STRAY Written by Rachel Hensley
EXT. FRONT YARD - MORNING, a southern man of 50 years, stomps across his wellmaintained front yard, going back and forth from his porch to his flower gardens several times. Garden tools and old toys are scattered around the lawn. He looks for different items that his aging mind has misplaced or are entirely missing. One item is a watering can. Irritated and tired, he huffs before he storms back to his front door. He is shocked when he becomes airborne as he steps on a rubber duck on his front steps, another misplaced item. He lands on his back. He groans in pain and rolls onto his side, bent slightly at the waist. He opens his eyes and spots his rusted watering can under his porch, too far back for him to have simply misplaced it. He crawls toward the hole in the house s skirting. lies flat on his stomach with his head turned away from the porch and reaches under to try to grab the can. His fingers are stretched as far as they can go. When they are just barely touching the can, he grunts and tries to stretch even further. Now I swear, if ghosts actually exist- The can is shoved toward him. yelps and scrambles back as fast as he can. Everything is frozen for a few seconds, then the can rolls out from under the porch. He sees a brief flash of something going under. He jumps up and runs back to his house. He almost slips on the duck again, but catches himself with his hands on the steps. He crawls up the rest of the way. He slams his front door shut behind him. INT. ROOM - NIGHT house has all the lights on during the middle of the night. He sits in his bed, bundled up in his thick blankets. He is scrolling on his phone, researching how to deal with ghosts. He hears a dog barking very close to his house and freezes before he gets up and looks outside his window. He laughs before he turns back and switches from ghost hunting websites to dog care websites.
2. EXT. FRONT LAWN - MORNING carefully walks down his front steps with something in his hand, looking for any misplaced items. He notices that there are now a few bones scattered on the stairs. The watering can and his various gardening tools have also been placed back in their respective places and the duck now rests on his porch s fencing; however, he doesn t see that. He sits down a few feet in front of the hole. He looks back and forth between his hand, which has a ball in it, and the hole before carefully rolling it into the hole. A few minutes pass before the ball rolls back out. He grins wide and laughs loudly. He begins trying to coax the dog out while slowly getting it to regularly roll the ball back to him. Come on buddy, ya gotta come out. Can t stay under there forever, now can ya? Where s your family? I bet they re looking for ya. Don cha want to see em? Time passes, and the dog never comes out. Eventually, stops and sighs. Sorry buddy, but I have to be on my way. I ll be back later, for lunch maybe. He rolls it back under one more time, but the ball never comes back out. He doesn t think anything of it. Ya must be a smart puppy, huh? He goes into his house. There is movement under the porch. Something looks like it is about to crawl out until walks back out, and it jerks back. He gets in his car out, and he drives away. EXT. FRONT LAWN - AFTERNOON pulls into his driveway. He comes out of the house a few minutes later, and as soon as he steps onto the ground, the ball comes rolling out from under his porch. He smiles and goes to walk toward it but notices something from the corner of his eye. His trash is in disarray, and when he gets closer he notices that food he remembers throwing out is gone. He looks back toward the porch and smiles before he walks back up the steps and into the house.
3. Hold on, buddy. I m getting ya something real to eat. INT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS makes several bologna sandwiches, and he absentmindedly cuts each into four triangles. When he realizes what he did, he pauses and stares at them for awhile before he shakes his head and picks up the plate filled with sandwiches. He puts a few slices of bologna on the edge as well. EXT. FRONT LAWN - CONTINUOUS walks back down the porch steps and sits against the house skirting next to the hole. He sets the plate in front of the hole and grabs one of the triangles. He looks toward the road as he eats and begins talking about his day. Now, ya must of had a fun day, although I reckon that chicken wasn t too good. He looks down occasionally and is happy to see the slices slowly disappearing. As for me, I had to see Dr. Leslie. She s sweet, but she don t like being left outta things, gotta know everything I m doing. He also notices a few triangles disappearing when the slices are gone. It continues until only one is left. I suppose it makes sense, I ve got to talk to her bout my struggles. I don understand why she s got to know everything, she pitches a fit if she don t get her way. Haha, yeah, that s why I stayed with her so long though, she don put up with my crap. He looks down just as a human hand reaches out to grab the last slice. He gasps, and the hand jerks back. He hears the sound of the person going further under his porch.
4. He backs away from the hole, sits in the spot he sat in yesterday and begins again trying to coax the person out, notably not talking as if he was speaking to a baby. Now you come on out now, it s not safe to be under there. I know you ve be trespassing and stealing these last few days, and I know that might scare you, but I m not angry bout all that. I will have to call the police if you don t come out, however. It doesn t take much for the person to come out. It s a child, a girl, who sits down curled on her knees. Her hair is a mess, and there's dirt all over her. Her clothes are torn and worn. She s staring down at her hands with tears flooding down her face. He speaks softly and kindly to her, asking her questions. She s silent. Now honey, why were you under my porch? Ya gotta talk to me, sweetie. I can t help ya if ya don t. Are ya lost? She shakes her head no. He pauses. Can ya talk? She shakes her head no. He nods. Aright. Okay. How bout ya come inside with me? We ll get ya settled. In the mornin we ll get ya some help. How s that sound? She hesitates but nods, and he soon leads her into his home. INT. AUTUMN S ROOM - CONTINUOUS When he opens the door to Autumn s room and flips on the light, he hesitates and looks around before breathing deeply. He leads the girl into the room. She looks around with wide eyes.
5. She runs over to the bookshelf filled with knickknacks and pictures, overflowing with books. She looks at one picture that holds and Autumn on her sixteenth birthday. He had just given her a necklace, and they were both smiling widely at the camera. The girl s eyes fill with tears, but he thinks nothing of it, looking more at the many pictures around the room and on the shelf than at her. This is my daughter s room. Her name is Autumn. She looks up at him. She... she left. A few months after that picture was taken, as a matter of fact. He gestures toward the picture the girl had been looking at and looks down at her. He is startled when he fully sees her face and is reminded of his daughter. His eyes dart to one of the of pictures of Autumn when she was 10 years old and looks back down at the girl. Their faces are similar, and the girl s eyes are like Autumn s, like his. The girl stares up at him curiously when he is silent for too long, and she cocks her head to the side. He blinks and shakes his head again. When he speaks, his voice is gruff. Wait here, I ll be right back. He leaves, and the girl looks around some more. She looks at the posters on the wall, the shelves which housed even more knickknacks, a desk which houses various papers, pencils, and what looks like old school assignments. The room looks frozen in time, yet it is clean, no dust and the clothes put neatly away. comes back into the room, carrying a box labeled Old Clothes. He sets it down and smiles at the girl as she comes closer and looks curiously at the box. As I m sure you can see from her room, Autumn is a bit of a hoarder. She grins widely, and he laughs, the girl laughing silently along with him. He almost feels as if the girl knew Autumn and that they are sharing an inside joke. Now, I m sure you ll find something you d like to wear in here. (MORE)
6. Then ya can go get cleaned up in the bathroom. Does that sound okay, honey? She nods as she begins rooting through the box. She is neat, though, and doesn t leave the box in disarray. Once she finds some clothes, he leads her into the bathroom. INT. KITCHEN - LATER sits at the kitchen table with a glass of milk. The shower is going in the background. He stares at his hands and the phone next to them. On the screen is a message to JACKSON. It reads, Hey, are you busy? I need you to look up information about Autumn. He is lost in thought and jumps when the phone starts vibrating, JACKSON S name lit up. He scrambles to answer it. He holds the phone up to his ear and smiles when he hears his old friend s voice. JACKSON (O.S.) Hey man, what s going on? Why do ya want me to look up Autumn? I...I don t know myself, Jackie. I don t know what to say. JACKSON (O.S.) Take your time, I know how hard it is for ya to talk bout her. Ya know the reason she left was cause we had a fight, but I never told ya what the fight was about. She was pregnant, and I...I didn t support her. I hurt her real bad, Jackie. And she left the next day. Oh Gus... JACKSON (O.S.) There s a girl here. She was hiding under my porch, I don t know for how long. I was gonna bring her in tomorrow. But God, Jackie- The girl stands in the doorway behind Gus she listens to him talk.
7. -she jus looks so much like Autumn. I-I need to know. JACKSON (O.S.) It s aright Gus, I understand. I ll look into it tomorrow morning when I go to the station. Don t worry bout it, just take care of that girl. I ll come by after I go to the station to talk to ya bout Autumn and take the girl in for ya. and JACKSON say their good-byes, and sits sill for a moment with his head in his hands. The girl backs out of the doorway. stands up to get glass of water. INT. AUTUMN S ROOM - LATER walks into the room with a glass of water in hand and smiles at the freshly cleaned girl. Her hair is now untangled and sits in wet strands on top of the towel she has around her shoulders. She sits on the bed, wearing a long night gown and has a brush and pony tail holder in her hands. When she sees him, she smiles shyly and holds out the items for him. He blinks in surprise and sets the glass down on the bedside table. Would ya like me to...braid your hair? She nods eagerly and forces the items into his hand before turning so her side faces him as she settles in, cross legged on the bed. He stares for a moment before smiling and sitting behind her, facing her back. He begins to brush her hair slowly and gently. I learned to braid my daughter s hair. Her mama died, so I was really the only one who could do that kinda stuff for her. She never much cared for make up and those kinds of things, always had me do her hair when she wanted something done. I d braid her hair at night too, to keep it from getting tangled.
8. He finishes braiding her hair by the time he finishes speaking, and the girl feels the braid before turning and giving him a hug. She is gone before he can blink and burrowing under the covers until only her eyes show. He blinks and smiles at her. He picks up the towel and plugs in a night light. When he turns out the lights and begins to leave, he turns back and looks at her. She is already fast asleep. He smiles. Good night. INT. KITCHEN - MORNING makes a cup of coffee in his kitchen. He turns and sits at the table where JACKSON is already seated with his own cup and a folder in front of him. JACKSON has a somber look on his face. The girl stands out of sight from and JACKSON. JACKSON I don t know how to tell ya this, Gus, so I m jus gonna say it. About two months ago Autumn was in a car wreck with her daughter, Olive. They re both alive, but Autumn s been in a coma. The girl has a scared expression. puts his head in his hands. JACKSON switches chairs and put his arm around shoulders. They are both silent as tries to calm down. breathes deeply and looks back up at JACKSON, nodding for him to continue. JACKSON (CONT D) Olive wasn t badly hurt. They went in a deep ditch; you couldn t even tell there was a crash. They were there for hours. We don t know exactly what happened, but Olive was trapped and awake, while Autumn wasn t. She couldn t reach her to check on her. The girl is tapping her fingers on her leg. JACKSON (CONT D) Olive wouldn t speak to anyone, not the police or the hospital. The girl is clenching her fists.
9. JACKSON (CONT D) She had to go to a foster home a little ways away. She never missed a day to visit her mama, but one day, two weeks ago, she didn t show up. As JACKSON speaks, he pulls away from and grabs the folder which has pictures and reports about AUTUMN and OLIVE. He shows them to, who gasps upon seeing the pictures of OLIVE. It is the girl in his home. OLIVE had come to find him. He is shocked, but at the same time he had suspected it. There is a shuffling noise, and both of the men look up to see OLIVE standing in the doorway. She looks back and forth between them, looking fearful yet hopeful. JACKSON (CONT D) Oh my God. Olive? OLIVE freezes before she slowly pulls out a necklace, the same necklace Autumn had been wearing in the picture. JACKSON She found you, Gus. Autumn told her about you. gets up, and OLIVE rushes forward. He falls to his knees and pulls her into his arms. They are both sobbing and clinging to each other tightly. INT. AUTUMN S ROOM - ONE MONTH LATER Boxes are spilling out into the hallway from Autumn s room. walks in and sets the last moving box down. It s been a month, and many things have changed in life. He just finished moving the last of OLIVE S things into their home. He hears the bus pulling up outside and walks out in time to see OLIVE shutting the door. She is wearing clothes that fit her and has her hair braided over her shoulder. She takes her backpack from her shoulder and put it on the ground next to her shoes, which she had already taken off. She looks up at him and grins before running up to hug him. He hugs her tightly before pulling back and leading her into the kitchen. Did ya have a good day, sweetie?
10. He looks back at her, and she nods her head eagerly. We ll go visit your mama as soon as we re done eating. She told me she loves your drawing. Do ya think she d like some flowers from the garden? She always did when she was a little girl. OLIVE nods again, and together they get out the supplies to make bologna sandwiches. They make them together, and OLIVE sets the table as he piles the food onto a large plate that he sets in the middle of the table. She sits down while he goes to get them drinks. It s nice that we re eating this at a table now, isn t it? She laughs, and he sits down next to her. She grabs a sandwich, and he begins talking about his day. They laugh and smile. They are happy.