(Buffy goes into a trance. After a while, she is able to stand up and walk around her house, still in her altered state. Everything looks grainy and sepia-toned, and sounds come to her muffled as if from a distance)

JOYCE: Buffy?

BUFFY: Mom? Are you going out?

(Buffy studies her mother carefully but sees nothing out of the ordinary.)

JOYCE: Well, either modern medicine's working or I just took the world's best placebo. Either way, I'm going out for a couple of hours.

BUFFY: Nothing...

JOYCE: Hmm?

BUFFY: There's nothing.

(Buffy stares intently at her mother, trying to detect anything abnormal, but everything seems fine. Her attention is suddenly drawn to a family photograph on the wall behind Joyce. The picture shows Joyce, Buffy and Dawn smiling happily. Dawn's image appears and disappears, flickering in and out of the photo like a bad television reception.)

JOYCE: Are you sure you're feeling okay? You seem a little out of it. (beat) Hey... Buffy?

BUFFY: (covers) Yeah. I'm fine. Long day's all. You go, have a good time.

JOYCE: (wistfully) You're so grown up.

(Joyce turns and heads out. As soon as she's gone, Buffy immediately finds another family portrait and finds the same thing: Dawn fading in and out. Buffy approaches Dawn's room and cautiously opens the door. Dawn is not there. Buffy stands in wonder as the entire room around her shifts back and forth between Dawn's normal teen girl setting and a room full of boxes and odds & ends: an unoccupied storage room. Dawn's voice echoes from far away, calling to Buffy.)

DAWN: Buffy? Buffy.

(Buffy turns to find Dawn, angry at her intrusion. But Dawn herself is fading in and out of reality along with all her things.)

DAWN: Who said you could come in my room?

BUFFY: (cold) You're not my sister.

(cut to commercial, resume, trance-state broken)

DAWN: Yeah! Like I even want to be related to your nasty self-

(Buffy rushes forward and seizes Dawn by the arms.)

DAWN: Ow! What are you doing?

BUFFY: What are you?

DAWN: Get off me!

BUFFY: You want to hurt me?

DAWN: Let go of me, you freak!

BUFFY: Then you deal with me.

DAWN: I'm telling mom!

BUFFY: You stay away from my mother!

(Buffy shoves Dawn against the wall with tremendous force. Dawn stares at Buffy, shocked, and Buffy stares back, her gaze unwavering. The moment is broken by the ringing of the phone)

• Buffy & Dawn
• Dawn as the Key

written by: Douglas Petrie; . Full transcript at:
http://www.studiesinwords.de/83noplacelikehome.html