EXT. RED TRUCK. BACKCOUNTRY DRIVE. SUNNY.
GRANDPA JESS
(gestures at driver’s seat)
You take the wheel son. It’s high time you learned to drive
DEVLIN
(face lights up in sheer shock at this offer, smiles broadly at his grandfather, can’t believe it, moves into driver’s seat)
I get to drive?
Really?
GRANDPA JESS
(laughing as Devlin grinds the gears a little, til he manages, they take off up the road)
You’ll get the hang of it son. Why I wouldn’t be surprised if by the end of the day
DEVLIN
(braking suddenly at the wonder of seeing a Bobcat with huge golden eyes in the road)
GRANDPA JESS
We’ll be to the top in no time
EXT. PICNIC. BIG ROCK MOUNTAIN. DAY, SUNNY
Devlin and Grandpa Jess sit at Big Rock Mountain and open the picnic basket which overflows with all the things packed inside.
GRANDPA JESS
Your grandmother sure loves herself a nice fire, Dev
DEVLIN
She told me it warms her spirit
(the two of them enjoy the lunch, while we pan on the wildlife and flowers of location)
*sound quiet winds on the mountain
Devlin and Grandpa Jess collect the cones all day in burlap sacks, as evening falls, dusk light. Thoughts of Teenie at the beach float through his mind like butterflies, he realizes they won’t be home before dark, so he will miss being able to get to the driftwood hut.
INT. CHRISTINA’S KITCHEN. DISMAL BLUE LIGHT. MORNING.
Christina in her kitchen, opening the cabinets, frustrated by the lack of food, missing her husband Jax, She can hardly cope. Nothing in cabinets except for a jar of peanut butter and macaroni and cheese, boxed. She closes cabinets, rests her head against them. Realizes she has to find the strength to go shopping. Decides to make Teenie soup they can share.
CHRISTINA
(says to ceiling)
All the fun has gone out of my life. All the fun is gone.
TEENIE
(comes from the beach)
CHRISTINA
Honey where were you. I was worried, you didn’t leave a note. I got up and the house was just empty this morning.
TEENIE
I just went down to the beach Mom
CHRISTINA
Do you want some lunch
TEENIE
I’m starved
CHRISTINA
I made you some soup
TEENIE
You did?
CHRISTINA
It’s on the stove. Want to sit down together?
TEENIE
That would be nice Mom. You weren’t watching TV today?
CHRISTINA
No honey. I wanted a day off from it.
TEENIE
Mom how come the news is always so bad
CHRISTINA
It’s just how the world is now, Teenie
TEENIE
What was it like when you were a girl?
CHRISTINA
Well, it was the same world, just different. People had problems then too, Teenie, but it didn’t seem quite as hard as it is now.
(Teenie watches her mother at the stove stirring the soup. She is happy they will be sitting together, even if her father isn’t with them.)
CHRISTINA
I missed Jax a lot today, Teenie
(she ladles two bowls of the fragrant soup, and we close in on the colors she is putting into the bowls. Sudden life in the dismal blue light.)
*Teenie and Jax fave soup, Christina has made it, scratch
I really missed him Teenie
TEENIE
I miss him too, Mom
(smiles, as she takes her first spoonful, warmth filling her)
I think about Daddy every day
CHRISTINA
Oh honey. Most of the time I do too.
(pauses, wistful look into distance)
Jax used to love this soup, Teenie
*at page 72/Chapter is EMOTIONS
I
Adrienne Wilson 