EXCERPT FROM BENEFICIAL FLOWERS By Sybil St. Claire

FADE IN, TITLES OVER. WIDE SHOT
FALL: THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

WOMAN’S VOICE OVER

Leaves, heralding transformation and the powerful cycles of life and death. Leaves. They fell like rain in Ella’s garden. Just as they had in the beginning. In the beginning there was one, Ella, sipping green tea on a beige porch. Watching the storm of leaves. Watching death float down, carried on the curved back of change.

We follow one red leaf’s journey as it descends and lands on the handwritten page of a journal. We see as well as hear the words now as they are being read from a journal.

V.O. {CONT’D}

Autumn came, as death does, in its own time, early this year but just as beautiful and varied as all the other seasons.

The leaf quivers and is lifted by the wind once more, We follow its journey for a brief time through Ella’s backyard; a tangle of vines and twisted roots, nature gone feral and forlorn from lack of tending.

INTERSPERSE with shots of a young man hand-gliding. He dips and turns in the air like a bird. The feeling is one of consummate freedom and ultimate joy. We fly beneath him, above him, and finally beside him.

WOMAN’S VOICE OVER {CONT’D}

In the beginning there was no garden, only weeds. Yet just beneath lie fertile soil waiting to be tilled, wanting to be tended, begging to be coaxed into something more.

The leaf lands. Pull out to reveal Ella’s backyard, and the “storm” of brightly colored leaves.

CUT TO:
The hand-glider lands. He hits the ground and runs as fast as he can to retain balance.

WOMAN’S VOICE OVER (CONT’D}

In the beginning there were leaves, and there was one, with no garden. But the longings of the heart never truly die, they simply lie fallow till the season is right for growing. A glimpse of a woman’s hand closing the journal.

CUT TO:
The hand-glider, losing his balance, stumbles and falls into a heap amidst glider’s sail. He peaks out from beneath laughing.

TIGHT ON HIS HAND-GLIDERS FACE. THE CAMERA PULLS UP AND AWAY TILL HE IS BUT A SPECK.

DISSOLVE TO REVEAL THE INTERIOR OF ELLA’S HOUSE. A divorce decree with NYC stamped on it. A bottle of anti-depressants, an empty bottle of wine, a room full of unpacked boxes, an open box with framed pictures of Ella from 20 years ago making her Broadway debut.

DISSOLVE TO REVEAL ELLA’S PORCH. Curled in an oversized rocking chair, wrapped in her Grandmother’s quilt, Ella, at 40, a doe of a woman, fluid, lithe, and fragile. She cups an oversized mug of hot tea with both hands, sipping from it as she looks out over her “garden.”

The garden resembles a meadow, festooned with wildflowers, butterflies flit, the air is full of dandelion fluff riding on the wind. Young Ella, at four, trips across the field, happily adding to the bouquet she has gathered. She jumps, spins and giggles running towards the camera joyfully offering flowers. She runs into the arms of her Grandfather who is dressed in overalls. he leans down and gathers her into his arms and slowly spins her around. She gives herself completely to the motion, the moment, and the fullness of her grandfather’s love. He takes the flowers from her and blows on them sending dandelion fluff into the air. Wiggling free of his grasp Young Ella drops to her knees beside a pond laughing. She looks into the water. For a moment we can almost see her reflection in the water. A drop of rain ripples the water, and we lose her reflection. She looks up, the sky has grown dark and threatening. She looks back, her grandfather is gone, beyond the sky is churning purple and grey with the clouds of change. She looks back at the pond, and we begin to see grown Ella’s reflection in the water. Another drop of rain becomes a teardrop in Grown Ella’s cup of tea.

DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. PORCH – DAY
A flock of birds take flight. Ella lifts her head abruptly, startled from her reverie, and with her eyes now clearly focused looks out again at her “garden.” She runs a hand through her auburn hair and pulls the quilt more tightly ‘round her shoulders. We see it is a very ordinary garden, untended and overgrown, and fall leaves drift down into it.

END TITLES