Based On A True Story
Mar. 7th, 2012 08:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
exhilarationI'm on my spring break right now, and it's turning out to be the boringest/miserable-est spring break I've ever had. Especially compared to last year, when Bevan came all the way from China to visit with me! It's mostly boring because Bevan's break doesn't match with mine, so I'm kind of just home by myself, but also, I am kind of sick. I had a fever and was coughing my lungs out yesterday, today I feel much better but I still feel like I'd be infecting anyone I came in contact with. So, so much for doing much socially while I'm on break.
Also, yesterday I fell off my couch and landed kind of on my side - it really hurt. Like, it REALLY hurt. Today I don't have therapy, but I went to see my physical therapist anyway (instead of going to like, the ER or something) and explained how I fell and how I landed - she kind of freaked out and tried to tell me I probably broke my collar bone or something. I... am pretty sure I didn't break any bones. It doesn't feel like I did, anyway. I'm just worried about jarring newly-healed tendons and stuff. She made me go through a bunch of ROM stuff though, and said if I hurt my tendons or muscles or anything, I'd know because either I wouldn't be able to move, or it would be extremely painful to move. Ummm, wouldn't that be true about a broken bone, too, though? Anyway, tomorrow, I'm going to the hospital for an Xray and an MRI - she got a doctor on the premises to write me a prescription for that, I guess, so I could make an appointment at the hospital rather than just going to the ER. It's not an emergency... but it really does hurt! There is a huge bruise, it is very swollen, but like, I can see my collar bone and it's not crooked or sticking out weird and I can even press on it without it feeling more painful - so again, I don't know why she is so sure I broke something.
If I seem nonchalant about this, well... this just feels like ONE MORE thing on top of SO MANY I don't even know how to react. I mean it's to the point of being absurd, and I don't even want to talk about it anymore. Moving on.
Lara (voice over)
FADE IN:
EXT. - city sidewalk - LATE AFTERNOON
Cars and busses crowd the roads, overcast sky and blustery wind, two girls huddled in their scarves and hats walk next to each other. ASHLEY is wearing a fashionable plaid coat and carrying a blue purse. LARA is wearing a red polkadot scarf and using a powerchair.
Lara (V.O.) CONT'D
Ashley
Lara
Ashley
Lara
Ashley
LARA sees something on the sidewalk and darts in front of ASHLEY, stopping suddenly
Lara
LARA manages to trap a $20 bill under her left wheel.
Ashley
They look at each other
Ashley CONT'D
Lara
Lara sits up and ASHLEY retrieves the money.
Lara CONT'D
INT. - CAFE - LOW LIGHTING
It is a "vintage chic" style cafe with a display case of decorated cupcakes under the counter. Only a few tables are occupied by eccentric-looking cafe patrons
ASHLEY holds the door open. LARA and ASHLEY approach the counter and ASHLEY grabs a menu off the end.
Lara
Ashley
Lara
Counter Girl
LARA nods. While they wait they look around the cafe at all the fiber art displayed on the walls.
Ashley
Lara
Ashley>
Lara
LARA and ASHLEY pick up their drinks and choose a table next to a wall full of more framed quilt squares. LARA unwinds her scarf and sets it in her lap. Then she sets the change from the $20 bill on the table.
Ashley
Lara (V.O.)
ASHLEY is still talking, pointing to the rings on her fingers and explaining that she loves elephants so people give her elephant rings.
LARA looks at the framed artwork above her.
Lara (V.O.) CONT'D
Ashley
Lara
LARA tastes her drink.
Lara
ASHLEY tastes hers as well.
Lara CONT'D
Ashley
LARA rolls her eyes and sips her coffee. LARA shakes her head.
Lara
ASHLEY stands up.
Ashley
LARA backs away from the table.
Lara
Ashley
LARA takes a closer look at the art on the other side of the room, unable to resist touching the stitching on the squares. She pauses at the bulletin board, reading the other fliers, then pulls one of the hanging tabs off the open mic flier and heads to the door to meet ASHLEY.
When ASHLEY returns from the ladies room, LARA offers her the tab.
Lara
ASHLEY shakes her head.
Ashley
LARA tries to put the tab in ASHLEY's blue purse, and thinks she succeeds.
Lara
LARA holds out the remaining change from the twenty, and sticks that in ASHLEY's purse as well.
Ashely
Lara
Ashley
FADE OUT.
INT - CLASSROOM - EARLY AFTERNOON
Students are sitting and standing around desks arranged in a grid pattern. Large windows line the walls and it is sunny outside. The teacher has not yet arrived and class hasn't started yet.
LARA has a Starbucks cup on her desk.
LARA is talking to a classmate, SEAN.
Lara
SEAN begins to look at LARA as if she is crazy
Lara CONT'D
Class is starting and LARA pulls up to her desk and takes a sip of her coffee.
Lara (V.O.)
The lights dim and the professor puts a page of notes up on the overhead projector. LARA reaches over to get her notebook out of her bag, and something falls out with it. Not sure what it is, she taps on SEAN's desk next to her.
Lara
On the paper is the number to contact for the cafe's open mic night.
FADE OUT
THE END
And yeah, this is pretty much entirely true, nothing was really added or anything. I just thought it would make a nice little pointless five-minute film.
Also, yesterday I fell off my couch and landed kind of on my side - it really hurt. Like, it REALLY hurt. Today I don't have therapy, but I went to see my physical therapist anyway (instead of going to like, the ER or something) and explained how I fell and how I landed - she kind of freaked out and tried to tell me I probably broke my collar bone or something. I... am pretty sure I didn't break any bones. It doesn't feel like I did, anyway. I'm just worried about jarring newly-healed tendons and stuff. She made me go through a bunch of ROM stuff though, and said if I hurt my tendons or muscles or anything, I'd know because either I wouldn't be able to move, or it would be extremely painful to move. Ummm, wouldn't that be true about a broken bone, too, though? Anyway, tomorrow, I'm going to the hospital for an Xray and an MRI - she got a doctor on the premises to write me a prescription for that, I guess, so I could make an appointment at the hospital rather than just going to the ER. It's not an emergency... but it really does hurt! There is a huge bruise, it is very swollen, but like, I can see my collar bone and it's not crooked or sticking out weird and I can even press on it without it feeling more painful - so again, I don't know why she is so sure I broke something.
If I seem nonchalant about this, well... this just feels like ONE MORE thing on top of SO MANY I don't even know how to react. I mean it's to the point of being absurd, and I don't even want to talk about it anymore. Moving on.
I do this thing in my head where I try to make everything seem like a story. I try to give it a beginning, middle and an end.
FADE IN:
EXT. - city sidewalk - LATE AFTERNOON
Cars and busses crowd the roads, overcast sky and blustery wind, two girls huddled in their scarves and hats walk next to each other. ASHLEY is wearing a fashionable plaid coat and carrying a blue purse. LARA is wearing a red polkadot scarf and using a powerchair.
My favorite part of the story is always the moment where the main character pauses and the grand realization hits her. I always pictures this as a scene from a movie - the music swells and the camera pans, and the audience thinks to themselves, ahhh, now it all makes sense.
So, I keep driving past this cafe and I want to check it out, you feel like coffee?
Do you even know where it is?
I drive past it on my way to school, it's somewhere on this road I think
You think? This isn't going to turn into some wild goose chase is it?
It's somewhere on this block I think... or maybe the next one
LARA sees something on the sidewalk and darts in front of ASHLEY, stopping suddenly
Oh my god!
LARA manages to trap a $20 bill under her left wheel.
(looking up)
This is the cafe!
They look at each other
It was meant to be!
(bending over)
There's not even anyone around, and this didn't come off of me or you. Amazing! Can you pick this up?
Lara sits up and ASHLEY retrieves the money.
I NEVER find money on the ground! And I never catch things that are blowing away, either!
INT. - CAFE - LOW LIGHTING
It is a "vintage chic" style cafe with a display case of decorated cupcakes under the counter. Only a few tables are occupied by eccentric-looking cafe patrons
ASHLEY holds the door open. LARA and ASHLEY approach the counter and ASHLEY grabs a menu off the end.
Oh, this one is for you, white chocolate mocha raspberry, that's what you want. What do I want?
Look at the cupcakes! I wish I hadn't just ate, I want like all of them!
(to the counter girl)
She's having the white chocolate raspberry and I'm having the salted caramel dark please
Is this to have here?
LARA nods. While they wait they look around the cafe at all the fiber art displayed on the walls.
They show local artists here, this is great! Maybe my mom could show here!
(looking at and fingering a framed quilt square)
This is really cool. I know how to do this, you need a special sewing machine, but it's really hard - Oh look!
(points to flier above her head)
Open mic night, you should perform here!
I can't believe I didn't even know about this place.
I still can't believe I found twenty bucks on the ground! And that I actually CAUGHT it. It's like MAGIC!
LARA and ASHLEY pick up their drinks and choose a table next to a wall full of more framed quilt squares. LARA unwinds her scarf and sets it in her lap. Then she sets the change from the $20 bill on the table.
This would be a great place to have breakfast before school...
And suddenly I was daydreaming about so many different things at once. In my head I was laughing over breakfast with Ashley; we could have a standing date on Thursdays. It would be rough getting up earlier but I'd be in such a better mood during class if it followed a cute little breakfast in a cute little cafe. If we did it every week, maybe I'd get to know Ashley a little better and it would be almost like we were friends!
ASHLEY is still talking, pointing to the rings on her fingers and explaining that she loves elephants so people give her elephant rings.
LARA looks at the framed artwork above her.
I couldn't help but pick apart in my head how the artist had made the squares. I knew how to do all of those techniques. A quilt was a huge undertaking, but small 1'x1' squares were very contained. These were so intricate and interesting - I could do something like this. It would give me something to do on the train to school - maybe I should dig through all my sewing things tonight - I wonder where they even are, oh, this is really impressive, I don't know how the artist did this one!
(seeing LARA stare at the artwork on the wall>
That one is really pretty
Oh, now I see how this is done, it's sort of like an appliqué, see, she cut this transparent material to match the pattern of the fabric underneath, and see this is a setting on her sewing machine that makes these patterns.
LARA tastes her drink.
Wow, this is really delicious.
ASHLEY tastes hers as well.
Make sure you get the number from that flier over there, you could totally do something here for open mic night!
YOU could totally do something here for open mic night.
LARA rolls her eyes and sips her coffee. LARA shakes her head.
Nah, live performances are not my thing. Gimme my computer and my fancy microphone any day.
ASHLEY stands up.
Finished?
LARA backs away from the table.
Yep. We totally need to come back here soon though.
I'm gonna pee first
LARA takes a closer look at the art on the other side of the room, unable to resist touching the stitching on the squares. She pauses at the bulletin board, reading the other fliers, then pulls one of the hanging tabs off the open mic flier and heads to the door to meet ASHLEY.
When ASHLEY returns from the ladies room, LARA offers her the tab.
Here, this is for you, for open mic night
ASHLEY shakes her head.
I'm too busy
LARA tries to put the tab in ASHLEY's blue purse, and thinks she succeeds.
Come on. You can't be too busy for your dream.
LARA holds out the remaining change from the twenty, and sticks that in ASHLEY's purse as well.
What's that?
It's the change. Next time you can treat me. Keep the magic going!
This has been so cool! We'll have to remember where this place is!
FADE OUT.
INT - CLASSROOM - EARLY AFTERNOON
Students are sitting and standing around desks arranged in a grid pattern. Large windows line the walls and it is sunny outside. The teacher has not yet arrived and class hasn't started yet.
LARA has a Starbucks cup on her desk.
LARA is talking to a classmate, SEAN.
(animatedly)
We tried to go to this cafe we went to last week that like Ashley didn't even know where it was and suddenly there was this twenty dollar bill like blowing down the sidewalk RIGHT AT US and so I ran over it and ACTUALLY CAUGHT IT and then we looked up and THERE WAS THE CAFE, it was SO COOL, and it was like MAGIC, and you know, I wouldn't have even been surprised if like we tried to find it again and it just WASNT THERE, you know, like we spent the afternoon in like this OTHER DIMENSION or something
SEAN begins to look at LARA as if she is crazy
you know, like it was too cool to even EXIST, like we MADE IT UP or something, that would have been even MORE perfect, but, actually it was just closed, and we were BUMMED, and went to Starbucks instead...
Class is starting and LARA pulls up to her desk and takes a sip of her coffee.
I get too excited about too many little things, and I think it makes other people think I'm crazy. That was a pretty good story until I got all carried away and started talking about the possibility of the cafe existing in another dimension. But really, that WOULD have been perfect! It would have been like.. the MAGIC cafe or something. Just like a story. Like the universe was aligned so perfectly on that ONE day, we found the money, we found the cafe -
The lights dim and the professor puts a page of notes up on the overhead projector. LARA reaches over to get her notebook out of her bag, and something falls out with it. Not sure what it is, she taps on SEAN's desk next to her.
(whispers)
Hey, can you pick that up for me?
On the paper is the number to contact for the cafe's open mic night.
FADE OUT
THE END
And yeah, this is pretty much entirely true, nothing was really added or anything. I just thought it would make a nice little pointless five-minute film.
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no subject
Date: 2012-03-08 01:54 am (UTC)I hope your collar bone is okay! It is totally possible to not know you have broken bones, especially if it's like a hairline fracture. But hopefully you just bruised it!
no subject
Date: 2012-03-08 08:29 pm (UTC)I didn't break my collarbone. I almost would have preferred I did, but being that I fell not even two feet, regardless of how I landed I'd have to be pretty fragile to have broken a bone that way. I DID sprain my acromioclavicular joint - I know what that is because I took and rocked anatomy last year - and Id rather have broken a bone. I don't need more problems with small and complex and important joints. Go figure.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-08 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-08 08:30 pm (UTC)