Thursday, January 31, 2013

HONEY # 6

...continuing on from HONEY # 5

LATER.

It is close to sunset now. DANIEL fishes from the rocks. HELEN

closeby, looks at JASPER and HONEY laughing together as they fish. She
has mixed feelings about Honey.

DANIEL looks from HONEY and JASPER to HELEN, places his hand

affectionately on her knee. HELEN smiles tentatively

CLOSER on HONEY and JASPER.


HONEY

…but I drove my mum crazy.

JASPER

I drive mum and dad crazy, too. It’s my job.

HONEY

No, I mean mad crazy…

HONEY looks out to sea, lost in painful memories. JASPER watches her, puzzled.


135 INT. DINING ROOM. NIGHT


DANIEL, HONEY, HELEN and JASPER have finished their main course. A

bowl of crepe mix sits by the chafing dish – along with a bottle of
Brandy and several bottles of liqueurs.

JASPER

What kind of mental illness?

HELEN

Jasper!

HELEN gestures ‘no’ to JASPER. DANIEL gestures ‘It’s OK.’ HONEY,

unsure, takes her cue from DANIEL.

HONEY

Bi-polar, schizo, personality disorder, disassociative disorder… you
name it, I’ve got it – depending on which shrink you talk to.

HONEY registers HELEN’S unease.


HONEY

But I’m not dangerous. Except to myself.

JASPER

Why are you dangerous to yourself?

HELEN

Jasper!

After a moment of awkward silence, HELEN picks up a box of

long-stemmed matches, takes out a match, strikes it. CLOSE ON:

The re head of he match bursting into flame.


136 YOUNG HONEY’S BEDROOM. NIGHT


YOUNG HONEY, clutching her blue teddy bear, watches from the window as

her mother, in the garden shed, splashes liquid from a can over the
furniture and accumulated domestic clutter.

CLOSE ON HONEY’S MOTHER sitting in the middle of the shed, the can of

liquid held above her head.

CLOSE ON: YOUNG HONEY as her puzzlement gives way to a realization of

what it is her mother is doing.

HELEN (voice off)

Honey?

137 INT. DINING ROOM. NIGHT


CLOSE on a flambé pan – in which a close-to-perfectly symmetrical

crepe is enveloped in flames.

CLOSE ON HONEY looking at the flames – mesmerized.


HELEN (voice off)

Honey?

HONEY snaps out of her reverie as HELEN flips the crepe onto a plate,

hands it to DANIEL, addresses HONEY.

HELEN

What do you want on yours? Brandy, curacao,  Cointreau, Grand Marnier, cognac?

HELEN gestures to the array of liqueurs.


HONEY

Um. Cointreau.

HELEN is not happy with the crepe she has just made.


HELEN

Not perfect, but…

DANIEL smiles, cuts a piece of crepe, skewers it with a fork.


HONEY

What’s wrong with it?

HELEN

Ideally, it should be perfectly symmetrical.

HONEY grabs the fork from DANIEL’S hand, puts it in her mouth.


HONEY

Tastes symmetrical to me. Very symmetrical. In fact it’s the most
perfectly symmetrical crepe I’ve ever tasted.

HELEN laughs, unscrews the top to the Cointreau bottle, pours some

into a small glass jug then pours the Cointreau from the jug into the
flambé pan.

HONEY looks on, fascinated, as HELEN strikes a long match, sets fire

to the Cointreau. A strange look appears on her face as she sees the
flame leap up.

A LITTLE LATER


HONEY sits on a white leather couch, a plate with crepe on it resting

in her lap. JASPER sits beside her. A violin concerto playing on the
sound system plays as HONEY runs one hand over the soft white
upholstery.

HONEY

How do they get leather so soft?

JASPER

By making it out of plastic.

HONEY

No way!

JASPER

Way…

As HONEY’S eyes scan the photos on the wall, most of them including

Helen – as a young woman in her late teens and as a young mother -
JASPER looks at HONEY’S scarred arms. She opens her mouth to ask HONEY
a question but stops when she sees HELEN shake her head and frown.

DANIEL notices this interchange. His eyes meet HELEN’S for a moment:

“Relax, it’s OK.” HONEY notices this in a glance.

HONEY

You were so beautiful when you were young, Helen. (A BEAT) But even
more beautiful now that you’re…

HELEN

What am I now?

HONEY

Young at heart.

HELEN (laughs)

I wish…

Both HONEY and JASPER notice a look that passes between DANIEL and

HELEN. JASPER has a question for HONEY

JASPER

If you had just one wish, one wish in the whole wide world, what would it be?

HONEY

The truth?

JASPER

You’re not allowed to not tell the truth. Isn’t that true, dad?

DANIEL nods.


HONEY

To have a sister just like you.

JASPER

Yes, yes, yes…

JASPER’S glee at the prospect is cut short when she sees the frozen

smile on HELEN’S face.

HELEN

Anyone for another crepe?

HONEY

Can I make one?

A LITTLE LATER


An explosion of flame as HONEY splashes brandy into the flambé pan

straight from the bottle.

HELEN

Honey, no! Not straight from the bottle! Into the measuring cup first.

For a moment, as she looks at the flames, HONEY seems not to have heard HELEN.


HONEY

Okay.

HELEN

So tell us about the octopus?

JASPER and HONEY look at each other, laugh; shake their heads.


JASPER

Our secret.

DANIEL

Come on!

JASPER

You have your secrets, we have ours.

138 INT/EXT. GRANNY FLAT. NIGHT


HONEY sits on the bed, happy, as HELEN takes a clean neatly folded

towel from a cupboard and hands it to HONEY. Evidence of Helen’s
mother’s residency have mostly been removed.

HONEY

Thanks Helen.

HELEN smiles, holds up her hands: “It’s nothing.”


DANIEL and JASPER, both smiling happily, stand in the doorway.


HELEN’S attention is drawn to something that has fallen to the floor

beside the bed. She picks it up, looks at it:

a GET WELL SOON card.


HELEN’S face darkens with sadness.


HONEY

Don’t be sad, Helen, your mother is in heaven.(A BEAT) Singing with the angels.

HELEN bites her lip, wipes the moisture from her eyes.


LATER


HONEY is sprawled on the bed, writing a poem in her her journal. Light

flashes in her eyes. She looks up:

JASPER, leans out of the window of her upstairs bedroom, flashlight in

hand – its beam hitting HONEY in the face. She beckons HONEY with her
hand: “Come”.

HONEY shakes her head. JASPER nods her head. HONEY laughs, shakes her

head. JASPER nods in a very exaggerated manner, points her finger:
“This is an order, not a request.”

139 INT JASPER’S BEDROOM. NIGHT


HONEY walks into Jasper’s bedroom. JASPER, sitting up in bed reading a

book, raises a finger to her lips: “Shhhh…”. HONEY smiles, tiptoes
melodramatically  over to JASPER’S bed. JASPER tries not to laugh out
loud, which causes HONEY to laugh also.

140 INT. DANIEL AND HELEN’S BEDROOM. NIGHT


HELEN and DANIEL lie alongside each other in bed.


DANIEL

Worrying isn’t going to help.

HELEN

And burying your head in the sand is?

DANIEL

She has to find out about the real world sooner or later.

HELEN

Honey is not the real world.

DANIEL gestures ‘all this’ with his free arm.


DANIEL

And this is?

HELEN

Yes. Yes. Yes. I love all ‘this’ (A BEAT) Don’t you?

DANIEL

I don’t know. I really don’t. I wish I did but…!

DANIEL and HELEN stare at each other, each of them looking for

something and not finding it.

JASPER (voice over)

Angrily, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that the furnace be made seven
times hotter than usual…

141 INT. JASPER’S ROOM. NIGHT


HONEY lies alongside JASPER in bed – their two heads close. JASPER has

her illustrated bible book propped up on her chest. HONEY listens with
fascination as JASPER reads.

JASPER

…and that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be tied up and thrown in.

CLOSE ON a coloured illustration of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

being thrown into the fiery furnace.

JASPER (voice over)

The flames were so hot…

CLOSE on HONEY – totally absorbed by the story.


142 INT. DANIEL AND HELEN’S BEDROOM. NIGHT


DANIEL and HELEN lie in bed looking at each other.


JASPER (voice over)

…that the soldiers who threw them in were killed on the spot.

DANIEL turns his head away.


JASPER (voice over)

But when King Nebuchadnezzar looked in…

HELEN reaches out with her hand, turns DANIEL’S face back to her,

looks him in the eye.

JASPER (voice over)

…he saw Shadrach

DANIEL kisses HELEN lightly on the lips.


JASPER (voice over)

…Meshach, and Abednego…

HELEN grabs DANIEL’S head, tries to kiss him passionately. He avoids

her lips as he holds her tight.

143 INT. JASPER’S ROOM. NIGHT


CLOSE ON: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking around inside the

fiery furnace.

JASPER (voice over)

…walking around unbound and unharmed…

HONEY is hypnotized by the images of flames.


144 DANIEL AND HELEN’S BEDROOM. NIGHT


DANIEL and HELEN make love with an intense but awkward animal passion.

HELEN tries to kiss DANIEL but he avoids her lips.

145 INT. JASPER’S ROOM. NIGHT


SLOW ZOOM past Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to the shadowy figure in

their midst.

JASPER (voice over)

…And there was a fourth man in the fiery furnace whom King Nebuchadnezzar said…

CLOSE ON: HONEY’S face.


JASPER (voice over)

…looked like the Son of God…

146 INT. SHED. YOUNG HONEY’S HOME. NIGHT


HONEY’S MOTHER, seen through the window of the backyard shed, finishes

pouring liquid from the small can over her head, picks up a pack of
matches, looks at it for a long moment, takes out a match. This is
Honey’s remembered POV.

YOUNG HONEY, seen through the window of her bedroom, looks on in horror.


JASPER (voice over)

Honey!

147 INT. JASPER’S ROOM. NIGHT


CLOSE ON the shadowy figure in the midst of the flames.


JASPER (voice over)

Do you?

HONEY pulls her attention away from the flames.


HONEY

Do I what?

JASPER

Believe in God.

HONEY

I don’t think he believes in me.

JASPER

I believe in you.

HONEY smiles, turns to look into JASPER’S eyes.


HONEY

You do?

JASPER smiles, nods. HONEY is overjoyed.


148 INT. DANIEL AND HELEN’S BEDROOM. NIGHT


DANIEL and HELEN, both glistening with sweat, lie naked in each

other’s arms but both stare into space – lost in their separate
private reveries.

149 EXT/INT GRANNY FLAT. NIGHT


HONEY creeps in through the door to the granny flat, closes the door

behind her.

A LITTLE LATER: HONEY sits up in bed writing in her journal.


LATER


It is morning now. HONEY is asleep, her open journal resting on the

bed beside her. JASPER, dressed for school, stands in the open doorway
looking at her.

150 INT. KITCHEN. DAY


DANIEL pours coffee into a mug, looks out the window at: HELEN

watching JASPER looking through the doorway to the granny flat at
HONEY.

151 EXT/INT GRANNY FLAT. NIGHT


HONEY lies in bed, eyes open. The sound of a motor bike being kick

started is heard. HONEY swings her legs out of bed, grabs her journal,
picks up a vial of pills beside the bed.

152 EXT. STREET OUTSIDE DANIEL AND HELEN’S HOUSE. DAY


DANIEL drives away from his home on his motor bike, overtakes Helen’s

car – with HELEN and JASPER in it. He waves to JASPER as he passes.
JASPER waves back.

153 INT. DINING ROOM. DAY


HONEY, a glass of water in hand, inspects the cover of the CD resting

on top of the music system: Mendelssohn's Violin Concertos. She
presses ‘play’.

The violin concerto plays as HONEY tosses two pills in her hand into

her mouth, washes them down with a sip of water, walks and stands
before a wall covered with photos – most of which include Helen at
various ages. In all of them she appears beautiful and in many, smiles
enigmatically.

154 INT. CAR. DAY


The music continues over JASPER, school backpack in her lap,

determined not to answer HELEN’S questions as she drives.

HELEN

Because they have 8 arms?

JASPER shakes her head.


HELEN

Because…they don’t have a skeleton?

JASPER shakes her head.


155 INT. DINING ROOM. DAY


Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto continues over HONEY, seen through the

aquarium filled with exotic tropical fish, moving to sit on the white
leather couch. She picks up one of Helen’s photo albums, opens it,
turns pages slowly.

156 INT. CAR. DAY


Music continues over. driving, JASPER in the passenger seat.


JASPER

It’s a secret.

HELEN

You don’t have to keep secrets from me.

JASPER

I know I don’t have to.

157 INT CAR/EXT OLD FACTORY PARKING LOT. DAY


Music continues over Music continues over DANIEL driving his motor

bike into the parking lot adjacent to his studio – seen from the
inside of a car, over the shoulder of a woman,

158 INT. DINING ROOM. DAY


Music continues over HONEY turning the last pages of one of Helen’s

photo albums, closing it, picking up another.

159 INT. CAR OUTSIDE SCHOOL. DAY


Music continues over. JASPER is about to get out of the car to join

other students walking into school.

HELEN

You can be an infuriating little girl, sometimes.

JASPER

You can be an infuriating big girl sometimes.

JASPER kisses HELEN quickly on the cheek and is out of the car in a flash.


160 EXT OLD FACTORY PARKING LOT. DAY


Music continues over. DANIEL acknowledges the woman in the car with a

wave, looks back towards the entrance of the old factory then walks up
to the car to greet its driver.

TRACY stands behind the glass entrance door to the factory, looking

out. Her POV:

The car drives out of the parking lot.

...to be continued...

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