The trio's parents come for a visit, leading to a custody argument over Greg. |
FADE IN: INT. MYRTEN'S HOUSEHOLD (LIVING ROOM) - NIGHT The room is massive and filled rich furniture. SUSAN, 45, laying down in the couch, watches a commercial on the large Television. MATHWELL (O.S.) (over television) Come visit Breintown! She shrugs. PLAYBACK - EXT. DOWNTOWN BREINTOWN (ON TELEVISION) - DAY DAVID, ROSE and GREG are interviewed by MATHWELL, the town mayor, as part of a tourist ad. MATHWELL And what response do our brave battlers of monsters have to the baseless accusations that our beautiful Breintown isn't safe. DAVID Well they have a point I mean-- ROSE C'mon, you don't wanna listen to this loser. This is an amazing place to spend all your money. back to scene Susan drops the remote and stares at the TV shocked. SUSAN Oh, my god! (screaming) Mark! MARK (O.S.) Jesus Christ woman, what is it? MARK, 49, walks into the room looking at Susan confused. SUSAN It...It's Greg and-- Our children are on TV MARK (turning to face TV) What are you on about-- Mark sees the shot of the whole town, including David, Rose and Greg, waving. He stops to the front door and yanks his keys off the hook. SUSAN Where are you off to this late? MARK I'm getting my kid back. You coming? EXT. BEACH AV/FIELD - DAY David, Rose and Mathwell are talking in front David's van. Rose is focused on the check in Mathwell's hand. MATHWELL Thanks again for helping out with our promotion. DAVID Oh. You're welcome? MATHWELL I just know the money we spent on these ads and the brand-new tour buses are gonna have visitors rushing over here. DAVID Don't you think we'd attract more people if you addressed any of the real problems the town had? Mathwell and Rose both shake their heads and laugh. MATHWELL (shaking his head) Oh, David, David, David. I see you still have a lot to learn about politics. David looks at him confused. MATHWELL (CONT.) (handing Rose a check) Well, here's your reward for a job well done. Rose stares at it with glowing eyes. MATHWELL (quietly to Rose) Hey, see if you can work a little of your magic to, you know, spruce up tourism. ROSE (disinterested tone; still staring at check) Yeah, yeah, I'll see what I can do. DAVID Well that was enough excitement for one day. If any of you need me, I'll be at the Cafe. (to Rose) And you better take that check straight to the bank. ROSE (rolling eyes) Come on David, is there anyone you can trust more than me? MATHWELL Well, my job here's done. (beat) Hey, wait, where's the third little guy that's always with you? DAVID Yeah, Greg said he'd be in the forest with Willow today. ROSE (re: David) Even he's had enough of you. MATHWELL (walking off) Well, I'm off to figure out a new tax plan to pay for all this promotion. (shaking his head; laughing) Did you know how much it costs to air an ad around the country? David heads to the cafe, while Rose stands there staring at the check. She looks up to notice everyone else has gone. ROSE Well, to the bank it is, I guess. INT. SUNSHINE CAFE - DAY David is sitting at the front counter waiting for his food. MELODY (23), the oldest of the sky fairy sisters, is in her human form filling out paperwork at one of the tables. JANE (18), the youngest and non-magical sister, is mopping the floor. CLOVER (21), the middle child, also in her human forum, drops off a plate of food in front of David. CLOVER Here you go. Oh, and by the way, I really liked how you did in the commercial. DAVID It wasn't anything that special. At least I can finally pay for this meal. Rose, panicking, kicks open the door. MELODY What the heck Rose? Can't you use the door like a normal person? Rose runs up to David, out of breath. DAVID Well, did you deposit the check? ROSE Can you shut up for two seconds? Our parents are here. DAVID (dropping his fork) What? ROSE I saw them talking with Mathwell earlier. DAVID H-how'd they even find us... unless. David puts his head down on the counter. DAVID (muffled) Why'd I do that stupid commercial? JANE Is there a problem? Clover tenses up as a magical white glow forms around her, wings sprout out of her as she half-way transforms to her sky-fairy forum. CLOVER Yes! Those two were mean and abusive! DAVID Okay, Okay. Calling them abusive is a bit of a stretch. For a split-second, Clover flashes a worried look at David. ROSE Don't worry! While I was running over here, I thought of a perfect solution that'll solve all our problems. (beat) We kill them. Jane looks at Rose shocked while Melody looks at her angrily. Clover appears indifferent. David just watches everyone else's expressions. MELODY You can't murder your own parents Rose! ROSE Just because you can't doesn't mean some of us don't hold ourselves to higher standards. MELODY (to Rose) Killing your parents is wrong! (to David) Look, your Mom and Dad don't seem too unreasonable. I bet if you just talked out your problems... Rose rolls her eyes while David looks unsure. MELODY (CONT.) ... you could have a much happier relationship. DAVID (shrugging at Rose) I mean, she has a point. Rose's eyes widen in shock. DAVID (CONT.) Besides, what if all this just blows over? Rose furiously exhales and throws her arms in the air. ROSE Fine whatever. I guess this is just another thing I have to do myself. (to David) Don't come crying to me when you realize how stupid you're being. She slams the door as she walks. MELODY Wait, are we just gonna do nothing while Rose plans murder? DAVID I mean, you can't really stop her once she has her mind set on something. Melody, Clover and Jane shrug in agreement. INT. TOUR BUS - TRACKING - DAY Mathwell is driving a brand-new tour bus with Mark and Susan as its only passengers. MATHWELL And we're now entering our historic downtown. Mark and Susan look out the window to see a neighborhood filled with a mixture of crumbling 1960s-era buildings and relatively modern, but dull mid-rises. The street contains mostly vacant storefronts connected by bare sidewalks. MARK Was this town historically this awful? Susan and Mark laugh while Mathwell smirks nervously. Mathwell pulls over in front of the beach. MATHWELL And now we come to the first stop of our tour, the jaw-dropping Breintown waterfront. EXT. BEACH - CONTINUOUS Mathwell walks along the beach with Mark and Susan. The view is surprisingly stunning, with the pure blue water meeting a massive shoreline and grand cliffs along the horizon. To the north are massive mountains and the east the Dark Forest. MATHWELL As you can see, Breintown has no shortage of natural beauty. SUSAN (to Mark) I mean, even you have to admit, this beach looks nice. Mark shrugs. STEVE, a magical talking skeleton, is laying down near the ocean. STEVE Hey! Quiet down! Some of us are trying to sleep. MATT, a skinny teenage werewolf, is digging holes in the sand. A zombie BOY pulls of his head and uses it to play catch with a vampire GIRL. Susan, scared, WHIMPERS and moves closer to Mark. MATHWELL (nervous) Well, uhm, the supernatural is what makes our town unique. After all, only in Breintown can you-- MARK (angry) What kind of crazy place is this? An angry CROWD walk up behind the three of them. WOMAN Yeah, what is this? This is the third time this week I couldn't enjoy the beach. MAN Shouldn't those three siblings be doing something about this. MATHWELL Well, uhm. The CROWD continues to yell in the background. Susan looks away and her eyes widen as she sees David's van on the end of the field. SUSAN Is that David's-- INT. VAN - DAY David is lying face-down in his van MOANING. DAVID Ugh! Couldn't those two have the courtesy to at least wait 'till I died before coming to visit? Loud KNOCKING is coming from the back door. David pulls himself up and walks to answer it. DAVID This better not be Rose and her dumb plans. EXT. "BEACH AV."/FIELD - DAY He opens the door to see Mark and Susan. As soon as he sees their faces, he slams it back shut, but Mark blocks the door with his foot. MARK Oh no you don't! Rose walks up carrying ropes, a saw, planks of wood and crumpled notebook paper containing her plans. She immediately drops them in shock when she sees her parents. DAVID What are you doing here? Didn't I make it clear when I left that I never wanted to see you two again. SUSAN What do you mean what are we doing here? You took our little boy from us, after everything we've done for you! DAVID I didn't take him. I was minding my own business when he just showed up with Rose. ROSE (polite) Oh, Hi Mom! Hi Dad! It's been so long since I've seen you. How have you been? MARK Look, we hate seeing you more than you hate seeing us. So, can you please do one thing right in your entire life and tell us where Greg is? ROSE Oh me, I've been up to a lot in the past few years, if either of you are curious. DAVID Oh, uhm, I think he's still in the Dark Forest. Mark curls his hand into a fist, but Susan pulls his arm back gently to calm him down. SUSAN (shaking) He... he's, where? DAVID The Dark Forest, right over there. (points to it) Filled with a lot of magical stuff. It's actually quite interesting. He seems to really like it in there. SUSAN You left our son to fend in the woods by himself? DAVID Oh, no! He's not alone. He's with there with his friend Willow. She's kinda weird, glowing, a tree-spirit girl. About his age, I think. Mark scowls. SUSAN (crying) What's wrong with you? You care more about your stupid monsters than you do your own brother! DAVID That's not-- Mathwell runs towards them. MATHWELL (out of breath) There you are. We still have a day of tours... (under his breath) ... and running from the complaints of constitutes. Mark takes a deep breath and walks right in front of David's face. MARK Look, I'm gonna try to get your mother's mind off of your insanity. But when we're done, we better see Greg. Mark and Susan walk off with Mathwell. ROSE Oh okay. I guess we'll talk later then. David sighs. DAVID Hey Rose, am I, bad at taking care of Greg? Rose looks at him startled. ROSE Oh, well, I guess technically, by some definitions. DAVID (looking down) Oh, okay. David walks back into his van. Rose picks her stuff back up and looks back at David worried. INT. SUNSHINE CAFE - AFTERNOON It's the middle of the lunch rush and the dining room is brimming with customers. Jane is taking orders around the restaurant while Clover serves drinks at the counter. Mathwell opens the door for Mark and Susan. MATHWELL And this is our famous Sunshine Cafe. Jane hands the three of them their menus while Clover stabs a knife in the counter at the sight of Mark and Susan. JANE Welcome! It's been so long since we've last seen you. Let me give you a table. Melody enters from downstairs. MELODY Oh hey, I heard you two were in town. Jane leads the three to their table. SUSAN It's nice seeing you three. How have you all been? Clover glares at Mark and Susan while Melody weaves through her hair nervously. MELODY Oh, we've been doing fine, running the restaurant and everything. MARK You look like your doing a lot better than our kids. Jane giggles to herself while Melody lets out a fake and nervous laugh. Melody glances at Clover who is clenching her fists while a faint white aura surrounds her. MELODY Oh yeah, but your kids haven't been that bad. I mean, believe it or not, I think the town's gotten a little nicer since they came here. Mark starts laughing. MARK Come on Melody, cut the act. We saw what people think of him. He's a loser. CLOVER (screaming; white glow growing more intense) Well at least David actually helps people! All you seem to do is sit and laugh! The room falls silent and Melody and Jane stare at Clover. SUSAN Well we can leave if we're not wanted here. Mark and Susan walk out the restaurant angry while Clover sticks her tongue out at them. Mathwell chases after them. MATHWELL Wait, don't run off so soon. EXT. "BEACH AV" - DAY David is walking down the street with Rose. She is carrying a bunch of small jars containing mini fireworks while holding her notebook in her mouth. DAVID So, uhm, how are those plans going. (beat) Even though what you're doing is totally awful. ROSE (sarcastic) Oh yeah, so awful. DAVID (sighing) I'm sorry. This whole day's been super weird. ROSE (smirking) Isn't every day? DAVID Can I ask, what's up with the way you've been kissing up to Mom and Dad? You're never like that with anyone else? ROSE (shrugging) They treat me better than you. DAVID Yeah, but they don't treat you like anything. ROSE (looking away) Well maybe they don't need to treat me like anything. Mark, Susan and Mathwell walk out of the cafe. Mark notices David and clenches his fists and walks towards them, but Susan holds him back and approaches instead. Rose licks her hand and frantically straightens David's hair. DAVID (pushing her away) Stop that. Rose stands up straight, smiling as Susan gets closer. SUSAN (pleasant) Oh, hello Davey. ROSE (polite) Oh hello mom. Did you enjoy your meal? DAVID Cut the act. What do you want? SUSAN Look, I understand you're mad at me, but I just thought that instead of being so confrontational, maybe we can go somewhere and talk: face-to-face, free of distractions. DAVID Well-- Rose taps on David's shoulder. He turns and sees her furiously shaking her head. David rolls his eyes and looks back at Susan. DAVID You know what, I could spare a couple minutes. Susan follows David to the park. ROSE (hurt) Yeah, okay. I'll be in the forest if anyone needs me. EXT. PARK - DAY Susan and David sit at two park benches facing each other. She is leaning forward with a genuine expression while he is looking down, angry. SUSAN Look, I know we didn't leave on the best terms. David clenches. SUSAN (CONT.) But I want you to know that me and your father were trying to give you three the best possible life. He glances up. SUSAN (CONT.) And I'm sorry if it might not of seemed that way from how we treated you. He looks straight at her, surprised. DAVID Oh... I... forgive you. Susan hugs him, while he just pats her back awkwardly SUSAN Oh thank you! After how terrible I felt after you left, I'm just glad we can put all of this behind us. David winces at the last part. Susan lets go of him. SUSAN Well, now that I've said sorry, it's only fair that you to apologize for your... imperfections. DAVID My-- What are you talking about? SUSAN I mean, it's not like you didn't cause us a lot of pain too. (laughing) With your silly rants about ghosts and vampires or whatever-- DAVID (to himself) Well I wasn't wrong. SUSAN Or there was that time you ran around the neighborhood yelling about how we were possessed by demons. DAVID To be fair, that was after you made me sleep in a hole in the backyard. For a week. When I was 12. SUSAN Well we had to do something after the little temper tantrum you had with your father. DAVID But he was-- SUSAN Look. (takes a deep breath) We both admit that neither of us are perfect people. But just look at Greg's life now. David raises his eyebrow. SUSAN He runs around in the woods. David leans in to interject. SUSAN (CONT.) He doesn't have a bed to sleep on. He leans back. SUSAN (CONT.) I doubt you're sending him to school. He looks down. SUSAN (CONT.) His current situation can't get much worse. Don't you think it's fair that he gets to grow up in the same comfortable house that you did? He takes a deep breath, thinks for a moment and looks up at Susan. DAVID I admit me and Rose aren't the best parents. But we really want to do what's right for Greg, and, despite how it might look, I think he's really happy here. I mean he's learned a lot since he got here and made a lot of new friends, even if none of them are human. Susan stands up angrily. SUSAN No! Can't you see how crazy you sound! Just Admit it, you're not keeping Greg because you want what's right for him. You're doing it because your a selfish spoiled brat who needs everything to go your away. David SIGHS. DAVID Who was I kidding, this was a waste of time. He gets up and starts walking away. SUSAN You know, I came to you to apologize. In your delusional fantasies, did you ever think that maybe we're not the ones possessed by demons. David stops and stares ahead, angry then depressed, then keeps walking without looking back. EXT. DARK FOREST/CENTRAL PATH - TRACKING - DUSK Rose pulls CRYING, brightly colored potatoes from the ground. ROSE (petting them) Shh, shh. Your time will come. The potatoes stop crying as she puts them in her basket. David runs up behind her while she intentionally avoids eye contact. DAVID Ugh, can you hurry up with this stupid plan of yours and kill them already. Rose picks a couple more potatoes. ROSE (re: ROOTS) There, there. DAVID (awkward) Even though, it's still wrong, obviously. Rose looks for more potatoes and David looks down, depressed. DAVID Hey Rose, am I-- Rose jolts around to face him. ROSE (angry) Why'd you have to talk to her? David looks shocked. DAVID I don't know. I thought maybe I could have reasoned with her. ROSE (screaming) You didn't owe her anything! David looks halfway down, ashamed and the two keep walking into the forest. ROSE (quiet) You know she has a way of saying stuff. Stuff that messes with your brain. (beat) You knew that and you still left to talk to her. The get to the EXT. DARK FOREST/FIELD - DUSK Willow and Greg are play-wrestling a giant glowing white BEAR. Greg climbs onto its belly and Willow goes on top of him to help pin it down. WILLOW Ha! Touchdown! Willow high-fives Greg and they both laugh. David is visibly relaxed by this. Rose drops her basket and runs to pick Greg up and ruffle his hair. ROSE Aw, you were so great out there. (looking at David with a snarky smile) At least one of my brothers can fight. Rose releases Greg, and he pets the bear before it walks off. David walks up next to Rose, and they both look at Greg playing with Willow. Rose is overwhelmed by his cuteness while David looks at him while smiling. SCREAMING is heard from the other side of the forest. Willow perks up, but Greg motions for her to stay, causing her to pout in disappointment. David gets out his bow, Rose her metal fists, and Greg his dagger as they run towards it. EXT. DARK FOREST/NEAR ENTRANCE - SUNSET Mark and Susan are trapped and struggling in giant thorn-covered vines with the BEAR roaring at them. Greg hides behind Rose, and she, frustrated, drops her basket. ROSE Well there goes my hard work. Susan's eyes glow in excitement at the sight of Greg while Mark glares at David. MARK Oh great! As if this moment couldn't get any better. DAVID Why are you here? This place is too dangerous for you two. SUSAN This place is too dangerous for us, but not your 8-year old brother? David looks at Greg, who is squeezing Rose's leg, and back at Mark and Susan. DAVID Come on, that's different. MARK Look, some of us are willing to make sacrifices for our children. The bear ROARS and comes closer to them, further amplifying their SCREAMS of terror. David nervously looks around at the angry bear, his terrified, yet also frustrated parents, a scared Greg and a content Rose. He takes a deep breath and fires a yellow bow at the bear, electrically shocking and stunning it. Greg looks at the bear worried, while Mark and Susan sigh in relief, not noticing Greg's reaction. David cuts himself pulling apart the vines, which Rose cringes at. He picks up Mark, shocking him, and runs out of the forest. Rose rolls her eyes, picks up Susan and follows David. SUSAN David, what's going on? Where are you taking us? Greg approaches the bear and removes the arrow. It rolls on its back and happily lets Greg pet it. Greg waves goodbye as he follows David and Rose. EXT. "BEACH AV."/FIELD - EVENING David and Rose drop Mark and Susan outside the forest. They both look at David ashamed. MARK Uhm, David, we're-- DAVID What were you thinking? Where'd you even get the idea to go in their by yourselves? Mark angrily jolts up in front of David MARK Like I said, we we're doing what was best for our children. DAVID What's best for your-- You didn't do anything good for us all day? Neither of you even acknowledged your daughter exists. Rose looks away awkwardly. DAVID (CONT.) And despite spending all day obsessing over him, I bet neither of you would know a single thing about Greg. A small CROWD, containing MATHWELL, forums around them. MATHWELL (to Mark and Susan) Is it too late to interest you in our 2 week hotel package? EXT. SUNSHINE CAFE - EVENING Clover, hearing the commotion, walks out of the restaurant. CLOVER What's going on? She sees David with his parents, and runs towards them. Melody and Clover follow her. EXT. "BEACH AV."/FIELD - CONTINUOUS Mark stomps towards David with both his fists clenched. David cowers back, but they stop as soon as they notice Greg walk out of the forest. SUSAN (tears forming) Greg! Susan runs up to him crying tears of joy, while Greg stares at her terrified. Once she gets close enough to hug him, he slashes her arm with his dagger, leaving a scar. Everybody looks at Greg shocked except for Rose who giggles to herself. MARK (to David) What did you do to my son? DAVID (panicking) I... I didn't do anything. I don't--, maybe Greg was just-- Mark punches David hard enough to knock him to the ground. MARK I've had it to here with your crap today. The crowd gasps as Mark pins David down and continues to punch him. Rose clenches her fists as her magical gloves turn metallic and increase in size. Clover moves towards Mark, half-transforming into her Sky Fairy forum while Jane and Melody frantically runs towards her. Greg covers his eyes and WHIMPERS. David kicks Mark off of him and stands up. Mark, breathing heavily, goes to charge at him again, but Clover jumps and hugs David, blocking him. Mark is about to charge again but is interrupted by David talking. DAVID (looking down) This (looking at his parents) This isn't normal. Is it? Both Mark and Susan look around at the crowd's shocked expressions. Greg and Rose both look at each other awkwardly and Clover hugs tighter as tears form in her eyes. CLOVER Just go. Mark and Susan leave, defeated. FADE OUT. 6723 Words/ 22 Formatted Screenplay Pages |