Higher Ground
Episode 17: Daised And Confused
Original Airdate: 12-MAY-2000
Written by Deborah Schwartz q Denitria Harris-Lawrence
© Transcribed by: Amy for Safe On Higher Ground.
Posted on http://twiztv.com.
SUMMARY: Daisy's mother died in a car accident and Peter urges her to go to the funeral, against Daisy's wishes. She reluctantly goes, along with Shelby and Sophie. She confronts her feelings after a meeting with her father. Back at Horizon, the Cliffhangers read Frankenstein and try to identify with it. Juliette and Auggie relationship grows.
OPENING. SIMULTANEOUS SCENES: Daisy is reading her tarot cards to the girls in her group; Mr. and Mrs. Lipenowski are leaving a party.
SCENE: Camera pans the outside of the girl’s dorm. DAISY is sitting on one bed, KATHERINE, SHELBY, and JULIETTE on another in front of her.
KATHERINE: Come on, Daisy! What is it?
DAISY: Wheel of Fortune. Your destiny will come into play very soon. If you don’t trust in yourself, (KATHERINE looks puzzled) you will choose the wrong path. (JULIETTE looks confused, SHELBY looks amused. DAISY puts the card down on the table.) I just read them. Figure it out for yourselves. Who’s next?
SCENE: Christmas party at someone’s house. Mr. and Mrs. Lipenowski are leaving, both tipsy. They cross the yard to their car.)
MR. LIP: (to a friend) Goodnight, George! (to his wife) I don’t know why we had to leave so soon, the party was just getting starting to get fun.
MRS. LIP: Because you were starting to make a bigger fool of yourself than usual.
MR. LIP: Yeah, yeah.
MRS. LIP: John, what are you doing?
MR. LIP: What?
MRS. LIP: Gimme the keys.
MR. LIP: I’m fine.
MRS. LIP: Your drunk.
MR. LIP: What, and your not?
MRS. LIP: Don’t make a scene. Just open up your hands and help me!
MR. LIP: You have to ruin everything, huh?
BACK TO HORIZON. DAISY is reading JULIETTE’S cards.
JULIETTE: What’s that card mean?
DAISY: The lovers. You really should stop kidding yourself. (JULIETTE makes a face at her.)
SHELBY: Outta the way, Princess. Its my turn. Give me my bad luck card and get it over with. (DAISY puts down the tower card and taps it.) What?
DAISY: The tower. Your in for a major disruption in your life.
SHELBY: (to JULIETTE) See, what did I tell ya? Bad luck.
DAISY: Nothing says the disruption has to be bad.
SHELBY: Well, your not saying its going to be good, either.
ON THE ROAD: DAISY’S PARENTS are driving along and its raining.
MR. LIP: …and its nobody’s business where Daisy is going to school.
MRS. LIP: Tracy asked me about her. What am I supposed to do? Lie?!?
MR. LIP: That kid of ours deserves to be in a reformatory, not some mountain top spa. Daisy has you wrapped around her little finger.
MRS. LIP: Oh, yeah right. Like your father of the year now, aren’t you?
MR. LIP: Hey, slow it down! Your driving like a maniac!
HORIZON: KATHERINE picks up her night kit from her desk, DAISY is sitting on her bed, reading her own cards.
KATHERINE: I thought you didn’t read your own cards.
DAISY: Sometimes its too tempting. (She looks at one card before setting it down)
ROAD: Car is accelerating and swerving.
MR. LIP: No, no! (Grabs the wheel and pulls the car back into its own lane, avoiding being hit by an oncoming car. Doing more damage than good, the car swerves out of control and into the woods.)
HORIZON:
DAISY: (puts down the death card. Whispers.) Death.
ROAD: The car is upside down against a tree, in flames. An arm (MR. LIP’S) is hanging out of a window and a body is lying face down in the ground in front of the car (MRS. LIPS’S). The tire slowly spins to a stop.
END SCENE
OPENING CREDITS
QUOTE: "I cherished hope, it is true, but it vanished when my person reflected."
- Mary Shelley
SCENE: LODGE, PETER’S office. DAISY and PETER are sitting back to back in chairs.
DAISY: (with no emotion) What do you think? Heaven or hell? I’m not sure what the punishment is these days for drunk driving. Guess Dad got lucky this time. But again that’s a no-brainer.
PETER: The funeral’s tomorrow.
DAISY: So?
PETER: So, I think you should go.
DAISY: From your tone I sense I’m not getting a choice.
PETER: I can’t make you go, Daisy, but if you don’t, I know you’re going to regret it.
DAISY: What will I regret? That I wasn’t in the car when she plowed into the tree?
PETER: (sitting up more and starting to turn around) Daisy, under the circumstances, can we just once talk face to face?
DAISY: No.
PETER: Daisy...
DAISY: No.
PETER: Please?
DAISY: No, thank you. I’d rather not mess with our tradition of phony anonymity.
PETER: I’m going to New York tomorrow to settle some of my father’s business. In the past week since he’s passed away (DAISY rolls her eyes) I have been experiencing sorrow, anger, guilt, loneliness...
DAISY: My mother’s dead. Her funeral is not going to change that.
PETER: No, your right. It might not matter for a few years. It might not matter until much later on in your life. But your feelings might change.
DAISY: I doubt very much that my feel-
PETER: (cutting her off) Daisy, go. Go. Trust me on this one.
DAISY: Well...who better to trust? So, when am I leaving for the festivities?
PETER: Are you serious? Or just humoring me?
DAISY: Does it matter? I said I’d go.
PETER: Well if your going to make it on time you’ll have to leave right now. I’ll ask Sophie to drive you.
DAISY: Great. Drive-through therapy.
PETER: (SOPHIE knocks) Come in! (SOPHIE enters, just having worked out.)
DAISY: Well, aren’t we in for a fun time! (She leaves.)
SOPHIE: (closing the door) What did she mean by that? Is she gonna go to the funeral?
PETER: Reluctantly.
SOPHIE: Well, Peter, if she really doesn’t want to...
PETER: (gets papers out of file cabinet and starts to call someone on the phone) I uh...I also volunteered you to drive her home.
SOPHIE: What? Me? But I’ve got my… Why me?
PETER: I think the drive will do you both some good.
SOPHIE: Well, what do you mean by that?
PETER: Uh, Daisy will probably need some support, and adult supervision, and you haven’t had a break since you’ve been here.
SOPHIE: Wait, Daisy lives down in Colorado. That’s like a two day one-on-one.
PETER: You’ve done a good job with Kat, Juliette, even Shelby, huh?
SOPHIE: Shelby hasn’t given me an inch, not really. Wait a second...if your going to be in New York, and I take Daisy, who’s going to be in charge of my group?
PETER: Roger. Soph, he knows the kids better than most of the counselors around here.
SOPHIE: I’m not doubting his ability, its just...they’re my kids.
PETER: He’ll take good care of them. Come on. (they leave.)
END SCENE
GIRLS DORM: SHELBY walks in while DAISY is packing.
SHELBY: (looks uncomfortable. Sees DAISY’S tarot cards in the trash and goes to pick them up. Trying to lighten up the mood:) Hey, you forgetting somethin’?
DAISY: Trash can usually signifies ‘trash.’
SHELBY: Well, it wasn’t ‘trash’ the other night.
DAISY: Today is a bright new day. (Takes a break from packing.)
SHELBY: (sits on the bed opposite DAISY.) When are you leaving?
DAISY: (sits on her bed) Now.
SHELBY: You don’t want to go, do you?
DAISY: I can’t think of anything I’d rather do less.
SHELBY: She was your mother.
DAISY: Yeah. Every once in awhile when it was convienent she’d call herself that. I think I was seven…the first day of school. School starts right after Labor Day...and alcohol was usually very scarce in my house after a holiday. Well, it’s the first day of school, and I’m looking for my shoe. You have to have both shoes to go to school. I looked all over the house for my mother. Finally found her in the downstairs bathroom, on the floor in her bathrobe. She had knocked over a perfume bottle. She was on her hands and knees trying to (a beat) lick up the perfume. That was the woman that called herself ‘mom.’
KATHERINE: (coming in with JULIETTE, a load of papers in her arms) Dais, sorry to hear about your mom.
DAISY: Stuff happens. What are ya gonna do?
JULIETTE: Is there anything you need?
DAISY: Well, lets see...I needed a real mother, but I guess there’s no chance of that happeneing now. (Picks up her coat and bag and leaves. SHELBY claps at JULIETTE then follows DAISY out.)
END SCENE.
LODGE KITCHEN. DAISY is making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the road.
SHELBY: If you have stuff to do I can make these for you.
DAISY: No, its okay. I need the practice honing my culinary skills.
SHELBY: So are you going to be able to handle this trip?
DAISY: No. But its not like I have a choice. Can’t wait to see dear old ‘papa.’
SHELBY: Look...um, what if, I don’t know, what if I came with you? (starts to reply but SCOTT comes in.)
SCOTT: Hey. I just heard, Dais. I’m sorry, it really sucks, doesn’t it.
DAISY: Some would argue that point.
SCOTT: (to SHELBY) You going to be around later?
SHELBY: Maybe. I might be going home with Daisy.
SCOTT: (Annoyed) Sure. That’s cool. (leaves)
SHELBY: (waits till SCOTT is gone) Yeah. It would be nice to get away. You know, give this a rest.
DAISY: You’d really do that?
SHELBY: Like I said, I’d like to get away. And uh, I don’t know...maybe...Maybe you could use a friend.
END SCENE.
GIRLS DORM. JULIETTE stand up from her bed and goes to the couch where KATHERINE is sitting.
JULIETTE: Kate, do I look like I’ve gained weight?
KATHERINE: (is filling out applications on the table) Yeah. Tons.
JULIETTE: Seriously. My mom is coming up here for Parent’s Weekend and she’s bringing number five with her. And I haven’t met him yet.
KATHERINE: And she wants you to be the perfect little daughter for him.
JULIETTE: Kind of. She didn’t exactly come right out and say it.
KATHERINE: They never do. Look at this! This is insane! There’s like twenty pages to fill out for each school!
JULIETTE: Still filling out college apps, huh?
KATHERINE: I haven’t even started. This is like a full-time job. I don’t even know where to begin.
JULIETTE: Guess your mom and dad must be pretty proud of you, huh?
KATHERINE: I hope so. Believe me, I didn’t make it very easy for them.
JULIETTE: (rocking a little) Kate...do you love your mother?
KATHERINE: Yeah. Now I do. I know I did before my sister’s accident. There was just that space in there. Those couple of years where I really hated her.
JULIETTE: Listening to Daisy talk about her mom, and how much she hated her and wished she was dead. I used to wish the same things about my mom. Even now, when I get stuff like this I still do.
KATHERINE: Its all about pain, Jules. The people, the things that give us the most pain, that hurt us the most we wish they would just stop, go away...even die.
JULIETTE: Does that make me a really awful person?
KATHERINE: No. That makes you a really human person.
END SCENE.
OUTSIDE. It has snowed. DAISY, SHELBY, and SOPHIE are getting ready to leave. DAISY is walking with EZRA.
DAISY: I trashed my cards. I know they were a gift from you, but...
EZRA: (puts his hand up to cut her off) Its okay. I could give you the whole ‘it’ll take time’ speech, but I’m not going to pretend I know what your going through.
DAISY: That makes two of us. Death...really creeps me. Maybe that’s why it fascinats me so much. Its like an attraction, and a repulsion at the same time.
EZRA: I know. You told me.
DAISY: This time its different. This time, it just...scares me.
EZRA: Dais, look, uh...if there’s anything I can do...
DAISY: (touched) Nothing. But thanks. (they hug.)
CUT TO SOPHIE and ROGER exiting the lodge. SOPHIE is giving ROGER some last minute advice.
SOPHIE: ...You know Auggie is dyslexic.
ROGER: Yes, I know. So am I.
SOPHIE: Really?
ROGER: Yeah.
SOHPIE: You have to make sure you check Juliette’s food diary every day.
ROGER: And her arm.
SOPHIE: I’m sorry, Roger, you’ve been here a lot longer than I have.
ROGER: Its okay.
SOPHIE: I’m totally humiliating myself, right?
ROGER: Not totally. You know its not going to be easy with the two of them. (SOPHIE agrees) Daisy and Shelby make their living manipulating.
SOPHIE: Tell me.
ROGER: They’ll test you.
SOPHIE: Yeah, well, I’ll test them right back.
ROGER: Well, alright.
SOPHIE: Be good. (they hug)
ROGER: Be careful on the road. I’ll hold down the fort until you and Peter get back. (He puts her bag in the back of the truck, and SOPHIE gets in.)
CUT TO SCOTT and SHELBY talking.
SCOTT: So, is this how it’s going to be between us now?
SHELBY: I don’t know.
SCOTT: It doesn’t it have to be.
SHELBY: I wish I could believe that. Its almost like we have to start at the very beginning again.
SCOTT: I’d do that for you.
SOPHIE: Shelby, come on, we gotta get rolling.
SHELBY: Yeah, I’m coming. I gotta go. (she squeezes his hand as she leaves. She gets in the truck next to DAISY. As they drive off, SOPHIE waves out the open window, and SHELBY and DAISY look back at ROGER, EZRA, and SCOTT, but SCOTT walks away.)
COMMERCIAL BREAK. END SCENE.
IN THE CAR. SOPHIE, DAISY, and SHELBY are driving down the rainy highway, the girls trying to amuse themselves.
SOPHIE: Do you want to talk about it?
DAISY: If I wanted to talk about it my lips would be moving.
SOPHIE: I’m just saying that sometimes it really helps -
SHELBY: You heard her, she doesn’t want to talk.
SOPHIE: I’m just trying to let-
SHELBY: See, that’s your problem. You try too hard.
SOPHIE: It is my job to help
SHELBY: Sometimes you can help more by not helping.
DAISY: (trying not to laugh.) I’m hungry!
END SCENE.
RESTAURANT. SOPHIE, DAISY, and SHELBY sit down at the counter. DAISY is turned around, watching a family with two kids, the little boy playing with toy cars.
DAISY: Threes. You notice? Its always threes.
SOPHIE: Hm? What’s threes?
DAISY: Things, people, events. (Turns back around.) Everything comes in threes. I wonder who’s next.
SOPHIE: I don’t understand what you mean.
SHELBY: Peter’s father, her mother, who’s going to be number three...
DAISY: I don’t look like half an orphan, do I? Maybe I’ll look different once Pops buys-
SOPHIE: Your trying to shock me.
SHELBY: Maybe this isn’t about you.
WAITRESS: You folks ready to order yet?
SOPHIE: Oh, we haven’t even looked at the menu yet, can you give us a minute?
WAITRESS: Sure. Can I get you something to drink?
SHELBY: Coffee.
SOPHIE: Decaffeinated.
SHELBY: Okay, make that a coke.
SOPHIE: Diet. No caffeine.
SHELBY: What was I thinking? I’ll just have water. Wouldn’t want to get crazed off sugar and caffeine.
SOPHIE: Waters all around will be just fine.
WAITRESS: Sure.
SHELBY: You aren’t going to give us an inch, are you?
SOPHIE: Nope. As far as I’m concerned we’ll follow the Horizon rules the entire trip. (The LITTLE BOY DAISY was watching earlier is making noises and she turns around to watch him.)
SHELBY: And you wonder why none of us want to open up to you. You don’t know when to bend.
SOPHIE: I do know when I’m being manipulated. (The LITTLE BOY crashes his truck into a sugar container and there’s a flashback of the accident. DAISY shakes her head and gets up.)
SHELBY: Don’t flatter yourself.
SOPHIE: Daisy, where are you going?
DAISY: To the bathroom. The bereaved are still allowed to pee, aren’t they? (SOPHIE nods.) You can come help if you want. (SOPHIE shakes her head.)
SHELBY: Real smooth, counselor.
END SCENE.
BACK AT HORIZION. The CLIFFHANGERS are in class, taught by ROGER. He is reading a passage from Frankenstein.
ROGER: ‘The oxidants of life and not sub-changeable to the feelings of human nature. I’d worked hard for two years for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.’ Okay, how many of you have actually read the book, Frankenstein?
EZRA: I used to rent Young Frankenstein all the time. (KATHERINE throws a wadded up piece of paper at his head.)
ROGER: Very funny movie, but the real Frankenstein is much more.
SCOTT: Its only one of the biggest horror novels ever.
ROGER: Your right, but its even much more than that. The author, Mary Shelley, was only eighteen when she wrote Frankenstein.
JULIETTE: Eighteen? That’s it?
ROGER: Makes you realize you are much more capable than what you think
AUGGIE: Yeah, didn’t she come up with the whole Frankenstein thing telling ghost stories one night?
ROGER: You’re my man, Aug.
KATHERINE: How’d you know that?
AUGGIE: I saw it on TV, or something.
ROGER: All right. Here’s the deal. (To JULIETTE) Stop doodling. (To CLASS.) I want you to read the book, and find yourself in it.
AUGGIE: What?
ROGER: Relate it to something your going through or have gone through. There are a lot of themes throughout this book. You just gotta dig them up and write a report.
AUGGIE: This is a thick book, man.
ROGER: I know. So you can read it the same way I did when I was your age. (Hands AUGGIE headphones and a walkman.) Books on Tape. Same words, just a different way of reading. (AUGGIE puts on the headphones and smiles at SCOTT.)
END SCENE.
ON THE ROAD. The truck’s engine is smoking.
SHELBY: Well, this has just been a laugh a minute.
SOPHIE: Yeah, remind me to talk to Peter about retiring this piece of junk.
DAISY: No rush.
SHELBY: Well, at least its stopped raining.
SOPHIE: Man, it’s the fan belt. (Closes the hood.) Well, we were making good time. Can’t have you late to the funeral.
DAISY: That’s okay. I don’t plan on going to the funeral.
SOPHIE: What do you mean you don’t plan on going?
DAISY: Well all this was Peter’s idea! Why should I stand there shrouded in hypocrisy?
SOPHIE: Daisy, (DAISY sees the station wagon of the family in the diner go by. She sees the kid crashing the car again, and another flash back of the wreck. When she comes back, the boy is waving to her from the back of the car.) Daisy.
DAISY: What!?
SOPHIE: At least be there for your father. He gotta be going through a lot right now.
DAISY: Last time I saw my father he was begging for his life. I’m sure I’m the last face he wants to see. Let me put it into terms you can understand. I checked my emotional closet, the shelves are empty. I don’t feel a thing for him and I’m sure its mutual.
SOPHIE: You’re his daughter. Tragedies like this bring a family together.
SHELBY: Obviously, your family isn’t a dysfunctional mess.
SOPHIE: Well, we’re not exactly the Brady Bunch, but yeah, I’d like to think my family pull together in a crisis.
SHELBY: Must be nice living in Camelot.
END SCENE. Cuts directly to a HOTEL ROOM. SOPHIE puts her bag on the bed.
SOPHIE: You are so wrong. You don’t have to be an emotional train wreck to be able to emphasize and understand someone else’s pain. I’ve had my share.
SHELBY: Really. Is that why you came back to Horizon...to share your pain?
SOPHIE: No. I wanted to finally put down some roots. Horizon seemed like a good place to do it.
DAISY: And Peter had nothing to do with your decision.
SOPHIE: I think your venturing into personal territory.
DAISY: Isn’t that what you do to us every chance you get?
SOPHIE: Its my job.
DAISY: If its just your job to take me to my mother’s funeral, you really could have saved the gas money.
SOPHIE: Daisy, I know you think you feel nothing right now, but it could just be shock.
DAISY: Or it could just be how I feel. Why do people have kids? My parents were obviously unhappy before I came along, so why have me?
SOPHIE: They’re just people. I thought the same thing. Until it became a reality.
SHELBY: Till what became a reality?
SOPHIE: Nothing. I just… (the girls look at her expectantly.) Nothing.
DAISY: There’s that fake to the left again. You can’t do it, can you? You’re a poser. Your in a job where you try to dig out the truth from everybody and you can’t even share your own. That’s a really good reason to trust you.
SOPHIE: Look, its - its lots of things, all right. (Starts to break.) Too numerous to discuss right now.
SHELBY: Like what? Did you get pregnant at fifteen and have to give up your baby?
SOPHIE: No.
SHELBY: Then what? Rape, incest, molestation?
SOPHIE: No.
DAISY: She can’t do it. What a hypocritical phony.
SOPHIE: I can’t have children, all right? You wanted my truth, there’s my truth.
SHELBY: (She and DAISY both look guilty.) I’m sorry.
SOPHIE: Yeah. I’m sure you are. (Goes into the bathroom.)
COMMERCIAL BREAK. END SCENE.
AT HORIZON. The CLIFFHANGERS are hanging out in the lodge, reading Frankenstein. The camera goes to JULIETTE and a voice reads:
VOICE: I cannot describe to you the agony these reflections have inflicted upon me. I try to dispel them, but some are only increased with knowledge. (JULIETTE closes the book and takes out a note, probably from her mother. She unfolds it and starts to read, then shoves it back in her book and gets up.)
AUGGIE: (takes off his headphones. To KATHERINE.) Has Jules been acting weird to you?
KATHERINE: She got a letter from her mother. I think it kinda freaked her out.
AUGGIE: What kind of letter?
KATHERINE: Her usual mother kind. (AUGGIE gets up to find JULIETTE.)
KITCHEN. JULIETTE is taking toast out of the toaster to make a PBJ.)
AUGGIE: Hey whats up, Twig?
JULIETTE: Nothin’.
AUGGIE: Hey, good book, that Frankenstein.
JULIETTE: Its okay.
AUGGIE: I thought Frankenstein was the monster, but it turns out, it’s the crazy doc. So you got one of those letters from your mom, huh? Yeah, Kat told me
JULIETTE: Kat has a big mouth. Why doesn’t she just mind her own business?
AUGGIE: Don’t go busting her bag, or anything. She didn’t mean anything by it.
JULIETTE: You too, okay? Nobody asked for your help. Just stay out of my face!
AUGGIE: All right. Steppin’ off, Twig. You don’t gotta tell me twice.
LATER, GIRLS DORM, BATHROOM. JULIETTE is leaning against the wall, reading in her PJs. VOICE reads again.
VOICE: I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces in triumph. Shall I respect the man when he condemns me? Let him live with me in an interchange of kindness, and instead of injury, bestow every benefit with tears of gratitude as acceptance?
JULIETTE: (Closes book.) My creator. (Gets up and puts her hear back to wash her face. She sees a reflection of HER MOTHER in the mirror.) Mom? (When she looks around, nobody is there. She looks back in the mirror.) My creator.
END SCENE.
ON THE ROAD. SOPHIE drives SHELBY and DAISY up to DAISY’S house, which is quite large. SHELBY looks at it in awe.
DAISY: Home sweet home.
SHELBY: Wow, you live here?
DAISY: Whats your definition of live?
SOPHIE: Okay, lets go.
DAISY: (Grabs SOPHIE’S arm.) Wait, wait. I’m not ready for this.
SOPHIE: Daisy, the funeral is in a few hours.
DAISY: Look, I told you I’d go to the gravesite, but not the funeral. I told you, hypocrisy is not my style.
SOPHIE: (Closes the door.) Despite what you think, I really do know how you feel. You don’t have to do this alone. Shelby and I are both here for you.
DAISY: You don’t know my father. A few drinks in him and he wouldn’t care if you were Mother Theresa.
SOPHIE: Daisy your going to have to face him at one time or another, now is as good a time as any.
SHELBY: She’s not ready yet. Look, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to do anything.
DAISY: I want to see where it happened.
END SCENE.
AT HORIZON. AUGGIE is in the art room, talking to ROGER about the book.
AUGGIE: The thing is, Doc. Frankenstein wasn’t so whacked when he started. He was really trying to do the right thing.
ROGER: So what does that tell you?
AUGGIE: He was like the dad, you know? But when the creature didn’t turn out exactly how the Doc wanted it, it started messing with his head.
ROGER: Good insight. Now just put that in your report.
AUGGIE: Come on, man. Your like me, you know? I can’t write no report.
ROGER: (Goes to get a blank canvas and hands it to AUGGIE.) Who said the report had to be written?
AUGGIE: For real? You’d let me do that?
ROGER: Yeah.
AUGGIE: Word!
JULIETTE: Hey, Aug.
AUGGIE: Hey, wassup. (He walks on by her. ROGER notices the brush off but doesn’t say anything. JULIETTE sits on a stool and reads.)
VOICE: All men hate the wretched...
END SCENE.
SCENE OF THE ACCIDENT. DAISY is sitting against the tree where the crash occurred, expressionless. There are lots of flowers around the tree and a white cross. Although the scene changes, the VOICE keeps reading.)
VOICE: (continued) How then must I be hated? Who am miserable beyond all living things.
SHELBY: (She and SOPHIE are leaning against the truck, watching DAISY.) I wonder why she wanted to come here.
SOPHIE: She’s trying to get some sort of a connection. She’s dealing with a lot of different feelings right now, and they’re scaring her, they aren’t what she expected them to be.
SHELBY: I’m sorry we pushed you so far yesterday.
SOPHIE: Its okay. That was yesterday, yesterday is over.
SHELBY: I guess it must really bite, to want kids but can’t have them.
SOPHIE: It does. A lot.
SHELBY: Does Peter know you can’t have kids?
SOPHIE: No.
SHELBY: (Goes down to sit next to DAISY. She moves a pack of flowers out of the way.) You okay?
DAISY: I thought I’d find some answers here.
SHELBY: It was worth a shot. (Pause.) I went back to the scene of the crime.
DAISY: What crime?
SHELBY: Remember me telling you about my best friend Patty? (DAISY nods.) The one who OD’d? Well, when I found her dead. I left, I just took off. But then I remembered something she told me, so I went back before the cops came. (FLASHBACK (while SHELBY tells the story). SHELBY is in a darkened room, wearing tight clothes and a lot of makeup, going through her friends things. She takes her wallet and takes one last look around the room before she leaves.) I searched through all of her clothes. IDs, cash, anything linking her up to the rest of the world.
DAISY: Why?
SHELBY: She wanted to be anonymous. She hated her family, her whole life, her friends, everybody in Kansas. She didn’t ever want to be found. So I just made it easier for her. She was just Jane Doe when they picked her up. She wasn’t even a person, it was like she never even existed. (Shot pans to PATTY.) I wish I had said goodbye.
DAISY: You think I should go to her funeral.
SHELBY: I think you should do what you want to do.
END SCENE.
THE FUNERAL. Snow is on the ground, people hiding under umbrellas.
VOICE: Everywhere I see bliss, for which I alone am irrevocably excluded. Benevolent and good, misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I again shall be virtuous.
PRIEST: Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, and whosoever believes in Him, shall live. (MR. L sees DAISY and goes to her.) Who is not destroyed by death, but has taken her into eternal life.
MR. L: (DAISY is made up in her ‘Daisy Graves’ outfit: white face, black makeup, black wig, cape, etc.) What do you think your doing?
DAISY: I came to pay my respects.
MR. L: Respect? You call this respect? That ridiculous outfit? And that clown makeup?
DAISY: This is who I am.
MR. L: No. Who you are disappeared a long time ago. You don’t even know who you are now.
DAISY: Yes I do. I am a creature from your own making, ‘Daddy.’ (MR. L walks back to the service. SOPHIE and SHELBY walk up to her.)
END SCENE. COMMERCIAL BREAK.
BACK AT HORIZON, the LODGE. JULIETTE is sitting in a chair, reading again, watching as AUGGIE comes down the stairs.
VOICE: I wish sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling, but I learned there was one means to overcome the sensation of pain. And that was death. A state which I feared yet did not understand.
THE GRAVESITE.
DAISY: We really should to do this again sometime.
SHELBY: Can’t wait.
SOPHIE: Daisy, you did the right thing.
DAISY: There’s that wacky sense of humor again.
SOPHIE: Listen, you did the right thing. You showed more guts and courage by coming here today than anyone of those people could possibly imagine. The one thing he can’t take from you is your soul. In their addiction, your mother and father hurt and abused you, but they couldn’t get your soul. And that’s what makes you you. And you just proved that.
SHELBY: I didn’t say this, but she’s right. (They get in the car. DAISY pauses to look at herself in the side mirror, and sees her non-made up face in the reflection. She gets in, pauses, and yanks her wig off and avoids looking at SOPHIE and SHELBY.)
END SCENE.
BACK AT HORIZON. The CLIFFHANGERS are giving their presentations, AUGGIE is up.
AUGGIE: Yeah, but what I think that book was really about was that doc. He was the guy that created the monster, right? In the end, he was the one that was loco.
SCOTT: Yeah but the doc tripping off his mother died. He figured the best way to deal would be to bring something else back to life.
JULIETTE: But after he created this thing he rejected it. Because he wasn’t perfect he didn’t want anything to do with it.
AUGGIE: ‘Kay, but dig it though. He still learned how to write, he still learned how to read, you know, he still got high on life.
JULIETTE: But look at what all he had to go through to get there. It wasn’t until he met a blind man and his family that he got the love and respect he craved.
EZRA: Yeah but as soon as they saw his hideous face they turned on him.
KATHERINE: I always thought the monster was innately evil, but that only happened after the doctor rejected him. You know, the one person he wanted to be loved by. That says a lot.
EZRA: Yeah, and he was still able to give and receive love from other people. That says a lot.
ROGER: That does say a lot. We’re not bound by other people’s thoughts, not us.
JULIETTE: But ultimately it was his hate for his creator that destroyed him.
ROGER: Yeah but that’s because he let the hate consume him. Its what we try to get you to understand. Hate does not dictate your life. (To AUGGIE.) Ready?
AUGGIE: Yeah, dog. (He looks at JULIETTE before uncovering his artwork. Everyone smiles and claps for him. The paintings is of a caricature-type painting of Frankenstein with a man (all black) looking at him. The bell rings and everyone leaves.)
END SCENE.
ON THE ROAD.
DAISY: I knew I never should have gone.
SOPHIE: You didn’t go.
DAISY: What’s that supposed to mean?
SOPHIE: You didn’t go. Daisy Graves went. Daisy Lipenowski never showed up.
DAISY: (Looks at SHELBY, then thinks for a few moments.) I want to go back. (SOPHIE nods knowingly.)
END SCENE.
ART ROOM AT HORIZON. AUGGIE is alone, working on a painting and JULIETTE walks in.
AUGGIE: (Not too happy she showed up.) Back off, Twig.
JULIETTE: Aug, I want to talk to you, please.
AUGGIE: I’m listening. I at least owe you that.
JULIETTE: No you don’t. You don’t owe me anything. I owe you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the way I’ve been treating you. And the worst part about it is I don’t even know why I’ve been doing it. I’m just - I’m just so messed up all the time.
AUGGIE: I guess you can say the same for everybody.
JULIETTE: I guess. I tore up my mother’s letter and threw it out. It felt great.
AUGGIE: That’s so good, Jules. You gotta keep her from messin’ with your head, okay?
JULIETTE: Yeah, like I’ve been messing with yours? You’re always there for me. Any time you thought there was the slightest thing wrong you were there.
AUGGIE: Well, that’s what friends do.
JULIETTE: I want us to be more than just friends.
AUGGIE: Yo, you’re the one that backed off from me, remember?
JULIETTE: Yeah, but now I’m saying I’m not going to back off anymore.
AUGGIE: Until next time.
JULIETTE: No more next times, Aug. That’s what I mean. (They make out.)
END SCENE.
MRS. L’S GRAVE. DAISY is standing in front of it. SOPHIE and SHELBY are standing back by the path.
DAISY: You surprised me on this one, mom. I always figured Daddy would bite it first. I didn’t want to come, but I guess you already knew that. Probably saw me and dad getting into it. (Shows front of DAISY, and she is holding a paper bag.) Nothing’s changed. These past couple of days, I’ve been searching my heart that will make me cry for you. Cry for myself. And you know what? Nothin’. You were a lousy mother, I think you knew that too. Probably why you drank. I was a reminder of your shortcomings. And maybe why I had to hide under all this. (Opens bag and dumps all her Daisy Graves things onto the grave.) I don’t want to hide anymore. I think I’m ready to be me again. I don’t think I need the mask anymore. Ashes to ashes, huh? Oh and this – the first song you taught me to sing – Amazing Grace. (Shows burned copy of sheet music.) This is the only connection I remember us having. (Tosses it on the grave and takes a deep breath.) Hopefully you have found peace, I will continue searching for mine. (Walks back to SOPHIE and SHELBY.)
SOPHIE: Are you okay?
DAISY: Yeah. (MR. L gets out of his car.)
MR. L: Daisy!
SHELBY: Ignore him, come on, lets go.
SOPHIE: No, wait. Your stronger now. Go talk to him. I’ll come with you if you want. (MR. L gets out of the car holding a bag.)
DAISY: No, I want to do this alone. Get it over with.
SOPHIE: We’ll be in the truck. (SHELBY gives her a reassuring look and takes the bag. DAISY walks over to MR. L.)
DAISY: You sober, Daddy?
MR. L: I haven’t had a drink in two days now.
DAISY: Great. You’ll let me know when its been two years.
MR. L: I’m trying. Maybe you could do the same.
DAISY: Try what, Daddy? To forgive and forget? Is that what you want me to try? Or maybe you want me to try to remember our family’s good times together.
MR. L: We had some.
DAISY: Yeah? When. (MR. L doesn’t say anything.) See, its pointless. (Turns to leave.)
MR. L: (Grabs her arm.) Daisy - (The look on DAISY’S face makes him drop her arm.) Wait, please. I wanted to let you know, that in her own way, your mother really loved you.
DAISY: And you, Daddy?
MR. L: In my own way. You were my little girl once.
DAISY: Once. That was definitely the affirmation I was lookin’ for!
MR. L: This isn’t easy for me.
DAISY: You think this is easy for me?! (Starts to break a little.) My mother is dead, and my father can’t even look me in the eye and say anything remotely comforting.
MR. L: Here. Take this. (Hands DAISY the package.) I was uh, going to go through it with your mother, but you have it. (They are silent for a few seconds.) Do you need anything?
DAISY: Yeah. Parents.
MR. L: Yeah, I know. (DAISY turns and goes back to the car.)
ON THE ROAD. Its raining again.
SHELBY: You gonna open it?
DAISY: Sure, why not. Daddy’s presents are always so thoughtful and exciting.
SOPHIE: (after DAISY opens it.) What is it?
DAISY: Ghosts of Christmases past. (It’s a photo album. She opens it and the first pictures are a happy Lipenowski family, Daisy was probably 7 or 8. DAISY looks out the window for composure then continues to look through the pictures. One of her and her mother causes DAISY to realize that her mother is really gone and she starts to cry. SHELBY puts her arms around her.)
END EPISODE.