Stationary (v6) Written By Matthew Blackbeard

(c) Matthew Blackbeard 2012

m.blackbeard@ucs.ac.uk

INT. AVAS ROOM - DAY AVA (21) sits on the edge of her bed. Colourful watercolour paintings of people on the wall. Purple curtains and a sky blue bedspread. Ava wears a black sleeveless top and black pajama trousers. Dark hair, clean but not styled. Ava rubs her eyes, stands up and glances around the room. Two pills and cup of water on the bedside table not seen by Ava. A painting lies on the floor slightly crumpled. Ava picks it up and tuts before sticking it back on the wall. The painting depicts a red haired woman lying on a sofa smiling. Ava plods over to a chest of drawers labeled "Stationary", "Paper" and "Paints". She puffs her cheeks and slides open the "Stationary" drawer. Ava picks up a notebook with "Avas Diary" drawn on in a stylish font, she lifts it from atop many assorted stationery items. She selects a pencil and eraser before going to sit on the edge of her bed. Ava opens the diary and frowns at where pages have been torn out. Ava carefully writes the date in the top right hand corner of the page; "16th April 2004". Ava continues to write. AVA (V/O) Mum left four months ago today. I dont blame her.

INT. AVAS LIVING ROOM - DAY (FLASHBACK) Still images: EARNEST (54), dark thinning hair, weathered face and light green jumper. Earnest yelling towards the camera Earnest hitting Ava Ava attempting to stand up for herself (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

2.

Earnest on the phone staring at Ava. AVA (V/O) I cant forget how Dad drove her away. He doesnt want me here either. I dont want to be here.

INT. AVAS ROOM - DAY A sudden knock. Ava looks up sharply and gasps. AVA Come in? The door audibly opens and closes. Ava stares icily, her eyes tracking from the door to opposite her. Earnest sits on a chair opposite the bed. Ava surreptitiously slides her diary further back on the bed. AVA What do you want? Earnest puffs out a snide laugh. He wears the same light green jumper as in Avas flashback. EARNEST Good morning to you too. Ava shuffles up onto the bed, crossing her legs. AVA Im not really in the mood. What do you want? EARNEST I want to talk. Ava laughs derisively. EARNEST I need to try to explain what happened. You need to move on, I need to move on. If we can put everything behind us it will be better for both of us.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

3.

AVA Well, why now? Its been ages. I cant remember the last time you wanted to talk to me. EARNEST I should talk to you more. I should have talked to you more before Mum left. I just need you to understand something. AVA I understand everything already. I dont need anything explaining. EARNEST I think you do. Earnest looks Ava in the eyes. Her expression becomes more sullen as she starts biting her nails a little. AVA Why did you take pages out of my diary? EARNEST Why would I do something like that? AVA I dont know. Maybe you didnt like what I wrote. Maybe you read something you didnt want to see. EARNEST What did you write? A beat. AVA Its... Thats none of your business. Earnest smiles sympathetically. AVA Just... Just dont go through my things. Earnest shakes his head.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: Ava crosses her arms and leans forward.

4.

Earnest looks at the wall behind Ava. He points at the red haired woman painting. EARNEST Thats an interesting one. AVA What? Ava looks at the picture. AVA Oh. Thats Mum. EARNEST Really? Its good. AVA Yeah. Ava takes the picture from the wall and looks at it. AVA Mum always liked my paintings. I painted this one just after... Ava takes a deep breath and sets the picture down next to her. AVA Well. You know. (a beat) If anybody knows, you know. EARNEST Ava, I know I didnt always get along with your mother but you cant blame everything on me. AVA What? EARNEST We argued a lot, but it wasnt always me. It was hard. She had trouble coping with things, and you made things difficult for us. AVA Me? How did I make things hard?! Dad, you hit her! You hit me! You were always taking everything out on us! You forced her out! (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

5.

EARNEST Thats notAVA -And youre forcing me out. Im eighteen soon. Im going to leave. I dont want to be here with you. EARNEST Ava? Ava steadily rocks back and forth and stares toward the floor with a fixed gaze. EARNEST Ava. AVA What? EARNEST How old did you say you were? AVA I know. Im not old enough yet. But its not long. Ill be an adult and Ill be allowed to leave. Go where ever I want to. Earnest moves his chair closer to Ava and leans in. EARNEST How long has it been? Do you think? AVA Since mum left? Ava puts her hand on her diary and slides it towards herself. AVA Four months. Earnest nods. EARNEST Its closer to four years. Ava stops mid-rock. She looks up sharply at Earnest. EARNEST Youre twenty-one, Ava.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

6.

Ava shakes her head and laughs nervously. She breathes more heavily. EARNEST And me hitting you? After your Mum left you were all I had. I would never hit you. Another nervous laugh from Ava. EARNEST I wasnt the violent one. Ava stares straight forward.

INT. AVAS LIVING ROOM - DAY (FLASHBACK) Still images: Earnest hitting Ava. A similar image of them arguing verbally. A similar image but of Ava hitting Earnest. Ava angrily runs towards the screen holding a small wooden box.

INT. AVAS ROOM - DAY Ava stares blankly. EARNEST Ava? Ava quickly looks up at Earnest. AVA Hmm? ...What? EARNEST The arguments are in the past. I hated that we couldnt get along. Ava looks down at the chewed nails on her hands. AVA Me too.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: EARNEST Its not Mum I wanted to talk to you about anyway. Its me. AVA What about you? EARNEST Think. Ava. A few seconds of silence. Avas face drops. AVA Get out. EARNEST You can remember Ava. I know you remember. AVA I SAID GET OUT!

7.

Ava clumsily grabs the diary from next to her and flings it in the direction of Earnest on her way to burying her face in the bed. The painting of her mother falls onto the floor. The screen goes pitch black and Ava breathes heavily and quickly.

INT. AVAS LIVING ROOM - DAY (FLASHBACK) Ava running at the camera with the wooden box.

INT. WHITE ROOM - DAY Ava quickly lifts her head from the duvet and gasps. A white room. The bed, cabinet and chair are in the same places. No one in the chair. Ava wears a white t shirt and baggy white trousers. Her hair looks knotty and dirty, her face more pale. She looks around the room. Scruffy pencil drawings on the wall. White plastic blinds on the window and plain white bedsheets. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: VOICE Ava!

8.

Ava quickly looks at the chair. She sees another version of herself, AVA TWO, sat there in the black clothes from earlier. Ava takes a sharp intake of breath. AVA Wh... Wh... Ava Two looks at Ava sympathetically and nods slowly. AVA TWO Yeah. Ava pulls herself up, still looking scared, and perches herself on the edge of her bed so she sits directly opposite Ava Two. Ava Two sits upright and composed. AVA I... I dont understand. AVA TWO You need to move on. Ava Two points to the scruffy drawings on the wall behind Avas bed. AVA TWO Wheres your talent gone? You used to be so good. Ava looks around at the pictures then back at Ava Two. AVA TWO You still can be. Youre only young, right? Theres still time. Ava Two leans forward. Ava leans back. Ava Two takes Avas hand between her two hands and gets in close to her face. AVA TWO You need to Stop blaming him. Ava snatches her hand back and puts it on her forehead. Ava Two leans back in her chair, still with a sympathetic expression on her face. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

9.

AVA TWO You might hate it, but its the truth, you know it is. And its why were here. AVA But... But... I cant...

INT. AVAS LIVING ROOM - DAY (FLASHBACK) Still images: Ava and Earnest arguing. The two of them in a scuffle. Ava runs at the camera angrily holding a small wooden box. Still images: Ava swinging the box at Earnest. The box making contact with Earnests head. Earnest falling to the floor. Earnest lying on the floor with his eyes closed, bleeding from his head. The open wooden case with pencils, crayons, watercolour paints and brushes scattered around Earnest. Ava looking at Earnests body, stunned. AVA (V/O) I didnt mean to...

INT. WHITE ROOM - DAY Ava Two, still seated lurches towards Ava, fast. AVA TWO But you did! Ava covers her face with her hands, her eyes peeping through her fingers. AVA I didnt... It wasnt my fault...

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

10.

AVA TWO You didnt mean to kill him but you did! You did! You know you did! Ava furiously leaps from the bed and stands over Ava Two. She glares at her piercingly. AVA No!

INT. AVAS LIVING ROOM - DAY (FLASHBACK) Earnest lying on the floor. AVA TWO (V/O) Please Ava! AVA (V/O) NO! Suddenly Earnests eyes burst open. A loud scream from Ava. The screen goes black.

INT. WHITE ROOM - DAY Ava lies on the floor slumped forward covering her face with both hands. After a few seconds she rolls over and parts her hands to look up at the chair. Its empty. The painting on the floor now depicts a crudely pencil drawn man in a light green jumper with red blood streaming from the head. Ava jumps up breathing heavily and speedily pads over to pick her diary up from the floor. The sticker on the cover reads: Perdita Secure Psychiatric Unit/Patient Study The "Avas Diary" drawing on the cover is illegible. A subtle "#4" circled in black marker on the sticker. Ava shakes her head and opens the diary to look at what she wrote. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: Its unreadable apart from the date in the corner. AVA Its not... He wasnt... I didnt... Ava tears the page from the diary. She runs over to the window and throws it out.

11.

She sees the pills on her bedside table, picks them up and examines them, and throws them out the window too. Ava picks up the pencil and eraser and throws them back in the drawer with the diary. Ava turns around full circle and looks at the walls of the room. She grips her eyes shut and throws herself onto the bed covering her head up. Screen fades to black.

INT. AVAS ROOM - DAY Screen fades in. Ava lies on her bed, now back in her room the way it looked before. The paintings are back, as well as the purple curtains and blue bedspread. Ava lifts herself up and turns to perch on the edge of her bed. She rubs her eyes and yawns. She sticks the painting, once again of her mother, back on the wall. She goes to her "Stationary" drawer and takes out one of each item and her diary like before. She notices where the pages have been torn out and frowns. She writes the same date as before on the top of the page; "16th April 2004" AVA (V/O) Mum left four months ago. I dont blame her. Ava writes for a few more seconds. a sharp knock at the door. (CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

12.

Ava looks up and gasps with a surprised expression. The screen cuts to black.