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THE GREAT WORKS PROJECT

a puppet play in many parts

Season 05, Episode 07

an intermission

By Thomas Typewriter

(c) 2023 thomas typewriter

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FADE IN TO BLACK

From the bottom of the screen scrolls the following text: “05-07”. It moves upwards, pausing a moment in the center of the frame, and then continues upward ultimately exiting the frame at the top edge. It is then followed by “an intermission” scrolling up from the bottom of the frame. It moves upwards, pausing in the center a moment, and then exiting the top of the frame.

FADE OUT

FADE IN

INT. BIFFARD’S BEDROOM, AFTERNOON

DISSOLVE FROM BRIGHT WHITE THROUGH THE RANGE OF COLORS TO MS OF BIFFARD THE RABBIT AND ROCKCHESTER THE PET ROCK ON BIFF’S BED IN BIFF’S BEDROOM.

Biffard’s bedroom is a moderately sized bedroom in the upper corner of the second floor of his parent’s house. Stage-left windows look outside at the backyard and nearby willow and birch trees. A section of the sloped roof angles down the ceiling towards the windows. In the center of the room sits Biffard’s bed, with a nightstand on either side. The stage-right nightstand has a lamp and alarm clock on it. The stage-left nightstand is taller and more like a bookcase. Each shelf is filled with either comic books bearing titles like “The Cosmic League”, “Tri-Dino”, “Alpha Aardvark”, “The Brown Brag”, “The Blue Vibe at the Dog Show”, and “The Prehistoric Protectors” or large picture books on dinosaurs. The walls of Biff’s bedroom contain posters bearing the Cosmic League and Babysitter Tales characters. There are also smaller posters of dinosaurs. The stage-right side of the bedroom has a door leading out to the 2nd-floor landing. Off-camera, near the door, is a small closet. BIFFARD THE RABBIT, a young child dressed in stripes of yellow and honey gold, is jumping up and down holding ROCKCHESTER THE PET ROCK. As we fade in, we join them in mid-fall. Time starts slowly building up to regular speed when Biff bounces. The two of them are laughing.

BIFFARD THE RABBIT
“Oh no, Dinostore. The citizens of Prehistoric Plateau need our deep discounts but we have to cross the Bumpy Badlands to get there.”

ROCKCHESTER THE PET ROCK
“Rawwrr, you better hold tight.”

They jump up and down

BIFFARD’S MOTHER
(off-camera) “Biff. Biff. Biff!”

Biffard and Rockey stop bouncing.

BIFFARD THE RABBIT
(yelling through the doorway) “What Mom?”

BIFFARD’S MOTHER
(off-camera) “You’re show’s starting.”

Biffard and Rockchester stop bouncing, look at each other, and run downstairs. Exit stage-right through the door. FOOTSTEPS THUDDING as they run down the stairs.

TRANSITION FROM BIFFARD’S BEDROOM TO THE TV DEN

CUT TO

INT. THE TV DEN, AFTERNOON

LS OF THE TV IN THE TV DEN

A brown wood paneled room almost square in shape, the TV Den is just off the main entryway and stairwell. The room contains bookcases, a television, a sofa and an entryway. A soft thick pile rug covers the floor. A large tube television in a wooden cabinet is on the wall opposite the large sofa covered in knitted throws in mixes of brightly colored pastels and deep earth tones . A knitted doily hangs over the edges of the side of the TV. A short glass coffee table sits on the rug between the sofa and TV. The end table next to the sofa currently has a bulbous table lamp and a stack of drink coasters made from slices of stone. Their swirling colors match well with the mix of colors on the throws. A long rectangular window sits above the sofa. In the bookcase, besides many movie cassettes with names like “The Fish Wife”, “The Four Saints”, “Crime Town”, “At the Caves of the Little Sister” and “The Bridge Builder” along with some of Biffard’s drawings Additionally mixed in the other shelves are various books, family photos, sports awards from Biffard’s younger brother and academic awards from Biffard’s older sister. Biffard the Rabbit and Rockchester the Pet Rock run into the frame from the main entryway to the TV Den. They turn on the tv and sit down close to the screen. A LOUD POP AND HUM rings as a bright dot of light dances across the center of the screen. The light expands and quivers till the whole of the screen is filled with the end of the opening sequence from “The Babysitter Tales”. It is a title card with an empty space in the center with illustrations of Gloomarella the Doom Witch, Rod Pocalypse the Doom Baby and Smiles Goodson. In the center appears the text “Episode 1”

TRANSITION FROM BIFFARD’S REALITY TO THE REALITY OF THE TV SHOW THE BABYSITTER’S TAIL.

ZOOM IN ON THE TELEVISION SCREEN SO THAT IT FILLS THE FRAME. IT PANS INTO THE SCREEN MOVING PAST THE PIXELS AND INTO THE STORY

EXT. FRONT GATES TO GLOOM MANOR, LATE AFTERNOON

There is an iron gate built into a gap in a brick wall. The brick wall is not straight and square but of a curving top. Random bricks have broken over the years and have been roughly replaced by large stones. A large wild swath of ivy covers one side. A single streetlamp is visible next to the gate. It has two bulbs in its curving metallic design but only one flickers with life. A layer of fog rolls across the ground hiding it from view. A Fogboat, one of the many magical vehicles of the great city of The Smokestacks, emerges from a large billow of fog. Taking advantage of the large amount of smog produced by the Smokestacks many factories both mundane and magical, the city adapted the pollution into a transit system. The fogboat is a commercial cab style, yellow in color with black and white checkered lines along its side. The cab company name “Yellow Crane” is painted in a circle on the side of the Fogboat. The cab is driven by GLAFIAT GLIMMENS, an older zebrey. In the rear of the cab sit MORTIMER DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING and his wife MONTRICIA DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING. A pair of Rabbittoads, they are dressed in an effort of finery that is all the rage of the middle-class and upper-middle-class management families of the Smokestacks. Mortimer and Montricia exit the cab, using the door on the sidewalk side, or passenger side. They walk towards the front of the boat and the front gate.

GLAFIAT GLIMMENS
“Mister. You don’t want to stay here. This is a cursed place. I’ll even take you back free of charge, just don’t stay here.”

MORTIMER DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING
“But we’re expected. It’d be rude to not continue. Keep the meter running. We’ll be back soon enough.”

They walk up through the gate.

CUT TO CS OF GLAFIAT GLIMMENS

Glafiat reaches across and into his glove box. He opens it and removes a Curio of the Hope of Security, a small irregular stone nearly polished into a pyramid on a long string of beads, he kisses the engravings of two open eyes and two open hands. He places the charm on the dash and looks around nervously.

CUT TO

EXT. GLOOM MANOR FRONT PORCH, DAYTIME

A path of stone moving past overgrown foliage, landscaping both beautiful and sinister. The front porch has a wooden plank base but the railings have rotten away. To the side, we can see a group of trash cans. Metallic and dented. The house itself, the manor has a large window and a large door. The siding is large wooden shingles with paint peeling and signs of moss in the shadowy areas. A wooden porch hangs over the porch, and skeleton-like gargoyle statues sit on the top of the porch. Overgrown topiary boxwoods line the trail path from the front gates to the front porch. Various brightly flowering plants and menacing magical venus fly traps are widely scattered among the boxwoods. Miscellaneous lanterns hang from the porch roof to provide illumination at night. A collection of metal fogboat license plates are bolted to the wall between the door and the window.

LS OF THE COUPLE AS THEY WALK UP THE PATH TO THE DOOR.

CUT TO MS OF THE COUPLE AT THE DOOR

The couple approaches the door. The front door is large and weathered with wide heavy bolted hinges. A large metallic knocker with a face designed into it is mounted in the center of the door. They set their bag down. Mortimer knocks on the door using a heavy metallic door knocker made in the shape of a face. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. Mortimer and Montricia wait nervously.

GLOOMARELLA THE DOOM WITCH
(coming from face in the door knocker) “What do you want?”

Mortimer and Montricia look at each other unsure of what to do or how to proceed.

MORTIMER DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING
(to Montricia) “Do I talk into the door knocker? Into the door?”

GLOOMARELLA THE GLOOM WITCH
“Just talk.”

MORTIMER DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING
(leans in really close to the knocker) “I spoke to you earlier about an enhancement.”

GLOOMARELLA THE DOOM WITCH
“You my ten o’clock or eleven o’clock?”

Mortimer looks at Montricia unsure how to answer. Montricia shrugs.

MORTIMER DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING
“My name is Mortimer Dewdrop Lillipaddling and you told me you had something to help me at work. I work at a bank and keep getting passed over for a promotion.”

MONTRICIA DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING
“He never wants it badly enough.”

GLOOMARELLA THE DOOM WITCH
(through the knocker) “Oh, the wimpy banker. Yeah, I have your potion ready. It’ll give you the strength and drive of an animal chasing its prey. But remember to only take one drop a day. Wait…or was it don’t take one drop? (trails off a moment then returns to) Sorry, my little one has not been sleeping and I am a little tired. Let us see (examines the bottle)Yes, one drop. No more than one drop…(looks at Mortimer taking in his size)…three drops. No more than three drops a day. You have my payment?”

Montricia holds up the suitcase she has been carrying.

MONTRICIA DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING
“Right here.”

The front door cracks open a slight bit.

GLOOMARELLA THE DOOM WITCH
(through the door crack) “Put it on the ground.”

CS OF SPACE IN FRONT OF DOOR

Montricia puts it on the ground. The withered hand of the Gloom Witch reaches out and slides the suitcase into the doorway and out of view. A moment later she slowly slides a vial of potion out.

CUT BACK TO MS

Mortimer exchanges looks with Montricia. She gestures for him to pick up the vial. He leans over and picks up the potion.

MORTIMER DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING
“And this potion will help me get that promotion at the bank.”

GLOOMARELLA THE DOOM WITCH
“Oh, it’ll do more than that.”

MORTIMER DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING
“Like what else.”

GLOOMARELLA THE DOOM WITCH
“Ahhhh…, I’m sorry I don’t recall at the moment. Something good probably. Haven’t been sleeping much lately. Raccoons have been knocking over the trash cans and waking the baby. Cry, Cry, change me, feed me, Wah, Wah. You know how it is.”

MORTIMER DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING
“Never much cared for children myself.”

GLOOMARELLA THE DOOM WITCH
“Oh. (she closes the door and returns to speaking through the knocker) I release you! Now go. Seriously get out of here.”

MONTRICIA DEWDROP LILLIPADDLING
“But does he take one drop or more than one drop?

The two stare at the door waiting for a response. Morticia reaches for the door knocker as if to knock on the door again except it disappears in a ball of shadowy purple light.

GLOOMARELLA THE DOOM WITCH
(spooky voice in the air) “GO AWAY!”

They yelp and hastily depart from the house.

CAMERA PANS OUT

FADE OUT