Red Suds | Teen Ink

Red Suds

March 16, 2013
By LaurenCorlett GOLD, Olney, Maryland
LaurenCorlett GOLD, Olney, Maryland
13 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I'd rather die doing what I love than live doing what I hate."


[Setting: rural home, around 8:00 pm. GIRL is in the kitchen, washing pots after dinner. MOM and DAD sit in the living room, MOM reads a book, DAD reading news off an iPad, both have wine glasses]
[Fade into medium shot 1 of GIRL through the archway between the sunroom and the kitchen. There is a glass pane back-door barely visible off to the left through it we see a white deck and a few trees.]
[No music, no background noise. Near to silence for three seconds. Then a steady sound of water from the faucet]
[Cut to close-up of Girl’s hands as she flips a large pot over to wash the bottom. Extreme Close-up as she squeezes the sponge and soap suds spill over the back of the pot.]
[Cut to medium shot 1, GIRL sniffles, suppressing a sneeze. Sound of a page turning. She turns her head]
[Cut to medium shot 2; the living room from GIRL’s perspective. We see the back of DAD’s head as he sits on the chaise couch, iPad glow reflecting off his face. MOM sits on a couch perpendicular to him; she reads a hard-cover book. DAD reaches for his wine glass.]
[The sound of a plane overhead. Medium shot 2 pans to low angle, POV, of the sky light. It is dark outside, there are a few leaves scattered on the glass, no plane is seen. The sound fades away]
[Cut to wide shot 1; half the kitchen is seen, half of the island with 4 stove tops, the microwave on the counter closest to the camera, the mixer and electric tea pot, empty, on counter near GIRL. An open dishwasher is directly to her left. The door is barely seen. Girl turns to put the pot on the towel laid out on the counter to her right, near the coffee pot and old, broken toaster. A small, quiet sound of something banging against a window, once, quickly.]
[Abrupt cut to POV of the backdoor, the white deck gleams moonlight off of it in the darkness. A brief glimpse of something red, about eye-level.]
[Close-up of GIRL, she looks slightly frightened, mostly confused, tilts her head and leans in]
[Cut to wide shot of kitchen, GIRL puts down a spatula covered in soap suds and leans over the counter behind the sink, through the archway]
[Medium shot of the door. There is nothing, only the deck]
[Close-up of GIRL as she leans back and picks the spatula back up again and turns her head toward the living room]
[Medium POV of living room, MOM places her wine glass down. DAD shifts in his seat, neither seem to have heard the sound]
[Medium shot 1: GIRL continues washing. Hold for 5 seconds, Cut to close-up of GIRL’s hands fishing a fork and spoon out of a bowl of sud-filled, dirty water. Wide shot 1 as girl leans over to place the utensils in the open dishwasher directly to her left. A red glimpse is seen through the door again.]
[Close-up, utensils falling into the dishwasher basket suddenly. Low, Dutch angle from behind the dishwasher as GIRL stands up quickly and leans over the counter again, slowly]
[Medium shot of door, the red flash is there for less than a second then disappears]
[Close-up of girl, looking more freighted, she leans back. Medium shot 1: GIRL continues to stare at the back door, un-moving. Hold for 7 seconds, girl relaxes, turns her eyes back to the dishes. POV close-up of GIRL’s hands as she dumps water out of a bowl, slowly.]
[The sound of the water pouring out and going down the drain is still heard as we cut to medium shot of the door. There is nothing to be seen. Sounds heard over the next 10 seconds; faucet is turned on, page of a book is turned, a wine glass is placed on a table, GIRL sniffles, a bowl is placed on the towel, dishes clang, the dishwasher clicks closed. GIRL sniffles]
[The red flash appears for only one second, unknown what it is]
[Slow zoom on the door as the following dialogue is heard]
DAD
Dishes done?
GIRL

Yes
MOM

Do you want to watch something?
DAD

Sure
GIRL

Okay

[Sound of the TV turning on and being muted]

MOM

What do we have recorded?
GIRL

Let me see…

[Girl’s voice fades out as the video does]
FIN


The author's comments:
My first short screen play. It's based off of an ordinary evening at home with my family.

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