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editor, design - jacob sanders @jacobsandersar teditor, design - jacob sanders @jacobsandersar t
CHATTERCHATTERCHATTERdecember2014
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editor, design - jacob sanders @jacobsandersar t
CHATTERCHATTER
writing director - jason melton @captainjmoseswriting director - jason melton @captainjmoses
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Julia Yellow
6
EXT.- A CUL DE SAC IN A MIDWEST SUBDIVISION,
AFTERNOON.
JOAN and BILL, a married couple in their fifties, are raking
leaves in their front yard. ED, their older neighbor in his
seventies, sits on an idling ride-on lawn mower in the
grassed center of the cul de sac. He is wearing very large,
wrap-around sunglasses. They all chat.
JOAN
Thanks for keeping that grass
mowed, Ed!
JOAN stops to lean on her rake as she chats. BILL continues
raking as he chats. He rakes with small, purposeful motions.
BILL
Yeah, we’re still trying to keep up
with these darn leaves!
ED
Gotta keep everything looking
sharp. Plus, who am I kidding, I
love to mow. Helps me relax.
JOAN
Sure, sure. Hey, did we tell you
we’re building a new all-season
porch on the back of our house?
BILL
Yep, remember when I told you about
some new improvements? We’re gonna
knock the back wall out of the den,
build an extension jutting out into
the south end of the lawn.
ED
That’s great. Do some good bird
watching in there.
BILL
You bet!
ED
And I’m sure you’ll give it a nice,
sharp paint job to match your
house. Just like you did a few
summers ago.
JOAN
Apple-orchard red with heather gray
trim!
BILL
Well, I love to paint almost as
much as you love to mow, Ed!
ED
(chuckling)
Well, we all have our yard work
vices, right?
JOAN
Sign me up for anything but
shoveling snow!
They all share a neighborly laugh.
ED
Well, that’s just swell you two are
making some home improvements.
That’ll definitely boost up the
property value for all of us on
this court.
JOAN
Sure will. Well, almost all of us.
JOAN glances over to the far end of the
cul de sac. We see a modest, slightly dilapidated
7
ED
Gotta keep everything looking
sharp. Plus, who am I kidding, I
love to mow. Helps me relax.
JOAN
Sure, sure. Hey, did we tell you
we’re building a new all-season
porch on the back of our house?
BILL
Yep, remember when I told you about
some new improvements? We’re gonna
knock the back wall out of the den,
build an extension jutting out into
the south end of the lawn.
ED
That’s great. Do some good bird
watching in there.
BILL
You bet!
ED
And I’m sure you’ll give it a nice,
sharp paint job to match your
house. Just like you did a few
summers ago.
JOAN
Apple-orchard red with heather gray
trim!
BILL
Well, I love to paint almost as
much as you love to mow, Ed!
ED
(chuckling)
Well, we all have our yard work
vices, right?
JOAN
Sign me up for anything but
shoveling snow!
They all share a neighborly laugh.
ED
Well, that’s just swell you two are
making some home improvements.
That’ll definitely boost up the
property value for all of us on
this court.
JOAN
Sure will. Well, almost all of us.
JOAN glances over to the far end of the
cul de sac. We see a modest, slightly dilapidated
house with an abundance of
leaves on its front lawn. There is a sign posted
that reads:
“FOR SALE. PRICE REDUCED!”
JOAN (CONT’D)
What is her problem, anyway?
BILL
(sighs)
Meredith has... many problems Joan.
She’s doing her best.
JOAN
Her best? Would it kill her to keep
her lawn in shape like the rest of
us? She doesn’t even trim her
hedges!
ED scorns as he looks over at MEREDITH’s
house. He spits off
the side of his mower.
ED
Pathetic.
JOAN
I don’t know how she expects to
sell that house if she can’t even
keep her yard presentable. It’s an
eyesore.
BILL
She has good intentions, Joan. It’s
just that, she’s all alone. Doesn’t
have anybody to help her.
JOAN
Except for her handy neighbor,
Bill!
BILL
I help her out with little chores
8
when I can, it’s the right thing to
do.
JOAN
She doesn’t even have a job! She’s
got all the time in the world!
DIANE, another middle-aged neighbor,
approaches the center of
the cul de sac to join the conversation. She’s
holding a thermal mug of coffee, wearing curlers
in her bleach blonde hair.
DIANE
Who, Meredith? Yeah, I heard she
got a good offer on that house two
years ago when she first put it on
the market. But she turned it down
because she thought she deserved
more. Can you believe that? Who is
she to be picky?
JOAN
Beggars can’t be choosers.
DIANE
That’s right.
ED
Six-foot high weeds in the
backyard. Rotting wood fences.
Overgrown shrubs. Mess of
dandelions in the grass all summer.
Pathetic, just pathetic.
ED spits again.
BILL
Well, structurally her house is ok.
The roof’s in good shape. Newer
furnace. Perfectly fine electrical
wiring...
DIANE, JOAN, and ED all gaze back at BILL with
soured expressions. BILL meets their eyes,
continues raking.
JOAN
Well, she certainly showed you
around, didn’t she?
BILL
I mean, for Christ’s sake Joan- of
course I’ve gotten to know that
house. I’ve been helping her with
odd jobs for years now.
DIANE
She’s always claiming to be so
“busy,” like that’s her excuse for
not keeping up the appearance of
her yard. Not doing her part like
the rest of us.
JOAN
Busy doing what? All I’ve ever seen
her do is root through our
recycling bins collecting plastic
bottle caps.
DIANE
She goes through your recycling
too? What the hell does she do with
those?
JOAN
I don’t know, she really must have
a couple screws loose.
BILL makes a very controlled, circular sweeping
motion with his rake. We briefly see that his leaf
his rake. We briefly see that his leaf pile has been
formed into a strange spiral shape. He then
pauses from raking.
BILL
Well, if I may interrupt the
chatter- you all should know that
Meredith could be facing
foreclosure by year’s end if she
doesn’t get a buyer lined up.
DIANE
Good! We could all use a better
neighbor. Someone who knows some
basic yard up-keep!
MEREDITH is suddenly heard several yards away.
She is getting
her mail at the mailboxes in the center of the cul
de sac.
She is in her early sixties but appears much
younger.
MEREDITH
(yelling so they can hear
her from across the way)
Hi Diane, Bill, Joan.
(beat.)
Ed.
DIANE and JOAN give half-hearted waves, putting
minimal
effort into feigning friendly smiles. BILL smiles
warmly as
he rakes. ED just sits on his mower, staring at
MEREDITH with
a distant scorn.
MEREDITH (CONT’D)
Hey, if you all happen to know
anyone looking for a house, I just
lowered the price. I could really
use a good offer.
JOAN
I thought you already got a good
offer two years ago?
MEREDITH
No. No I didn’t.
MEREDITH walks away with her mail, most of
which are bills
from past due credit cards. ED spits again.
CUT TO:
INT.- MEREDITH’S HOUSE
We pan slowly across the living room into the
kitchen. We see outdated furniture, carpeting and
upholstery. The kitchen floor is visibly clean, but
the tile is peeling. There are handles missing from
recently polished cabinets. Several bills are strewn
across the kitchen table. Next to the bills is her
phone, which is visibly set to speaker mode.
SPEAKERPHONE
You have one new message.
(A male voice begins.)
Hi Meredith, this is Ted, your
lawyer.
Look, we need to at least get an
offer on the house by the end of
the month. Otherwise they’ll move
right into scheduling a sheriff’s
sale-
The voice mail becomes less audible as we
continue panning from the kitchen into the
basement stairwell. MEREDITH is heard off
camera, reacting to the voice mail as if it were
a conversation.
9
MEREDITH
I know Ted, I just need to stall a
little longer.
We continue to pan down the stairwell. It is bare,
save for a few cardboard boxes. We move into a
large laundry room. In the corner of the room we
see a wall decorated with an intricately patterned
mural of plastic bottle caps- from milk cartons,
soda liters, etc. There is a swirling, geometric
precision to the pattern, with colorscorresponding and
smaller caps arranged towards the center of the spiral. The
mural must be composed of tens of thousands of caps.
MEREDITH is kneeled before the mural, carefully placing a few
more bottle caps towards its center. No adhesive is used, the
caps just seems to magnetically lock into place as she holds
them up to the wall.
MEREDITH (CONT’D)
Just. A little. Longer.
MEREDITH places one last cap in the mural and her eyes widen.
The mural suddenly becomes very animated, swirling rapidly on
the wall like a colorful whirlpool. A beam of intensely
bright white light emerges from its center. MEREDITH walks
into the light.
FADE TO WHITE.
CUT TO:
EXT.- AN EMPTY BEACH, MID-DAY.
We see BILL’s smiling face. He is barefoot, dressed in all
white cotton. He reaches out and takes MEREDITH’s hand. She
is also dressed in all white cotton. They embrace and kiss
affectionately.
MEREDITH
Thank you for all your help.
FADE OUT.
10
John Starr
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