———–<.thom.>———–

THE NOT SO PUPPET SHOW

Season One, Episode Three

“The Broken Book of Beasties: Book 1, Part 1”

By Thomas Typewriter

(c) 2025 jason arcand

———–<:type:>———–

FADE IN

Title sequence plays

FADE OUT
FADE IN

INT. BORDERTOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY, AFTERNOON
The curtains open and the stage-lights turn on. A floor-to-ceiling bookcase spreads across the back of the stage. Off to the stage-right side extends a short wall with a double set of doors for entrance and a single door for the librarian’s office. The door to the librarian’s office is open. The door has a plaque with the following text: “Ms. Weaver”. On the stage-left side of the stage sits a short wall containing a spinner rack filled with various young adult novels next to a metallic magazine rack. In front of the floor-to-ceiling bookcase sits two round tables with chairs. THOMAS TOPHAT enters the room through the wooden doors and throws his backpack into a chair at the nearest table.

THOMAS TOPHAT
“I’m back again.”

MS. WEAVER
(off camera) “Thought I’d see you again. I’ve just put out the newest issue of that magazine you liked. It is on the bottom shelf. Go ahead and get started and I’ll come out in a moment to sign your paper.”

Thomas looks over at the magazine rack. He walks over to it and leans down. Looking through the titles in the lower shelves, he spys the Not So Puppet Show zine Issue #3 behind a copy of Highlights and Newsweek. He picks it up and walks over to the table he threw his backpack onto. He sets down the zine and pulls his backpack over to the closest chair. Thomas sits down. From his backpack he removes a spiral notebook and pen. He then opens up the zine.

CUT TO OVER SHOULDER SHOT OF LOOKING DOWN AT THOMAS OPENING AND READING THE ZINE.

Thomas opens the zine, turning past the cover and first page with its publishing info. The cover is decorated with cut-out photocopied photographs. These would be photos so old as to be copyright-free and most likely sourced from discarded books. The first page looks as follows:

“
———–<.thom.>———–
THE BROKEN BOOK OF BEASTIES
“Book I: A Book by Any Other Cover”
Part One
By Thomas Typewriter and Primo Operahouse-Typewriter & Secondo Operahouse-Typewriter
(c) 2025 jason arcand
———–<:type:>———–

FADE IN

TITLE SEQUENCE
The title “The Broken Book of Beasties” appears far off in the dark screen, written in bright red flowing script. The word Beasties, unlike the rest of the title, is written in a thick slashing font. The title flies towards the camera and past the edge of the frame. The dark screen is filled with a shimmer as the following text appears in white block letters: “Book I: A Book by Any Other Cover”.”

ZOOM IN ON THE LINES “TITLE SEQUENCE PLAYS”

TRANSITION FROM THE BORDERTOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY TO THE BROKEN BOOK OF BEASTIES

FADE OUT

———–<.thom.>———–
THE BROKEN BOOK OF BEASTIES
“Book I: A Book by Any Other Cover”
Part One
By Thomas Typewriter and Primo Operahouse-Typewriter & Secondo Operahouse-Typewriter
(c) 2025 jason arcand
———–<:type:>———–

FADE IN

TITLE SEQUENCE
The title “The Broken Book of Beasties” appears far off in the dark screen, written in bright red flowing script. The word Beasties, unlike the rest of the title, is written in a thick slashing font. The title flies towards the camera and past the edge of the frame. The dark screen is filled with a shimmer as the following text appears in white block letters: “Book I: A Book by Any Other Cover”. It fades away in a shimmer. In the absence appears the following test: “Part One.”

PAN DOWN

The dark screen fades to light grey as the “Part One” slides off the top of the screen from the camera panning

TRANSITION FROM TITLE TO THE OVERLAP

The dark grey shifts in tone changing to dark clouds.

CONTINUE PAN DOWN

EXT. THE OVERLAP HILLS, DAYTIME
A series of forested hills in front of a forested snow-capped mountain slides into view. This is the Overlap Hills, one of the many realms used by the great wizard Orgle. They are named as such because they are areas of multiple different dimensions folded over each other by Orgle’s vast and great magicks until they create a pocket dimension. The Overlap Hills are not as well known as Orgle’s other overlaps such as the Overlap Hotel, the Overlap Waves, or the Overlap Trail. Yet, they do contain one of his greatest treasures. In the distance stands the Trilibris, Orgle’s special library. It appears as three different columns that seem to fuse with each other but also separate creating a kind of hyper-dimensional hourglass shape.

SHIFT TO XLS OF THE TRILIBRIS

CUT TO LS OF THE TRILIBRIS

CUT TO MS OF THE TRILIBRIS

CUT TO CS OF THE TRILIBRIS DOORS

TRANSITION FROM THE OVERLAP HILLS TO THE TRILIBRIS

ENTER THE BUILDING AND MOVE TO THE MAIN ROOM THROUGH A SERIES OF QUICK CUTS AND FADES

INT. THE TRILIBRIS MAIN ROOM, DAYTIME
The Main Room is a teardrop-shaped dome. The walls are covered in bookcases. Spiral staircases are scattered around the circumference. The bookcases are designed in a way that the books are stacked horizontally and vertically giving the impression of the folds in a human brain. The center of the room is a large open space filled with thick tables and chairs. The top of the dome is glass, stained a light blue, allowing natural light to illuminate the space. The bookshelves are illuminated by pendant lights within the rows. Each desk has a bulbous table lamp to illuminate in case the dome is not allowing enough light. Across from the entryway the bookcases stop. A large alcove is built into the wall. A dark wood wall decorated with gold and brass metal in long blocky snaking patterns illuminated by two torches. In the center of the alcove is a podium holding THE CODEXIAN. A very special book, it is separated from the rest of the main room by golden chains and small golden pedestals. A “Do Not Disturb” sign hangs off the chains.

CUT TO LS OF THE CODEXIAN’S ALCOVE

CUT TO MS OF THE CODEXIAN’S ALCOVE

CUT TO MS OF THE CODEXIAN

The Codexian is a thick book, with covers of a purple stone and thick leather binding. The front cover has a vertical row of three circles made from gold wire on the binding side. The other side is a snaking angular pattern similar to the patterns on the alcove walls. The pattern snakes down to two horizontal lines across the bottom portion of the front cover.

CUT TO CS OF THE CODEXIAN

A TRIUMPHANT MYSTICAL MUSICAL SCORE plays. The score plays for a few moments and then it stops with A RECORD NEEDLE SCRATCH.

PAN TO LEFT OF THE CODEXIAN.

A GREY MOUSE crawls up onto the podium. It tentatively approaches the Codexian.

CUT TO MS OF THE GREY MOUSE

The Grey Mouse sniffs along the Codexian, moving to the top corner. It starts to nibble on the edges of the pages.

THE CODEXIAN
“OWWWW!”

CUT TO MS OF THE CODEXIAN

The Round circles on the left of the cover open revealing non-organic golden eyes. The two golden lines along the bottom of the cover move as if lips or a mouth. The Grey Mouse stops chewing.

THE CODEXIAN
“Who did that?”

The Grey Mouse steps away from the Codexian

THE CODEXIAN
“Come on, I know you are there. Who is biting me!”

The Codexian’s eyes scan around the room. Ultimately they settle on the Grey Mouse.

THE CODEXIAN
“Oh, hello there. Were you the one chewing on my corners?”

The Grey Mouse blankly looks at the Codexian. It sneezes. A golden shimmer flickers in the air.

THE CODEXIAN
“Bless you.”

The Grey Mouse stands upright and nods at the Codexian.

THE CODEXIAN
(to self) “Well that’s new.” (to the Grey Mouse) “Let’s try this. Maybe what you’re truly hungry for is a story. If I tell you a story will you stop chewing on me.”

The Grey Mouse nods and then sits down.

THE CODEXIAN
(to self) “Definitely new.” (to the Grey Mouse) “I will need to open up to tell the story, so you may want to adjust your position.”

The Codexian opens and the Grey Mouse moves to the bottom of the podium top. The pages start to move, quickly moving to the middle of the book in a blur.

THE CODEXIAN
“Ahhh, here we go.”

The Codexian is open to a set of pages bordered in golden illumination but the actual area inside the border is blank.

THE CODEXIAN
“The Broken Book of Beasties.

From somewhere in the Trilibris A CHIMING TONE rings out. The blank page starts to fill with an illustration in a style that is a mix of woodcut block print and medieval illuminated scripts. A vast city fills the page.

TRANSITION FROM THE LIBRARY TO AN ILLUSTRATED STORYBOOK STORY

PAN IN ON ILLUSTRATION TO FILL THE FRAME

THE CODEXIAN
(voice-over) “Once there was a vast city filled with magic, wonder and charm.”

The illustration changes to the city in ruins with a giant burst of light exploding from the center of the city. Prismatic storm clouds fill the sky, raining storms down on the city.

THE CODEXIAN
(voice-over) “The city of magic became a city of too much magic, as the Great Rupture ravaged the city. Magic rained down like storms melting what was known and unknown equally.”

The illustration changes to people on hills outside the city fleeing. The city gripped in storms can be seen in the distance.

THE CODEXIAN
(voice-over) “Those who were able fled the city. The Great Rupture lasted decades driving one group further and further from the city.”

The illustration changes to a long stretch of landscape. Hills on the right give way to grasslands, then forests, and then mountains to the right. A group of refugees appears in the hill section. Fade to the group in the grasslands section and prismatic storms in the hills. The illustration changes more with a fade to the refugees in the forests The prismatic storms now fill the hill and grassland sections. The illustration shifts again. The refugees are now in the mountains section. The prismatic storms fill the hills, grassland, and forest sections. The illustration changes one last time. The refugees are gone and the prismatic storms fill the entire page. A THUNDER BOLT CRACKS. The Codexian turns the page.

THE CODEXIAN
(voice-over) “Past landscapes that ate lives, the refugees found a place of safety, or at least which they hope offered peace.”

The illustration area is filled with many tree branches. Colorful flowers grow along the base of the trees while animals can be seen peeking their faces out of the upper branches. The illustration changes with the trees sliding. They part in the center moving left and right. In the center of the screen sits a valley made from five rivers feeding into a lake in the center. There is a large island in the center of the lake along with a few small islands in sandbars scattered around the lake. The illustration changes again with the sun emerging in the clouds above the valley. Bright sunlight beams across the page. The illustration changes one last time with the illustrations of the refugees moving in from the left and right side of the frame and walking down to the valley. The Codexian turns the page.

THE CODEXIAN
“Having found sanctuary, the people set about building a new home for themselves.”

The illustration is blank but then small illustrations of people enter from the left and right sides. They break off into five groups, with the fifth group in the center made from the remaining few from each group. Each group then disappears into a cloud of construction dust. CONSTRUCTION SOUNDS can be heard. Slowly simple houses emerge from the construction dust. Once a house is finished the construction dust cloud disappears and the group looks at their work. Once all five houses are completed, the people CHEER.

THE CODEXIAN
“And grow they did. It was as if some creative spirit had been unleashed.”

The small people in the illustration then go to the area behind the houses and start constructing again. Rows of houses emerge from the dust. Once a house is finished, each group builds another behind it. Soon the houses recede into the distance. The construction dust finishes and the houses sit. The sun sets and the people go into their homes. The stars come out and then dawn breaks. Small people exit their houses and do daily chores. The sun rises and sets. Everyone goes back to bed. The day/night cycle speeds up to a blur until sixty days have passed. Time returns to its regular speed on the sixtieth day. The illustration shifts zooming in on a house in the background. A lady leaves at sunrise and walks two houses down to a bakery. She enters the shop and starts baking. Smoke starts to emerge from the bakery’s chimney. As the sun rises to mid-morning, the sign in the window changes from closed to open. The illustration changes to looking in through the window of the bakery. The Baker stands at the counter.

THE CODEXIAN
“And while everyone else was moving forward, one person was stuck looking back. Little did anyone realize she would change the direction of everyone’s life.”

The illustration changes to the baker at the counter. She has a sad far away look in her eyes.

ZOOM IN ON THE BAKER’S FORLORN EXPRESSION

TRANSITION FROM WITHIN THE STORY TO THE BORDERTOWNE MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY.

FADE OUT

FADE IN

INT. THE BORDERTOWNE MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY
A floor-to-ceiling bookcase spreads across the back of the stage. Off to the stage-right side extends a short wall with a double set of doors for entrance and a single door for the librarian’s office. The door to the librarian’s office is open. The door has a plaque over it with the following text: “Ms. Weaver”. On stage-left side of the stage sits a short wall containing a spinner rack filled with various young adult novels next to a metallic magazine rack. In front of the floor-to-ceiling bookcase sits two round tables with chairs.

MS OF THE OPEN ZINE

Thomas has the zine open on the table. He is writing down notes in his notebook. As he writes a note about the grey mouse he trails off and starts scribbling doodles of the mouse. His watch BEEPS.

CUT TO MS OF THOMAS

Thomas looks at his watch and realizes it is time to leave.

THOMAS TOPHAT
“Ms. Weaver?”

MS. WEAVER
(off-camera) “Yes?”

THOMAS TOPHAT
“Can I take this with me? I am only partway through.”

MS. WEAVER
(off-camera) “No. Magazines are not allowed to be removed from the library by students. You know that is the policy.”

Thomas stands and walks out of the frame.

THOMAS TOPHAT
(off-camera and softer tone) “Please Ms. Weaver. I’ll take real good care of it.”

MS. WEAVER
(off-camera) “Now, Thomas you know…”

THOMAS TOPHAT
(off-camera) “It’s just I’ve never found anything before that I wanted to read. Everything I read is just because a teacher or my parents tell me to. This is the first thing that I want to read. I really just want to know what happens next.”

There is a short pause.

MS. WEAVER
(off-camera) “Okay. But you must promise to be careful with it. Take good care of it.”

THOMAS TOPHAT
(off-camera) “I will. I will take great care of it. Thank you.”

MS. WEAVER
(off-camera) “You’re going to be late for your next class.”

Thomas reenters the frame and packs up his bag. He slides the zine in last, needing to adjust a few items for everything to fit properly. He then slings his backpack on and starts to exit.

MS. WEAVER
(off-camera) “Take care of it.”

THOMAS TOPHAT
“I will.”

Thomas exits stage-right.

FADE OUT