Life as a House

LIFE AS A HOUSE WRITTEN BY MARK ANDRUS FADE IN: A clock alarm SOUNDS over TITLES on BLACK.We HEAR someone clearing congested lungs, coughing up phlegm; a slight crash STOPS both the cough and the alarm. EXT. GEORGE'S BEACH SHACK - MORNING The cottage is a tiny, peeling paint rat-trap set dead center on a small ocean front cul-de-sac, surrounded by four massive post-modern mansions. INT. GEORGE'S BEACH SHACK BEDROOM - MORNING GEORGE NELSON, 42, squints and shivers as the spotty morning light and ocean breeze enter through an open window.Bold waves crash against the cliffs outside the room.A five-foot wide stack of hand hewed beams are piled pyramid style, making movement in the room next to impossible.George stands shirtless in underwear and coughs again.He steps over a pile of tools and stands at the window, facing the sea.A happy sounding tune by Guster, "WHAT YOU WISH FOR," begins with the lyrics: 'Woke up today, to everything gray and all that I saw just keeps going on and on...' EXT. WEBBER'S HOUSE - MORNING The post-modern house is three-levels of concrete and glass. INT. SAM WEBBER'S BEDROOM - MORNING SAM is sixteen with spiky black hair, a nose ring, two earrings and painted black nails.The song continues with: '...sweep all the pieces under the bed, close all the curtains and cover my head.'Sam looks wasted as he climbs out of bed and rummages through his dresser, retrieving an empty bottle of prescription drugs; he tosses the bottle.