Door in the Floor

Chapter 1 A series of black and white photographs: The common subject is two boys, obviously brothers. There are pictures of them at three and five, eight and ten, twelve and fourteen, fifteen and seventeen. They are very handsome boys; the older one, THOMAS, is darker and mischievous-looking, the younger one, TIMOTHY, is blond and seems shy. In some pictures the boys are posed with a beautiful woman, MARION, who is obviously their mother. The pictures are vibrant and active. And we can hear, faintly, the SOUNDS OF THEIR SUBJECTS. One shows a four-year-old Timothy with a bleeding knee, and Thomas trying to apply a bandage. Another shows the boys as teenagers in full ice hockey gear on the ice, flanking their proud mother. Thomas has a hockey puck in his mouth. The following dialogue plays over the photos. One voice (TED) is adult, slightly rough, with an educated East Coast accent. The other (RUTH) belongs to a four-year-old girl. ruth (v.o.) Dead means they're broken. ted (v.o.) Well . . . their bodies are broken, yes. ruth (v.o.) And they're under the ground? ted (v.o.) Their bodies are, yes. ruth (v.o.) Tell me what dead is. ted (v.o.) When you look at Thomas and Timothy in the photographs, do you remember the stories of what they were doing? ruth (v.o.) Yes. ted (v.o.) Well . . . Thomas and Timothy are alive in your imagination. iNT. caR-nIGHT The car is not moving. SNOW blows in through the SMASHED WINDSHIELD. The car is ripped open. Broken glass, snow, and blood are scattered everywhere. Somehow the left turn signal is still TICKING. Thomas sits in the driver's seat, his chest crushed by the steering wheel. Blood runs from his nose and mouth, his eyes are open. He is seventeen and dead. From our P.O.V. in the right back seat we can't really see Timothy, but he doesn't seem to be moving. The only sounds are the HOWLING SNOW STORM and the incessant TICKING of the turn signal. eXT. cole bACKYARD-DAY-early summer We are close on the eyes of MARION COLE, a 39-year-old beautiful woman. We recognize her from the pictures, though she seems slightly older. Sometimes, the way she blinks or the way her hair blows in the wind, it almost seems as if she is in SLOW MOTION. She is lying on a lawn chair, her eyes focused on something distant. She is in the backyard of her large and casually elegant house in the Hamptons. int. upstairs hallway-latE AFTERNOON TED holds RUTH, wrapped in a towel. Ruth's wet blond locks curl into salty ringlets. Ted is about 45 years old, but still very fit. They are looking at the series of expensively framed and matted photographs that line the long hallway. From the window at the end of the hall, you can see the ocean about a mile distant. ruth It makes me sad to think about them. ted It makes me sad, too, Ruthie. He kisses her gently. ruth But Mommy's sadder. ted Well . . . yes. eXT. cole backyard-moments later Marion is looking at Ruth, who stands in front of her wearing a bathing suit and holding a little plastic shovel. Ruth is talking to Marion, and we see, as Marion does, the little girl talking, but all we hear is the TICKING of the turn signal. iNT. tED'S WORKROOM-sAME Ted is on the phone, looking out the window at Ruth and Marion. Marion sits up, just as Ruth gets bored and runs away. The room is spare and bright and there are sketches and art supplies scattered all over. A cot sits against one wall. Ted holds a high-school yearbook on his lap. ted Yes. Hold on. Ted opens the yearbook to a specific page. ted (cont'd) Does the boy have a driver's license? minty (loud enough that we can hear it through the phone) [read more]