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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

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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

Jardley Jean-Louis

Kevin Speidell

Jacob Sanders