SCROLL DOWN FOR SCRIPT
Iām not going to lie. Writing a script for each week of a year brings me anxiety, which tires me out. My life is busy every hour on the hour, and adding creativity to my schedule feels impossible. My mind is on a constant cycle of what I have to do, putting what I want to do on the back burner. However, through the convincing of my therapist and the Artistās Way, I schedule myself two hours out of each week to write my scripts.
My resistance is strongest at the beginning when itās time to put fingers to keyboard. This is the time when the thoughts of āyou need to rest for tomorrowā or āhmm I think I can use these two hours for something elseā start to rumble through my mind. However, the fight through the fog gets easier and easier as my writing sample becomes larger and larger. Each week, I see my writing voice shaping, taking form, and becoming more tangible.
Something else that is becoming more tangible with each week is my acceptance that my creative self is part of my true self. As stated before, my focus on what I need to do never includes creativity. Being able to express myself is a part of my hygiene routine. Materializing my imagination is a part of my job. Creativity is self-care. Creativity is what I need to do for myself.
Letting The Past Split The Future
I wrote the paragraphs above in early June; this draft waited and waited to be completed, and now it is screaming at me. Similar to my character SAGE, I split myself for survival by allowing life to turn off the faucet of my creativity, even if only temporarily. Not only have I let my drafts sit, but I have also let go of my year-long goal to write a script every week, which has allowed disappointment to take up space in my heart. Although my goal is farther from reach with each passing day, this gives me a way to redirect how I want to practice my writing, bringing back the joy and pushing disappointment aside.
I will still share my previous scripts because they are my babies that I want to nurture, and I will write new scripts periodically. Itās time to connect my mind, body, and soul to push forward in my journey, something my character SAGE is working on below.
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
We open to two mid-twenty-year-old women, SAGE and NEENA, staring down a dark alley in the middle of the night.
SAGE: Hopefully, I donāt cause any rain. Did you cause any rain when you did it?
NEENA: Plenty of times before I came out to the sunshine. My mother berates me on how I was allowing demons to enter me and how I was making it hard for her Uber Eats drivers to deliver her food. I think she was more mad about her food and used demons to dress up her concerns to make it more palatable for her book club
SAGE: Older women and their dedication to resisting internal growth. I can understand Ms Daniels' pressure to conform.
NEENA: Chile. I know she has been down this road before. I heard about it from her! Now, she has amnesia. Such an Aquarius woman.
SAGE chuckles and looks down at her diary.
SAGE: I miss this girl. I want her back.
NEENA: ā¦You will get what you need. Cāmon. Are you ready? I have a robe for you if you need it.
SAGE takes a beat and a deep sigh.
SAGE: Yes. I am.
SAGE starts to walk into the alley.
SAGE: (Yells) You didnāt tell me that it stinks down here!
NEENA: Girl! Go on!
SAGE walks further and further into the alley until the environment changes to a pebble road lined by beautiful, lush trees.
SAGE: Wow, this is way too beautiful to be called Zombie Road
GUIDE: (Booming offstage voice) Zombie road?! Mere mortals are so funny with their language.
GUIDE appears in front of SAGE
GUIDE: What respect do people have for their past lives if they call them āzombiesā
SAGE: Uh. Hi!
GUIDE: Hi darling! You gotta take your clothes off.
SAGE: Uh-huh.
GUIDE: How am I going to sense what you need if you are covering your aura with cloth and thread?
Beat
GUIDE: Donāt worry, I am not a perv
GUIDE snaps their fingers, and SAGEās clothes melt off, her body has been replaced with a white glow, while her eyes change to a dim green.
GUIDE: Well, I can already tell that your mind and body are not working as a team. Are you bored, distracted, or confused? What brings you here, darling?
SAGE: Wellā¦
SAGE fumbles around her diary.
SAGE: I want toā¦ to meet her again.
GUIDE: Her?
GUIDE takes the book and scans it. They gently put it back in SAGEās hands, while they stare into SAGEās eyes.
GUIDE: Iām sorry that your light has dimmed.
SAGE: Dimmed? Perhaps. Bringing her back will put the light back in my life.
GUIDE: Oh, honey. That girl is dead. She is doneā¦ for now at least. She does not feel safe to revitalize herself at the moment
SAGEās body turns light blue.
SAGE: Whatā¦ what would make her safe?
GUIDE: You have to accept the present instead of suppressing it. Little girls do not enjoy being restrained. I know you have been around a couple of rugrats. They need to be able to explore limitlessly, and you are stuck in the closet of life.
SAGE: How am I stuck? Canāt I just open the..
GUIDE shapeshifts into SAGEās mom. SAGEās body turns into a deeper blue
GUIDE: You have to accept that my physical time on earth has come to an end. Trust the tools that I have given you to move on with life.
SAGEās eyes start to flicker blue but return to green. Her bodyās blue is becoming deeper and deeper.
SAGE: Mom? Move on? Iā¦ I canātā¦ You are my mother. I canāt move on
GUIDE: You can. Donāt worry. I will carry my love into the next lifetime. You will know when you find me again.
SAGE eyes turn blue.
SAGE: Do I have to wait another lifetime? I miss you so much. I miss you now.
SAGE runs to hug GUIDE. SAGEās body turns yellow during the embrace. During the hug, GUIDE shapeshifts into SAGEās ex-boyfriend. SAGEās body turns black. SAGE feels this change and slowly backs away.
SAGE: Whaaaā¦
When she recognizes GUIDE as her ex, SAGEās eyes turn red.
SAGE: Havenāt you taken enough? Why are you here?
GUIDE: I only took what you allowed me to take. I didnāt let your guard down. I never had that power.
SAGEās eyes turn blue.
GUIDE: You have to accept that you have been knew that I wasnāt for you, and you allowed me to stay because I was your human comfort toy.
SAGE: You had no rightā¦ I was grieving my mother.
GUIDE: So that means closing up your heart to everyone, including yourself?
SAGE: You cheatedā¦ YOU FUCKING MONSTER
GUIDE: Like how you continue to cheat yourself out of happiness? Iām not a monster. I am just a human being who disrupted your life. You should thank me because I am forcing you to make room for the confidence that you believe I stole from you, when in fact, you voluntarily gave it away.
SAGEās eyes and body turn red as she panics and rushes around to find an exit. 2 High x JMSN is playing during her panic. āWay too high to love you, baby, yeahā. GUIDE shapeshifts back to GUIDE.
GUIDE: Wait! You are marrying your mind and body. Keep pushing. You need this to continue on your journey of life!
SAGE: NO THE FUCK I DONāT
SAGE finds an exit and runs out. She appears back on the street with NEENA, but this time she is fully naked and shivering, and there is a downpour of rain. SAGE looks up, drops her now-wet diary, and then drops to her knees. She adds to the rain with her wails.
NEENA: Oh, love.
NEENA covers SAGE with the robe she brought with her.
NEENA: You are okay. It will take time. I love you. Letās get you home.
NEENA guides SAGE off towards some dry shelter.
Any thoughts or feelings? Comment below what you would name this piece.
Thank you for sipping from the stream of my imagination. See you on the next post š