: plant
Love, loss, and foliage in the time of COVID. An original screenplay for animation by Cynthia Wessling.
PLANT
written by
Cynthia Wessling
Final Draft
11/29/2020
(C) 2020 by Cynthia Wessling
FADE IN.
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XT. OFFICE BUILDING - DAY
JOSH (31) pulls up outside a downtown office building on his bike. He hops off and locks it to one of the crowded bike stands. INT. OFFICE BUILDING LOBBY - DAY Josh enters the building, nodding to the SECURITY GUARD as he passes by. He rushes a bit to squeeze into a crowded elevator. In the background of the lobby, TVs show news anchors talking above chyrons showing "Pandemic." INT. OFFICE, IT DESK - DAY Exiting the elevator, Josh makes his way to his desk behind a service-counter type window labeled "IT Help Desk." He greets his CO-WORKERS, tosses a nerf basketball into a hoop mounted on the wall, then settles into his chair. An OFFICE WORKER approaches the window with a blue-screened laptop and a helpless expression. Josh hops up to greet him. INT. NURSING HOME, MARIO'S ROOM - DAY ANA (33), checks her tidy suit in a full-length mirror and shoulders her professional bag, then turns to face her elderly grandfather, MARIO, who is smiling at her. He pushes a huge plant in a colorful pot into her arms, with a tag reading "Good Luck!" EXT. NURSING HOME - DAY Ana smiles as she struggles out the door with the plant, Mario and his AIDE standing in the door beaming and waving after her. INT. OFFICE BUILDING LOBBY - DAY Ana enters the office lobby with her awkward load, just missing a closing elevator. She punches the elevator button, shifting the plant to her other arm. INT. OFFICE - DAY Ana exits the elevator and approaches the front desk. The RECEPTIONIST greets her and gestures her towards a blank wall next to the desk, holding a camera. The receptionist snaps a pic, capturing Ana's harried smile and a couple of stray plant fronds. INT. OFFICE, ANA'S DESK - DAY With the picture now displayed on the employee badge clipped to her suit, Ana sets her plant down on her desk and drops into her chair. Josh pops in next to her desk carrying cables and a laptop. He smiles at her and points down. She looks down, alarmed, and tugs on her skirt. He looks embarrassed. Ana realizes he was pointing under the desk and she pushes her chair back. He drops the laptop on her desk then dives underneath it to connect cables. As he backs out, he becomes tangled in the plant fronds and she hurriedly extracts him. They smile at each other for a few moments as Josh walks backwards from her desk until he collides with a passing OFFICE WORKER, then he turns and leaves, looking back and smiling once more. INT. JOSH'S APARTMENT - DAY Josh is getting ready for work the next morning when his phone buzzes. He reads the message and stands there in shock. EXT. OFFICE BUILDING - DAY Josh pulls up outside the office building on his bike. He stares at the nearly empty racks. INT. OFFICE BUILDING LOBBY - DAY The lobby is completely empty and silent as Josh crosses and steps into an empty elevator. INT. OFFICE, IT DESK - DAY Exiting the elevator, Josh enters his office and drops his bag on his desk. He stands there looking out through the help desk window. The entire office floor is darkened--and completely empty. A message on his monitor reads: "Due to the pandemic, all employees are sent home to work until further notice. Emergency technical support will remain onsite." INT. OFFICE, IT DESK - DAY Standing there in the gloom, Josh gets a message on his phone: "Reboot at desk 1123". He heads down the rows of desks, phone in hand, searching for desk 1123. A computer sits on top of the desk with a red light blinking on it's face. He punches the red light which, after a moment, switches to green. Josh's phone buzzes again: "Reboot at desk 5619," and he heads out among the desks again. INT. ANA'S APARTMENT - DAY Ana sits at a desk in her living room in front of her computer, headset on, with a Brady Bunch grid of her coworkers on the screen. Several people are struggling with video, audio, pets, and kids. She turns her head from the chaos to look out of the window next to her and touches a framed photo sitting on her windowsill. The photo shows a slightly younger Mario and child Ana, both in gardening clothes, standing together smiling surrounded by several colorful potted plants. Jolted back to the meeting, Ana speaks several times before realizing that she's muted, un-mutes, and starts again. EXT. NURSING HOME - DAY Ana stands on a tiny patio outside Mario's full length window at the nursing home. She is surrounded by empty colorful pots and a small row of tiny plants in a tray. She holds her phone up to her ear. On the other side of the window Mario sits in an easy chair facing Ana. His aide holds a phone up to his ear. Ana smiles wistfully as she puts her hand up to the glass, and Mario does the same on the other side. MONTAGE: ANA'S LIFE IN LOCKDOWN -Ana, sitting at her desk in a video meeting, work appropriate top, PJ bottoms, and bunny slippers. -Ana, sitting on a folding chair with a little table that she's set up outside the nursing home window, her and Mario chatting away on their phones. -Ana, in her kitchen baking, surrounded by a ridiculous bunch of sourdough variations. -Ana, visiting Mario and holding up one of her ridiculous sourdough variations for him to see. Mario, amused, then a little dejected. Ana and the aide also looking a little blue. -Ana, standing outside Mario's window in gardening clothes holding up a trowel. Mario, sitting up straighter and issuing orders as Ana hops around planting. -Ana, sitting alone at home in the dark with the picture of her and Mario in her lap, staring out her window. MONTAGE: JOSH'S LIFE IN LOCKDOWN -Getting texts and rushing from machine to machine, pushing the reboot button. -Playing basketball with the Nerf hoop. -Creating a Rube Goldberg contraption out of a bunch of Nerf hoops. -Sitting across a chessboard from 'Nerf,' an opponent constructed of office materials with a Nerf basketball with a handprint on it for a head. -Playing poker with Nerf when the power suddenly goes out. When it flickers back on, panicking when he sees all the machines show red blinking buttons. INT. OFFICE, ANA'S DESK - DAY Slowly walking on dragging feet past Ana's desk to yet another reboot, Josh sees the wilted plant on her desk and pauses, considering. He walks over to the plant and reaches out a finger to touch it. It immediately flops over. He jumps back, alarmed. INT. OFFICE, ANA'S DESK - DAY Josh is at Ana's desk again adjusting a Nerf hoop he's using to prop up the plant. As he does so, a leaf falls off. Panicked, he picks up and tries to stick it back on. Five more leaves fall off. He looks more panicked. INT. OFFICE, ANA'S DESK - DAY Josh is sitting at Ana's desk, two laptops open to plant care sites, books on plant care stacked high and opened all around, him, with various plant foods and other devices piled around. INT. ANA'S APARTMENT - DAY Ana is sitting on her couch reading, photo of her and Mario sitting on the sill behind her as rain streams down the window. Her phone rings and she picks it up, then sits up straighter, concerned. EXT. NURSING HOME - DAY It's raining, and Ana is standing at the window. Inside, Mario is in his bed, oxygen mask on, looking ill. She puts her hand against the window head bowed. She catches sight of a small plant in one of Mario's colorful pots. She scoops up the pot and cradles it, then takes it with her. INT. ANA'S APARTMENT - DAY Ana puts the pot on her window sill next to the picture and gives it a bit of water. INT. OFFICE BUILDING LOBBY - DAY Carrying the same plant, now huge, Ana stands in a socially distanced line for the elevator. The two people ahead of her get into an empty elevator, flattening themselves against opposite walls and eyeing each other warily. INT. OFFICE - DAY Ana exits the elevator and stops in amazement. Looking out across the office floor, office workers are chattering and laughing delightedly. Desks are freshly cleaned and newly distanced. And on every single desk sits a flourishing plant in a colorful pot. Ana looks over towards the IT desk and finds Josh looking at her over the shoulder of the person he's assisting. She gestures a question with her head he nods an answer, a smile on his face. INT. OFFICE, IT DESK - DAY Josh's customer walks away and he remains heads down, finishing up the report. Someone walks up to the desk and he looks up to see Ana standing there. Smiling, she places a plant on his desk, Nerf hoop almost completely obscured by the abundant greenery. She holds his gaze a few seconds, then turns and walks back out into the office. He smiles as he watches her go, glances at the plant, then gets back to work. |
FADE OUT.
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THE END