stop prying. That she can’t, won’t, do.

Stella continues her search for the truth about Amanda with a trip to an old friend. Meanwhile, Macklin visits Sam. Afterwards, Sam has another secret to hide from Stella. He cracks, and tells all he knows, both about Amanda and about Macklin and a woman in a nightclub. Stella tells Macklin to leave. With Sam she confronts her mother about Amanda. They piece together the truth about a family tragedy. Stella finds the compassion for Grace that has, until now, eluded her. In return, Grace gives Stella the painting she loved so much as a child, a painting Stella now knows is of her mother and dead sister.

Stella visits Edith, now pregnant. As they talk about birth, death and life’s vastness, Stella has a new understanding of love. Later on the beach, she bumps into Ross and Kirsty. As they play Kirsty lies on the beach and Stella draws round her. Then Kirsty wants Ross to lie down so Stella can draw round him. Drawings in Sand ends not with certainties, but with possibilities. The possibility that Stella and Ross may reunite, or at least become friends, and better co-parents.