Toothpaste

written by

George Cuesta

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 FADE IN:

EXT. APARTMENT BALCONY - DAY

A squirrel circumnavigates an oak tree branch multiple times,
head down, nose sniffing, sweeping back and forth like a
metal detector.
PHIL is leaning on the railing of his apartment balcony,
munching on a bag of Doritos. He stares at the squirrel
absentmindedly.

His PHONE RINGS. He looks at the caller and quickly wipes his
fingers on his shirt to answer the call.
PHIL
Hello...? Yes this is he...
We can't hear the other end of the line, but we see Phil
bring his other hand to his face.
PHIL (CONT'D)
But he's okay... Ok, thank you.
I'll be there in half an hour.
Phil hangs up and blinks with a sigh, his face sinking
further into a mask of empty surrender. The only sign of
emotion is a clenched jaw.
He looks up at the squirrel still searching on the branch. He
starts walking away from the balcony to his apartment door
but suddenly swivels towards the squirrel, both of his arms
aimed directly at it in an odd pose reminiscent of Usain
Bolt's signature celebration.
He holds the pose for a moment, arms momentarily quivering,
aiming all of his aimless energy directly at the squirrel.
The furry creature is frozen, staring with empty eyes back at
Phil.
Phil relinquishes the pose and resumes his deflated posture.
He holds his gaze at the squirrel for a moment more and then
turns and walks into his apartment.
CUT TO:

EXT. FRONT PORCH - DAY - OVERCAST

Phil and POPS are seated on the front porch of a picturesque
house that's too sterile to be quaint. It's a standalone unit
in an assisted living community.
 2.

Both Phil and Pops are eating out of small single-serve fudge
sundae cups that sell for $6 a dozen at Walmart. Neither of
them look up from their cups until they've scooped out the
last remnants of ice cream.
There's a small bandage taped onto Pops' chin that doesn't
quite hide the bruised skin it's patching.
Pops looks up from his cup at Phil. Phil catches his eye and
smiles pleasantly.
POPS
And? What do you think?
PHIL
About the... oh the sundae? Ya it's
great!
POPS
(beaming)
Man you can't beat it, I'll tell
you. I had a hard time getting it
cause Christie gets me the
groceries and they stopped holding
them at Joan's here.
PHIL
Oh.
POPS
Ya she had to get it from Winn
Dixie and oh I was so happy. So
because of that she only goes to
Winn Dixie now for all my
groceries!
Pops starts cracking up. Phil joins with as much as he can
muster. Pops slowly calms down and then he looks sadly at
Phil.
POPS (CONT'D)
Listen, I'm sorry you had to come
here.
PHIL
Oh come on, Pops. Please.
POPS
It's so silly. I mean 20 years ago
I could get punched in the face
while standing on one leg and I
could stay still as a rock and now
I'm actually afraid of stairs.
Stairs! Agh!
 3.

Pops shakes his head with disgust. Then makes deliberate eye
contact with Phil.
POPS (CONT'D)
Don't get old, Phil.
Phil smiles and raises his eyebrows.
PHIL
I'll try my best.
Pops just shakes his head. A beat of silence passes.
PHIL (CONT'D)
So you think you lost your balance?
POPS
That's right. Like a toddler.
Phil holds his glance at Pops intently. Prepares himself for
his next statement.
PHIL
Christie said you'd had a bit to
drink...
POPS
Really, she said that? No, trust me
I'd like to blame it on something,
but that's not the cause of it.
Phil looks down, defeated. Expected disappointment.
POPS (CONT'D)
I'll tell you this. If they take
away my wine it won't stop me from
falling any less, but it'll
certainly make it harder for me to
get up!
Pops starts laughing. Phil smiles, looking out at the street.
A young student passes by walking her dog, a tiny Yorkshire
Terrier that shakes like it's constantly fighting off a
sneeze. Phil returns his attention to Pops.

PHIL
How have your episodes been?
POPS
Episodes?
 4.

PHIL
Ya last time you'd said you were
having some weird memory-
POPS
Oh, ya. No it hasn't been bad. It's
really not a mental thing. It's
like a... a blanket...
Pops shakes head.
POPS (CONT'D)
Phil, listen to me. Don't get old!
Pops says this with a fresh smile as if it's a new joke he's
never said before. Phil smiles, again.
POPS (CONT'D)
(sighing)
Ah, not fun. You know what it's
like? That feeling? I thought of
this the other day. It's like when
you're reading a book - I don't
read anymore you know, my eyes -
but it's like coming back to a book
that you've read before and opening
up to a random page and finding
yourself in a descriptive
paragraph. You don't know what's
happening in the story, you just
get a sense for what the
character's feeling from the
description of the setting. That's
how it is. I'm just sort of...
dropped into a memory all of a
sudden. I can't tell if maybe a
smell or song triggers it or what.
But there's always an overwhelming
emotion tied to it.
At this last sentence, CHRISTIE, Pops' caretaker, comes out
onto the porch.
CHRISTIE
(overexaggerated)
Mr. Wilson, we'll have to take your
blood pressure in 15 minutes, ok?
POPS
What's that?
 5.

CHRISTIE
(louder)
I said we have to take your blood
pressure very soon!

POPS
Oh alright, ok.
Christie goes back into the house.
POPS (CONT'D)
Agh! That damn arm cuff.
Phil raises his hands, palms up as if to say, 'what're you
gonna do?'
POPS (CONT'D)
Anyway, I had one of these episodes
the other day. I was settling down
for the night and then all of a
sudden I was at my grandparents’
house in Virginia.
CUT TO.

FLASHBACK - FOREST - DAY

We see correlating images of memories that follow Pops'
recollection.
POPS (V.O.)
When I was young we used to visit
their house every summer. They had
no electronics - TV, Nintendo,
nothing. They lived in the middle
of a 10 acre plot of land most of
which they couldn’t maintain so
we’d spend hours roaming the unkept
land. On this land there was this
old wooden shed that was there
before they bought the property.
Just an absolutely crumbling,
decrepit thing. It sounds spookier
than it was, it was too sad to be
scary. One summer, we tore down the
shed and dug through the crap that
was left under the structure. We
all felt like archaeologists, my
siblings and cousins. We'd find old
coke bottles and spectacles and...
to us it was like we'd found King
Tut's Tomb.
 6.

We see shovels eagerly sifting through dark soil with the

impatience and inexperience unique to children.
POPS (V.O.) (CONT'D)
At one point I found an old tube of
toothpaste, I guess when they were
still metal.
The dirt-smudged HAND of a 12-year old boy holds a rusted
tube of toothpaste in his hand.
POPS (V.O.) (CONT'D)
It was almost all rust but there
was a chunk of it that was still
intact, so I could read the brand.
And that precise moment, that's
where I found myself in this...
dream state. Just staring at that
tube of toothpaste.
PHIL (V.O.)
Sounds nice.
CUT TO.

EXT. FRONT PORCH - DAY - CONTINUOUS

Pops shrugs a bit. Then is silent for a beat.
PHIL
And the emotion?
POPS
(nodding)
Well... then I... I look up and
around and realize where I am, what
time I'm in... She would have been
growing up there, in that same
area.
PHIL
Who? Grammy?
POPS
Yes but long before she was Grammy!
Then she was just Gene... Or Geney.
And I'm hit with the realization
that we were hours away from each
other. Completely unaware of each
other's existence. I wonder how
close her home would be to my
grandparents'.
(MORE)
 7.
POPS (CONT'D)
I still don't remember where my
grandparents' home was, but it
couldn't have been more than a few
hours from where she grew up.
Phil just stares.
POPS (CONT'D)
If I'd met her then, I wonder if
we’d have been friends.
Pops pauses for a beat. Smiles and chuckles.
POPS (CONT'D)
I probably would’ve hated her.
His smile fades slowly.
POPS (CONT'D)
Or maybe I wouldn't be her friend.
I'd like to just observe. Just,
watch her. Leave her alone.
Phil's mask of dulled pain has returned. His gaze falls from
his grandfather to the floor.
We hear WIND HOWLING offscreen.
CUT TO:

EXT. CITY PARK - DAY

A tattered orange and yellow kite floats high in a sky of
crisp blue.