Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Decision

FADE IN:
EXT. HOSPITAL- PARKING LOT- DAY
It is sunny.  People mill around in summer clothes, hurrying in or out the main doors.  As the door opens, a young WOMAN in her early 20s, holding an infant carrier in one arm and a TODDLER'S hand in the other, exits.  Her hair is unkempt and her face is puffy and red, like she has been crying.  She steps into a waiting taxi with the children.  It drives off.

INT. TAXI-CONTINUOUS
The woman stares at the INFANT in her arms.  She cries as the infant looks at her.  The toddler is distressed by his mother's tears.
TODDLER
Mommy?  Don't cry.                                  
She reassures him with a hug.
WOMAN
It's okay baby. Mommy is okay.  She's just
thinking.  About what to do.                        

TODDLER
Where are we going?                                  

WOMAN
Back home, baby, back home.                    

TODDLER
Is the baby coming too?                             

EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE- CONTINUOUS
A HUSBAND and his WIFE walk to the car parked in the driveway.  It is a typical colonial, on an average tree-lined suburban street.  The lawn is manicured well; the yard is landscaped with flowers and shrubs.  The couple are in their early 40s.  Both are upset.  The wife's face is tear-streaked.  She sits in the early 80s model white Toyota as he loads luggage in the trunk.  He enters the car and they drive away.

INT. AIRPORT- CONTINUOUS
The woman sits on a bench with the toddler and the infant.  She fidgets, looking panicky.  The airport is busy. All walks of people rush around with their luggage.  The woman stands up, carrying the infant, toddler in tow, and finds a nearby pay phone.

WOMAN
(sobbing)
I changed my mind.  I don't know what to
do.  I can't do it.                                          

LAWYER (V.O.)
Where are you?                                          

WOMAN
The airport.  But you have to come.  I can't
take her.                                                       
               
   LAWYER (V.O.)
I'll be there as soon as I can.                         

The woman returns to the bench and sits with the children, exhausted.  She puts her head in her hands and waits.

INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE- KITCHEN- LATER THAT DAY
The lights are off.  No one is in the small kitchen.  The phone rings until the answering machine picks up.

LAWYER (V.O.)
I have very good news for you.  Please call 
my office immediately.  I will try your other
contact numbers on your application.  Please
call or come to my office as soon as you get  
this message.                                                    

EXT. AIRPORT - TARMAC- DAY
We watch a plane take off.

EXT. AIRPORT- PARKING LOT- CONTINUOUS
The LAWYER, a middle-aged man in a suit, walks to a waiting car, carrying the infant carrier.

INT. LAWYER'S OFFICE-NIGHT
The office is clean but small.  The room is full of bookshelves and file cabinets. A large desk is in the middle of the room.  The infant is in the carrier on the desk, asleep.  The lawyer sits in a chair, signing papers.  There is a KNOCK, followed by the husband and wife entering the room.

LAWYER
I'm glad you finally got my message.  I've
been trying to reach you all day.  I would  
like to introduce you to your daughter.       

The wife, tearful, stares lovingly at the baby in the carrier.  She cries joyously.  Her husband stands behind her, looking lovingly at the baby.

WIFE
I've waited my whole life for this.  We're
naming her Alison.                                  

LAWYER
Congratulations to you both. I'm very happy
it all worked out today.          
                        
The wife gently picks up the baby and kisses her forehead.  The infant opens her eyes and serenely stares at her parents.
FADE OUT.

This post was written in response to this week's remembeRED prompt from Write on Edge.  Congratulations! Your best selling memoir has just been optioned by a major motion picture studio, and the producers want you advising on the script.  Write the opening scene for the movie.  Would you begin with a visual montage?  Voice-over? Flashback or forward? A conversation? The trick here is to look through a lens. The camera needs to tell the story through visuals, action, dialogue.
I was really excited to do this because I majored in screenwriting in college and haven't written any scripts for over 5 years.  Although I took dramatic license to write this, it is a true story.  I was adopted as an infant and it almost didn't happen.  I know my birth mother almost went home with me and took me to the airport.  I also know my parents really couldn't be reached because they were distraught the adoption fell through, so I spent the better part of a day in the lawyer's office.  I am really happy I got to write this story of how I came to be.

9 comments:

  1. I couldn't wait to read yours (Since I read yesterday that you were an expert at it) and it didn't disappoint me at all. What a fantastic picture you gave us, such vivid descriptions and emotions.

    I loved reading Your Story , you were loved and wanted, I was just blown away with how good this was. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh wow. i sincerely could feel the emotion in this- from birth mom and adopting mom. what a great story to be able to share.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh Alison, your story is amazing! It's bittersweet... the conflicted emotions that your birth mother went through, the disappointment that your parents felt in the beginning, which ended happily with you finally being in their arms...

    Simply wonderful... and very, very touching. xoxo.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Omigosh, everybody else's life really could BE a movie - what an amazing story!!!

    More importantly, you did such a great job writing it. I like how you kept everybody nameless - I was on pins and needles to see how everything was going to work out.

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. As an adoptive parent, this brought a great big smile to my face.

    ReplyDelete
  6. wow - what a start in life you had! You captured the emotions of the birth mother so well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm glad you got to practice writing a screenplay again; it was beautifully done. I could really see each action, how the scene would be set.

    What a rollercoaster of a start to life you had! I loved that you have such a balance between your birth mother and adoptive parents; you were so balanced to the emotional struggle of both sides.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you all for the great comments! I think this was my favorite post I've written so far and I had so much fun writing it. I enjoyed telling the story of how I came to be because it has fascinated me since I learned about it. Although I've never actually met my birth mother, I'm sure her decision was gut-wrenching. And I'm glad everything worked out for my parents-they've always been wonderful to me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is such an interesting story. The pain of your birth mother. The sadness, then joy of your parents. A beautiful story.

    ReplyDelete