INT. WISEMAN HOUSE, REBECCA'S BEDROOM - DAY
A girl's hands work on a needlepoint pillow. They pause when the girl's mother, EDITH WISEMAN (40s) calls from downstairs.
EDITH (o.c.)
Rebecca! You'll be late for school!
REBECCA WISEMAN (12, tall, cute but not beautiful, with an intelligent face) continues with her needlepoint.
EDITH (o.c.) (CONT'D)
(insistent, impatient)
Do you hear me?
Rebecca stops sewing with an audible sigh. Sound of footsteps on the stairs.
REBECCA
(resigned)
I'm coming.
Rebecca puts the needlepoint on her desk and leaves room.
INT. WISEMAN HOUSE, DOWNSTAIRS HALL - DAY
Their home is typical working class. Rebecca's mother, hands on her hips, watches Rebecca come down the stairs.
EDITH
Let me look at you. Be careful of your skirt. Next time you rip it, I'll be patching the patches.
She smooths Rebecca's sweater. Rebecca fidgets, pulls away.
EDITH (CONT'D)
Your uncle is coming for a visit--
REBECCA
(interrupts, not happy)
Uncle Wallace? When's he coming?
EDITH
Tomorrow night. Dad's meeting him at the train station.
REBECCA
Is Aunt Vera coming with him?
EDITH
No. She's staying--
REBECCA
She never comes.
EDITH
Try to be happy to see him.
REBECCA
He makes fun of Dad and me for reading too many books.
JACKIE (o.c.)
Becky!
EDITH
There's Jackie. Off you go.
EXT. SIDEWALK - DAY
JACKIE (12), Rebecca's friend, and Rebecca walk to school. They wave to friends and skip over cracks in the sidewalk.
REBECCA
My uncle's coming to visit tomorrow.
JACKIE
The one from Texas? What do you think he'll bring you for a gift?
REBECCA
I don't know, but it's never anything I want. Why does he have to come anyway?
INT. WISEMAN HOUSE, REBECCA'S BEDROOM - DAY
Rebecca is working on her pillow. Hearing her mother in the upstairs hall, she throws it on her bed and pretends to study. Edith enters the room and examines the needlepoint.
EDITH
This is the best work you've ever done. I'll be taking lessons from you before I know it.
YOU ARE READING
The Blue Dress: A Screenplay
General FictionRebecca, a teenager living in Montreal in the 1940s, receives a second-hand blue dress as a gift from a visiting uncle. When she is forced to give up her hand-made needlepoint pillow in return, she finds a way to exact a fitting revenge for the adul...
