The White Teddy Bear - Version 1

 THE WHITE TEDDY BEAR

written by

Justin M. Vera

Based on the poem The Teddy Bear by

Justin M. Vera

© 2021 

Juanito Gongora St., Benque Viejo Del Carmen

Verajustin9@gmail.com

FADE IN:

EXT. GUATEMALAN HOME – DAY

The wide camera shot moves focus from the early sun rising above the tall treetops and moves downward, a flock of birds pass by, and the camera keeps going down to focus on the base of a grassy hill. The birds chirp in the background as the camera begins to slowly go up the lush green hill following a neat cement driveway when…the camera zooms into the loud tires of a pickup speeding up the base of the hill. The camera cuts all the way up to a new shiny red zinc roof of a small Guatemalan home (500 sq. ft.) on the hilltop. The camera zooms into the roof to the point that the screen turns black.

FADE IN:

INT. A CHILD’S BEDROOM – DAY

The camera goes through the roof and enters into the room. The shot is too dark, and it needs to adjust for the lack of light. It takes a few seconds and focuses on the room of a young CHILD (approximately 1 year, female). The child is dressed in a striped purple and white onesie with an embroidered bear on her tooshie. She is sleeping in the center of the room in a wooden crib (28 inches by 52 inches). The camera idles around the room to show the walls filled with the alphabet, numbers and animal stickers. Also on the wall are drawings of the planets: Saturn and Mars. The camera looks up and sees stars adorning the ceiling. The camera swivels down and the child is brought into focus. She is sleeping on red velvet pillows next to a WHITE TEDDY BEAR (6 inches). The camera zooms into the stuffed toy and watches the fur move toward and away from the camera as the child inhales and exhales.

INT. THE KITCHEN – DAY

The camera cuts to a pouring faucet, it pours for a bit and is turned off. The camera is focused on the faucet and hears just a few feet away a sound of a plate being set to dry. This sound is followed by some footsteps getting fainter and fainter until…

INT. A CHILD’S BEDROOM – DAY

…the camera cuts to show the door opening slowly, and the child’s MOM tiptoes into the room. She is dressed in a pink blouse and light blue jeans. The mom looks down into the crib and smiles. The babe stirs in its crib and opens her eyes. Looking at the baby and smiling the mom says…

MOM

(in Spanish, Subtitled)

Good morning!

The baby stretches and smiles a huge toothless smile. The mom picks her up and slowly shakes her up and down. The babe giggles at the fun motion. Her mom lifts the baby’s blouse and blows on her belly. The baby explodes into an even louder giggle. As the mom loads and throws the baby up in the air…

EXT. GUATEMALAN HOME – DAY

…the camera cuts to the loud tires of the pickup speeding up the hill.

INT. A CHILD’S BEDROOM – DAY

The camera cuts back to the mom smiling at her child safely in her arms. She bent into the crib and picks up her teddy bear and gives it to the babe. The baby holds on to the bear tightly with her chubby pink fingers. The mom walks to the door, opens the door and walks out.

INT. THE HALLWAY – DAY

The camera cuts and is outside the room and sees the mom exiting the child’s room and entering the hallway. She closes the wooden door behind her with one hand. She walks past the camera with the child and toy in her arms. Behind her is a wall filled with art and family photos. The camera keeps following her from behind as she begins descending a flight of stairs covered with evergreen decorations and blinking lights. She sets the baby in a play pen with her teddy bear and leaves the room. She turns on instrumental Christmas Music and starts to dance in front of the baby.

MOM

(Making silly faces)

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas Only a hippopotamus will do. I don't want a doll, no dinky Tinkertoy I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy…

The baby giggles and tries to mimic her mother. She gets up and holds onto the side of the playpen but she loses balance and falls backwards and giggles. The mom looks at her and giggles too. The mom walks away and goes into the kitchen. Faintly in the distance the sound of pots and utensils in the background the camera turns to the baby that is playing with her teddy bear. She hugs it and starts to blink sleepily.

EXT. THE BASE OF THE HILL – DAY

The camera cuts to a white 1998 Toyota Hilux speeding and swerving left and right coming up the hill. The tires screech to an abrupt stop as it just barely enters the driveway. It takes a while but the door opens and loud music comes out (Ricardo Arjona- Desnuda) as well as a number of white beer cans (Gallo) drop on the ground. A foot comes out suddenly out of the car door dropping more cans. The leg is wearing tight jeans and a pointy brown boot with a gold metal tip.

INT. THE KITCHEN – DAY

The camera cuts to being just behind and above the mom’s left shoulder. The mom is washing a plate and hears the music. She looks out the window and sees her HUSBAND. The camera is looking out just enough to see the blurry outline of fumbling movement.

MOM

(Gasps and puts her hand on her mouth.)

Ay no! Viene borracho.

She turns around and walks into the camera.

     EXT. THE DRIVEWAY – DAY

The camera cuts from a black screen to the dad in a checkered shirt that is open revealing a large gold chain of a Bull and a hairy chest.

DAD

(Stumbling out of the pickup)

Vieeejaaaaaaaa! Hic. Ya llegueeeeee!

Now out of the pickup he staggers to the front door.

INT. THE LIVING ROOM – DAY

The camera cuts to the teddy bear. It locks focus on the stuffed toys frozen smile as loud footsteps are heard passing by. The steps sound clumsy. The steps stop after a while. The camera stays on the teddy bear, but in the kitchen the father says…

DAD

(Angrily)

Adonde, hic. putas esta mi comida?

Suddenly a single plate hit the floor and shattered into pieces. The camera remained fixated on the teddy bear, but in the background out of focus the young babe stirred after she heard the loud sound the plate made. The plate was just the first of the orchestrated noise.

MOM

(Incoherent and afraid)

Esta en la mesa.

 

A couple staggering steps are heard.

DAD

(Furious)

Quien putas dijo que yo queria tamales? Yo quiero hic caldo!

MOM

(Crying)

Tu dices que no hago el caldo como tu mama.

DAD

(Shouting)

No metas a mi madre en esto!

Next it sounded like a piece of furniture exploded across something.

MOM

(As loud as possible)

AAAAAAAaaaaaay! Me duele, me duele.

DAD

(Shouting)

Te voy a dar algo para que grites!

As the father said this came the sound of a drawer opening, utensils rustling haphazardly, and one piercing scream:

DAD

(Gurgling and Groaning)

Ayudaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Ayuda, porfavor alguien… ayudeme…

As those words gurgled out of the mouth of a dying man, loud footsteps passed fast by the crib and is followed by a shutting door. The noise in the kitchen slowly fades away to silence. The camera on the teddy bear and the baby’s cry fades…     

EXT. GUATEMALAN HOME – DAY

The camera zooms out of the Livingroom and cuts to the top of the house. The camera swivels up to the sky and focuses on clouds passing by in the sky. The speed increases and the sky and clouds darken…

EXT. GUATEMALAN ROAD – DAY

The camera cuts to a wet rainy road going downhill. It cuts again to the tires. The mom is driving very fast and the camera cuts to show her speedometer needle pushing 100 miles per hour. The camera cuts ahead of the car to a dangerous curve. The mom tries to hook the curve but she does not and goes over a ravine. She tumbles four times and freefalls the rest of the way. The pickup lands on its top, but she manages to survive. The camera cuts to the bottom of the ravine to show the mother undoing her seatbelt and coming out of the car slowly. She gets out and has some cuts that are bleeding but she looks okay. She says whispering under her breath…

MOM

(in Spanish, Subtitled)

Daaaaammn.

     As she said this she fell to her knees and burst into tears. She sobbed for a while and stood back up. She looked at the back of the pickup and found a rope. She got it and tied it to a branch. She stood on the hood of the pickup, climbed the branch and said…

MOM

(in Spanish, Subtitled)

Oh, God… forgive me…

She jumped.

The camera cut to a shadow that the tree casted on the ground. The shadow of the mother jumping down and held back from the ground by the rope is accompanied by the sound of her neck breaking. It sounds like a branch broke. The shadow of her hanging from the tree cuts to…

INT. THE CHILD’S BEDROOM - DAY  

The camera following a raindrop as it falls back down onto the roof of the home. A flash of lightning and thunder to the crib, now an old rotten piece of wood, blackened with moss and mushrooms growing off of it. The camera pans upward and reveals an old broken roof letting in some sunlight. Dust particles pass by the camera lens. The camera does the same route it did before. It zoomed into the rotting wooden door, and it cut to the hallway. On the walls were dusty frames, some with their glass broken, others only had the frame. On the wall along with the frames were gang names scribbled in graffiti spray painted on the wall in blue. The camera went down the stairs and focused on a portion of rotten and broken handrail. In walks a YOUNG MAN with a black leather jacket and khaki pants. He has on a black surgical mask and sunshades. He stoops down and looks at the floor. He begins an internal monologue…

YOUNG MAN

(Internally)

Damn! The signs of struggle show the wife killed her husband, but she was hurt also, perhaps it was self-defence, she stabbed him and left in the pickup. We got a call that a woman driving a pickup fell off a ravine…She would have taken her child with her…She survived the crash but hung herself on a tree…Even if she took the child no remains of a child were found in the wreckage. Damn! All the evidence points that the child was left behind and later stolen, perhaps when the house was broken into. Damn! Where is she!

The young man snapped his fingers, did a circling motion and said aloud…

YOUNG MAN

(in Spanish, Subtitled)

               Pick up your stuff boys. Let’s go!

The young man walked away from the camera and both the sound and the visual of the man walking away faded out the open door.

FADE IN:

EXT. A SIDEWALK IN BELIZE CITY – NIGHT

The camera cuts to the edge of a sidewalk and shows the girl having aged to become a YOUNG WOMAN (18-25 years). She has on a black blouse and black mini skirt half the way up her knees. She has on black leather boots halfway up her calf. All kinds of shiny things around her neck sparkle in the light of passing cars headlights. She is wearing a faded pink face mask. Next to this young lady is something dirty and brown. The camera zooms in and focuses on the thing next to her. It is the teddy bear. He looks dirty brown. He appears to have a zip on his back. The camera zooms in more and shows that the zip runs all the way from the base of the toy’s neck to just above its tail. As well as a zipper was a strap that turned the toy to a functional “purse”. As the camera zoomed into the clumps of dirt formed on the teddy’s back, a car horn sounds. The young woman picked up the teddy bear and the camera zooms out. The young lady put the “purse” around her and walked toward the car. She stooped at the door and said…

YOUNG WOMAN

(Flirtatious but tired)

               Can I come in?

The back door swung open. The girl got in…

INT. A CAR – NIGHT

The camera cut to the center of the car, looking out through the back window glass. As the camera blurs the outside and focuses on the inside seat, the Fire Department siren goes off to signal the curfew. The song Ride on by ACDC comes on and the camera located at the center of the dark car circles counter clockwise to show the scared face of the girl. The camera keeps turning slowly and the music keeps playing. At the front of the car is a male DRIVER wearing black clothes, a black face mask and dark sunglasses. The man faces forward as the camera passes by. A FAT MAN with a comb over hairstyle and an expensive looking white suite is smiling with a cigar in his mouth as the camera passes by it only shows above his chest. He puffs a cloud of smoke and says…

FAT MAN

(With a phlegm)

Hi. 

YOUNG WOMAN

(Flirtatious but hesitant)

               How can I help you?

FAT MAN

(With phlegm)

We both know the answer to that sweetheart.

  YOUNG WOMAN

(Shy)

               Its $50 an hour. Anything you want.

The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet that has multiple $100’s popping out. He pulls one out and handing her it says…

FAT MAN

(With phlegm)

Keep it. I want to see what that pretty mouth can do.

Faint coughing and a muffled choke can be heard below his waist. The camera turns once more and shows the driver with his eyes still facing forward. The music gets louder and the camera slowly turns away from the driver…

Commotion at the back seat makes the driver look back suddenly. So does the camera and the man’s white suite is now splattered red.

FAT MAN

(In agony)

Ughhhhh…

DRIVER

(In a creole accent)

Whe hapn. boss.

FAT MAN

(In agony)

Ughhhhh… she bit me!

DRIVER

(In a creole accent)

What?

FAT MAN

(Enraged)

The bitch bit me!

DRIVER

(In a creole accent)

Weh?

FAT MAN

(In agony)

Where the fuck do you think? Ahhhhh it hurts.

DRIVER

(Concerned)

Bumboclaat! We have to go to the hospital.

The driver started the car but the fat man said…

FAT MAN

(Serious)

No! Go find the bitch…open the glove compartment.

The driver nodded and reached for the glove compartment. He moved around some manila folders and papers. Under them he found a Glock 17. The guitar solo kicks in and the camera shows the driver loading the chamber of a pistol.

FAT MAN

(Serious)

Go.

DRIVER

(In a creole accent)

Yes Boss.

Ext. A SIDEWALK IN BELIZE CITY - NIGHT

The camera is outside of the car and sees the car door open. The driver comes out holding a pistol with his finger on the trigger. He cautiously crouches around the car. The driver walks toward the sidewalk he hesitates to go into a dark alley.

FAT MAN

(In agony but shouting)

Go!

The driver looks back at the car, nods and pulls out of his pocket a flashlight. He crouches and walks into the alley.  

Ext. A SIDEWALK IN BELIZE CITY - NIGHT

The camera cuts back to the outside of the car. The back, side door swung open and the girl exits the car and runs into a nearby alley. She was about to jump a fence when her teddy bear fell.

YOUNG WOMAN

(Whispering under her breath)

No.

She goes back to get it. As she is about to pick it up, she hears a car door slam shut. She looks at a corner and runs toward it. She covers herself with a flattened cardboard box.

Ext. AN ALLEY IN BELIZE CITY – NIGHT

The camera cuts and is behind the driver. He is holding the flash and pointing the pistol where it shines. He walks a couple feet into the alley and sees a teddy bear on the ground. He disregards it and walks on it. He keeps flashing and flashes a corner and sees some sparkling on the wall. The camera focuses on the teddy bear on the ground. It zooms in.

YOUNG WOMAN

(Screaming at the top of her lungs)

Noooooooo!

In the distance muffled screams and sounds of struggle are faintly heard. The struggle continues for a while, and the camera keeps zooming into the teddy bear. Seventeen loud shots are heard. Powerful footsteps are heard coming closer, and the driver’s foot steps on the teddy bear leaving a red heelprint. The camera slowly zooms out, and a pool of red blood flows to where the teddy is. The bear soaks up the blood. The camera zooms in but moves back and focuses on the teddy bear. A loud thunder roars and it begins to rain. The song begins to fade on the words “I’m gonna ride on…”