4. Dandelions
GRETCHEN is on her computer in her room. JUSTIN enters. He is hiding something behind his back.
GRETCHEN
Hey… Shouldn’t you be…?
JUSTIN
Shhh…. I have something for you.
GRETCHEN
Oh yeah?
JUSTIN
Close your eyes.
GRETCHEN
Okay…
He places an enormous bouquet of dandelions in her hands.
JUSTIN
Open!
GRETCHEN
Oh wow! Dandelions…
JUSTIN
Aren’t they the brightest ones you’ve ever seen?
GRETCHEN
I don’t know… they’re pretty bright. There’s a ton of them.
JUSTIN
Two hundred. Give or take a bunch. I sort of lost count.
GRETCHEN
You picked all of these yourself?
JUSTIN
It’s not like you can buy them. Everyone thinks they’re weeds and mows them down, but I found this lawn that must have been forgotten about. The whole thing was yellow. You could barely see any grass at all. And at this time of year… it’s practically winter. I thought about picture messaging you but I knew it’d diminish them, so I started picking. I wanted you to see them. They’ll probably freeze or turn to pollen by tomorrow.
GRETCHEN
They’re awesome. You’re awesome. Thank you.
She kisses him.
JUSTIN
I didn’t do this for smooches, you know.
She continues kissing him.
GRETCHEN
No?
JUSTIN
No. I just wanted you to have them. Like a slice of sunlight on a cold day.
GRETCHEN
It’s not cold today.
JUSTIN
No. But it will be soon.
GRETCHEN
I should get a vase.
JUSTIN flops onto her bed and she dumps things out of a container and then fills it in the bathroom.
GRETCHEN (from the bathroom)
Where was this field?
JUSTIN
It wasn’t exactly a field. Just a big patch of grass.
GRETCHEN
On campus?
JUSTIN
Behind the Museum of Science and Industry.
GRETCHEN
Oh, were you doing a project or something?
JUSTIN
No.
GRETCHEN (entering with the flowers)
Why were you over there? It’s like a million blocks away.
GRETCHEN tries to find the right place for the flowers and keeps moving them.
JUSTIN
I wasn’t sure why at first, something just told me to get on the bus and when it stopped, to get on another, and then I saw the museum and I realized I’d never actually been inside so I got off and headed over there, but when I saw these I realized this is was what I was there for and I started picking. I haven’t had such a fulfilling day in a long time.
GRETCHEN
Were your classes cancelled?
JUSTIN
Have you even looked at what you’re holding?
GRETCHEN
Yeah, they’re beautiful.
JUSTIN
No, seriously look. Stare at them until your entire field of vision is filled with that amazing yellow.
GRETCHEN
Justin…
JUSTIN
Would you just try it?
GRETCHEN (sticks her face in the flowers)
Okay. I’m staring.
JUSTIN
Doesn’t it make you feel… alive?
GRETCHEN looks up.
GRETCHEN
It makes me dizzy.
JUSTIN
I know….
GRETCHEN sneezes.
JUSTIN (to her)
Yellow.
GRETCHEN
What?
JUSTIN
Instead of ‘bless you.’ Doesn’t “yellow” even feel like a blessing?
GRETCHEN (setting the flowers down).
What’s going on with you today? Why didn’t you go to your classes?
JUSTIN
I think the question is: why was I going in the first place?
GRETCHEN
Uh… because you’re in college? Because you want to get a degree? And a job? Because you don’t want to be homeless someday.
JUSTIN
Maybe I do.
GRETCHEN
Justin!
JUSTIN
What? I’ve been talking to some homeless people.
GRETCHEN
You have?
JUSTIN
Have you ever noticed that when you’re walking down the street, they’re the only ones who say hello? This one guy, Charlie, he isn’t much older than me. He didn’t smell bad and he wasn’t hungry. He looked right at me when we talked. No one does that anymore, Gretch, but this guy, Charlie, he does because he’s not thinking about 10million other things. He’s just thinking about what you’re saying, taking it all in, exactly for what it is. You know what he does every day? In the morning he rides the el and picks up the newspapers people leave on the seats and then he stands in front of the train station and offers the papers to people, most of whom give him some change as a thankyou and when he gets enough money for a cup of coffee and a bagel, he goes to Dunkin Doughnuts. Then he goes to the Art Institute and sits on the steps with his coffee and reads whatever paper he has left. And when his coffee is finished, you know what he does? He holds out his empty cup and waits for people to put change in it. And when he has enough, he gets up and wanders somewhere else in the city to get lunch and then he wanders some more, meeting all kinds of people and talking until dark when he pulls out his sleeping bag and sets up camp under a tree in a park. A few times a week, he goes to the YMCA and gets a shower and if it’s raining or cold, he goes to a friend’s or a shelter. What’s so wrong with that? The guy is happy.
GRETCHEN
He’s homeless. I’m sure he didn’t choose to be.
JUSTIN
Maybe he did. Maybe he chose it because he knows the rest of society is just a big machine whose only function is to keep itself running by generating more and more money and more and more stupid things to spend it on.
GRETCHEN
Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend? The one who took me shopping last week to help him pick out the perfect _______ (something silly).
JUSTIN
I woke up. Or I'm waking up, trying desperately to wake up from this dream I’ve been having for the last eighteen years, a dream that someone else wrote where success is defined by fame and money and security. What ever happened to happiness? Where does that fit into success? Do you think we even know what it means to be happy anymore? Or what it means to have a real conversation where two people can talk about how they’re really feeling, deep down underneath all of this surface BS?
GRETCHEN
We have real conversations. All the time.
JUSTIN
We used to. But now we mostly talk about the past or the future or the stupid stuff that makes up our boring daily lives. Like _____s (silly object again.) And if that’s all there is to talk about, if that’s reality, then I quit. I don't want to be a part of that anymore. I want something else even if it means that I -- me, the person who's standing here right now -- might not get to exist like this anymore. I'll find another existence, like I found those flowers today. I have to.
GRETCHEN (alarmed)
Justin, what are you talking about? (You’re scaring me.)
JUSTIN
Ever since I found him in the park like that… I can’t stop thinking about the expression frozen on his face. I don’t want to end up like that someday. When I die, I want to go knowing that even if my life is just a part in some big messed up play, that I played it the very best I could… that I stretched it to its limits and explored every last bit of its potential. That I at least tried to rewrite the script, even if only a little bit.
GRETCHEN (softly)
“Live well your part, there in all honor lies.”
JUSTIN
What?
GRETCHEN
Shakespeare.
JUSTIN
You get it.
GRETCHEN
No, I don’t. Does it mean that Elliot failed at his part? Or was that his part -- to die in park in the pouring rain? I don’t get it at all.
JUSTIN
It couldn’t have been his part, Gretchen. No one should have to go like that.
GRETCHEN
Maybe there are no parts. Maybe there’s no reason for anything.
JUSTIN
Maybe not… Maybe life is entirely what we make of it.
Beat.
GRETCHEN
So that’s it? You’re quitting college?
JUSTIN
If I don’t want to be there, isn’t it a gigantic waste of resources to keep going?
GRETCHEN
What are you going to do instead?
JUSTIN
I don’t know yet and I find that totally exhilarating. Today I picked dandelions. Maybe tomorrow I’ll plant a tree, or read a book, or fly a kite.
GRETCHEN
Your parents are going to completely flip.
JUSTIN
I know. I think I’ll postpone informing them for a little while.
GRETCHEN
You mean, as long as humanly possible?
JUSTIN
Basically. (beat) So. Do you think you’d still want to smooch me every now and then, even as a dropout?
GRETCHEN
Maybe… but only after I’ve finished my homework. I can’t have you being a bad influence on me.
JUSTIN
Oh come on… just a few smooches and then I’ll be on my way.
GRETCHEN
Look, I haven’t even gotten into college yet. And if the two of us were ever going to get really serious, then I’ve got a lot weighing on me if we’re going to live in anything nicer than a cardboard box.
JUSTIN
A cardboard box wouldn’t be so bad… I could cut us out some windows….
GRETCHEN (pointing to the door)
I should be finished by nine-thirty.
JUSTIN
Okay…
JUSTIN sneaks a kiss and then exits. After a moment, GRETCHEN goes to her computer and tries to work. A sneezing fit catches hold of her. She realizes the dandelions are making her sneeze and she runs them out of the room. She sits down at her desk again and just as she’s starting to work, one last sneeze gets her. She flops onto her bed and screams into her pillow.
GRETCHEN (into her pillow)
Yellow sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
16 comments:
hahaha! i love the end!
One question: how old is Gretchen? Are G and J the same age or is she younger?
I think what marnie was saying about Justin maturing and Gretchen helping him in Rain is really apparent in this scene. It's funny how their roles have switched.
Super great awesome. I still think that Justin sounds a little high but I guess maybe he is. Not on drugs or anything but on his revelation. I also love the contrast between Sam, who is practicing nothingness and Justin who is trying to be alive. Great scene, especially following the Sam/Alex scene. Even after all this time I don't know if I ever fully appreciated the character of Justin until reading this scene. Bravo.
I really enjoyed this scene and their interaction. They have a very unique relationship and I like how it's depicted. I really like Gretchen. She's the one I understand and have connected with the most so far.
I don't like how much smooch is used though. I thought it was cute the first time but after the third time it seemed awkward. Could be just me, or maybe it has a purpose but personally I didn't like that.
So far this is my favorite scene!
PS:
I love how the scene opens. Just a suggestion maybe? When I read the first opening lines of this scene I image Justin or Gretchen either or, covering Gretchen's eyes like it's this big surprise.
Just a thought =)
Gretchen is a junior and Justin is a freshman in college. So... about 7 months after Rain. I'm glad you can all see the growth in Justin since Rain. That's something I've been working on, especially since our December workshop. Danny, you're right. Justin is totally high on life. That's a great way of putting it. Nice observation about the contrast to Sam and his nothingness. Jasmine, I didn't realize I used smooch so much! I'll have to take one out.
Everyone: ideas on how I should fill in the blank?
GRETCHEN
Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend? The one who took me shopping last week to help him pick out the perfect _______ (something silly).
Massage oil... Bow tie... Scooter... Polar bear...
Lamp shade...haha
I like scooter. and polar bear.
it has to be something you can buy! and preferably not too expensive or chic. more random. maybe stuffed polar bears?
still waiting for two more people to comment before i post the next scene...
Plug-in deodorizer.
Noise-canceling headphones.
Shower caddy.
iPod armband.
Zippo lighter.
(I'm thinking of college-esque things, since he's a freshman...)
love the scene...understand the yellow scene much more.
its crazy to see justin with a girl after stars...but a good crazy. i'm scared that this will make justin an unmotivated slacker, because i dont think he is, i just think he wants to feel what it is to live before he dies, and the happiness he found just picking dandilions made him feel that.
its also really cool to see them all going to college. its like we're all growing with them...
i'll keep my ears open for random things to buy janis!
thats five people.
scene five, pul-eeeeze?
(this is fun. im impatient)
okay. i'll post another one. but i still don't think we've found the perfect silly random cheap item that gretchen and justin used to collect together. hopefully people keep thinking on this one.
I don't think that Justin is going to be a slacker. I think he's just choosing a different path from the one that society puts out in front of everyone. I think that Justin may be less crazy than he appears.
Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend? The one who took me shopping last week to help him pick out the perfect pair of suspenders.
suspenders!
Post a Comment