256. Blue Flowers - Leslie

• FADE IN:


• INT. AMELIA'S BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON


• Amelia sits in a rolling chair in front of a large mirror over her dresser.


• Tattoo ink, needles, and other tattooing paraphernalia are neatly arrayed on the low dresser surface.


• Amelia is dressed in a black tanktop.


• She holds a tattooing machine by her neck, the needle drawing blood as black ink is injected under her skin.


• She dips the needle in ink.


• INT. AMELIA'S CHILDHOOD BEDROOM - DAY


• YOUNG AMELIA runs around her bed, trying to get away from her MOTHER.


• Her mother, dressed in a crisp business pantsuit, chases her into the corner and backhands her.


• Young Amelia falls to the carpeted floor.


• INT. AMELIA'S BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON


• Amelia draws the outlines of flower on her neck, focusing carefully in the mirror.


• INT. AMELIA'S CHILDHOOD BEDROOM - DAY


• Amelia's mother holds her down, taking a lighter from her purse.


• MOTHER
• You're an evil little girl. I don't want to do this, but you push me, you push me, and you get what's coming.


• Young Amelia squirms away, crying.


• Her mother grabs her arm and begins burning her, adding new scars to patches of scar tissue that run up her arm and neck.


• INT. AMELIA'S BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON


• Amelia is filling in the flower with a rich cobalt, creating a stylized, blue, cherry blossom.


• Each of the blossoms covers a scar, her last flower, begin to create a beautiful mask over the shiny, slick, burned tissue that runs up the side of her neck.


• She puts the needle down and inspects her handiwork.


• The full tattoo stretches down from her neck, around her shoulder and down her arm, a beautiful semi-abstract painting on a living canvas.


• She smiles a little into the mirror and traces the path of the tattoo up her arm, remembering.


• FADE TO BLACK.