RIO's MARCH E-ZINE
rAnDoM
Anti-Valentine's Day Cards
Very Short Movies
(there's a lot of them - give them a moment to load).
And Now a STORY, a SONG, and a MOVIE SCRIPT!!! yay!
BATTLE DRAGON - CHAPTER 1 - THE MEETING
by Emma Train
With one beat of his massive wings, Zide took flight. His razor sharp eyes quickly locked onto a target. His speed accelerated. He began to go into a steady dive, talons outstretched. Finally those claws hit home. The antelope was dead on impact. Zide flew back to his cave, the antelope hanging limply from his claws, its flesh still warm. He enjoyed a feast at his cave. His brother, Scar, asked “Can I have a bone?”
Well, Zide ignored him. He was too busy licking the blood off of his talons. Scar took a bone anyway. As the sun set that night, Zide looked out over the forest. His eyes wandered over the beautiful sunlit horizon. Scar sat beside him. “What ‘cha looking at?” Scar asked.
Zide just stared ahead, brow furrowed.
“I ‘m going to bed,” sighed Scar. I have a feeling he’s going to be up all night guarding. Again, he thought. The next
morning, Scar got a rude awakening. Zide had been up all night and, now to wake his brother up, Zide sat on his head. “Mmmmffff???? Mmmmffff!!!!” Zide finally gave in to Scar’s pleas. “GAAH!” When Scar lifted his head he found himself staring into his brother’s red, bloodshot eyes. It took him a while to recover from that.
Zide wandered over to the mouth of the cave. “What the heck …” a large tannish-blue creature came hurtling across the sky toward Zide. It hit the ground and skidded into the cave. “Flashback! What are you doing here? And, why the big crash? Broken wing again?” Zide questioned as Flashback recovered from his sling across the hard rock.
“Yep,” said Flashback as he shook himself off. “Okay, Zide, here’s the deal, we got a new king. The bad thing ‘bout that is that he’s a darkling. In fact, we’re not even sure it’s a he. It’s just so hard to tell with darklings. They’re so ugly! Anyway, I’m just fed up with this. It’s not right! So, I’m gonna rebel. You comin’?” Flashback said in his sleazy Chicagoan accent, turning toward the mouth of the cave.
“Oh, no, no, no, no, no! You aren’t taking my big brother off to somewhere he’s gonna get killed!” Scar exclaimed, jumping onto Flashback’s face. Zide grabbed Scar by the scruff of the neck and pulled him off Flashback’s head and ceased Scar’s
vigorous chewing on his ear. “Lemme at him! Lemme at him!” Scar shrieked, swinging his tiny fists.
“He had his foot in my eye!” Flashback raged.
“Hey, Flashback, you up for a game of Does Scar Bend That Way?” A sly smile
spread across Zide’s face.
“Hmmmm… I’m not sure you remember that he stuck his
foot in my eye, so, I’ll remind you. HE STUCK HIS FOOT IN MY EYE!” Flashback exploded. He half-snarled, half-scowled at Scar. “Come on, Zide. Let’s go,” Flashback turned around and leaped off the edge, spreading his massive wings. “W-w-wait, broken wing, broken wi-i-i-ing, c-can’t, c-can’t, can’t fly-y-y-y-y!!” Flashback cried as he disappeared into the forest canopy. Scar snickered as he and Zide heard a crunch. “Serves him right,” Scar said, puffing out his chest.
“I’d better go and get him,” Zide said as he bounded across the floor and leaped off the edge, not even bothering to unfurl his
wings, he did sort of a cannonball into the treetops. The second time Scar heard a crunch, he wasn’t so happy. Zide and Flashback slowly got to their feet, shook themselves off, and looked each other over to make sure they hadn’t broken
anything, other than Zide’s shoulder and Flashback’s femur.
“So, Flashback, who else is in this ‘group’ of rebels that you were asking me to join?” Zide wondered out loud as he licked the wound that he got on the way down to the rotten leaf covered forest floor.
“I can’t tell you everyone, so I’ll tell you one; his name is Armageddon,” Flashback said slowly, smiling like a crazed
monkey.
“ARMAGEDDON? You mean, Princess Astrid’s…” Zide paused… “Mate?” he gulped.
“Yep, that’s ‘im,” Flashback said as he looked at Zide’s left wing. “You got more piercings?” Flashback dug his claws lightly into Zide’s shoulder.
“Yeah, some of the dragons around here are pretty talented,” Zide said absent mindedly. “Hey, is that the same dragon that gave you your tongue stud?”
Flashback seemed interested. “Eh, who can tell? They all look the same. A multicolored Mohawk, black scales and piercings everywhere dragonly possible. Basically a punk rock star,” Zide said.
“Sounds like you,” Flashback said to Zide under his breath.
“Hey, Flashback, do you smell that?” Zide looked up from his licking and wandered over to a mass of trees. He
pushed by them, and there was a small pond with ferns growing around it. Zide let out a heavy sigh of relief as he lowered his chest and forearms into the cool water. Flashback followed him into the clearing, and, as soon as he saw the pond, began gulping down as much water as one dragon could hold. Both of their heads snapped up.
“Flashback… Flashback! We need you!” A voice carried through the clearing.
Zide felt something scaly curling around his forearm. “Umm… Flashback, a little help?” But Flashback wasn’t there. Suddenly, Zide was pulled underwater and when he opened his eyes, he saw Flashback. He also saw a blue dragon with a black stripe across his eyes and an interesting pattern on his right cheek. He was swimming like a fish, and Zide swore he had fins. He looked down at his forearm and saw the fish-dragon’s tail wrapped tightly around it. The fish-dragon turned around, smiled and waved. They finally surfaced, and the fish-dragon’s tail slipped from Zide’s wrist. His gleaming body moved slowly forward as he paddled to shore. He collapsed in a tuft of grass and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he found himself staring up at 8 dragons, including Flashback. He scrambled to his feet, trying to keep what little dignity he had
at this point. “Hey, guys, this is my friend, Zide,” Flashback gestured to Zide. “And Zide, let me introduce you to the masters, the original fighters, the strongest dragons alive, Armageddon, Frostbite, Wildfire, Bruiser, Shadow, Massacre, Equinox.” Flashback was blabbing his mouth off when Wildfire leant over and whispered, “Stay away from Bruiser. He’s the meanest dragon I’ve ever met. And I’ve been in a situation where 15 different dragons were all trying to bite my head off. Bruiser’s nastier than all of them combined!” Bruiser reached over and picked Wildfire up with one paw and snarled. He launched himself into the air and flew off, still holding Wildfire. He mouthed, “Help me! Please!” as Bruiser’s claws dug deeper into his skin. He winced as a drop of blood dripped slowly down his side. “Oh dear, he’s gonna drop Wildfire somewhere. Literally drop him. He’s done it before, but Wildfire caught himself just in time.
“The most important rule here is DON’T BUG BRUISER! He got his name for a reason, you know,” Equinox, the fish dragon, said in a British accent. “Once, Frostbite and Bruiser got in a…” at this Frostbite growled, “fight. Neither of them won,” Equinox continued. “They did a number on each other, though. Do you see that scar across Frostbite’s eye and chest?” Equinox held Frostbite’s jaws closed with one hand and turned him sideways with the other. “Frostbite returned that by breaking three of Bruiser’s ribs and…” Equinox was cut off by an unearthly shriek that couldn’t be caused by anything other than a dragon. They looked over and saw Bruiser standing by the water’s edge, Wildfire clinging to
his arm for dear life as Bruiser frantically tried to shake him off, Equinox yelling, “Bruiser! You know he's afraid of water!” and Bruiser screaming back, “I KNOW! THAT’S THE POINT!” Massacre ran over and tried to pry Wildfire off of Bruiser, getting himself smacked in the head by Bruiser’s tail, now sweeping from side to side. “Get him away from the water!” Equinox was swimming circles and anxiously chewing his claws. Shadow ran up and smacked Bruiser in the face with his tail, stuck his tongue out at him, and ran off. Of course Bruiser chased him. Or tried to. Wildfire had climbed up Bruiser’s arm and was now holding onto his head for dear life. As soon as he couldn’t see the water, Wildfire released his grip. However, it was sort of a bad time because Bruiser was flying, so Wildfire fell, and luckily caught himself just before he landed in the water.
Everyone returned to the little meeting place, and Massacre had to hold Bruiser back so he didn’t kill Shadow, while Shadow hid behind Zide. “Is everybody he…” Equinox was cut off mid-sentence again by a noise that sounded like a constipated snail that had just eaten an elephant. A bright green dragon streaked across the sky. Equinox cleared his throat. “Is everyb…” Equinox said in an agitated way as he was interrupted again when Bruiser roared in outrage as the bright green dragon landed on his head. “Ugg, that’s Skipper. He’s the only Omega here,” Equinox had to yell to be heard over Bruiser’s constant roaring. Finally Bruiser lost it and ran purposefully head-first into a tree. He came back to the circle of dragons looking very annoyed. Everyone backed away slowly. Massacre stood up. “Okay newcomer, we have ranks here. There are the Alphas, Frostbite and Bruiser, the Hunters, Equinox, Armageddon and myself, the Foragers, Wildfire and Flashback and the Omegas- Pardon me, the Omega, Skipper. Which do you choose?”
. . . Stay tuned for chapter two next month!
Well, Zide ignored him. He was too busy licking the blood off of his talons. Scar took a bone anyway. As the sun set that night, Zide looked out over the forest. His eyes wandered over the beautiful sunlit horizon. Scar sat beside him. “What ‘cha looking at?” Scar asked.
Zide just stared ahead, brow furrowed.
“I ‘m going to bed,” sighed Scar. I have a feeling he’s going to be up all night guarding. Again, he thought. The next
morning, Scar got a rude awakening. Zide had been up all night and, now to wake his brother up, Zide sat on his head. “Mmmmffff???? Mmmmffff!!!!” Zide finally gave in to Scar’s pleas. “GAAH!” When Scar lifted his head he found himself staring into his brother’s red, bloodshot eyes. It took him a while to recover from that.
Zide wandered over to the mouth of the cave. “What the heck …” a large tannish-blue creature came hurtling across the sky toward Zide. It hit the ground and skidded into the cave. “Flashback! What are you doing here? And, why the big crash? Broken wing again?” Zide questioned as Flashback recovered from his sling across the hard rock.
“Yep,” said Flashback as he shook himself off. “Okay, Zide, here’s the deal, we got a new king. The bad thing ‘bout that is that he’s a darkling. In fact, we’re not even sure it’s a he. It’s just so hard to tell with darklings. They’re so ugly! Anyway, I’m just fed up with this. It’s not right! So, I’m gonna rebel. You comin’?” Flashback said in his sleazy Chicagoan accent, turning toward the mouth of the cave.
“Oh, no, no, no, no, no! You aren’t taking my big brother off to somewhere he’s gonna get killed!” Scar exclaimed, jumping onto Flashback’s face. Zide grabbed Scar by the scruff of the neck and pulled him off Flashback’s head and ceased Scar’s
vigorous chewing on his ear. “Lemme at him! Lemme at him!” Scar shrieked, swinging his tiny fists.
“He had his foot in my eye!” Flashback raged.
“Hey, Flashback, you up for a game of Does Scar Bend That Way?” A sly smile
spread across Zide’s face.
“Hmmmm… I’m not sure you remember that he stuck his
foot in my eye, so, I’ll remind you. HE STUCK HIS FOOT IN MY EYE!” Flashback exploded. He half-snarled, half-scowled at Scar. “Come on, Zide. Let’s go,” Flashback turned around and leaped off the edge, spreading his massive wings. “W-w-wait, broken wing, broken wi-i-i-ing, c-can’t, c-can’t, can’t fly-y-y-y-y!!” Flashback cried as he disappeared into the forest canopy. Scar snickered as he and Zide heard a crunch. “Serves him right,” Scar said, puffing out his chest.
“I’d better go and get him,” Zide said as he bounded across the floor and leaped off the edge, not even bothering to unfurl his
wings, he did sort of a cannonball into the treetops. The second time Scar heard a crunch, he wasn’t so happy. Zide and Flashback slowly got to their feet, shook themselves off, and looked each other over to make sure they hadn’t broken
anything, other than Zide’s shoulder and Flashback’s femur.
“So, Flashback, who else is in this ‘group’ of rebels that you were asking me to join?” Zide wondered out loud as he licked the wound that he got on the way down to the rotten leaf covered forest floor.
“I can’t tell you everyone, so I’ll tell you one; his name is Armageddon,” Flashback said slowly, smiling like a crazed
monkey.
“ARMAGEDDON? You mean, Princess Astrid’s…” Zide paused… “Mate?” he gulped.
“Yep, that’s ‘im,” Flashback said as he looked at Zide’s left wing. “You got more piercings?” Flashback dug his claws lightly into Zide’s shoulder.
“Yeah, some of the dragons around here are pretty talented,” Zide said absent mindedly. “Hey, is that the same dragon that gave you your tongue stud?”
Flashback seemed interested. “Eh, who can tell? They all look the same. A multicolored Mohawk, black scales and piercings everywhere dragonly possible. Basically a punk rock star,” Zide said.
“Sounds like you,” Flashback said to Zide under his breath.
“Hey, Flashback, do you smell that?” Zide looked up from his licking and wandered over to a mass of trees. He
pushed by them, and there was a small pond with ferns growing around it. Zide let out a heavy sigh of relief as he lowered his chest and forearms into the cool water. Flashback followed him into the clearing, and, as soon as he saw the pond, began gulping down as much water as one dragon could hold. Both of their heads snapped up.
“Flashback… Flashback! We need you!” A voice carried through the clearing.
Zide felt something scaly curling around his forearm. “Umm… Flashback, a little help?” But Flashback wasn’t there. Suddenly, Zide was pulled underwater and when he opened his eyes, he saw Flashback. He also saw a blue dragon with a black stripe across his eyes and an interesting pattern on his right cheek. He was swimming like a fish, and Zide swore he had fins. He looked down at his forearm and saw the fish-dragon’s tail wrapped tightly around it. The fish-dragon turned around, smiled and waved. They finally surfaced, and the fish-dragon’s tail slipped from Zide’s wrist. His gleaming body moved slowly forward as he paddled to shore. He collapsed in a tuft of grass and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he found himself staring up at 8 dragons, including Flashback. He scrambled to his feet, trying to keep what little dignity he had
at this point. “Hey, guys, this is my friend, Zide,” Flashback gestured to Zide. “And Zide, let me introduce you to the masters, the original fighters, the strongest dragons alive, Armageddon, Frostbite, Wildfire, Bruiser, Shadow, Massacre, Equinox.” Flashback was blabbing his mouth off when Wildfire leant over and whispered, “Stay away from Bruiser. He’s the meanest dragon I’ve ever met. And I’ve been in a situation where 15 different dragons were all trying to bite my head off. Bruiser’s nastier than all of them combined!” Bruiser reached over and picked Wildfire up with one paw and snarled. He launched himself into the air and flew off, still holding Wildfire. He mouthed, “Help me! Please!” as Bruiser’s claws dug deeper into his skin. He winced as a drop of blood dripped slowly down his side. “Oh dear, he’s gonna drop Wildfire somewhere. Literally drop him. He’s done it before, but Wildfire caught himself just in time.
“The most important rule here is DON’T BUG BRUISER! He got his name for a reason, you know,” Equinox, the fish dragon, said in a British accent. “Once, Frostbite and Bruiser got in a…” at this Frostbite growled, “fight. Neither of them won,” Equinox continued. “They did a number on each other, though. Do you see that scar across Frostbite’s eye and chest?” Equinox held Frostbite’s jaws closed with one hand and turned him sideways with the other. “Frostbite returned that by breaking three of Bruiser’s ribs and…” Equinox was cut off by an unearthly shriek that couldn’t be caused by anything other than a dragon. They looked over and saw Bruiser standing by the water’s edge, Wildfire clinging to
his arm for dear life as Bruiser frantically tried to shake him off, Equinox yelling, “Bruiser! You know he's afraid of water!” and Bruiser screaming back, “I KNOW! THAT’S THE POINT!” Massacre ran over and tried to pry Wildfire off of Bruiser, getting himself smacked in the head by Bruiser’s tail, now sweeping from side to side. “Get him away from the water!” Equinox was swimming circles and anxiously chewing his claws. Shadow ran up and smacked Bruiser in the face with his tail, stuck his tongue out at him, and ran off. Of course Bruiser chased him. Or tried to. Wildfire had climbed up Bruiser’s arm and was now holding onto his head for dear life. As soon as he couldn’t see the water, Wildfire released his grip. However, it was sort of a bad time because Bruiser was flying, so Wildfire fell, and luckily caught himself just before he landed in the water.
Everyone returned to the little meeting place, and Massacre had to hold Bruiser back so he didn’t kill Shadow, while Shadow hid behind Zide. “Is everybody he…” Equinox was cut off mid-sentence again by a noise that sounded like a constipated snail that had just eaten an elephant. A bright green dragon streaked across the sky. Equinox cleared his throat. “Is everyb…” Equinox said in an agitated way as he was interrupted again when Bruiser roared in outrage as the bright green dragon landed on his head. “Ugg, that’s Skipper. He’s the only Omega here,” Equinox had to yell to be heard over Bruiser’s constant roaring. Finally Bruiser lost it and ran purposefully head-first into a tree. He came back to the circle of dragons looking very annoyed. Everyone backed away slowly. Massacre stood up. “Okay newcomer, we have ranks here. There are the Alphas, Frostbite and Bruiser, the Hunters, Equinox, Armageddon and myself, the Foragers, Wildfire and Flashback and the Omegas- Pardon me, the Omega, Skipper. Which do you choose?”
. . . Stay tuned for chapter two next month!
A Lonely Song By Mary Innes
When we first met, we could’ve stayed forever,
So far away, alone together.
I’ve had the time of my life, better because it had to end, Golden days
under the sun, never thought I’d make so many friends.
A week is such a long-short time,
But I can’t get Friday off my mind.
I’m missing you before you’ve even left.
Chorus
So tell me, why can’t we stay,
Why do you have to go away.
You’ve got wanderlust, are traveling
To places I can’t ever hope to go
So I’ll check the mailbox everyday,
And be waiting when you come home.
Everyone is so far away, even in the same city,
Don’t forget me, no matter how long the journey be.
I need to move got things to do, but I’m stuck here away from you.
Hear children playing outside my door,
But I can’t move anymore.
I’m missing you when you’ve only been gone a day.
Chorus
We’ll meet again, I promise you,
In a year or to maybe at school.
We’ll rendez-vous years later,
On a road trip down to Montana.
But sitting here all by myself,
Take down the picture from the shelf.
I realize we never said goodbye.
Chorus
I don’t wan to let your memory fade,
Don’t want to think that things could change.
So even though there’s nothing to do, know that I am missing you.
And would give away a thousand days
So you could
Tell me why we can’t stay,
Why you have to go away.
And remember this, if nothing else
I’ll be waiting, without a doubt.
Waiting when you come home.
So far away, alone together.
I’ve had the time of my life, better because it had to end, Golden days
under the sun, never thought I’d make so many friends.
A week is such a long-short time,
But I can’t get Friday off my mind.
I’m missing you before you’ve even left.
Chorus
So tell me, why can’t we stay,
Why do you have to go away.
You’ve got wanderlust, are traveling
To places I can’t ever hope to go
So I’ll check the mailbox everyday,
And be waiting when you come home.
Everyone is so far away, even in the same city,
Don’t forget me, no matter how long the journey be.
I need to move got things to do, but I’m stuck here away from you.
Hear children playing outside my door,
But I can’t move anymore.
I’m missing you when you’ve only been gone a day.
Chorus
We’ll meet again, I promise you,
In a year or to maybe at school.
We’ll rendez-vous years later,
On a road trip down to Montana.
But sitting here all by myself,
Take down the picture from the shelf.
I realize we never said goodbye.
Chorus
I don’t wan to let your memory fade,
Don’t want to think that things could change.
So even though there’s nothing to do, know that I am missing you.
And would give away a thousand days
So you could
Tell me why we can’t stay,
Why you have to go away.
And remember this, if nothing else
I’ll be waiting, without a doubt.
Waiting when you come home.
Alana’s Story By Olivia Di Cintio
INT. High school religion classroom
A teacher is explaining the roles of the healing sacraments in the daily lives of the students. A young girl dressed in dark colors is slumped over her desk, clearly off in her own world and not listening to the instructor at all. A boy from the other side of the room throws a balled up piece of paper at her head. It hits its target and receives a snicker from the rest of the class. The teacher hasn`t noticed neither the shot nor the silent non-reaction of Alana.
Young girl (Alana): (Under her breath) Thanks, Jesus.
Alana closes her eyes and the scene fades to a memory of earlier that day.
INT. Small house – entrance way. She stands at the top of a staircase, bouncing nervously on her tiptoes. She breathes in deeply and begins to move forward silently.
Alana: God, I hope he's passed out and doesn't hear me.
She races down the steps quickly before tripping on her bootlace and falling none-too-gracefully down the stairs.
Tracey (Father): What the heck was that?! Alana, get over here!!
Alana: (under her breath) Damn. Damn. Damn.
Strong footsteps are heard approaching the bottom of the stairs where Alana lays. She closes her eyes and the shot goes black but the voices are still heard.
Tracey: You clumsy accident! Where would you be going? It`s not like you have any friends or a social life to attend to!
Alana: I-I-I'm g-g-going t-to sc-sch-school.
Tracey: Well why are you still here then!?
A slapping noise followed by a girlish whimper is heard before a gruff snort.
Tracey: I need another beer.
The footsteps start up again but get quieter as their owner leaves. The sound of Alana standing up and gently closing the door is heard before all goes silent.
INT. An 8 year old Alana sleeps in her pink bed wearing pink jammies. A tall female figure dressed in black and red leather stands over top of her with a sad smile illuminated on her face by the light from the moon sneaking through the window.
Morgan (mother/figure in leather): Oh, Ally. You don`t deserve any of this. I wish I could take you with me. But at least me leaving is better than you not having anyone but me.
She pulls off her leather jacket and places it around Alana`s shoulders and bends down to lightly kiss her cheek.
Morgan: Goodbye Alana, forever.
She walks out slowly and the front door opening and closing then a car starting and driving away is heard.
INT. Same small house – family room. Tracey is explaining to Alana how her mother couldn`t take of them anymore so she had to leave. Hand gestures are seen and shot cuts to Alana`s face. Tears drip slowly onto her pink shirt before she runs upstairs. Tracey sighs before storming into the kitchen, grabbing a beer and sitting down on the couch. Tears are threatening to spill out of his eyes as well. Then rage takes over and he throws the beer at the wall with force, leaving a slight dent and metallic mark.
Tracey: Alana!!! Get your butt back down here!!!
Alana: (From upstairs) Give me a second!! I`m just changing clothes!!
Footsteps are heard quickly down the stairs and Alana appears wearing all black complete with her mother's jacket. Tracey's eyes water before ripping the jacket off of her roughly.
Tracey: You will not wear that jacket in my house!!
Alana: It’s my only memory of her!! Give it back!
Alana lunges for the jacket but Tracey grabs her arm and twists it in the wrong direction and Alana's tears threaten to spill again. Tracey's eye widen with fear as he realizes what he`s doing. He pulls his hand back and drops the jacket before running to his room and slamming the door. Alana stands in confusion and pain. She looks down at her arm and sees the
bright red marks. The tears from earlier spill over as she grabs the jacket and runs upstairs to her room.
INT. Same small house – Pink wall papered bedroom. Alana shoves the jacket deep in her closet in hopes that her father will never find it. She looks around at the flowery wall paper with rage in her eyes. She runs to the wall and finds a corner of the paper and pulls. A whole section of it falls down, revealing the black and red paint underneath. A slow smile rises to her face and she goes to work ripping all the pink things from her room.
INT same small house – wide shot of now black and red room Alana sits with a content smile on her face as she surveys
the wrecked room around her. Her pink sheets are now ripped and black due to the sharpies siting on her night stand. The walls have been stripped of their bright colors and now lay dark. All of her bright clothes lay in a pile in front of her bed next to a large bottle of black ink and a plastic tub, ready to be dyed. She leans back on her bed and slowly closes her eyes. A couple minutes later Tracey walks in to apologize and screams at what she's done. She wakes up at the sound and rolls her eyes at her dad shocked expression.
Tracey: Alana!!! What the heck have you done?!
Alana: Mother liked it pink--
Tracey cuts her off with a smack to her head.
Tracey: You will not mention her in my house ever again!
He storms out of the room slamming the door and Alana wills herself not to cry and runs to her closet. She digs out the jacket and brings to her bed and holds it close to her under her blankets. The minute her wounded head hits the pillow, tears leak out from her eyes and she cries herself to sleep, vowing to wear the jacket every day for the rest of her life.
EXT. Same small house – front yard A 13 year old Alana dressed in dark clothes stands with tears in her eyes as she watches another young girl push a suitcase into the back of a station wagon. The girl then walks towards Alana and they stand in an awkward silence as tears dribble down both their cheeks.
Alana: So, Sam, this really is goodbye?
Sam: I guess so. I don't want to leave. It's just this neighbourhood makes my family, including me, scared. You need to get out too.
Alana: 'Cuz my "dad" would totally go for that idea. This neighbourhood suits him and his personality perfectly.
The pair laughs, but not really. They shuffle their feet for another minute and watch as the tears drip off the faces onto the pavement, leaving dark spots where they land. The horn of the station wagon sounds and Sam wheels around to see her family urging her to hurry up with her goodbye. The two girls look up and embrace each other silently.
Sam & Alana: (whispered in each other's ear) You'll always be my best friend.
They pull apart and smile slightly at each other. Sam takes Alana`s hand a squeezes it before turning and walking slowly to the car. She climbs in and waves to her through the window and Alana slowly waves back. She continues staring into the
direction that the car drove with the tears running down her face as the screen slowly turns to black.
INT. Back to high school religion classroom The bell rings just as the teacher places a sheet of notes on the sacraments of healing on Alana's desk. She sees the teacher watching her like a hawk so she slowly places the paper in her bag. As Alana stands up, somebody trips her so she stumbles before catching herself by leaning hard on the doorframe. She finally makes it out of the classroom and begins the trek across the school to get to her locker and leave the school.
INT. High school hallway. The crowd parts for Alana like the Red Sea did for Moses. The whispered insults are deafening as she trudges along.
Picked out people from the crowd:
No wonder
her mom left, who would want her?
She wears black to match the color of her heart.
Only emos wear leather!
Just slit already!
She's still here? I thought she`d cut herself away already! Too bad she hasn’t!
The tears blinded Alana's vision and she calmly walked to her locker. She took her time gathering her stuff for the end of the day. Once everyone was gone from the hallway, she grabbed the unopened 'emergency package' from the back of her locker and walked swiftly to the bathroom with her backpack, not wanting to have to go back to her locker after what she was about to do.
INT. High school bathroom corner. Alana hadn’t thought to actually go in a stall. Her mind was only focused on the dangerous package in her hand. She sits herself down on the floor and pulls out the plastic container. Her hands are shaking as she slowly removes the razor blades from their package. The tears drip from her face as she presses one of the blades to her wrist. Alana sucks in her breath before dragging the metal deep into her skin. The pain shocks her and her arms twitches out and knocks her bag over. Papers and binders fall out and one specifically lands on her lap face up.
She reaches for it and begins to read, her blood and tears slowly dripping onto it. Shot goes to paper which says "The sacraments of healing challenge us to accept the help that God can give us. They show us that no matter how lost, broken and empty we are God will always lead us back to wholeness, trust and holiness. We just have to let him in through prayer, then he's ready to save us." The red liquid seeping from her wrist and the salty one leaking from her eyes had bled down through the words, making it impossible to finish reading. Alana throws down the razor blade and the bloody paper and goes down on her knees in prayer.
Alana: Oh God, oh God, I need you. Right now. I'm scared and I'm lost. I need you to save me. Please,
God, please.
Alana is shaking with the force of her tears, but she is clearly losing consciousness from the depth of the wound. Out of nowhere she hears footsteps walking towards her, just as she falls to the ground she hears a scream from above her. The shot turns to the girl that found her. She's tall pretty and one of the few that had felt badly for Alana and never bullied her. In seconds she had her phone out and was calling 9-1-1.
Bethany (Tall girl): Oh my God! Hello? 9-1-1? I have an emergency and I need you here now! I`ve just found a girl with a slit
wrist in my high school bathroom. It looks deep, and It's still bleeding-
Camera cuts to Alana lying on the ground. Her eyes open halfway, seeing Bethany on the phone. She hears what she's saying and manages and thankful smile upward to God.
Alana: (Barely a whisper) Thank you.
Author's Note
This is not a true story, though it is based on me in some ways. Yes, I have cut, but not on my wrists, and God sent my friends and family to pull me through that depression. Yes, I was an accident and my Dad is an alcoholic, does drugs, left my mom alone with me and I’m no longer allowed to see him and God again sent amazing people in my life to pull me through that pain. Yes, I have been bullied like that many times, and I was pulled through it, so it`s over now. I will admit I don`t have the sacraments of healing, but I do intend to get them someday. I do believe that God is present with everyone and all you have to do is pray and you will be saved. That is obvious to me through the fact I have people that love me enough to save me from being suicidal and also through seeing other people in my life be saved. For example, one of my family members have also cut before and almost died because of it. But they had so many people help them through it afterwards. Though I may not be the strongest believer in God, I know he's here and I try my best to trust and stay with him even though times get hard. I believe that God is present in everyone, but sometimes it takes a little push for him to show.
A teacher is explaining the roles of the healing sacraments in the daily lives of the students. A young girl dressed in dark colors is slumped over her desk, clearly off in her own world and not listening to the instructor at all. A boy from the other side of the room throws a balled up piece of paper at her head. It hits its target and receives a snicker from the rest of the class. The teacher hasn`t noticed neither the shot nor the silent non-reaction of Alana.
Young girl (Alana): (Under her breath) Thanks, Jesus.
Alana closes her eyes and the scene fades to a memory of earlier that day.
INT. Small house – entrance way. She stands at the top of a staircase, bouncing nervously on her tiptoes. She breathes in deeply and begins to move forward silently.
Alana: God, I hope he's passed out and doesn't hear me.
She races down the steps quickly before tripping on her bootlace and falling none-too-gracefully down the stairs.
Tracey (Father): What the heck was that?! Alana, get over here!!
Alana: (under her breath) Damn. Damn. Damn.
Strong footsteps are heard approaching the bottom of the stairs where Alana lays. She closes her eyes and the shot goes black but the voices are still heard.
Tracey: You clumsy accident! Where would you be going? It`s not like you have any friends or a social life to attend to!
Alana: I-I-I'm g-g-going t-to sc-sch-school.
Tracey: Well why are you still here then!?
A slapping noise followed by a girlish whimper is heard before a gruff snort.
Tracey: I need another beer.
The footsteps start up again but get quieter as their owner leaves. The sound of Alana standing up and gently closing the door is heard before all goes silent.
INT. An 8 year old Alana sleeps in her pink bed wearing pink jammies. A tall female figure dressed in black and red leather stands over top of her with a sad smile illuminated on her face by the light from the moon sneaking through the window.
Morgan (mother/figure in leather): Oh, Ally. You don`t deserve any of this. I wish I could take you with me. But at least me leaving is better than you not having anyone but me.
She pulls off her leather jacket and places it around Alana`s shoulders and bends down to lightly kiss her cheek.
Morgan: Goodbye Alana, forever.
She walks out slowly and the front door opening and closing then a car starting and driving away is heard.
INT. Same small house – family room. Tracey is explaining to Alana how her mother couldn`t take of them anymore so she had to leave. Hand gestures are seen and shot cuts to Alana`s face. Tears drip slowly onto her pink shirt before she runs upstairs. Tracey sighs before storming into the kitchen, grabbing a beer and sitting down on the couch. Tears are threatening to spill out of his eyes as well. Then rage takes over and he throws the beer at the wall with force, leaving a slight dent and metallic mark.
Tracey: Alana!!! Get your butt back down here!!!
Alana: (From upstairs) Give me a second!! I`m just changing clothes!!
Footsteps are heard quickly down the stairs and Alana appears wearing all black complete with her mother's jacket. Tracey's eyes water before ripping the jacket off of her roughly.
Tracey: You will not wear that jacket in my house!!
Alana: It’s my only memory of her!! Give it back!
Alana lunges for the jacket but Tracey grabs her arm and twists it in the wrong direction and Alana's tears threaten to spill again. Tracey's eye widen with fear as he realizes what he`s doing. He pulls his hand back and drops the jacket before running to his room and slamming the door. Alana stands in confusion and pain. She looks down at her arm and sees the
bright red marks. The tears from earlier spill over as she grabs the jacket and runs upstairs to her room.
INT. Same small house – Pink wall papered bedroom. Alana shoves the jacket deep in her closet in hopes that her father will never find it. She looks around at the flowery wall paper with rage in her eyes. She runs to the wall and finds a corner of the paper and pulls. A whole section of it falls down, revealing the black and red paint underneath. A slow smile rises to her face and she goes to work ripping all the pink things from her room.
INT same small house – wide shot of now black and red room Alana sits with a content smile on her face as she surveys
the wrecked room around her. Her pink sheets are now ripped and black due to the sharpies siting on her night stand. The walls have been stripped of their bright colors and now lay dark. All of her bright clothes lay in a pile in front of her bed next to a large bottle of black ink and a plastic tub, ready to be dyed. She leans back on her bed and slowly closes her eyes. A couple minutes later Tracey walks in to apologize and screams at what she's done. She wakes up at the sound and rolls her eyes at her dad shocked expression.
Tracey: Alana!!! What the heck have you done?!
Alana: Mother liked it pink--
Tracey cuts her off with a smack to her head.
Tracey: You will not mention her in my house ever again!
He storms out of the room slamming the door and Alana wills herself not to cry and runs to her closet. She digs out the jacket and brings to her bed and holds it close to her under her blankets. The minute her wounded head hits the pillow, tears leak out from her eyes and she cries herself to sleep, vowing to wear the jacket every day for the rest of her life.
EXT. Same small house – front yard A 13 year old Alana dressed in dark clothes stands with tears in her eyes as she watches another young girl push a suitcase into the back of a station wagon. The girl then walks towards Alana and they stand in an awkward silence as tears dribble down both their cheeks.
Alana: So, Sam, this really is goodbye?
Sam: I guess so. I don't want to leave. It's just this neighbourhood makes my family, including me, scared. You need to get out too.
Alana: 'Cuz my "dad" would totally go for that idea. This neighbourhood suits him and his personality perfectly.
The pair laughs, but not really. They shuffle their feet for another minute and watch as the tears drip off the faces onto the pavement, leaving dark spots where they land. The horn of the station wagon sounds and Sam wheels around to see her family urging her to hurry up with her goodbye. The two girls look up and embrace each other silently.
Sam & Alana: (whispered in each other's ear) You'll always be my best friend.
They pull apart and smile slightly at each other. Sam takes Alana`s hand a squeezes it before turning and walking slowly to the car. She climbs in and waves to her through the window and Alana slowly waves back. She continues staring into the
direction that the car drove with the tears running down her face as the screen slowly turns to black.
INT. Back to high school religion classroom The bell rings just as the teacher places a sheet of notes on the sacraments of healing on Alana's desk. She sees the teacher watching her like a hawk so she slowly places the paper in her bag. As Alana stands up, somebody trips her so she stumbles before catching herself by leaning hard on the doorframe. She finally makes it out of the classroom and begins the trek across the school to get to her locker and leave the school.
INT. High school hallway. The crowd parts for Alana like the Red Sea did for Moses. The whispered insults are deafening as she trudges along.
Picked out people from the crowd:
No wonder
her mom left, who would want her?
She wears black to match the color of her heart.
Only emos wear leather!
Just slit already!
She's still here? I thought she`d cut herself away already! Too bad she hasn’t!
The tears blinded Alana's vision and she calmly walked to her locker. She took her time gathering her stuff for the end of the day. Once everyone was gone from the hallway, she grabbed the unopened 'emergency package' from the back of her locker and walked swiftly to the bathroom with her backpack, not wanting to have to go back to her locker after what she was about to do.
INT. High school bathroom corner. Alana hadn’t thought to actually go in a stall. Her mind was only focused on the dangerous package in her hand. She sits herself down on the floor and pulls out the plastic container. Her hands are shaking as she slowly removes the razor blades from their package. The tears drip from her face as she presses one of the blades to her wrist. Alana sucks in her breath before dragging the metal deep into her skin. The pain shocks her and her arms twitches out and knocks her bag over. Papers and binders fall out and one specifically lands on her lap face up.
She reaches for it and begins to read, her blood and tears slowly dripping onto it. Shot goes to paper which says "The sacraments of healing challenge us to accept the help that God can give us. They show us that no matter how lost, broken and empty we are God will always lead us back to wholeness, trust and holiness. We just have to let him in through prayer, then he's ready to save us." The red liquid seeping from her wrist and the salty one leaking from her eyes had bled down through the words, making it impossible to finish reading. Alana throws down the razor blade and the bloody paper and goes down on her knees in prayer.
Alana: Oh God, oh God, I need you. Right now. I'm scared and I'm lost. I need you to save me. Please,
God, please.
Alana is shaking with the force of her tears, but she is clearly losing consciousness from the depth of the wound. Out of nowhere she hears footsteps walking towards her, just as she falls to the ground she hears a scream from above her. The shot turns to the girl that found her. She's tall pretty and one of the few that had felt badly for Alana and never bullied her. In seconds she had her phone out and was calling 9-1-1.
Bethany (Tall girl): Oh my God! Hello? 9-1-1? I have an emergency and I need you here now! I`ve just found a girl with a slit
wrist in my high school bathroom. It looks deep, and It's still bleeding-
Camera cuts to Alana lying on the ground. Her eyes open halfway, seeing Bethany on the phone. She hears what she's saying and manages and thankful smile upward to God.
Alana: (Barely a whisper) Thank you.
Author's Note
This is not a true story, though it is based on me in some ways. Yes, I have cut, but not on my wrists, and God sent my friends and family to pull me through that depression. Yes, I was an accident and my Dad is an alcoholic, does drugs, left my mom alone with me and I’m no longer allowed to see him and God again sent amazing people in my life to pull me through that pain. Yes, I have been bullied like that many times, and I was pulled through it, so it`s over now. I will admit I don`t have the sacraments of healing, but I do intend to get them someday. I do believe that God is present with everyone and all you have to do is pray and you will be saved. That is obvious to me through the fact I have people that love me enough to save me from being suicidal and also through seeing other people in my life be saved. For example, one of my family members have also cut before and almost died because of it. But they had so many people help them through it afterwards. Though I may not be the strongest believer in God, I know he's here and I try my best to trust and stay with him even though times get hard. I believe that God is present in everyone, but sometimes it takes a little push for him to show.