INT. BEDROOOM – MORNING 6 AM

A digital alarm clock shows 5:59 am. The darkened room
erupts into a barrage of noise as the clock
changes to 6:00 am and the radio alarm turns on to the
sound of classical music.

A pair of blue eyes opens beneath a well kept though
reasonably bedraggled mane of short brown hair.

The man rises from the bed and walks to the alarm clock.
He pauses briefly to look out of his upper floor window
and gaze upon a birds nest in a large tree. He smiles
briefly at the chirping baby birds and moves his hand to
the radio which he switches off.

INT. BATHROOM

A hand reaches into a shower stall and turns on the tap.
Temperature is adjusted and when it is right the shower
lever is pulled.

A towel drops to the floor and a pair of naked legs step
into the shining white tub. After a few moments copious
amounts of soap suds begin to run down the legs and into
the drain.

EXT. IN TREE ADJACENT TO UPPER WINDOW

A black cat, tail twitching and ears back, creeps along a
branch towards the nest full of chirping baby birds.

INT. BATHROOM

The shower is shut off and a hand  reaches out from behind
the transparent shower curtain covered in pictures of dolphins
and grasps a pristine white towel from a nearby shelf where
sits two piles of three identical towels, three white washcloths
and three smaller handtowels. The hand returns to within the
shower stall and after a few moments the same pair of legs
gingerly step out onto a thick white absorbent floor mat.

INT. KITCHEN

A digital display on a large expensive looking coffeemaker
changes from 6:14 to 6:15. A grinder in the top portion of
the unit begins to whirr. The sound of coffee grinding
fills the room followed by the sound of it being dumped
into a filter apparatus. A soft click is made after the
grinding and dumping is completed. A small hissing noise
begins and slowly coffee passes from the filter into the
waiting pot.

INT. TREE OUTSIDE

The cat is now about half a meter from the nest. It stops,
bum wiggles and appears to be close to pouncing when a
squawking from above startles it.  A mated pair of blue
birds swoop down upon it, smashing into it’s cringing head
as the cat tries to not fall off of the branch.

INT. KITCHEN, VIEWED FROM ADJACENT ROOM

The man now fully dressed walks downstairs at a relatively
Slow careful speed. He opens an exterior door and steps outside to
retrieve a folded newspaper. He shuts the door and
locks it then proceeds to the coffee machine. Beside it
sits a bag of expensive decaffeinated coffee, an upside
down cup, a sugar bowl and a spoon. He proceeds to make a
coffee then remove a cereal bowl from the cupboard.

INT. KITCHEN CUBBY BESIDE REAR WINDOW FACING BACKYARD

The man opens the newspaper with a well practiced snap. A
bowl full of low fat yoghurt mixed with granola and fruit
sits in front of him on a red plaid placemat sharing space
with the coffee, a small restaurant sized glass of orange
juice and a bowl that contains a number of non
prescription vitamins and supplement pills. He spoons the
granola mixture into his mouth methodically, chewing
fifteen chews per spoonful before swallowing. He proceeds
to finish the bowl, swallow the pills and drink his coffee
until his breakfast is complete.

EXT. BASE OF TREE OUTSIDE KITCHEN WINDOW

CAT LANDS ON IT’S FEET AND AFTER INITIAL SHOCK PROCEEDS TO
LOOK ABOUT THEN QUICKLY CLIMB BACK UP THE TREE. FROM THE
WINDOW THE MAN WATCHES THIS WITH RAPT INTEREST.

INT. KITCHEN TABLE

From kitchen, the cat’s progress back up the tree is watched by
the man until the alarm on his digital watch beeps. He quickly
stands and walks to the sink eating his food quickly as he
goes. He is oddly shaken by the distraction of the cat and
keeps looking back towards the window, stooping down to
try to watch the show. He trips over a cat toy in the
middle of the floor and spills his remaining food on the
side of the cabinet, the bowl flying out of his hand
into the sink. Murmuring to himself he then proceeds to
wipe up the mess then disinfect and dry the wood. He then
washes his bowl, cleans up the remaining breakfast mess
looking occasionally in vain out the window into the tree
trying to see what has become of the cat.

INT. BATHROOM

|The man is frantically brushing teeth washing hands and
adjusting  his tie. He turns off light and runs down stairs,
out door and to the car. Turning back to house from sitting in
car, he thinks for a moment, purses his lips then runs to
house, back inside the exits with a black insulated lunch bag.
He locks the door and returns to the car, starts it and turns
to back out of the driveway.

EXT. SIDEYARD OF HOUSE

As car backs out of driveway in the background, the cat
limps to a chair beside a doorway and carefully jumps up
onto it to begin washing himself, ears back, visibly
unhappy with himself. A pair of bird chirps loudly in the
background.

INT. CAR ON QUIET ROADWAY

As the man drives along the roadway at the posted speed
limit which he checks frequently, he adjusts the radio
quickly flicking between stations until he finds one that
plays non distracting mellow oldies. Looking from the
passengers point of view, one can see that the street
parallel to his, a block distant, is gridlocked with
traffic. As he carefully weaves from street to street
avoiding traffic in a very quick and efficient way, Do You
Know The Way To San Jose plays in the background.
Eventually the man brings the car down a very short side
street to pull into a merge lane that connects with a multi
lane highway heading in the direction of the morning
sun. Traffic abruptly stops and in the distance he sees a plume
of smoke rising.

EXT. AN OPEN BRIDGE COVERED WITH MORNING COMMUTER TRAFFIC

Gridlocked cars surround a large truck that has swung
sideways and tipped over spilling it’s contents all over
adjacent cars and the roadway. Pea gravel blankets the
bridge and as people exit their vehicles to examine their
cars many of them slip and fall. A man exits the passenger
side door window of the tipped over truck and slides to
the ground to then run to the only car visibly damaged by
the accident. He opens a door to find a shaken but
uninjured older woman. More sirens can now be heard.

INT. MANS CAR

As time progresses the man goes from tapping his fingers
in time to the music to drumming them in impatience.
Realizing  that he is not moving he turns the radio
station to another then another. Finally he finds one that
is giving traffic reports.

Radio Announcer
Good morning everyone and it is definitely a fine sunny
clear one out there but if you are just thinking of leaving
and heading into town, you might wish to think again. The
Morris street bridge is still under construction except
for pedestrian and bike traffic on the north side and we
are sorry to report that there is a mishap on the Veterans
Bridge that has traffic to a complete standstill. Our eye
in the sky has just radioed in that the backup stretches
for a good four miles, that people keep merging in from
side streets are just making things worse. A dual tandem
dumptruck has apparently made a bad attempt at a lane
change and sideswiped a concrete barrier tipping over and
spilling it’s contents onto the bridge deck. Man he must
have been going fast ..

The driver with pursed lips and a furrowed brow shuts off
the radio with his index finger. He sits and ponders,
fingers drumming loudly on the dashboard as the left side
of his lip twitches. He pulls put his blackberry from his
jacket pocket and starts to type an email.

I/E. BLACKBERRY SCREEN

TIMOTHY LOY
To: Doherty, Marsha: traffic is snarled, check the news,
going home will take a vacation day. I think I have about
21 carried over from last year. See you later. Tim

EXT. CONGESTED LANE OF TRAFFIC TIMS CAR IN BACKGROUND

Cars slowly begin to turn off and slowly people roll down
windows or exit vehicles. Tim is the exception. He sits,
car running, air conditioning on, an angry look on his
face. After a while due to some action further ahead
people begin to re enter their cars. Slowly traffic begins
to move forward, Tim included. Just as a sidestreet
appears alongside Tim’s car traffic again grinds to a halt.
Tim cranks the wheel to the right, drives across a freshly
watered lawn to the screams of an old lady in a housecoat
that he nearly runs into as he takes out her lawn gnomes
He cuts tire tracks into the wet sod. Gripping the wheel like.
Madman he cuts down the side road to freedom.

EXT. TIMS FRONT YARD

Tim’s car pulls into the driveway almost diagonally. He
exits it and promptly trips over the cat that runs
between his feet as it tries to escape a pair of angry
birds dive-bombing it’s head. Tim lands face and hands
first into what was an immaculate garden full of thick
stemmed but now broken flowers.  Mud on his face, he yells
indecipherable expletives at the cat and drags his limping
muddied self onto his front porch. He unlocks the door and
runs inside dropping keys, lunch bag and coat and not
shutting door behind him.

INT. MOSTLY EMPTY CORPORATE OFFICE – WOMAN DESK

(The woman’s desk is covered
with papers neatly piled, a
coffee cup, pictures of cats
and kitschy nick knacks
surround the computer.)
On the screen sits an open email responding to the email
from Tim. An attractive though mousy secretary with brown
hair and glasses sits staring at the as yet written reply.
She sighs the types quickly sipping coffee between
sentences.

INT. COMPUTER SCREEN

To: Loy, Timothy: I have let Brent
know but he hasn’t made it in either.
No one has really, just me because I
came in early. Go home and see you
tomorrow. Brent asks that you let us
know if you leave in the next two
hours in case he needs you. Martha.
INT. CAR

Tim is looking at his screen. He reads the email with lips
beginning to tighten. Looking over his shoulders and in
mirrors he puts car into gear. He backs up ever so little
then cranks wheel to the right, drives over a curb, across
someone front lawn as the owner in a housecoat yells at
him for tearing up his lawn spilling coffee and mail
everywhere. Tim ignores the yelling man and proceeds to
re-enter a paved side road and make his way back home through
side streets ignoring most stop signs by merely slowing
down.

INT. OFFICE

Martha shuts off monitor and picks up purse. She travels
to kitchenette clutching a printout from google maps and
picks up large white box. She proceeds out of building to
small older model car with bright smile of resolve on her
face.

EXT. TIMS FRONT YARD

Car runs past chasing a bird while another swoops at his
head. Tim’s car comes screeching into driveway. He flings
open the door dragging his bag behind him muttering in a
Panic. He opens the door and runs inside to the bathroom not
bothering to shut it behind him. The sound of someone
urinating emanates followed by a moaning then a muted
surprised cry of “oh no“.

INT. SMALL TWO DOOR CAR

(A small car being driven by
Martha as she listens to
terrible country and western
twang. Messy but not dirty.
Cluttered with a mixture of
romance novels, laundry, cat
fancy magazines and food
wrappers. Hanging from the
mirror is a dated assortment
of frilly handmade ornaments
including a dream catcher with
Tim’s picture in the middle. )
Martha hums to herself as she drives quickly. Smiling to
herself. She reaches to the passenger seat and adjusts the
white box pushing it back to the back of the seat. After a
few seconds she stops in traffic and pulls the seatbelt
across the box and latch it into position. She drives and
hums and sings to herself smiling all the while.  After a
few turns in traffic she eventually pulls into a coffee
shop and exits the car.

INT. TIMS COMPUTER ROOM

Tim is sitting at a desk. on the screen is a medical
website of symptoms and diseases. In the search window is
“blood in urine”.  Tim is writing something on a sheet of
lined paper in large block letters. When complete he seals
it in a large ziplock bag and duct tapes it to his leg ,
top and bottom of the bag, tape encircling his leg. He
stands, picks up a coil of white rope, stands and walks
through the door, pauses and reaches his finger towards
the power button of the computer but then nods and does
not turn it off. He continues out the door towards the
kitchen.

INT. MARSHAS CAR.

Marsha opens the driver side door and slings a plastic bag
full of pop and chips onto the floor of the car in front
of the passenger seat. She inserts the key, starts the car
and puts it into reverse. She pauses after she backs out
of the parking spot and speaks to herself.

“Timothy Loy you are going to be mine. “

Marsha puts the car into drive and begins to sing a pop
tune as she enters traffic with another huge smile on her
face and a manic gleam in her eyes.

INT. TIMS KITCHEN

Tim is standing on his toes on a chair and places a
perfectly knotted noose around his neck. He lowers his
feet flat on the chair and the rope is tight above him. He
glances around the room.  Front door is open. All lights
are on. The dishes neatly stacked. Catfood bowl is full as
is water dish. He grabs a rope from the nearby counter and
twists a knot of it behind his back around his wrists.
One final glance around the room and his eyes become
fixated on something in the sink. A large empty tin of beets.

INT. FRONT YARD TIMS HOUSE

Marshas car pulls up in the driveway. She narrowly avoids
hitting the cat as it runs across the driveway chasing an
injured bird that keeps trying to fly but only ever makes
it 3-5 feet before crashing to the ground. She exits the
car walks to the passenger side door and picks up her
purse and the box, shuts door, re-opens it and retrieves the
bag of pop and chips. She walks to the front door just as
the cat and bird fly inside.

INT. KITCHEN

Tim is struggling to unwrap his hands but is having
trouble. The antique chair is wobbling due to a leg strut
that has come loose due to Tim’s weight. The front door
swings open and in shoots the cat and bird followed by
Marsha.

MARSHA DOHERTY

The air is filled with screams

Cake and purse drops to the floor. Marsha rushes towards
Tim but slips on the spilled cake. The cat and bird swing
around the kitchen and the bird flies up to land on top of
Tims shoes. The cat leaps up using it’s claws to climb
Tims legs to get at the bird that has now flown up to rest on
his shoulder. Tim yells and shuffles his weight to kick
the cat off his legs. The chairs legs splay outwards and
Tim, cat and bird spill to the floor. Tim however does not
make it to the floor. He is stopped half way just as
Marsha gets the knife off of the counter and reaches his
side. An audible snap is heard as his neck breaks. His
head lolls and his body shudders.  Marsha cuts the rope
and leaps to the floor crying, removing the rope, laying
him down on his back and opening his airway by
straightening his neck.

FADE TO BLACK

MARSHA DOHERTY
(sound of phone dialling and unheard
voice answers) Please help please. My
boyfriend tried to hang himself….

EXT. GRASSY PARK AREA ADJACENT TO SMALL POND WITH FOUNTAIN

A wheelchair sits in the grass beside a small pond. A
nurse sits beside the chair trying to feed the occupant
something fairly unsuccessfully. As scene turns you can
see that the person is Tim. Lips pursed, head lolled to
one side.

NURSE
Now Tim you positively must eat
something. Otherwise it is back to the
tube. oh look you have a visitor.
Marsha slowly walks barefoot through the grass towards the
pair from the side, a cell phone pressed to her head.

MARSHA DOHERTY
Yes absolutely. We just cannot deal
with the fur any longer find it a new
home or have it put down.
Marsha closes the cell, places it in her purse and
proceeds to walk to Tim. She kisses his forehead and
smiles to the nurse. Tim’s eyes turn to her and he opens
his mouth. No sound comes out though he seems to try to
slowly mouth words to the nurse who is paying attention to
Marsha instead.

MARSHA DOHERTY
“ I will take over from here if that’s
okay. I can feed my honey”

Nurse walks off after checking wheel locks and gathering
up her few personal belongings and pats Tim on the
shoulder.

Marsha sits down and adjusts her seat. She takes the tray
onto her lap and begins to feeds a reluctant Tim his food.
Still he fights and eventually Marsha gives up.

I don’t get it Tim. You love beets.
A groan of strong complaint escapes Tim as the camera pans
away.

Beets by Sean Liddle is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at omnipotentmoi.wordpress.com.