“Penny” (Screenplay)

OVER BLACK
We hear the sound of waves crashing.

NARRATOR (V.O.):
You think you have someone close,
and then something or someone just
takes them from you. It's all gone
in a blip. Lights out, cut, credits
roll.

EXT. A BEACH - DAY

TITLE:
August 24th, 2006
Somewhere in Ohio...

As the camera lowly tracks across the murky but infinite
lake, we see a beautiful light blue sky above it and dirty
sand ahead. Suddenly, the camera pulls up to a young black
man named EDDIE (early 20s, clean cut). We see Eddie from
behind as he's facing the lake, wearing a polo and jеans.
We cut to a shot facing him. Eddie is closing his eyеs for an
extended period of time. At first it seems that he could be
fighting back tears or anger, but he slowly relaxes his face.
Eddie opens his eyes. He's relieved, but far from smiling.
The problem isn't solved, and the war isn't won.
Eddie turns around and begins his trek towards the parking
lot.

TITLE:
PENNY

Along with the title, somber music begins.

EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - DAY
Eddie drives in his car. He's still silent but his face is
tense and his eyes are drooping. He's preparing himself for a
great feat.

EXT. STREET OF THE CEMETERY - DAY
Eddie pulls onto the opposite side of the street. As he opens
his car door, the sound of the door slices through the music
to stop it abruptly.

EXT. CEMETERY - DAY
Eddie walks around the tree-engulfed and moss-infested
cemetery in the most melancholic way. As he walks up the
path, he's surrounded by graves on either side of him, in
front of and behind him. His pensive mood is intensified.
Eddie approaches a headstone. As we view him from the
perspective of behind the headstone, he begins to walk
closer, then backs away.

CUT TO:
EXT. CEMETERY - DAY
We see the left half of a bench. It's empty.
Eddie rushes to sit down and covers his face as he quietly
sobs. He's inconsolable. Eddie alternates from burying his
head in his lap to laying back and leaning to the left.

Suddenly, a black woman's hand appears in the frame from the
left. She's offering a cigarette.

Eddie declines as he wipes his tears.

She rescinds the offer and retracts her arm out of the frame. The shot now switches to her half of the bench, the right side. JEWEL (early 20s). Wearing a pink wig, a hoodie, and
running shorts.

She puts out the cigarette and places it into a gum wrapper that she folds up and places next to her on the bench. She
would never litter.

After a beat of looking down, possibly in disappointment of her failure to connect with him, she turns and looks him head
on.

We now see a shot of the full bench with both of them in
view. As she looks him on, Eddie stares at his lap.

JEWEL
Hey.

Eddie wipes the rest of his tears and lifts his head towards her.

JEWEL (CONT'D)
My name is Jewel.

EDDIE
Eddie.

They shake hands.

JEWEL
I'm sorry, I don't really know how to handle things like that... the crying.

EDDIE
It's fine.

JEWEL
Are you okay?

EDDIE
(chuckling)
About as okay as anyone could be surrounded by skeletons.

JEWEL
I've been here so many times, it starts to feel like there's only one.

EDDIE
Maybe that's the problem, I've never come to this place before.

JEWEL
Oh, I'm sorry for your loss.

EDDIE
It's not a fresh wound. I'm just overdue treating it.

JEWEL
But it's still a loss.

Eddie relaxes into his seat, and Jewel takes a beat to
observe him. She's realizing Eddie has a very slight suburban
accent.

JEWEL (CONT'D)
Where are you from?

EDDIE
I'm from right here. Well I was
born here in [BLEEP], then I spent
middle and high school in [BLEEP].
I'm from here but it's been a while
since I've been here.

JEWEL
I can hear it.

EDDIE
It's a shame that it took death to
bring me back. My mom always
wanted-

JEWEL
You're a lucky one. Everybody wants
to leave. But nobody can afford it.
You're not missing out.

EDDIE
When I came back this morning, I
felt exactly what I've missed.

JEWEL
And what was that?

EDDIE
My real friends. People that look
like me. Somebody I can relate to.

JEWEL
That could be worth staying for...
to some.

EDDIE
It's worth everything.

JEWEL
It's priceless...
(smirking)
To some.

Jewel inches closer to Eddie.

JEWEL (CONT'D)
But sometimes I stay up all night,
thinking about what it would be
like to go to a big city. Just to
leave [BLEEP].

EDDIE
You know those big cities have a
lot to offer, but not the best
deal.

JEWEL
I think I've went to the Pit Stop
and Skating Rink and the pumpkin
patch one too many times.

EDDIE
You can bet that the Hollywood sign
and the Statue of Liberty get old
too. But I get it.

JEWEL
I'd just love to be in a place
where everyone I know is chasing a
dream, or trying something new. You
know, at my job, these people come
in and I can see my future self in
them. It's scary that they've
stayed in this small town for 50
YEARS. I can see the... What's the
word, the-

EDDIE
Complacency.

JEWEL
Exactly.

EDDIE
(smiling)
Man, my buddy Penny always said
those big cities aren't as cool as
they seem. "[BLEEP] isn't a city
for dreamers. It's a slot machine.
Do you think that casino built
itself off of people WINNING?"

JEWEL
(eyes widened)
Penny Brown?

EDDIE
(slowly)
Penny Brown. He always said that
there's a certain purity to a small
town. There's an honesty... You
knew him?

JEWEL
He was one of my best friends. He's
why I'm here.

EDDIE
I, as well.

JEWEL
(chuckling)
You know, Penny used to always come
to my store. Whenever he got a
chance to come home. Even if it was
just for a day. If he just wanted
to see his Mom, he would still drop
by the PitStop. If he was "meeting"
one of his fan-girls, he would drop
by the PitStop. If he was 100,000
feet in the air and he could
parachute down directly to the
PitStop for a cup of coffee, he
would.

EDDIE
He was that kind. He always called
me and asked about my degree and
how close I am to getting it.

JEWEL
He was the best friend you could
ask for.

EDDIE
I wish I could have saw him one
more time. I wish. When I got my
bachelor's, that was the last time
we hugged. But we were really
supposed to go all out for the big
one.

JEWEL
Big one?

EDDIE
My doctorate.

Eddie sits straight up on the bench.

EDDIE (CONT'D)
I haven't talked to anybody about
him since it happened.

JEWEL
Why?

EDDIE
It felt like... Talking about him
being gone made it final. It's
already final, but talking about it
like this cemented it.

JEWEL
I don't know if I could not talk
about him. Not for a year.

EDDIE
(beat)
When I first met Penny, he was
always the worst in the class. I
never would have thought he would
be the man he was. And I never
thought he would have such little
time.

JEWEL
I remember how he was. Even back in
first grade.

EDDIE
Mrs. Walton's class?
The camera closes in on Eddie then begins whipping back and
forth for each line.

JEWEL
(satisfied)
Mrs. Walton's class. Don't tell me
you were there.

EDDIE
I was.

JEWEL
You're lying.

EDDIE
I would never.

JEWEL
How old are you?

EDDIE
23.

JEWEL
(dumbfounded)
I don't remember you.

EDDIE
I guess some things just got lost
in translation.

JEWEL
(beat)
So-

The shots begin to cut naturally again.

EDDIE
How do you cope with this type of
stuff? My grandparents are alive.
My family is in tip-top shape. I've
never lost somebody before. Nobody
taught me how to handle this.

JEWEL
When it's too hard to think about
somebody that's gone, I take a
moment for myself.

EDDIE
You collect your thoughts?

JEWEL
I vaporize them. I fade to black.
And I refresh my mind.

EDDIE
And that works?

JEWEL
Do you want to try it?

EDDIE
It couldn't hurt.

Both Jewel and Eddie, without provocation, begin to close
their eyes in unison.

BLACK FRAME

We hear the continued nature sounds and bird chirping of the
area for about five seconds.

They open their eyes and look at each other. Eddie smirkes,
realizing it kind of worked.

EDDIE (CONT'D)
Do you have any other tricks up
your sleeve?

JEWEL
That one has always been enough.
(checking flip phone)
Oh, I gotta head to work in about
an hour. Right off of [BLEEP].

Eddie, in a visibly better mood, stands to give Jewel another
handshake before she departs.

JEWEL (CONT'D)
Well, we can't leave without doing
what we came here to do. Are you
ready?

EDDIE
Gotta be.

CUT TO:
EXT. PENNY'S GRAVE SITE - DAY

Eddie and Jewel walk into frame and stand over Penny's grave,
smiling and reminiscing.

FLASH ON
A grainy film photo of Penny proudly holding his astronaut
helmet, wearing a space jacket and grinning proudly in front
of the American flag. Music begins directly with the reveal
of this image.

TITLE:
Commander Quentin "Penny" Brown
December 27th, 1983 - August 24th, 2005
"Time is the greatest luxury."

CUT TO:
EXT. HIGHWAY - GOLDEN HOUR
A small, older coupe whizzes past the frame. Jewel is headed
to work.

EXT. GAS STATION - GOLDEN HOUR
The sun is now setting and the sky has become a mix of deep
beautiful colors, steadily approaching darkness.

Jewel is captured in the frame from behind as she walks
across the street towards the gas station. She's wearing a
yellow safety vest. As she's about to grab the door and
enter, she stops in her tracks for a beat, then turns around
and heads to the open grass field behind the gas station. The
music ceases.

EXT. OPEN FIELD - NIGHT
The field is beautiful. It's not as infinite as the lake, but
it is even more free. We're engulfed in sounds of cicadas
chirping and the breeze passing.

Same as how we began, the camera tracks the green grass and
trees in the distance that are becoming blobs of blackness as
the night arises.

The camera then lifts to show the back of Jewel's head as she
faces the field.

We now see that Jewel is closing her eyes the same as Eddie
did at dawn. Maybe they've been trying to speak to Penny.
Jewel cracks a wide smile. Maybe he's speaking back.

OVER BLACK
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Lives are intertwined, lives end,
lives separate. It's all so
seamless, and when it happens, it
really happens. But that's life.

ROLL MAIN TITLE