⏰ The Morning Call

Who plays who

• A — The one nearest the alarm, who refuses to move.
• B — The one who reaches for it, and then does not get up either.
• Whoever silences the alarm leads Act 1. From Act 3, whoever last snoozed it leads.

What you need

• Nothing beyond the bedroom — the alarm is a phone or a clock
• Water by the bed, if you can put it there the night before
• A duvet or blanket within reach for afterwards
• A free morning, if you can arrange one — this one is not for a workday

Act 1 — 🕯️ Setup

The alarm goes off, and neither of you reaches for it properly. One of you fumbles it to snooze, someone groans, and the duvet becomes a shared hiding place. Nobody gets up — the whole scene is built on the alarm going off again in nine minutes.

Beats

• Snooze it, and mean it. Let the alarm ring out a second time before anyone touches it.
• Stay under the duvet, tangled, and do not open your eyes fully yet.
• Talk in half-sentences, or not at all. Nothing is decided in this act.

Exchange

• A: "It's going off again."
• B: "Let it."

Act 2 — 🔥 Build

The alarm has rung twice and the two of you are further under the covers than you started. Waking up has been quietly abandoned — hands have wandered and neither of you is pretending to be asleep any more.

Beats

• Nobody mentions the time or what today actually requires.
• Every touch stays lazy — nothing urgent, nothing athletic.
• Whoever speaks a full sentence first leads from here.

Lines to say

• "We don't have to get up yet."
• "Your hands are cold."
• "Turn over. Come here."

Act 3 — ⚡ Escalate

The alarm has rung for the last time and been switched off entirely. The day can start whenever it likes — it is not starting yet.

Beats

• Change who leads with a look, not a sentence.
• Keep it slow and stay under the covers. This act is the point of the whole script.
• Nobody gets up. Not for anything.

Lines to say

• "Come here. Closer."
• "Don't rush this one."
• "I want to remember this bit."

Act 4 — 💥 Climax

The light has moved across the ceiling and neither of you has checked the time once. This is the same morning, just closer — slower and quieter and entirely without anything to prove.

Beats

• Not faster. Closer. That is the only direction this act moves.
• Keep the duvet, keep the quiet, keep hold of the hand.
• Let it end the way it will, and take as long as it takes.

Lines to say

• "Stay there."
• "I don't want to get up."

Act 5 — 🤍 Aftercare

Nobody has checked the time in an hour, and neither of you cares what it says now.

Beats

• Nobody gets up first. Neither of you owes the other a breakfast.
• Water, and then coffee or tea, brought back to bed.
• One sentence each about the morning, said before the day actually starts.

Lines to say

• "Worth being late for."
• "Same again tomorrow?"

Aftercare

Coffee or tea brought back to bed, and nobody gets up first.,One sentence each about the morning, said out loud before the day begins.,If you were late for something, say so and laugh about it — the alarm was only ever a starting pistol, not a rule.

Ground rules and consent

• Sleepy is not the same as willing. If either of you is genuinely not there, this becomes a lazy morning together, and that still counts.
• Nobody has to get up and nobody has to be quick. If you have somewhere to be, this is the wrong morning for it.
• "Alarmclock" ends it in one second, and needing to actually get up is a good enough reason.
• No performance and no pressure to finish anything. If the alarm rings twice more and nothing else happens, that was the morning.

For the thinking behind it, Sensate focus is the long version.

Frequently asked