———–<.thom.>———–
THE BROKEN BOOK OF BEASTIES
“Book I: A Book by Any Other Cover”
Part One of Three
By Thomas Typewriter and Primo Operahouse-Typewriter & Secondo Operahouse-Typewriter
(c) 2023
———–<: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 tones changing to dark clouds.
CONTINUE PAN DOWN
EXT. THE OVERLAP HILLS, DAYTIME
A series of forested hills in front of a forested snowcapped mountain slides into view. This is the Overlap Hills, one of the many realms used by the great wizard Orgle. So named 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 with a second story also filled with bookcases. Spiral staircases are scattered around the circumference. The bookcases are designed in a unique way that 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 entry way 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 off 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 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 your 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 your 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 midieval 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 fills the hill and grassland sections. The illustration shifts again. The refugees are now in the mountains section. The prismatic storm fills the hills, grassland, and forest sections. The illustration changes one last time. The refugees are gone and the prismatic storm fills 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 bakes 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
FADE OUT
The unfinished poet rides horses of wild talent
having fled the chariot, lost to the sun
No More guiding ropes
No more frantic hopes
There is only holding on as the distances fly by
Eyes shut, landscapes unseen whisper and scream
Words pile and stack high
Watch where horses step
Hooves catch snapping across overlapping concepts
The poet tumbles down splashing somewhere profound
———–<.thom.>———–
THE GREAT WORKS PROJECT
a puppet play in many parts
Season 05, Episode 01
a prologue
By Thomas Typewriter
(c) 2023 thomas typewriter
———–<:type:>———–
FADE IN TO BLACK
From the bottom of the screen scrolls up the following text: “05-01”. It moves upwards, pausing a moment in the center of the frame, then continues upward, exiting the frame at the top edge. Shortly thereafter, from the bottom center of the screen scrolls up the following text: “a prologue”. It moves upwards, pausing a moment in the center of the frame, then continues upward, exiting the frame at the top edge.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
EXT. THE UNDOCUMENTED SPACE, OUTSIDE UNROOM NOT.SEVEN
OPEN AND HOLD ON A CS OF A SCRIPTBOOK FOR THE GREAT WORKS PROJECT. IT IS OPEN TO THE SCRIPT FOR SEASON THREE, EPISODE 10
GRIGIO COLORI
(off-screen) “So that’s where my scriptbook went.”
CUT TO POV OF THE OUTER ONE, WHO WAS READING THE SCRIPTBOOK, TURNING AND LOOKING UP AT GRIGIO.
The Outer One is leaning against a partial wall coming from the doorframe for a pair of double doors in the midst of the greyness of the Undocumented Space. There is an unseen light illuminating the double doors while the rest of the area has a foggy ambient light with patches of darkness in the distant. Each door has in a golden script “7” written on it denoting them as the doors to the Unroom Not.Seven.
THE OUTER ONE
“Oh, sorry about that.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“No problem. Here let me help you up.”
The Outer One reaches with their left hand, keeping the glitching right hand to hold the scriptbook. Grigio grips their hand and pulls the Outer One to a standing position.
GRIGIO COLORI
“So, you into Thomas Typewriter too.”
THE OUTER ONE
“Yeah. I was down here hoping to study his works.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“Yeah, me too. I find they give me a “unique” perspective on my life.”
THE OUTER ONE
“Would that have anything to do with you being a character in his stories.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“Potentially. Names Grigio.”
THE OUTER ONE
“Hello Grigio. (hands the scriptbook) I guess you’ll be wanting this back.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“Just for a moment, I wanted to look up something real quick. May I?”
THE OUTER ONE
“Sure.”
Grigio reaches for the scriptbook.
GRIGIO COLORI
“Which Alphabet Mouse was the sleepy…(grabs Outer One’s right hand hand What happened to your hand.”
THE OUTER ONE
“Stuck it somewhere I wasn’t supposed to. Got glitched.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“Does it hurt.”
THE OUTER ONE
“No, not really. More irritating than anything else. Banned from the Unrooms though. Didn’t think they were monitored. Stuck out here.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“That sucks. Anything you can do to fix it.”
THE OUTER ONE
“Maybe. There might be something.”
GIGRIO COLORI
“So you going to try?”
THE OUTER ONE
“Not sure.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“If you’re worried about doing it alone, you won’t have.”
THE OUTER ONE
“Really? Don’t you have some role to play in the plot.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“Yes, but the narrative will fix itself. It’s not like some other character could make that delivery. I got a feeling about you, a good feeling, and want to help.”
Grigio holds out his hand for the Outer One in a sign of friendship and help. The Outer One takes a moment to look, to understand the gesture Grigio offers him. A moment of internal debate plays out inside the Outer One before they ultimately accept Grigio’s help.
THE OUTER ONE
“Yes.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“Okay so where to now.”
THE OUTER ONE
“We need to find a sword in the haystacks.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“What?”
THE OUTER ONE
“It’ll make more sense when we get there.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“Lead the way.”
The pair exit the scene.
THE CAMERA SHIFTS FROM POV TO THIRD PERSON. IT DETACHES FROM THE OUTER ONE’S VIEWPOINT AND WATCHES AS THEY AND GRIGIO WALK AWAY. AS THEY MOVE AWAY IT PANS LEFT AND BACKWARDS TO THE DOOR TO THE UNROOM NOT.SEVEN.
As The Outer One and Grigio Colori walk away we hear bits of their conversation fading away.
THE OUTER ONE
“So you in the habit of leaving the play to help an audience member?”
GRIGIO COLORI
“No, first time. How about you? You break a body part on a work of fiction before?”
THE OUTER ONE
“Nope. First time.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“Well, they say there is a first time for everything.”
THE OUTER ONE
“Also a last time.”
GRIGIO COLORI
“We might be getting ahead of ourselves there.”
THE OUTER ONE
“Too true.”
TRANSITION FROM THE UNDOCUMENTED SPACE TO THE TYPEWRITER ABSTRACT PUPPET STAGE
THE CAMERA ROTATES AND PANS THROUGH THE DOOR TO THE UNROOM NOT.SEVEN
The TYPEWRITER ABSTRACT PUPPET STAGE sits in the center of the Unroom Not.Seven. The lights in the Unroom are at a dim setting. The sound of TYPEWRITER KEYS CLICK CLACKING chimes out from somewhere within the Typewriter Abstract Puppet Stage.
PAN IN ON TYPEWRITER ABSTRACT PUPPET STAGE
PAN IN ON THE MID-STAGE AREA
The Mid-Stage curtains part revealing an empty stage. The Curtain of Clouds that lines the back of the Mid-stage is the only
BACK-STAGE: THE CONCURRENT DISTANCES, SPECIFICALLY DOWNDREAM
The stage is dark, only illuminated by a soft pale blue light. A gentle fog rolls across the bottom of the stage. A few DREAM-BUBBLES emerge from stage-right and slowly drift across the stage exiting stage-left. After they leave, a YUCK-BUBBLE enters from stage-left and erratically drifts across the stage. THE MOTHER rushes on stage from stage-left in pursuit. The Yuck-bubble picks up its pace. She quickly closes the gap and starts to try to catch it. It manages to elude her grasp a few times, the two of them tumbling and bouncing around the center stage area, before ultimately she nabs him. Ensnares it. The Yuck-bubble struggles to get loose, struggles against her grip.
THE MOTHER
“Hush now, it is going to be okay. Calm now. Shh. It’s going to be alright.Shh.”
The Yuck-bubble starts to calm down as she coos to it. Finally it stops struggling.
THE MOTHER
“There. There. Much better. See no harm is going to come to you.”
She leans over and kisses the Yuck-bubble on the top of its form.
THE MOTHER
“I am sorry you felt hurt. I am sorry you felt damaged. Felt incomplete. You are very special. I want you to know that. Very special to me and many others. Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you for existing.”
As The Mother leans up we see that the Yuck-Bubble has changed back to into a Dream-Bubble. She lets go of it and the new Dream-bubble drifts up and away, exiting stage-left. The Mother watches it leave, waving goodbye. After it exits, the Mother coughs. She then coughs harder, doubling over, caught in a coughing fit. When she stops we can see blood on her hands where she had covered her mouth. Some blood tinges the corner of her mouth.
CUT TO CS OF THE MOTHER’S HANDS WITH BLOOD ON THEM
CUT TO CS OF MOTHER’S REACTION
CUT BACK TO FRAMING SHOT OF THE BACK-STAGE
THE MOTHER
“Oh no.”
She then starts coughing again and falls over, disappearing into the fog
THE CAMERA PANS OUTWARD AND OUT FROM THE BACK-STAGE
TRANSITION FROM BACK-STAGE TO THE MID-STAGE
The Curtain of Clouds closes.
CAMERA PANS BACKWARDS OUT FROM THE MID-STAGE
The Mid-stage curtains close.
THE CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN AWAY FROM THE TYPEWRITER ABSTRACT PUPPET STAGE
FADE OUT
I am alone but not lost
From role to role
My soul freely flows
In dawn, in dusk
We are not separate but only briefly lost.
Too small for our roles,
Exchanging vessels till they fit
In forest, in night
I draw forth.
In ocean, in day
A pattern larger than our eyes
An unheard sound vibrates forever
Across one thousand talking fingers
Across one generation never more
Empty shelves in the aisles overflowing
Reminding me
Anxieties past planted once again growing
Uneasy words skate away
Reminding me
All thoughts eventually stray
———–<.thom.>———–
THE GREAT WORKS PROJECT
a puppet play in many parts
Season 04, Episode 12
By Thomas Typewriter
(c) 2022
———–<:type:>———–
FADE IN TO BLACK
From the bottom center of the screen scrolls up the following text: “04-12”. It continues upward, pausing briefly in the center then exits off the top of the frame.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
INT. THE DEEPEST HALLWAY
LS OF THE DEEPEST HALLWAY FROM OUTSIDE B-MOUSE’S OFFICE DOOR
A long wood grain beige hallway, the Deepest level contains a series of frosted glass widows and doors to the various Alphabet Mice’s offices. The other side of the hallway is illuminated by wall sconces and also contains a water fountain and two vending machines. One of the vending machines is for Satelite Soda while the other is for various candies and bagged snacks such as Wowies, Tip Chips, Zappers, and Cheesy Weezys. B-Mouse’s office is in the center of the hallway across from the water fountain and vending machines. Both ends of the hallway have a set of double doors leading to stairwells connected to the other levels. The door opens and out steps B-MOUSE busily scribbling notes into a small notepad. He pauses writing to reach inside and turn off the office’s lights. He shuts the office door and finishes his note. Down the hall N-MOUSE exits his office. B-Mouse looks up from his notes and waves. M-MOUSE leaves his office at the end of the hallway while B-Mouse and N-Mouse are waving. He closes the door and leans against the wall. B-Mouse and N-Mouse walks towards M-Mouse.
PAN DOWN HALLWAY FOLLOWING B-MOUSE
N-Mouse and B-Mouse stand by M-Mouse.
M-MOUSE
“You guys ready for this meeting.”
N-MOUSE
“Yup.”
B-MOUSE
“Yup.”
CUT BETWEEN CS OF EACH SPEAKER AS EACH SPEAKS
M-MOUSE
“What do you think the meeting will be about.”
N-MOUSE
“Writer’s block if anything like before.”
M-MOUSE
“Remember those all-nighters we’d pull when Thomas was in high school.”
B-MOUSE
“I remember how we still didn’t finish a single essay.”
N-MOUSE
“What about that Mutant Cat story.”
M-MOUSE
“Stumpy the Mutant Cat?”
N-MOUSE
“Yeah. I thought that was the one essay we finished?
B-MOUSE
“Nope. Stumpy was in the middle of talking to the pickles in Pickle Heaven when the story stopped. Like mid-sentence. Thomas said screw it and turned it in anyway.”
M-MOUSE
“Did we every finish anything.”
N-MOUSE
“Those scripts that no studio wanted.”
B-MOUSE
“Can you blame them. The spy who had to gain weight so there was enough mass to duplicate him.”
N-MOUSE
“Yeesh. That one was bad.”
M-MOUSE
“Or how about Thomas Typewriter: World’s Worst Stuntman.”
N-MOUSE
“Yeah, he was pretty desperate and frustrated by the time he wrote that one.”
CUT BACK TO LS OF THE GROUP FROM DOWN THE HALLWAY.
C-MOUSE and K-MOUSE exit from C-Mouse’s office. V-MOUSE exits his office. The two sets of Alphabet Mice wave at each other. C-Mouse, K-Mouse and V-Mouse walk down the hallway joining N-Mouse, M-MOUSE, and B-Mouse.
B-MOUSE
“You guys ready for the meeting?”
C-MOUSE
“Is anybody?”
They chuckle.
C-MOUSE
“Seriously, if things have reached the point we are pulling an all-nighter, the problems are bigger than one cram session.”
K-MOUSE
“True.”
The others nod in agreement. They start walking through the doorway to the stairwell.
CUT TO
INT. CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER STAIRWELL, EVENING
THE CAMERA PANS FROM WALKING ALONGSIDE THE GROUP TO FOLLOWING BEHIND THEM AS THEY PASS THROUGH THE DOOR.
A tall stairwell with three walls of cement and one wall of striated stone, as if the stairwell was cut into the side of mountain or large rock and part of the rock was left bare. The rock wall sits opposite the doors stairwell doors. Round globe lights posted on every landing. The stairs run up the center, rails of metal, moving from dark red at the bottom through the spectrum to pale violet at the top. Moving from dark violet to pale red at the top. The stairwell uses a fairly standard stairs up to a landing halfway between the floors then snaking to the other side to walk up to the next floor. N-Mouse, M-Mouse, B-Mouse, V-Mouse K-Mouse and C-Mouse start to climb the stairs. The sound of DOORS OPENING AND CLOSING click out. X-MOUSE walks to the stairwell pulling on a rope tied to something trailing behind him.
X-MOUSE
“Hey guys, hold up.”
X-Mouse starts to climb up the stairs. What he is pulling comes into view. The other end of the rope is tied to a floating cloud. Z-MOUSE is asleep on the cloud.
C-MOUSE
“You got stuck hauling Zees?”
X-MOUSE
“Not like any of you were volunteering.”
N-MOUSE
“Sorry about that.”
M-MOUSE
“Yeah. We’ll get him next time.”
The group ascend the stairs moving from The Deepest or bottom floor to the Deeper or second floor. S-MOUSE, D-MOUSE, F-MOUSE, G-MOUSE, H-MOUSE, J-MOUSE, K-MOUSE, and L-MOUSE exit the Deeper’s stairwell to join the group. The larger group continues up the stairwell to the landing for the Deep or the third floor. Q-MOUSE, W-MOUSE, R-MOUSE, T-MOUSE, Y-MOUSE, U-MOUSE, I-MOUSE, O-MOUSE, and P-MOUSE exit the stairwell doors and join the group. The assembled mass continues up the stairs to a set of doors for the Numetarium or fourth floor. The stairwell opens to a landing larger than the previous landings. The stairwell going upward shrinks to a single person stairwell behind a metal screen. If one continued upward they would end up in the Y-Apartment. The door to the Numetarium is covered in numbers and formulas in a fun and whimsical way. The group opens the doors and walks through.
INT. THE NUMETARIUM
XLS OF THE GROUP AS THEY PASS THROUGH THE DOORS OF THE STAIRWELL ON THE STAGE-LEFT TO THE THE DOUBLE DOORS JUST OFF CENTER.
The Numetarium appears like a planetarium, with sloped rows of reclining chairs situated around a projector in the center. Across the domes ceiling various planets and their rotations are being projected, only the planets are circular centers with numbers from 0 to 9 in the center. Then each planet has a set of rings orbiting it. Each ring has a number os sides equal to the number in the planetoid center while their are a number of rings equal to the number in the center. Zero has no rings. One has a single circle. Two has two convex lenses spiraling around it. Three has three triangles spinning around it. Four has four squares…etc
In the controls of the projector sits #-MOUSE. He is writing figures in a book, when the crowd walks in. He notices them, watches them exit, dogears the page before closing the notebook, and stands to join them. #-Mouse leaves through the central exit doors.
CUT TO
INT. WRITER’S ROOM EVENING
A long meeting room decorated in light brown wood tones. An elongated hexagon of a table fills the center of the room. The entry doors for the Control-Shift-Enter Stairwell are a set of double doors opposite one of the tables short sides. The entry doors from the Control-Shift-Tab Stairwell are on the opposite side of the room. The longer sides of the room hold a series of cabinets and wooden paneling on one side and a series of large windows behind thick curtains on the other. When looking at the windows, the Control-Shift-Enter Stairwell doors are to the left and the Control-Shift-Tab Stairwell door is to the right. Each corner of the room holds a large potted plant and a trash can. The room is illuminated from three rows of pendant lamps. The light switches are next to the entrance doors.
LS OF ROOM FROM OPPOSITE THE DOORS, LOOKING AT SIDE OF THE ROOM WITH THE DOORS.
Y-MOUSE is already standing at the head of the table nearest the doors.
Y-MOUSE
“Come in. We’ll get get started once everyone is seated.”
Q-Mouse, W-Mouse, R-MOUSE, T-MOUSE, U, MOUSE, I MOUSE, O-MOUSE, and P-MOUSE are already sitting down at the table. S-MOUSE, D-MOUSE, F-MOUSE, G-MOUSE and H-MOUSE are near their respective chairs. J-MOUSE, K-MOUSE, L-MOUSE, C-MOUSE, and K-MOUSE walk over to their chairs. V-MOUSE, B-MOUSE, N-MOUSE, and M-MOUSE emerge through the double doors followed by X-MOUSE and #-MOUSE. The pair help direct Z-MOUSE on his floating cloud, asleep, through the door and over to his chair before sitting down in their chairs. Once everyone is sitting down, Y-Mouse addresses the group.
CUT TO MS OF Y-MOUSE
Y-MOUSE
“Thank you everyone for coming out at such a short notice. I know you prefer we schedule these cram sessions ahead of time, but I think circumstances warrant it. A-Mouse and E-Mouse were suppose to be back with food for everyone. They’re not and I am sorry for that. We’ll order some take-away later, but lets get started for now and get a little work done before taking a break.”
Y-MOUSE reaches down and flips a switch in a hidden compartment in his desk or he presses down and up pops one of those 60’s style control consoles. He presses a button.
CUT TO LS OF WALL ALONGSIDE LONG SIDE OF ROOM
A panel on the wall slides up revealing a large board for writing on. Y-Mouse walks over to the board and writes “Thomas?”. He then turns to the group.
CUT TO MS OF Y-MOUSE
Y-MOUSE
“When we last saw Thomas, he claimed he was fine. But was he really? Losing all his script options coupled with the stress of getting married has him rattled. He tends to cling onto bad experiences like awards in a trophy case.”
L-MOUSE
“I’ll say.”
Everyone laughs at that.
Y-MOUSE
“So he is most likely going to interpret these events as failures instead of parts of a process and let his creativity dry up.”
K-MOUSE
“Why does he blame himself. Its not his fault. Every writer has moments when the craft is good and moments when the craft is bad.”
Y-MOUSE
“Yes, but he does not know that yet. That part of his life is not written yet.”
L-MOUSE
“Okay, so how do we help then.”
Y-MOUSE
“Short term, we can try to get ahead of things on these plot holes we’ve noticed last meeting. Long term, those of you working on side projects, keep working on them. It is not important that we get finished projects right now. What is important is we keep that joy and excitement alive until Thomas is ready again. “
Everyone agrees.
CUT TO CS OF EACH ALPHABET MOUSE AS THEY SPEAK
Y-MOUSE
“Okay. So what were some of the plot holes or unanswered questions?”
D-MOUSE
“The lost astronaut from the commercial.”
Y-MOUSE
“Right”
Y-Mouse starts to write it down on the board when the writer room doors burst open. A-Mouse and E-Mouse are each wheeled in on medical stretchers. Each one has a pile of food bags on their chest. Also a SCRIPT DOCTOR is pushing them in.
E-MOUSE
“Did somebody order some food”
ALPHABET MICE
“Food!”
Y-MOUSE
“Are you two okay?”
E-MOUSE
“Had a little trouble that required medical intervention, but we made it.”
A-MOUSE
“We would of been here sooner but the ambulance rang over some glass in the road and got a flat tire.”
E-MOUSE
“Everyone come and get it.”
CUT TO LS OF THE WRITER’S ROOM
The Alphabet Mice get up and walk over to A-Mouse and E-Mouse. The food is moved to the cabinet tops by B-Mouse and X-Mouse. The Script Doctors wheel A-Mouse and E-Mouse over to their respective spots at the Writer’s Table.
PAN OUT
FADE TO BLACK
Transgression is the obsession
The artist would say
that brings the words into play.
Yet they…
…knocked…
…kneaded…
…self-betrayed…
Question the sessions
Asking is there a different way
to discover the words to convey.
Thomas Typewriter 
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