Trees - 4th Installment

In the last installment, Dave and Mr. Thomson completely failed to sell a tree to a man named Ruben.



INT. – TRAILER – AM
KEITH is asleep on a chair. DAVE walks in. KEITH jumps up.

KEITH
Aaaahhh! Wooaahhh! Hey!

He looks around slowly, catching his bearings.

KEITH
Oh no. I’m still in this trailer.

DAVE
We lost another one.

KEITH
Why?

DAVE
I don’t know. I think it was Mr. Thomson

KEITH
Has he sold one tree for the Troop?

DAVE
Chris said he does all the time.

KEITH
I’ve never seen it.

DAVE
Chris said he used to sell cars.

KEITH
When?

DAVE
Who knows? I guess he used to sell ‘em downtown.

KEITH
Why do we never see him selling then?

DAVE shrugs. He takes a sip of his cocoa and makes a “Cold! Yuck!” face. He pours the cocoa out of their shattered window. Refills himself with another. Pause.

DAVE
I gotta piss. Who has the key?

KEITH
Guess…

EXT. – GATE – AM

MR T is holding a key on a rather hefty chain.

MR T
Do not let anyone have this! Do not place this down anywhere! Don’t let this out of your sight
for a moment! Do not let anyone else in! Do not lose this key! You got me!

DAVE really wants to go pee. But, he lets out a heavy nod that MR T smiles at.

MR T
Hurry back!

DAVE rushes out.

EXT – SCHOOL – AM
As previously mentioned, they are on one side of the school in an almost cul-de-sac sort of area. There is an entrance in the corner nook. DAVE tries the door.

MR T (distant yell)
It better not be open!

It’s not.

DAVE puts the key in the door and steps inside.

INT. – SCHOOL – AM

Not a modern school. Straight out of the 50’s.

The steps are very large and gray. There is an entrance to the basement visible. (A Fallout Shelter.) There are two large double doors that lead out into a hallway.

A rather hefty sized staircase winds up to the second floor. DAVE steps through into the hallway. A long dark hallway.

Numerous doors lead into classrooms. He passes a cafeteria and a large kitchen area.

In the center, there is a large gymnasium. DAVE rounds a corner and heads towards some doors and a water fountain.

He goes into a bathroom. We see, in a moment, that it’s the “GIRL’S” room.

The building is empty.

Long dark hallways all of which loom around rather ominously. Maybe in the distance someone is heard. But, it’s nowhere near DAVE.

A loud toilet flushes.

DAVE comes out a moment later, rubbing his hands on his jeans. He begins to go back the way he came. Suddenly, he turns and runs the other way.

INT. – HALLWAYS – AM

DAVE is just spazzing and rushing along making all sorts of whooshing noises. He passes the windows to the gym, which has a large stage in it. He rounds another corner. He is now in the front hallway.

Passes by the “PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE” and the main entrance to the building. He rounds a corner, taking a bit of a slip and spill.

He keeps running. Then, he zips to the end and the door he started at. He looks thrilled.

He is panting slightly. After a moment, he opens the door and begins to step out. Before he does, he checks his pocket. There’s the key! He steps into

EXT. – PARKING LOT – AM

LOUIS and SVEL are loading a tree onto the family’s car. There are a few other people floating around the trees.

DAVE strolls towards the tree field as the snow begins to fall a little harder.

TIME PASSES

EXT. – TRAILER – 1PM

Nearing the end of their shift.

In the parking lot, several cars are visible. Something is going on inside the school.

KEITH, LOUIS and DAVE are lobbing all sorts of snowballs at each other.

LOUIS is taking the brunt. SVEL is sitting on the step down from the trailer. Some folks are browsing through the trees and MR T is spending a bit of time trying to sell.

The snow is picking up.

SVEL
I think it’s really going to come down.

DAVE
Yeah. It…

DAVE gets pummeled with a ball in the face.

DAVE
Oh man. My nose.

He wipes the snow away.

SVEL
The radio said that we’ll get six inches before the day is out.

DAVE picks two huge armfuls of snow and flips them at KEITH.

KEITH lets out a yell and gets a big face full.

DAVE rushes up and knocks him over whooping off into the distance.

LOUIS laughs and laughs before getting hit.

SVEL
Keep an eye out, Louis!

MR T (yell)
Hey, one of you goofs help me out here!

None of the goofs go.

SVEL
Dave, you get this one!

DAVE runs by, whooping towards MR T. When he’s very close, he yells and leaps into the air. OOMF! He hits the snow. Laughing and laughing.

MR T is standing with a family who are buying a medium sized tree. DAVE gets up.

DAVE
Sorry.

MR T is sorting through cash. He points at a tree.

MR T
That one, Davy.

DAVE
Gotcha, Mr T.

DAVE lifts the tree, which is just a little heavier than he can handle. He falls over.

MR T
Quit the goofin’ and help them out.

DAVE
Yessir.

The family begins moving towards their car.

DAVE struggles behind them.

As this happens, the next shift begins arriving. A lot of portly boys! One can only imagine how the trailer is going to handle this one.

DAVE falls down a lot but the tree gets there in the end.