INT. MEI-BEAS APARTMENT’S LIVING ROOM- NEW YEAR’S EVE MORNING
Through the window, the sun lights up a living room. A fourteen-year-old girl of East Asian descent, HELLEN, squats on a sofa with a photo album. As she turns each page, specks of dust sparkle in the air. Images of two mothers, one East Asian, MEGAN, and the other Latina, JULIA, stare up at the girl. Sprinkled within these photographs of the mothers are snapshots of two girls. One child, Hellen, is East Asian, yet this girl is not physically similar to either parent. Meanwhile, the other child, ADRIJANA, appears to be biologically related to the second mother. Chinese, English, and Spanish words for love and family outline the photos. The fourteen-year-old grins at each page and as she traces the images’ perimeters with her finger, the pictures glimmer. One image of the two girls at the beach glows especially strong while the setting of the living room fades. EXT. BUCHTTON BEACH- DAY- FIVE YEARS EARLIER The two mothers from the photograph chat with one another while their nine-year-old daughters build a sandcastle. Hellen sprinkles water from a bucket onto the fortress. Adrijana scowls. ADRIJANA Why’d you do that, Hellen? HELLEN It looks prettier this way. ADRIJANA No, it doesn’t. It looks like a dog peed on it. HELLEN No, the water makes it shine more with the sun. The mothers pause in their conversation to stare at their daughters. They glance at one another and then sigh. JULIA Girls, we’re having fun at the beach today. You should be enjoying your time together. ADRIJANA You argue with your sister. JULIA Why are you bringing Aunt Lily into this? Megan reaches into her tote bag and brings out her smartphone. MEGAN Picture time! The two girls groan, but they get into position beside their sandcastle. The camera snaps and the scene fades back into the living room. INT. MEI-BEAS APARTMENT’S LIVING ROOM- PRESENT Hellen flips the page of the scrapbook, a grin still lingering on her face. She pauses to stare at a selfie of her and her mother Julia sitting at a kitchen table with bowls of ice cream laying before them. The image glows and the living room fades again. INT. MEI-BEAS APARTMENT’S KITCHEN- NIGHT- TWO YEARS EARLIER The fluorescent kitchen light gleams down at a sobbing Julia who is slumped over the table. Outside the window, snow drums the glass. HELLEN Mom? Hellen, in pajamas, stands at the edge of the tiny kitchen. She steps into the light to take a seat beside her mother. Julia picks up her head and wipes her eyes. JULIA (In Spanish) It’s just the two of us tonight. Mama and Adrijana went to that Korean culture festival. HELLEN (In Spanish) I heard you on the phone...with Aunt Lily. Is everything okay? JULIA (In English) Yes, of course. How about we treat ourselves tonight. I think we have some ice-cream in the fridge? Hellen nods and leaves to get the dessert. Julia sighs and dabs her eyes with a tissue. Hellen returns with bowls and ice-cream. Mother and daughter slurp on the treat together. JULIA (in Spanish) You have no idea how blessed you are to have a good relationship with your sister, Hellen. HELLEN (in Spanish) Adrijana annoys me sometimes. She’s so bossy and it doesn’t make any sense. I’m older than her by six months. Julia laughs and takes a scoop out of Hellen’s bowl. HELLEN Hey! JULIA (in Spanish) Let’s take a picture to commemorate this moment. Julia takes out her phone and the camera snaps. INT. MEI-BEAS APARTMENT’S LIVING ROOM- PRESENT Hellen closes the photo album and places the book on the coffee table. She then turns to stare out the window as the sun continues to rise, saturating the room with light. It’s almost as if the sun itself is trying to take a picture.
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INT. TRAIN- SUNSET
An empty commuter train car is illuminated by the setting sun. Dust billows around the blue seats and the rumbling of train wheels murmurs in the background. Outside, fields of orange, red, and green highlight the country. Pink clouds glide across the sky and a hint of night peeks through the horizon’s upper edges. The landscape transforms into mountain ranges and, along with the scenery metamorphosis, time transitions into night. Glasses clink and the train car is now filled with people from all over the world. These people sit at different wooden benches eating a diverse range of foods and speaking distinguishable languages. At a center table protruding from the carriage wall, two sixteen-year-olds speaking in English are laughing with one another. One of the teenagers is a girl, Zaya, and the other is an enby, Taylor. ZAYA This is just incredible! How did this place even pop up? There’re no trains in Buchtton. TAYLOR Like I said, I just saw the train-stop appear next to my house and called you over. ZAYA Thank goodness you did, Taylor. I was getting so bored of Mr. Das’ chemistry homework. He gave us way too many summer assignments. TAYLOR I’m glad I did, Zaya. I love being with you. ZAYA You do? I swear I’m your only friend. TAYLOR That’s not true. I’m friendly with other people. ZAYA That’s exactly it, Taylor. You’re friendly with other people, not necessarily friends. For a moment the two teens sit at their bench in silence. Taylor peers out the window and at the mountains rearing in the distance. A full moon floats above two peaks. TAYLOR I think...at this point, Zaya, you’re more than my friend. INT. TRAIN- NINE MONTHS LATER- SUNRISE The train’s interior has altered again to be unfurnished except for a lone wooden bench in the center of the car. Taylor is hunched over on the seat with their face buried in their hands. TAYLOR (muffled) I’m sorry, Zaya. The overhead lighting above Taylor dims while the sunlight outside intensifies. The wailing of a baby can be heard in the distance. INT. TRAIN- A MONTH LATER- MID-DAY The train horn bellows and the car is now inhabited by two parallel benches that are perpendicular to the wall. Zaya and Taylor sit on each bench with their backs toward one another. Outside, snow floats down on barren fields. The mountains in the background appear jagged and endless. ZAYA We’re back on this train. A silence settles in the room. Taylor fiddles with the strings of their dark red hoodie. ZAYA Maybe it’s better this way. Neither of us will know her now. Zaya twists her body around to face Taylor’s back. She wears a green winter jacket and a tan hat. Her hair splays around her shoulders. Bags hang under her puffy eyes. ZAYA Maybe we now have a chance to be “normal” again. TAYLOR (back still turned) It’s wrong. We abandoned a child. Zaya sighs. She turns her head to stare out the window. ZAYA I know that. Maybe even more than you, I know that. TAYLOR We didn’t have to either. Our parents have money. We could have figured something out. It's like history is repeating itself. I was abandoned as a baby in India and now I'm abandoning a baby. ZAYA It’s this world, Taylor. It’s this world and its obsession with status. I hate this place. I really hate this place. Taylor shifts around to face Zaya. Tears slip down their face and drop onto their jeans. TAYLOR I do, too, Zaya... but what good has hating this place ever done? Zaya and Taylor peer into each other's eyes. TAYLOR This is all my fault. I should never have invited you onto this train in the first place. ZAYA Taylor, everything we did...it was the both of us. I don’t hate you, Taylor. Taylor smiles at Zaya. TAYLOR Do you think there’s still hope for us? Zaya grins and the winter sun shimmers down on her through the train window. ZAYA Do you know where this train is taking us? The two teenagers turn to stare out the window at the limitless mountains. They keep to their separate benches, but their bodies lean toward one another just slightly. EXT. TRAIN- DUSK A white train rumbles down worn brown tracks. Multi-colored fields line the route and lights from little towns glitter in the distance beyond the train. Only one car window is lit and an empty wooden table is in view. Although no one is there, indistinct voices can be heard echoing from the car as the train lumbers on toward night. |
AuthorI'm Darcy Ridge, creating stories that all revolve around family and identity in a myriad of ways. In the past, I have shared multiple stories and published a novella online. You can find me on Wattpad and many other social media websites. They/them [Image Description: black background with the words "Social Justice and Mental Health Resources" in white in the center /end ID]
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