Oregon
Literary
Review
Vol. 2, No. 2

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Stacy Feder
DROP BY DROP
A Short Screenplay


DROP


FADE IN:

SUPER:  "DAY ONE"

INT. KITTY'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - DAY

KITTY, 20's, bends over a sink ferociously scrubbing her face.

Dries off with a towel, looks in the mirror, unpleased.

She bends over to scrub again, dries off her face one more
time, looks in the mirror, sighs.

Picks up a pamphlet from the back of the toilet that reads:
GETTING THROUGH IT, DAY BY DAY, DROP BY DROP.

Long, black hair falls in clumps on the bathroom floor.

Puts on a pair of latex gloves, squirts hair dye into her
hands, rubs it into her scalp.

Kitty bends over the bathtub, rinses her hair under the
faucet. Pools of black water eddy in the drain.

Kitty picks up an unlabelled, purple vial, sips it.

She dips the tip of a piece of dental floss into the vial,
decidedly winds the floss around her fingers, saws away at
her gums.

Screams.

SUPER:  "AN HOUR LATER"

INT. KITTY'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Kitty sits on her couch with a bandana tied around her mouth,
wears a dark pair of sunglasses, her hair cut short, frizzed
out, blotchily colored.

Her feet tap against the coffee table; her fingers tap
against her knees.

She picks up a timer from the coffee table. It reads: "1:59";
it clicks to "2:00", beeps.

Kitty walks over to the blinds, hesitates, clicks them a
quarter of an inch open; sunlight breaks through.

Kitty shields her eyes and returns to the couch.

She resets the timer for another hour.

She turns her face from the window, resumes her tapping.


                                                            2.


SUPER:  "DAY TWO"

INT. DINER - DAY

Kitty sits at a booth in a baseball cap, dark sunglasses.

She liberally pours sugar into her coffee mug, stirs.

DR. JUICE, (40's), clean-cut, toting a large duffle bag,
bounds into the diner, slaps Kitty on the shoulder.

                         DR. JUICE
             Hi-o! Kitty-o!

Kitty barely meets his eyes.

Dr. Juice whips into the seat opposite Kitty.

                         KITTY
             Hi there.

Dr. Juice clasps his hands in front of him.

                         DR. JUICE
             Well, you're lookin' great!
             Except for a little dribble on
             your lips there?

Dr. Juice dips his napkin in a glass of water, wipes at the
dried blood on Kitty's lips.

Kitty pulls back from him, but then allows it.

                         DR. JUICE
             Now let me see the job you did?

Dr. Juice pries open Kitty's mouth with his thumb, reveals
two gaping holes where her canines used to be.

He peers in and scrunches up his nose.

                         DR. JUICE
             Not bad. Not bad? Did you use the
             purple stuff? Still hurt much?

                         KITTY
             Kills.

                         DR. JUICE
             Sleep last night?

                         KITTY
             No.


                                                            3.


                         DR. JUICE
             Sleep this morning?

                         KITTY
             No.

                         DR. JUICE
             How's the light in your apartment.

                         KITTY
             Hasn't killed me yet.

                         DR. JUICE
             Ok, good. It won't, you know.
             It's all in your head?
             psychosomatic. I don't want you
             to stay awake one more night
             though. Bad. I'm gonna give you
             two tinctures that should help
             and then we'll meet up tomorrow.

                         KITTY
             Ok.

                         DR. JUICE
             Can you do that?

                         KITTY
             I said yeah.

                         DR. JUICE
             Okie-dokie.

WAITRESS approaches their table.

                         DR. JUICE (TO WAITRESS)
             An orange juice, please. Large.

Waitress walks away.

Dr. Juice reaches into his duffle bag and pulls out two
small boxes, unmarked, one is brown and one is black.

Dr. Juice taps the brown box.

                         DR. JUICE
             This one is for pain.

Kitty picks the vial out of the box, pockets it.

Dr. Juice taps on the black box.


                                                            4.


                         DR. JUICE
             This one is for sleep? Now, both
             take effect immediately, but use
             them sparingly. S-P-A-R-I-N-G-L-Y.
             This is a limited supply. One
             drop does the trick? If you don't
             want the drops you can do it
             cold-turkey. Dependency can be
             harder to kick than?

Kitty leans into Dr. Juice.

                         KITTY
             I want the drops.

Kitty pockets the black vial.

Dr. Juice takes his hands off the table.

                         DR. JUICE
             All-righty-then. All yours
             sweetheart.

Dr. Juice starts to get out of the booth.

                         DR. JUICE
             Oh, there's almost something I
             forgot. Do-do-do-do?

He takes an envelope from his back pocket.

                         DR. JUICE
             Go to this address in a half an
             hour. My wife will be expecting you.

Kitty accepts the envelope.

                         KITTY
             When can I eat?

                         DR. JUICE
             You can't eat until you've gotten
             some sleep.

                         KITTY
             But I can't sleep without eating.

                         DR. JUICE
             Well? you can't eat until you've
             forgotten who you are. The drops
             will help. Do something positive
             today. You're giving me a "grumpy"
             feel.


                                                            5.


Dr. Juice exits the diner.

The waitress sets down the glass of orange juice in front of
Kitty.

Kitty stares at it, then pouts and looks away.

EXT. THE JUICE'S HOUSE - FRONT DOOR - DAY

Kitty checks the address in her hand, knocks on the door.

No one answers.

Kitty peaks into the front window, but the curtains are drawn.

She knocks again.

                         KITTY
             Mrs. Juice?

The door opens.

MRS. JUICE, 30's, is in her robe, a towel wrapped around her
head.

                         MRS. JUICE
             Kitty.

INT.  THE JUICE HOUSE - DAY

Mrs. Juice tidies up a bit around the house.

Kitty stands in the doorway watching her.

Mrs. Juice walks up to Kitty and takes her hands.

                         MRS. JUICE
             The doctor told me you were
             coming? Oh, you look like you've
             had a rough go of it. Doin' ok?

                         KITTY
             Yeah. I think so. I took some of
             the drops.

                         MRS. JUICE
             Oh, good. That should help. Be
             careful though. Reliance is what
             we're trying to break here? Human
             existence is about SELF-control.
             Well, come on! Let's get you
             fixed up!

Kitty follows Mrs. Juice down the hall.



                                                            6.


INT.  THE JUICE HOUSE - DINING ROOM - DAY - LATER

Kitty sits at the dining table; her hair has been cut and
re-dyed to all one color, looking magazine-perfect.

She wears a casual business suit.

                         MRS. JUICE
             The contacts will help with the
             light. You can still wear the
             sunglasses if you like, but they
             really should not be necessary in
             a day or two.

                         KITTY
             Thanks so much. I really could
             not have done all this without
             all your help. I was kind of a mess.

                         MRS. JUICE
             No problem, Kitty. We're here to
             help you!

Mrs. Juice shows Kitty to the door.

                         MRS. JUICE
             Now, go home and do some
             crosswords or whatever it is you
             young, single people do these
             days? Ok. Sleep tonight and get
             up for work tomorrow. Just like
             that. Lots of people do it every
             day, every day. They'll be
             expecting you at the bank at 8am.

                         KITTY
             Thanks, I will. Thank you.

Kitty turns around and smiles; the two gaps in her mouth
have been filled with false teeth.

Mrs. Juice shuts the door, then peaks behind the curtain to
be sure Kitty is walking away.

She picks up the phone, dials a number, waits for an answer.

                         MRS. JUICE
             Well, that was easier than you
             said it was going to be.

Mrs. Juice pulls two unmarked vials out of her robe pocket;
one is brown and one is black.


                                                            7.


INT.  KITTY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Kitty is in her pajamas, frantically rifling through her
purse; she cannot find what she's looking for.

She checks the pockets of her jeans.

                         KITTY
             Yes!

She lays down on a single mattress on the floor, stares up
at the ceiling.

She screws the cap off of a red vial in her hand, swallows a
few drops.

                         KITTY
             Drop by drop? No problem.

Kitty's pupils shrink; her eyes lose color.

SUPER:  "DAY THREE"

EXT.  CITY STREET - DAY

Kitty walks up to the bank looking as she did when she left
Mrs. Juice's house the day before.

There is a skip in her step; she smiles at those she passes.

INT. BANK - DAY

Kitty saunters up to the front desk and introduces herself
to the CLERK.

                         KITTY
             Hi. I'm Kitty. I'm here to see Dr.
             Juice.

                         CLERK
             I'll page him for you.

Dr. Juice approaches Kitty with arms outstretched, then he
looks skeptical.

                         DR. JUICE
             Kitty! You look great? better
             than great!

Kitty warmly accepts his compliment.


                                                            8.


                         DR. JUICE
             Well, let's get you started.
             First we're gonna do a little
             check-up and make sure EVERYthing
             is up to speed.

                         KITTY
             No, problem-o, boss!

Kitty follows Dr. Juice down the corridor.

Dr. Juice glances back at her, scrunches up his nose.

                         DR. JUICE
             Really, Kitty. You look fantastic.

                         KITTY
             Your wife has excellent taste, sir.

They approach the examination room door.

                         DR. JUICE
             All, right. Here we are.

Dr. Juice opens the door.

Kitty enters.

INT.  EXAMINATION ROOM - DAY

Kitty sits on the examination table, her hands on her knees.

                         DR. JUICE
             Kitty, I'm very impressed with
             your recovery. It looks like Day
             Three will be your best day yet.

                         KITTY
             I think so too, Doc.

                         DR. JUICE
             But, I'm curious? How, I mean,
             didn't you? How exactly did you
             sleep last night?

                         KITTY
             With a little help from my friends?

Dr. Juice cocks his head at Kitty.

                         DR. JUICE
             Kitty??

Kitty slides off the exam table and walks towards Dr. Juice.


                                                            9.


He backs away from her.

                         KITTY
             Your wife is an impressive
             apothecary, but I think she may
             be missing her most revered
             pharmaceutical.

Kitty flashes her teeth. Her false teeth are gone and her
fangs have started to grow back in.

                         DR. JUICE
             Kitty, we were only trying to help.

Kitty's fingers wrap in between the buttons of Dr. Juice's
lab coat.

                         KITTY
             No, thank you. I don't need
             anyone's help?

Kitty leans into Dr. Juice's neck and starts sucking.

                                            FADE OUT.



Sophocles Screenplay Software 2005
www.sophocles.net