Hotdogs & Homeruns

EXT. BASEBALL FIELD - DAY

CLOSE UP of a young boy standing on the pitcher's mound. Sweat beads on forming on his forehead.

With the ball in his hand, he wipes the sweat out of his eyes.

He breathes deeply and sizes up his opponent.

The boy at the plate is a large one, Vertically and horizontally. He is
about 5'6" and 150lbs, which makes him much larger than most of the boys playing.

The pitcher looks over to his teams dugout.

INT. DUGOUT

In the dugout, there are two older men in their 30's and a few of the smallest children. The kind of kids who eat their boogers in class. In fact, one is presently eating a booger as he twirls his foot in the sand.

One coach is obviously very intense, perhaps trying to win as a coach because he could not in his own youth.

The other is a rather robust man, eating a hot dog with "everything" on it.

The intense coach looks at the young pitcher and gives him a series of hand signals.

Then the coach mouths the word "fastball"

EXT. PITCHER'S MOUND

The pitcher inhales and then exhales deeply as he turns his attention back to the batter.

The pitcher takes a long stride and slings the balls as fast as he can.

SMACK

CUT TO:

CLOSE UP as the ball hits the glove of the catcher.

UMPIRE 

Strike!

Conservative applause comes from the stands.

The pitcher sighs and looks back to the dugout.

The coach mouths, once again, "fastball"

Pitcher winds up and throws as hard as he can

The large batter swings with all his might.

SWOOSH

UMPIRE 

Strike!

The crowd cheers a bit louder this time

The pitcher holds his elbow. It is clearly hurting him.

He looks to the dugout again.

The bigger coach is still unwrapping the aluminum foil off another hotdog.

The other coach tells him again to throw the fastball

The pitcher rubs his elbow with his glove.

He wiggles his arm to try to shake the pain out of it.

He readies himself at the mound for the next pitch.

FIRST BASEMAN (off screen O.S.)

Time out! Time out!

A short and husky boy runs to the dugout.

The bigger coach stops eating and looks at the first baseman.

BIGGER COACH

What's wrong son?

FIRST BASEMAN

Dad, can I have a bite of that hotdog?

BIGGER COACH

Are you kidding me? Get back out there!

FIRST BASEMAN

But, I'm hungry!

The coach just gives him a stern glare.

The baseman walks back to him position dejectedly.

UMPIRE 

Play ball!

The pitcher readies himself again.

The large batter digs his cleats into the sand.

The ball is thrown down the hill.

SLOW MOTION as the ball turns and rotates through the air.

The bat makes contact with a CRACK.

Back, the ball goes

Instead of watching the ball, the first baseman drools watching his dad chomp down on his hot dog

Back, the ball goes further

People in the stands stand on their feet

Back, the ball goes even further

The coach looks to see who is in position to catch the ball

A boy is sitting in the grass in the outfield, picking flowers with his glove sitting in his lap when the ball lands next to him

COACH

Get the ball!

The ball rolls by as the kid continues to pick flowers.

The large batter rounds third and makes it back to the home plate

UMPIRE

That's the ball game!

All the kids throw their hats into the air, including the losing team, and run to the concession stand

INT. DUGOUT

The big coach balls up his his aluminum foil as he takes the last bite of his hotdog and walks his way to the concession stand

The other coach tosses his cap into the dirt out of frustration and yells at no one in particular

COACH

How can you be happy? We lost by the mercy rule!

CUT TO:

CU of the scoreboard that reads

HOME 12 VISITORS 2

INNING 4

One kid with glasses is still in the dugout, looking at the coach. He breathes heavily as he crams his finger into his nose.

The sighs and walks away.

EXT. CONCESSION STAND

The kids from each team laugh and talk as they wait in line to get free dogs that are being handed out, followed in the line by the big coach and the coaches from the other team.

The kid who was picking flowers, hands his bouquet to a girl from the opposing team.

SLOW PULL OUT to see kids chasing each other and playing together as they hold their hotdogs like trophies.

THE END

Daisy and the Monkey by Roger Hale

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

The room is brightly lit from the large bay windows and mid-day sun. A glow shines through the room as light bounces off the hardwood floor.

In the corner of the room, tucked away, is a big dog pillow bed piled high with stuffed animals of all types.

ZOOM IN to see one toy seperate from the rest. It is a dirty and tattered sock monkey.

Holding that tattered sock monkey between two short legs is DAISY: a short and fat, black and white dog.

She lays on her bed lounging in the beams of light.

O.S. the CLANGS of dog food can be heard hitting a metal bowl.

Daisy grabs the sock monkey in her drooping jowls and hastefully darts to the sounds.

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER

The sun has moved and not as much light comes into the room. Daisy waddles her way back to her bed, still carrying her now soaking wet sock monkey.

TIME LAPSE as day turns into night and night back into day. Daisy and the monkey disappear for fractions of a second to reappear back on the bed.

LIVING ROOM - NEXT DAY

BARE-FOOT GIRL walk into frame. She is only seen from the knee down, as she will always be seen throughout.

Izzy's ears stand up

She jumps on the girls legs, forgetting monkey but only for a moment

She turns around picks up the monkey to present it to the girl

The girl grabs a free end and they begin to play tug-of-war

Back and forth they battle

Daisy hops backwards to try to gain the advantage

CLOSE UP of stitches being stretched

The girl tugs back and gives the monkey a shake

CU stitches being stretched even further

Daisy re-positions her grip and snaps her head back with a jerk

CU a couple of stitches pops free of the fabric

In a last effort to claim the prized monkey, Daisy holds on tight and shakes as if she had just got out of water.

TEAR

The monkey has been decapitated

Daisy drops the severed head on the floor, unsure of what has just happened.

Her ears go back flat to her head.

She licks the exposed neck to try to mend its wound but only ends up with a mouth full of stuffing.

She spits out the stuffing and walks under a table to hide, whether it be from her owner or from the crime scene (who knows)

She lays her head down, looking off into the distance with her drooping eyes

FLASHBACKS

A light and inspirational song plays in the background. Something like "Tiny Dancer"

INT. ROOM IN HOME - DAY

SLOW MOTION as she throws her monkey into the air.  She tries to catch it but it falls onto her head.

EXT. PARK-LIKE AREA - DAY

SUPER SLOW MOTION as she holds it in her mouth as she runs through a field of tall grass.

INT. LIVING ROOM

SUPER SLOW MOTION as Daisy humps a stuffed bunny.

As daisy freezes, time starts to run at normal speed.

Camera QUICK PANS across the room to see the monkey sitting on Daisy's bed, like it is watching her.

CUT TO:

Daisy humping the monkey in SUPER SLOW MOTION

EXT/INT. ENTRANCE

The girl carries a crate into her home and sets it down. She sets it on the ground and opens the door. A black and white puppy, newly born walks out. She looks around the room through her fuzzy new eyes and stumbles across the monkey. She grabs it in her mouth and drags, the much larger, monkey around with her.

INT. UNDER THE TABLE - MIDNIGHT

Daisy abruptly awakens from her dream

She runs her way into the living room to grab the monkey but only sees the terrible accident.

Somberly, she walks to the girls bedroom

INT. BEDROOM

The girl is sleeping with her head covered and only her legs from the knee down can be seen hanging from the bottom of the sheets

Daisy tries to jump up but fails on her first attempt

Daisy lays her head on the calf of the exposed leg

Her eyes slowly close

She is finally relaxed… but only for awhile

She opens her eyes and then jumps of the bed

Pitter-patters of little paws hitting the floor OS. They get further away and then stop and then racing back.

Daisy leaps back On-screen and on to the bed. But this time she is not alone.

Laying beside her is the head-less torso of the monkey, she lays her head back on the girls legs and falls asleep.

THE END