"Nest Egg" - First Draft

Today I put together the first draft of the script for "Nest Egg" (still a working title, but I like it).  Here's a copy--please read and review! (I apologize for the whack formatting--I'll figure out how to attach an actual document eventually, cut and paste for now.)

Enjoy the springlike weather,
Emily D.

NEST EGG (WORKING TITLE)

Written by

Emily DeVault

FADE IN:

ext. forest clearing – day

Early spring.  Budding flowers and tress dance in the breeze.  One sun-streaked, majestic maple dominates the frame.

ext. maple tree - day

The CAMERA TILTS DOWN FROM the top of the tree.  Nestled in piles of new leaves and twigs are several expecting mothers.  Each bird nurses at least two plump, healthy eggs.

Below them all, a ROBIN RED BREAST peers up the twisted trunk.  She looks down at her own nest.

robin’s pov

Her rather scraggly nest sits wedged between two roots.  Barren.

back to scene

She sighs.

ext. forest floor - day

Robin hops through the dirt, pecks here and there.  She lifts her head and freezes, wide-eyed.  A worm dangles from her mouth.

Before her lies a massive blue egg.

Worm abandoned, Robin approaches the egg.  It shines in the sunlight.  With great care she lays her head against its side and rubs it with one wing.  Perfectly intact.

Robin rolls the egg across the clearing. 

ext. robin’s nest - day

She rolls it right into her nest.  Thrilled, she zooms OUT OF FRAME and returns in an instant, clutching a vine.  She drapes it over her egg and flies OUT OF FRAME again.

Robin soars IN and OUT OF FRAME, tossing flowers and decorations.  She pauses to arrange a strand of tiny white clovers in the shape of a heart.

Robin surveys her handiwork.  Satisfied, she ruffles her feathers and settles herself upon her egg.  She pays no mind to its awkward girth -- she is content.

ext. robin’s nest - some time later

A bored Robin gazes into space.  The flowers have wilted.  The grass has grown taller.

Robin shifts to one side and stretches a stiff wing. 

CRACK.

She tumbles backward.  Scrambles to her feet.  Stares at her egg.

robin’s pov

The egg sits motionless.

robin

leans in, anxious.  Gives her egg a nudge.  Still nothing.  Another nudge.  And then --

robin's pov

A small POP.  Robin’s egg splits clean in half. 

Three pieces of penny candy slide out.

robin

doesn’t know what to think.

EXT. forest clearing - day

Robin, silhouetted against a patch of sky beyond the trees, lowers her head.  Slow ZOOM OUT.

ext. maple tree - CREDITS

The seasons change -- autumn, winter, back to early spring.  Robin in her nest silhouetted at the base of the maple tree.

Last credit rolls.  Suddenly Robin pops out a real egg.  Gapes at it, incredulous, then smiles.

fade out.

THE END

(c) 2013 Emily DeVault