362. The Awakening of Emily B. Waterford - Leslie

This script was inspired by a project I did a few years ago. Please Click on the image to see it in full view.

• FADE IN:


• INT. EMILY'S HOUSE: HALLWAY - DAY


• Sunlight spills into the hallway from the living room.


• EMILY B. WATERFORD slips out her bedroom wrapped in a soft bathrobe.


• She smiles, whistling a bit as she shuffles in her slipper-clad feet towards the bathroom.


• INT. EMILY'S HOUSE: BATHROOM - DAY


• Emily brushes her teeth, staring absently at the Van Gogh print that hangs on the opposite wall.


• The painting is one of the few sources of warmth in the cool, modern bathroom.


• She rinses her mouth out, spits into the sink, then pauses as she catches a glimpse of her face in the mirror.


• A strange hairline runs down her jawline.


• She rolls her eyes.


• EMILY
• Oh, not again!


• She pulls reaches for a bottle of lotion sitting above the sink and liberally applies a large dollop to her face.


• She turns to leave without giving her face a second glance.


• INT. EMILY'S HOUSE: KITCHEN - DAY


• Emily sits at a small breakfast table at the center of the kitchen.


• An expensive cookware set hangs on a steel rack above the oven.


• The oven's brushed metal surface gleams in the morning sun which is now pouring through a large picture window in the living room.


• The rooms are somewhat spartan in their modern minalism, but a well-placed lamp or set of candles provide needed warmth around the space.


• Emily sips a cup of coffee, enjoying her view of the city below her through the large window.


• She turns and stops, catching sight of her reflection in the oven window.


• Putting her mug down, she stands and walks over to the oven, stooping to get a better look.


• The hairline crack is still there.


• EMILY
• Weird.


• She touches her face and skin of her cheek lifts slightly away from the line.


• Repulsed, she pulls her hand away.


• She stares, then touches it again.


• More skin pulls away.


• She lets out a sharp breath, then almost by compulsion, pulls more.


• In a smooth motion her face pulls completely off into her hands.


• She looks down at her face, sitting, perfectly formed, like a grotesque mask, in her hands.


• EXT. RUINS - DAY


• It takes her a moment to realize that her house no longer exists.


• The world she knows is gone, replaced by a dirty, destroyed city.


• Breathing hard, she gingerly touches her face, horrified at what she might find.


• Her face is still intact, soft from a lifetime under the strange mask.


• She looks around at the new world around her.


• People wander blithely through the wreckage, their eyes blank.


• She turns and sees her neighbors sitting in the dirt, making the motions of eating breakfast.


• She runs over to them and sees that they too seem to be wearing the odd masks.


• She looks down at the mask that is still in her hands.


• Grabbing it, she attempts to force it back onto her face, but it does not hold.


• She tries again and again as it becomes more and more damaged.


• She places it on her face one more time, trying to force it to stretch into place and it tears.


• The pieces in her hand, she sits down in the ashes, despondent.


• She tosses the torn mask aside and her eyes follow the pieces as they get picked up by the wind, then dashed into the remnants of a brick wall, right next to another mask.


• She stands, surprised, as she catches sight of the second torn mask.


• She walks towards it and sees another and another forming a crooked line to the horizon.


• Emily follows the masks, growing smaller and smaller until she fades into the horizon.


• FADE TO BLACK.