Every Little Things

“EVERY LITTLE THING”

FADE IN:

SCENE I: INT. - FAMILY DINING ROOM

We see AMANDA, an average woman with shoulder-length auburn hair and serious eyes, struggling to keep her children, JACOB (7 years old), and MADDIE (5 years old), in check. Her husband, JOHN (brunette with broad shoulders), eats wordlessly.

AMANDA

Maddie, put the doll away! No, she can’t eat with you; and she’ll be put away for the rest of the year if you don’t keep her away now! No arguments! Jacob, for the love of God, put your shirt back on.

Amanda SIGHS heavily. Maddie reluctantly puts her doll away and sits down angrily. Jacob appears, shirt back on, with his baseball bat, and starts going around randomly hitting objects, including the table and a chair. Amanda pulls the baseball bat out of Jacob’s hand, tossing it away. It lands with a CLANG. Amanda then roughly pulls a worn-looking chair out from the table; it makes a violent SCREECHING noise. She wordlessly points to the seat. Jacob, after a bit of hesitation, silently sits in the chair, eliciting a loud GROAN. No one notices the chair’s legs wobble. Amanda sits down herself, and the three start to eat. Gradually, the noise at the table increases, as the children talk with their mother.

Later that night--

SCENE II: INT. - AMANDA AND JOHN’S BEDROOM

The room is very dark. We can only see Amanda and John asleep in the bed.

Suddenly, Amanda stirs. She GROANS, and sits up quietly. She looks around the room, and GASPS softly at the sight of a chair in the corner. The chair is the same one that Jacob had hit with his bat, and had later sat in. It’s legs are slightly more splayed.

AMANDA

(mumbling)

What? Who brought this in the bedroom?

The chair moves forward, stopping a few feet from the bed. Amanda stares in confusion. It is now visible to the audience. 

CHAIR (V.O.)

(quietly and clearly)

Hello, Amanda. Do you recognize me?

AMANDA

(flatly)

Why am I dreaming about talking chairs.

CHAIR (V.O.)

Do you recognize me?

Amanda sighs.

AMANDA

Yes. Yes, I do. Of course I do; you’ve been in my family for three generations.

CHAIR (V.O)

Do you find it strange that I am talking to you? 

AMANDA

Is that a rhetorical question?

CHAIR (V.O)

Do you find it strange that I am talking to you? 

AMANDA

(annoyed)

Oh for God’s- yes, I do find it strange.

CHAIR (V.O)

Why is it strange?

AMANDA

Because-! Because you’re just a wooden chair! You're inanimate; no life, sense or feeling!

CHAIR (V.O)

(thoughtfully)

But wasn’t I once alive?

AMANDA 

(confused)

What?

CHAIR (V.O)

I couldn’t have come from nowhere.

AMANDA

Of course not, you're made from wood. 

CHAIR (V.O)

So at one point, I was alive.

Amanda blinked. 

AMANDA

At one point, yes. But most definitely not now. 

CHAIR (V.O)

So, I was created at the expense of the life of a tree?

AMANDA
When you put it that way… it sounds like you're the product of a murder. 

CHAIR (V.O)

Aren’t I?

Amanda sighs heavily. She is tired, and the late night is catching up to her.

AMANDA

What are you trying to prove?

CHAIR (V.O)

I’ve been in your family for three generations and was created at the expense of a life. Yet, you still treated me without care. You know I’m old, yet today, you dragged me out with such force that now my legs are weakened. Your children are no different.

AMANDA

You speak as if I should treat you like my child. You were created with the ability to withstand force.

CHAIR (V.O)

Tomorrow, when Jacob or Maddie or you sit on me, when I collapse, when they get hurt, then it will not be because of my failure. It will be because of your mistreatment, which weakened me.

Amanda is speechless. She looks down thoughtfully.

CHAIR (V.O) (CONTINUED)

Look around you. Humans and animals aren’t the only ones with stories; these objects have them, too. They are the product of sacrifices and effort. Yet these stories are not honoured. 

Amanda snorted.

AMANDA

A single tree is hardly a sacrifice. 

CHAIR (V.O)

A single tree for a single chair. Doesn’t sound like much. But when it is five, ten, a hundred chairs, then the number is not as insignificant.

AMANDA

So you want me… to start respecting you?

CHAIR (V.O)

Not just me. Everything around you. Everything that you take for granted. Pencils, paper, erasers, plates, crayons, toy cars, forks.

AMANDA

Everything.

CHAIR (V.O.)

Every little thing.

Amanda nods. She blinks heavily.

CHAIR (V.O)

Sleep.

Amanda obediently lies down, and within minutes, she falls asleep.

The next morning --

SCENE III: LIVING ROOM

We see Amanda sitting on the floor. The chair from before is in front of her, laid down on its back with the legs turned towards Amanda. Around her is a variety of screwdrivers and screws. The children have already left for school, and John has left for work. Amanda is alone. We watch as she tinkers with the legs of the chair. 

After a few minutes, Amanda stands up and places the chair upright. She gently sits down. The chair stays firm, and not a single sound is heard. Amanda smiles softly.