Butterfly

A short film by
Richard Silvester

FADE IN:

INT. BUTTERFLY HOUSE -- DAY

Like floating colour propelled by the gentlest push of paper thin wings, we glide with a BUTTERFLY through the tropical gardens of butterfly creek until we find.

JESS, reading to a school group. Her flowing locks and bohemian spirit make her a natural. She has the children eating out of the palm of her hand as she finishes her story, The very hungry caterpillar.

JESS
...The end. Now does anyone have any questions about butterflies.

A sea of hands go up. Jess points to a innocent face.

GIRL
Can we see Alex? 

JESS
Alex, how do you know about Alex.

GIRL
My friend Ammie told me.

JESS
Did she? And what did she have to say about Alex.

GIRL
That it's on your back.

JESS playfully tries to look at her own back.

JESS
I can't see anything. Is it there?

She turns her back to the class.

KIDS
No....

JESS
Maybe she crawled under my shirt. 

We watch from someone's distant POV as Jess pulls up the back of her shirt to reveal a beautiful intricate TATTOO of a butterfly filling the small of her back. And it's not just any tattoo.

KIDS
OHHH....Ahhh 

JESS
That's Alexandra's Birdwing. The world's rarest and largest butterfly.

As JESS turns around she looks in our direction as if she feels us watching her, but it's nothing sinister, we step back leaving Jess alone with the children.

INT/EXT. MOVING CAR -- AFTERNOON

Jess drives home with a bittersweet smile on her face. She checks her watch then accelerates away. 

INT. CAFE -- EVENING

The place is busy and Jess seems to be the only one working the floor. She spins from the table to table with the poise and power of a dancer. Dropping off coffee, clearing used plates.

A young HISPANIC MAN (Alejandro) looks up from his book. From behind thick glasses under a well worn hat he watches her deft foot work closely. A small butterfly tattoo on her ankle is hanging on for the ride.

INT. CAFE -- LATER

The place has calmed down and only a few patrons remain. Including Alejandro savoring a bowl of soup while he reads from a thick book.

Jess sits with her friend MEL.

MEL
So we on for tonight?

JESS
I've got class in the morning.

MEL
So what? It's Lou's last night. Steve's got us on the door at studio.

JESS
I don't know?

Jess looks past Mel, over her shoulder. 

MEL
Well then I get to decide for you...What is it?

Mel turns to see what has her attention. It's Alejandro packing up his things.

JESS
This is the third time he's been in this week. 

MEL
He's cute in a hobo kind of way.

Jess makes eye contact for a split second as he stands up, but instantly she looks away. Mel notices her school yard blush. 

MEL (CONT'D)
Well go on. 

Jess is drawn back to him

Time seems to stand still.  

EXT. SUBURBAN STREET. -- NIGHT

Alejandro lumbers up the street like a caterpillar. His dowdy sweater, brown cords and moth eaten hat seem to suit his insecure gait. 

EXT. OLD VILLA -- NIGHT

The thin villa squashed between designer concrete and aluminum siding always made people look twice. Its cracking paint and dusty shutters like an old face with faded makeup. A light comes on in one of the rooms.  

INT. OLD VILLA -- NIGHT

Alejandro pulls a warm stone out of the oven and carefully places it on the kitchen table under the glow of a powerful lamp. 

He unrolls a pouch full of tiny instruments. Delicately he grips a silver scalpel like a surgeon. 

Looking through a magnifying glass, the blade glints in the hot light before carefully sliding through the soft skin of a chrysalis. The shallow incision oozes fluid before springing open in a tangle of flailing black legs. 

Using a pair of tweezers Alejandro tenderly peals back the sack surrounding the alien looking creature as it struggles to emerge.

Limp, vulnerable and dripping wet Ornithoptera alexandrae the world's largest and rarest butterfly staggers free collapsing onto the waiting warm stone.

We FLOAT BACKWARDS to reveal the room. 

Heat lamps hover like u.f.o.'s above the glass aquariums that line the walls of what was once the kitchen and living room. Cables snake over every spare inch of floor and up the walls, suckling from over loaded power sockets.

A butterfly coasts past.

INT. OLD VILLA -- LATER

Through a crack in the door we peer into another room. Salsa music plays with the crackle of worn vinyl. We get glimpses of Alejandro spinning past. Dancing with the power of the Paso Doble, the bull fighter. 

Topless and dripping with sweat Alejandro opens the door, for the first time truly revealing his beauty to us.

He is more than good looking. His Spanish parents blessed him with rare genetics; the strong bone structure of a model, the delicate eyes of your favorite school teacher and the physique of a Trojan.

SLAM CUT TO:

INT. NIGHT CLUB -- NIGHT

Jess and her friends dance together. She is obviously holding back trying not to upstage the group. But as a salsa beat takes over the mix she can't help but fire up, letting her natural rhythm take over. 

We look down on the packed dance floor, throbbing like a dark alien heart. While like a beacon of light Jess stands out from the crowd. 

Then like a drop of blood, a man in a rich crimson suit and matching fedora slips across the dance floor.  

The tall strong figure clears a space with his presence alone. Gliding aggressively across the floor his jacket flowing out behind him like wings. His Latin flair intoxicating. Jess is instantly captivated.   

Now he has a partner. He leads Jess around the floor with graceful dominance. All eyes were now on the couple, all secretly wanting to be them.  They move like one, searching each other with their hands while grinding, spinning, flying.

SLAM CUT TO:

INT. SIDE ALLEY -- NIGHT

The side door to the club bursts open in a mess of noise and a tangle of bodies. Blood red and black intertwined. 

Violently they land against the wall of the alley, locked in an embrace so tight they merge into one pulsating being.  His long jacket wrapped around them both like a cocoon.

We close in on Jess's face. She has never felt this way before. Animalistic. A primal hunger growing from the chasm of her soul.

INT. BEDROOM -- NIGHT

We look down on the the two naked bodies, his covering hers, moving like one.

A huge tattoo of a butterfly covers Alejandro's entire back. A larger even more beautiful version of Jess's.

Antennae stretching up the back of his neck. Wings spread, pulsing with each thrust, it's as alive as they are.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. BEDROOM -- MORNING

Jess starts to wake as harsh morning light invades the room.

Expecting to find Alejandro next to her she rolls over. Instead she is greeted with an empty bed.

MEL (V.O.)
Well go on.

INT. CAFE

We are back at the cafe where we left Jess lost in a day dream, staring at Alejandro as he packs up his things.

MEL
Jess?

Alejandro walks past, holding his book, that we now see is a catalogue of butterfly species and habitat.

And as he turns away the top of a tattoo flows up the back of his neck from under his collar, undeniably butterfly antennae.

As he leaves the cafe Jess hesitates as if questioning fate.

Mel reaches over and touches her hand, sensing Jess's conflict. The physical contact the reassurance she needs.

With a devilish smile she jumps up eager to catch her butterfly.

FADE OUT: