INT.Ivy's Flat-Day
A run down flat in a dismal city. Pictures of an older man holding a blue parakeet as well as a
little girl with the same bird sit on a small wooden desk.A well worn love seat with tattered and
frayed cushions,throw pillows, cups of paint brushes sit on the floor and a small velvet stool
hides under the desk.Three blank canvasses on wobbly wooden easels sit in center of the room.
Blank sketch books lay gathering dust. A light hangs from the cracked plaster ceiling with a
burned out bulb slightly swaying back and forth.The bare walls of the flat reflect a yellow tint
from age,nicotine. A BLUE PARAKEET is perched in a white wire cage facing toward the dirty
window.
FEET hit the hardwood floor, shuffle to the kitchen.This is IVY,late twenties.She puts a tea
kettle on the burner.Dark bags hang under her hazel eyes,she shivers, wraps a flannel shirt
around herself tightly.She crosses to the living room passing by her parakeet, Pippy.She smiles
happily at the bird, nodding to greet her. She plops down on her worn love seat drawing her
knees to her chest.She furrows her brow at the sight of the empty canvasses before her.She sits
cross legged glancing now and again at Pippy,as if having a deep conversation,though she does
not speak at all. She briefly grins at Pippy but it soon fades.She stares at the stained rug at her
feet.There is a knock at the door.
Finn (O.S)
Hey,Ivy it's Finn.I brought you a muffin.
We hear rustling of the welcome mat.FINN late twenties,enters the flat take out bag in one hand,
a white envelope in the other.He wears a pub cap with a messenger bag slung over his
shoulder.He sets his hat upon the counter littered with bills and notes.He sets his bag on the stool
in the kitchen and pours Ivy water from her own kettle,tearing open a packet of peppermint tea
and place it in the chipped mug.
Finn
They were out of blueberry so banana will have to do.
He takes her muffin,tea and envelope to the living room passing by Pippy who ATTEMPTS TO
LIFT SMALL CAGE DOOR.
FInn
Pipster! Stop that.
Ivy continues to stare at her blank canvas. Finn places her muffin and tea on a table beside the
love seat. Moving the tattered throw pillows,he gently sits down beside her as he hands her the
white envelope.She takes it without looking at the return address and shreds the seal.Black ink
on white paper reads FINAL NOTICE. The scrawling automated signature printed on the bottom
makes the notice all the more official.Finn looks to the dirty window as he pulls at a loose thread
on the arm of the love seat avoiding Ivy's gaze.He stops and runs a finger around the collar of his
black button up.
Finn
It's close in here.
Letter clenched in hand,Ivy sips her tea silently.
Finn
(nodding at blank canvas)
Did anything come to you yet?
Ivy looks at Finn,furrows her brow.Finn sighs,frustrated.He looks back to the dirty
window,playing with the thread for a bit before ripping it from the love seat.
Finn
(Mutters under breath)
Will it ever?
He then rises,walks toward the kitchen,stops to caress the soft hair of paint brushes standing in a
cracked coffee cup atop Pippy's cage.He sling's his messenger bag over his shoulder,opens the
door to exit.He looks back over his shoulder, hand on the glass door knob.
Finn
Would you Open a window in here before you suffocate yourself?
He slams the door and leaves. Ivy turns to Pippy and shakes her head,sighs.She takes her muffin
tea to the kitchen where she tosses the muffin in the garbage and pours the tea down the sink
before dumping her dishes into the sink.She braces herself against the counter looking from the
CRACKED PLASTER CEILING,where the burnt bulb slowly sways to the THREE BLANK
CANVASSES,now bathed in warm sun light.Shadows from the filthy window dance on the
walls as the trees blow outside.She trudges back to the living room caressing Pippy's cage on the
way.She sits on the floor cross legged and tilts her head to the heavens. The clock TICKS as she
sits still. Pippy chirps and she stands brushing her hair from her eyes. She picks up a pencil
twirling in between her fingers as she paces looking at the floor.She pulls out the velvet stool
pushed under her desk and sits flipping to a clean page in her sketch book.She rests her head on
her arm as she presses the tip of her pencil to the page and picks it up again.She continues to do
this.Presses her pencil to the paper letting it rest a moment then picks it up again.
Cut to:
The dirty window,now late afternoon.Ivy stands perfectly squared in front of one blank
canvas.She rubs her eyes and heads to her room.She passes the window, smiles at Pippy then
turns back she shimmies open the grimy window only two inches.Wiping the dust from the sill
on her flannel shirt.The CURTAIN FLUTTERS in the gentle breeze.The dust twirls in the light
of the setting sun. She then continues on to her dark bedroom, deep purple curtains hang over the
windows and canvases wrapped in brown paper and twine rest against the walls.She pulls her
thick comforter back before climbing into bed.
Int. Ivy's flat-night
The moon struggles to shine through the dirty window. The breeze again RIPPLES THE
CURTAINS.We hear the clatter of the bird cage door.Ivy remains asleep.
INT.IVY'S FLAT-DAY
FEET hit the hardwood floor,trudge to the kitchen,put the kettle on and walk to the living room
to greet Pippy.The small cage door gapes open,the bird is gone. Ivy looks to the ceiling searching
the corners.She rushes to the bedroom where she does the same. The tea kettle starts to scream as
she frantically looks for Pippy.She flips the cushions from the love seat and opens her desk
drawers. She crawls on the floor looking under the few pieces of furniture in her living
room.Frustrated she stands abruptly stopping at the sight of the open window.She stands in front
of the window, each pane rimmed with frost. The CURTAINS GENTLY BLOW as a frigid
breeze hits her pink cheeks and pale face. The kettle continues to scream. As if in a trance she
walks to the kitchen, turning off the flame, silencing the kettle.A tear streams down her cheek as
she returns to the living room.She ceremoniously removes the food and water dish from the
empty cage and places them on the sill of the open window.She uses her sleeve to wipe off a
small section of one of the dirty window panes.
Cut to:
Ivy stares at Pippy's empty cage and glances to the pictures on her desk.She gracefully plucks a
small paintbrush from the coffee cup atop the empty cage.Ivy SQUEEZES FRESH PAINT onto
a wooden pallet.Her FACE strained,as if in pain.Ivy's paintbrush makes long STROKES.She
paints bright blues and greens, a pleasant portrait of her sweet bird.Her hand makes an imperfect
streak,focused on her strokes,she continues to paint from that streak.Her piece becomes more
horror-like and sinister,Her blues fade to browns,reds,purples, black. There is a knock at the
door.
FINN (O.S)
Hey, it's Finn I made some granola.
Finn unlocks the door,walks in stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of her actually painting.
His attention then shifts to Pippy and the empty cage.He glances around the room looking for her
then sees the open window.
Finn
Where is Pippy?
Ivy says nothing, she continues to paint.Finn walks up behind her smiling brightly.The minute
his eyes hit the canvas,his expression grows grim.
Finn
What on earth is that horrible creature?
Ivy
Oil base.What they want.This is what will sell.This is what they all are looking for.
Finn
I would never buy that and I seriously doubt "they" would either.Have the fumes gone to your
head?
IVy
Oh, I see you have become an art dealer over night. Opening your own gallery then?
Finn
What Happened to Pippy?
Ivy
She's gone.I opened the window just like you advised.
Ivy continues to paint.Finn sets the granola on the table.He leaves.She grips her paintbrush like a
five-year-old,smearing the background with deep purples.She wipes her forehead streaking it
with the black paint on her hands.
THE SUN RISES AND SETS.HANDS refill the food and water on the sill. Sketch books
multiply in haphazard stacks. Canvasses, filled with horrid scenes depicting morbid figures and
dark creatures are scattered throughout the flat.Crumpled papers litter the floor,ink sketches
cover the walls.
Ext.outside ivy's flat-day
Finn knocks on Ivy's door.She opens it with paint encrusted hands.He silently offers her a muffin
on a small square plate. She gracefully takes it.He gives her a lopsided grin before leaving.
Int. Ivy's living room-night
Ivy sits on her worn love seat, propped up by her throw pillows,facing the window.The moon
illuminates her features. She is wrapped tightly in her thick comforter playing with a small bird
toy in her hand. She looks out the dirty window as the CURTAINS FLUTTER. She nods her
head trying to stay awake.A medium size canvas sits on her desk wrapped in brown paper and
tied with twine.
INT.IVY'S FLAT-DAY
FEET hit the hard wood floor a comforter falling down beside them.Ivy rushes down the hall to
her bedroom and slips on a pair of patent leather flats. She looks in a full length mirror,smooths
her skirt,adjusts her dangling earrings.She smiles then grimaces.
EXT.City street-day
Ivy walks down the street in a gray pea coat,a covered canvas in hand. Biting her lip she presses
on against the wind.She walks the stone steps of a large gallery,grips the huge brass handle of
glass double doors and slips inside the edifice.
Int. art gallery day
Ivy walks over to an angry looking secretary,front desk,who sits at a desk set in the center of the
white room. Gold sculptures of birds sit upon the desk.Ivy rustles through her pocket,pulling out
a piece of crinkled paper.
Ivy
Excuse me.I am here to see a.....monseur Perry.
FRONT DESK
Monsieur Pierre.Ms.Ivy Kippling,I presume?
Ivy nods.Front Desk emerges through a small door in the section of her round desk,clipboard in
hand ,gesturing for Ivy to follow her.Her heels click as she power walks down a narrow
hallway.She leads Ivy into a small conference room where a portly fellow in a navy suit and pink
bow tie sits at the head of a long glass table. Front Desk hands him the clipboard,then turns on
her heel and exits.
Monsieur Pierre
Shall we skip the introductions? I am far more interested in seeing what it is you have here.
Ivy
Of course sir.
MONSIEUR PIERRE
Monsieur.
Ivy
Monsieur.
Ivy walks to the easel in the corner.She places her canvas upon it,slowly unwrapping the brown
paper cover.Light shines through the nearby window as dust dances about over the glass
table.Monsieur smiles intently watching the unveiling of the canvas.The instant it is visible,his
smile becomes broader and forced.Ivy steps back and stands next to her piece.After a long
pause,Monsieur leans forward,placing his elbows atop the table,pressing his fingers together as
he purses his lips.
EXT.CITY STREET-DAY
Ivy briskly walks down the street,looking angry.Her canvas is held under her
arm,unprotected.She pulls the plastic clip from her hair throwing it to the ground as her hair
whips in the wind.
MONSIEUR PIERRE (V.O)
To be frank,Ms.Kippling it's terribly morbid and not in a tasteful way.It is certainly not a piece I
or any other buyer of my caliber would desire to purchase and or display.You obviously have
talent,but you have long since forgotten how to use it.If that was what I was looking for I could
find it in the street "art" under the bridge.
INT.IVY'S FLAT-DAY
Ivy walks through her apartment door,slamming it behind her.Her hair is wind blown,her cheeks
chapped.She chucks her canvas on her love seat as she yanks out her earrings.She throws her
coat over a kitchen stool.She kicks her fridge,takes off her flats and throws them toward her
bedroom.She paces around biting her lip.Tears begin to tumble down her cheeks.She crosses to
the living room,angrily she rips all the sketches from her wall they flutter and float to the stained
rug.She slams her hand against the empty bird cage.She sweeps her arm across the kitchen
counter sending more papers flying.She charges an easel and smashes it over her knee tearing at
the canvas attached to it. She begins to cry hysterically screaming and laughing as she smashes
each canvas in her flat. She flails around kicking over her easels and splattering herself and her
flat with paint.Art supplies torn to shreds,she stands in the center of the room.Covered in paint,
papers smeared with ink clenched in her hands,screaming before collapsing to the floor.Day
fades to night as she lies on the floor. The breeze from the open window FLUTTERS THE
CURTAINS.
INT.IVY'S FLAT-DAY
FEET brush against the carpet as she stands,paint dried on her skin. Blue paint is splattered
across her ugly wall.She puts the kettle on and stares out the window,begins to clean up her
mess.Gathering her sketch books and fragments of canvasses in black garbage bags.She cleans
off the dirty window.She refills Pippy's food and water.She gathers cups of paintbrushes and
tubes of paint on her small desk. Then rag and spray bottle in hand she stands in front of the
paint splattered wall.She sprays the blue and wipes the mark only to smear it.She attempts to
scrub it but only scrubs it deeper into the drywall.She suddenly drops her cleaning items and
stoops to the floor. Gathers up paints and a pallet.She rises and begins to paint the splatter into
something much more.Gently flicks her wrist splattering more paint.She softly smiles as the wall
becomes covered in beautiful creatures and bright shrubbery.She continues to paint having to
REFILL HER PALLET THRICE.The wall becomes a lush landscape. We hear a knock at the
door and after the rustling of the welcome mat,Finn enters.He holds a take out bag in his hand
which he promptly drops to the floor at the sight of the huge mural before him.Papers still litter
the floor and full black garbage bags are propped against the counter and desk.
finn
Ivy.
Ivy turns around covered in paint, her hair in knots. She smiles brightly.
Finn
You never told me you were a muralist. My boss wants a mural in his new office. He has been
having trouble finding an artist to complete it.
In.finn's office
Ivy looks happy and the bags under her eyes are gone.She stands before a large wall in a well
furnished music studio.She paints the wings of a blue bird in flight as a tall slender fellow in a
dark suit stands behind her,smiling at her work.
tall fellow
Worth every penny, Ms.Kippling.Finn certainly was correct about you.
Ivy
Thank you sir.
The tall man then pulls out his cell phone, exits the office. Ivy looks to a clock hanging on the
wall looking surprised.She sets down her pallet, brushes her hair from her face, smearing her
forehead with paint.She scoops up a small take out bag from the ladder in front of the wall and
exits. She walks down the narrow hallway, turning sharply into a room at the end.Finn slings his
messenger bag over his shoulder shutting the lights off as he prepares to leave his office.Ivy
stands in front of him she holds out a the take out bag to him.
Ivy
Chocolate?Right?
Finn smirks and takes the bag from her.They exit his office and walk down the hallway
together.Finn eating his muffin Ivy looking off into the distance with a smile.She stands in the
doorway of Tall fellow's office.The sun shines on Ivy's back.Behind her the lush curtains of an
open window FLUTTER in the breeze.
Fade to black