Say Goodnight, Lily
FADE IN:
INT. KITCHEN - MORNING
Edvard Greig’s Suite No. 1, Op. 46 (or similar) plays as we fade into a peaceful kitchen. Birds are lightly chirping, light is crawling in from under the silky white curtains that hang on the window above the kitchen sink.
INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
The camera moves around the space of the small living room. Neat and tidy like the kitchen, but with a more personal touch with a few pictures scattered about revealing the home’s occupant, LILY (early 30s) with some friends, and one picture of YOUNG LILY (11) with her GRANNY.
Stacked neatly on the coffee table and shelves are a plethora of self-help books with ironic titles like “Get Help, B$!@%”, “Problems Are Stupid, Maybe So Are You”, “Serotonin for Dummies”, and “The Art of Not Driving Into Oncoming Traffic”.
BEEP, a voicemail begins.
LILY VOICEMAIL (V.O.)
Hi, you’ve reached Lily please
leave a message after the...
(there’s the sound of
glass shattering)
BEEP.
JOB LADY (V.O.)
Hi, Lily. You haven’t come into
work the last few weeks.
INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
The camera glides down the hallway, making its way from the tidy living room, down the tidy hallway into-
JOB LADY (V.O.)
Is everything alright?
INT. BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Lily’s bedroom... a literal fucking nightmare, a warzone in suburbia. Her mental state is fully on display for anyone who enters this room to see.
JOB LADY (V.O.)
Unfortunately, I was asked to pass
along a message to you and well um,
oh jeez. I have to notify you
you’re being terminated, effective
immediately, the higher ups have
all their briefs in a knot because
of your unannounced no-shows. Gosh,
I’m so sorry sweetheart, but uh let
me know if you need anything.
BEEP.
SHVOOOOOOOOO the vacuum turns on and Lily begins cleaning her carpet.
INT. FRONT DOOR - MORNING
At the front door now, clean and immaculate like the majority of the house, the morning music continues to play, the birds are still chirping when suddenly KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
Lily runs to the front door and swings it open to a MISSIONARY (20s), plump with an off-putting smile on his face.
MISSIONARY
Have you accepted the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ into your heart?
Lily studies the missionary’s scarily happy face then looks into the camera.
LILY
We’re about to find out!
Lily slams the door shut.
CUT TO BLACK.
INSERT TITLE CARD: SAY GOODNIGHT, LILY
INT. BEDROOM - DAY
Lily is cleaning her room doing various tasks like making her bed, organizing more self-help books, before settling on her computer, the blue light of the screen illuminating her face. She begins typing.
LILY
(narrating )
It’s a tough life.
(beat)
For what feels like my whole life
I’ve been combatting some pretty
dark thoughts. My doctors say it’s
a chemical imbalance, but the drugs
they pump into me only do so much
and, well, for personal reasons...
I’ve decided to pass away.
(beat. She looks into the
camera)
I’m sorry. Trigger warning. I need
to tell myself that too. This
wasn’t an easy decision to make,
but it feels like the right one.
(Goes back to typing, muttering).
If you knew what I’ve been through
you’d probably agree that this is
the only logical decision to make.
(Looks into the camera )
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried
finding my purpose to live.
INT. THERAPIST’S OFFICE - DAY
Lily is telling the THERAPIST her woes while he’s on his phone.
LILY (V.O.)
I tried therapy.
INT. BEDROOM - DAY
Lily is sitting on her bed in a meditative position with crystals sitting in a circle around her.
LILY (V.O.)
I’ve tried balancing my crystals
and recharging my chakras or
whatever.
EXT. ALLEY WITH WASH - DAY
Lily is going on a run, her arms flailing limply.
LILY (V.O.)
Exercising releases endorphins.
Endorphins make people happy,
right? Happy don’t kill their
themselves.
Lily stops running to catch her breath. Her eye catches something unusual. TWO MEN are dumping a dead body wrapped in black trash bags into the wash. They toss the body over the rail into the wash, then make eye contact immediately with Lily. Fuck.
Lily looks into camera.
LILY
It’s really hard watching other
people living out your dream.
Lily looks back at the men. Their mood has changed. And they WOLF-WHISTLE at her, one of them winks.
Lily turns back to the camera and does a little shrug and rolls her eyes before she continues to run.
INT. PITCH BLACK - NIGHT
The screen is completely dark.
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
LILY (V.O.)
I have tried literally everything.
INT. LILY’S HOUSE - DAY
Lily closes hits a button on her computer and the sound of a printer nearby goes off, she stands up to go grab the paper
We explore each room of Lily’s House. Every room spotless. The kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, her bedroom. All so clean you can eat off the floor.
Lily comes back into the room, folds up the paper, and shoves it into the envelope.
Lily sits on the bed. Her face looks defeated as she weighs her emotions in her head, contemplating before she gets up and-
CU: A shot of an envelope sitting on Lily’s dresser addressed to “Whomever May Find This”.
ECU: Lily’s face. She looks into the camera, then closes her eyes.
LILY
Say goodnight, Lily.
YOUNG LILY (O.S.)
(excitedly)
Goodnight, Lily!
INT. LILY’S CHILDHOOD BEDROOM - DAY
ECU: Lily’s eyes shoot open.
She opens her eyes to find herself in her childhood bedroom. It’s loud and poorly decorated. Her eyes study the room until she lands on CHILD LILY, hair in a poorly cut bob with bangs littered with glitter barrettes and little round glasses like Harry Potter’s.
CHILD LILY
You look like a bird number two’d
on you.
LILY
What. The. Fuck.
CHILD LILY
Oooooo you said the “F” word.
LILY
This...this absolutely was not in
any self help book. (She runs a
hand through her hair and sighs,
then looks into the camera.)
Lily examines her surroundings again and sees the picture of her young self and Granny on the dresser. She suddenly realizes...
Adult Lily points in disbelief at Child Lily who points back in quick reaction a la Spider-Man meme.
CHILD LILY
Why are we pointing?
LILY
You're me. I'm you.
CHILD LILY
(acceptingly shrugs the
reality)
Okay.
They stop pointing at each other.
Lily sits on her old bed overflowing with stuffed animals. She questions her surroundings.
LILY
(looking into camera)
Is this Hell?
CHILD LILY
Who are you talking to?
LILY
Nobody important.
Lily begins rubbing her temples trying to make sense of the situation.
LILY (CONT'D)
I can’t even do this right!
CHILD LILY
Do what right?
LILY
Kill myself!
There is a beat. Child Lily frowns, and she hesitates before speaking.
CHILD LILY
We want to die?
Lily looks at her child self and sees the disappointment in her eyes. The gravity of what she said hits.
LILY
Kill ourselves? No, I meant dill.
Dill ourselves. We get really into
pickling onions, tomatoes, beets.
You know nothing beats pickling!
It’s kind of a big dill.
Child Lily looks at Lily knowing just how severe their mental illness will become.
GRANNY (O.S.)
Lily! Lunch time!!
Lily’s entire body goes weak at the sound of her grandmother’s voice.
CHILD LILY
Come on! Lunch is ready!
Child Lily grabs Lily by her hand and leads her out the bedroom door into-
INT. GRANNY’S KITCHEN - DAY
Child Lily rushes into the kitchen and sits at the dining table where GRANNY, in an old dress and apron, is setting down a bowl of soup.
Lily peers around the corner of the kitchen door. This can’t be real.
LILY
(to camera, beat)
Granny?
GRANNY
Lily! Come on out from hiding over
there.
Lily is petrified. She slowly moves into the door frame. Tears well up in Lily’s eyes.
GRANNY (CONT'D)
Come come. Sit down and eat your
soup before it gets cold.
Child Lily has already started shoving spoonfuls of tomato bisque into her mouth.
Lily awkwardly shuffles into her seat and takes a spoonful of soup. She looks up at her grandmother who is bustling around the kitchen, cleaning up. She’s soaking in the moment.
She moves her spoon around, looking disinterested in the food.
LILY
Granny? You’re really here?
GRANNY
Of course I am!
Lily studies the room.
LILY
Where am I?
GRANNY
Where do you think you are, honey?
Are you sniffing markers again?
LILY
Not markers, no. But...
Lily looks at Child Lily who currently is wearing more soup on her face than what she’s actually consumed.
LILY (CONT'D)
Hell maybe? I don’t know.
Purgatory?
GRANNY
I was a damn saint, why would I be
in purgatory?
LILY
Okay, so is this heaven?
Granny takes a beat and shrugs. She begins to busy herself with cleaning up around the kitchen.
Lily looks down into her food, suddenly very interested in the shapes she’s drawing with her spoon. When she looks up, Granny looks like she’s about to head out of the kitchen.
LILY (CONT'D)
I think I really messed up, Granny.
Granny pauses and turns around. She walks back and sits down across from her, and sets her towel down onto the table.
GRANNY
(she chuckles)
Oh honey, if I had a dime for every
time I thought I messed up and life
was over, well we would have been
living the highlife with mojitos
and pool boys.
(looks at camera)
Girls too. Granny likes pretty
things.
CHILD LILY
WHO ARE YOU GUYS TALKING TO???
Child Lily stands up and starts waving her hands in front of the camera trying to see if she can crack the magic
LILY
That’s a lot of dimes, Granny
(beat)
LILY (CONT'D)
I didn’t know you ever felt that
way. You always seemed so happy.
GRANNY
All I ever wanted to do as your
grandmother was protect you from
the miseries in this world that I
faced.
They sit in silence for a moment.
LILY
Do you remember the time when we
went to the county fair and I drank
too much soda, so when I went on
that ride that was really shaky and
zipped me around I shit myself?
GRANNY
How could I forget? I had to give
you the knitted sweater I got from
my book club for you to wear as
pants.
CHILD LILY
(shocked)
What??
Granny and Lily laugh.
LILY
That set the tone for what the rest
of my life would look like. The
year after... when you di-
Granny shoots her a look to stop for the sake of Child Lily who has lost herself in her soup again.
LILY (CONT'D)
Sorry.
Lily chokes up a little.
GRANNY
Oh Lily Pad, don’t apologize to me.
I’m the one who left you too soon.
LILY
(beat)
Why don’t I just stay here Granny?
I’ve missed you so much. I finally
feel like I’m home.
GRANNY
You can’t stay here when there’s
still so much back there for you.
LILY
I don’t want to die, Granny. I just-
I just want to end my life as I
know it.
GRANNY
Then end it.
LILY
Can’t you see that I’m trying???
GRANNY
I don’t mean literally. Death
doesn’t always mean dying. Growth
isn’t beautiful, it’s ugly and it
hurts. Last I checked, Granny
raised a big bitch, not a little
one.
Granny and Child Lily high-five.
Lily buries her face in her hands.
Lily looks at Child Lily, tomato bisque all over her, blissfully unaware of the conversation.
LILY
I want to be that happy again.
Certainly God and all the drugs
I’ve tried know. You said you’ve
felt broken before. How did you
live with it?
GRANNY
I just didn’t let myself give up.
And I have faith you won’t either.
Living is never easy, and quite
frankly, neither is being dead.
Also, God cheats at poker.
(looks to camera)
The bastard owes me $400 from last
Friday.
Tears start to flow down Lily’s face
Granny stands up and walks over, planting a kiss on Lily’s forehead.
GRANNY (CONT'D)
I love you more than you will ever
know, Lily Pad.
Lily reaches out and squeezes her grandmother tightly. They rest like that for a moment, Lily silently shaking with sobs. Her Grandmother gently takes Lily's arms off of her, and disappears into the hallway, leaving Lily alone at the table.
CU: on Lily' head.
Lily stands and looks around, she is now in a ghostly empty space, no sign of her grandmother or her kid self. The bowl is gone, and everything is neat and ordered, as if it were a house being shown for sale. The only sign that the last few minutes ever happened are Granny’s apron, neatly folded on the dining table. Lily goes over to it, gently picks it up, and hugs it, breathing in her Grandmother’s scent. She stands like that for a few moments, before setting down the apron and walking down out of the kitchen.
Lily enters Child Lily’s bedroom, where her kid self is already sitting on the edge. She looks at Lily.
Child Lily reaches forward and gives her self a bear hug. Lily awkwardly pushes Child Lily away, then pats her on the head like a dog, then slowly settles herself into bed.
ECU: on Lily’s face. Her sad face slowly has life return to it again. She smirks, very Mona Lisa of her.
CHILD LILY
Say good morning, Lily.
LILY
Good morning, Lily.
The screen fades to black, and then there is a brilliant flash of white as the sounds of birds and morning traffic begin to fade in....
FADE TO BLACK.