OPEN ON: [EXT. WISTERIA LANE — MORNING]
(A school bus drives up the road. Friendly ‘Good Morning’s’ are exchanged between neighbours. A woman pushes a baby carriage along, while a car pulls
out of a driveway and drives down the road. GABRIELLE jogs past a fence on the sidewalk.
(Pan to: EXT. YOUNG HOUSE – FRONT YARD)
(MARY ALICE comes out of her front door and down the porch steps, carrying a basket of flowers. She kneels in front of her flowerbed, and smells a flower, smiling faintly.)
NARRATOR: My name is Mary Alice Young. When you read this morning’s paper, you may come across an article about the unusual day I had last week. Normally, there’s never anything newsworthy about my life. That all changed last Thursday. Of course everything seemed as normal at first. I made my breakfast for my family.
(Cut to: MARY ALICE, carrying a plate of waffles to the breakfast table, where PAUL and ZACH are sitting. She passes the plate to PAUL.)
MARY ALICE: Here we are. Waffles.
NARRATOR: I performed my chores.
(Cut to: MARY ALICE, flipping a switch on the washing machine, and then lifting a basket of clothing off the machine.
NARRATOR: I completed my projects.
(Cut to: MARY ALICE, stirring a paintbrush in a can of paint and painting a garden chair)
NARRATOR: I ran my errands (Cut to: MARY ALICE picking up the dry-cleaning, then retrieving the mail from the mailbox.)
NARRATOR: In truth, I spent the day as I spend every other day – quietly polishing the routine of my life until it gleamed with perfection.
(Cut to: MARY ALICE, straightening a photo frame on top of the piano. She sighs with satisfaction, a contented smile on her face.)
NARRATOR: That’s why it was so astonishing when I decided to go to my hallway closet to retrieve a revolver that had never been used.
(Cut to: MARY ALICE takes a box off a shelf in the closet. Looking worried and distraught, she shakily puts a revolver to her temple. We see a finger pulling the trigger, and a loud shot is heard. The camera stays on the YOUNG family picture, as the blurred reflection of MARY ALICE is shown in the frame of the picture falling to the ground.)
(Cut to: INT. MRS. HUBER’S HOUSE – KITCHEN)
(MRS. HUBER’s finger dips into a pool of red sauce (resembling blood). She licks the sauce on her finger, as she turns her head towards the YOUNG house, puzzled by the sound she’s heard.)
NARRATOR: My body was discovered by my neighbour, Mrs. Martha Huber, who had been startled by a strange popping sound. Her curiosity aroused, Mrs. Huber tried to think of a reason for dropping in on me unannounced. After some initial hesitation, she decided to return the blender she had borrowed from me 6 months before.
(MRS. HUBER takes a blender labeled “Property of MARY ALICE YOUNG” off a shelf, and hurries next door to ring the doorbell. Hearing no answer, she hurries to the side of the house, where she peers inside the window and sees MARY ALICE’s dead body lying on the ground, a pool of blood next to her. She screams. We see MRS. HUBER hurry back to her own house.)
MRS HUBER: (on the phone) It’s my neighbour. I think she’s been shot, there’s blood everywhere. Yes, you’ve got to send an ambulance. You’ve got to send one right now!
(MRS. HUBER hangs up the phone. She stands in the kitchen, lips trembling, fighting tears.)
NARRATOR: And for a moment, Mrs. Huber stood motionless in her kitchen,
grief-stricken by this senseless tragedy. But, only for a moment.
(MRS. HUBER turns her head sideways, noticing the blender sitting on the
kitchen counter.
She rips the label off the blender, and puts it back on her shelf.)
NARRATOR: If there was one thing Mrs. Huber was known for, it was her ability
to look on the bright side.
(MRS. HUBER shuts the cupboard door.)
OPENING CREDITs