Prostitution of Dignity

It's hard to post scripts on here..... This is the opening to a script that I REALLY need to finish. It's called "Prostitution of Dignity"

INT. – HENRY’S BEDROOM- EARLY MORNING

An alarm clock is heard, and HENRY slowly wakes up. He mumbles under his breath, and has a disgruntled look on his face. He slowly climbs out of bed, and crosses his small and dirty apartment, to the small bathroom. On his way to the bathroom, he turns off the alarm clock. Henry is at the sink, he washes under his arms, and brushes his teeth. He puts on his uniform, and crosses back to his bed.

VERONICA- his girlfriend, is still sleeping. Henry leans in and gives her a kiss.

HENRY
I love you.

Henry leaves the apartment.

EXT. – STREET – MORNING

Henry is riding his bike to work. He is wearing an extremely loud, multi-colored bike helmet. His uniform makes him look equally pathetic. His eyes are half closed, and he is not paying attention to where he is going. He smacks into a fire hydrant, and falls off his bike. Due to the accident, the bike is no longer rideable.

EXT. – TOLLBOOTH – MORNING

Henry pulls up the broken bike up to the tollbooth. As he reaches the tollbooth, he tries to chain the bike in front of it. He fumbles with the chains, and fights to chain his broken bike. He gets frustrated and throws the bike on the floor. He aggressively throws the chain into the street. He realizes the chain shouldn’t be there, and goes out and gets it.

INT.- TOLLBOOTH – AFTERNOON

Henry is sits in the tollbooth looking extremely bored. He is holding a sharpie, and writing a haiku into a small spiral notebook. Henry begins to read his haiku out loud.

HENRY
Somewhere there is life.
It’s constantly pulled from me.
Somewhere there is hope.

A car filled with teenagers pulls into the tollbooth. Henry puts away his spiral notebook, and goes to attend to the car. The TEENAGE GIRL driving the car hands him the toll money. Henry turns to his register, and counts out her change.

TEENAGE GIRL
Now, that has to be the worst fucking job on the planet.

Henry hears what she says, but doesn’t react. He goes about his business. He hands her the change, and the teenagers laugh at him. They speed away, and Henry pulls out his little spiral notebook, and continues to write.

EXT. – STREET – NIGHT

Henry walks home alone. It is dark, and it begins to rain. He is holding his obnoxious bike helmet in his hand and walking, slowly down the street. Henry’s eyes keep opening and closing. Suddenly, the rain becomes a downpour. While Henry is walking, a car speeds by him, rolling over a giant puddle, and splashes water all over him. Henry sighs, and continues walking soaked and miserable.

INT. – HENRY’S APARTMENT – NIGHT

Veronica is sitting on the couch, eating a TV dinner. The television can be heard. Henry opens the door, and, slowly, makes his way to the kitchen. He drops his helmet on the floor, and kicks it out of the way. He opens the refrigerator, pulls out another TV dinner, and places it into the microwave. Henry slowly makes his way to the couch, and sits next to Veronica.

TELEVISION (OFF-SCREEN)
So, why didn’t you just sell the damn thing?
(canned laughter)

VERONICA
You’re wet.

HENRY
Yeah, it happens.

They hold hands, and closely watch the television. They laugh, as the television shines off of their faces.


INT. – HENRY’S BEDROOM – NIGHT

Veronica and Henry are making love. It is aggressive, yet loving. Once they are done, Henry rolls over and tries to catch his breath. Veronica and Henry lie there looking at the ceiling, and breathing heavily.

HENRY
What time is it?

VERONICA
Almost one-thirty.

HENRY
I should go to bed. I have to get up in four hours.

VERONICA
Yeah. I have things to do tomorrow, too.

HENRY
I love you.

They kiss, roll over, and go to sleep.

INT. – HENRY’S BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING

The sound of the alarm clock is heard, and Henry slowly wakes up. He mumbles under his breath, and has a disgruntled look on his face. He slowly climbs out of bed, and makes his way to the small bathroom in his apartment. On his way to the bathroom he turns off the alarm. He washes under his arms, and begins to brush his teeth. He puts on his uniform, and crosses back to his bed.

Veronica is still sleeping. Henry gives her a kiss.

HENRY
I love you.

Henry leaves the apartment.

EXT. – STREET – MORNING

Henry is walking to work, but he is carrying a closed umbrella.

HENRY (V.O.)
And so, this is how my life goes. Every day, it’s the same stupid thing. Same stupid walk.

INT. – TOLLBOOTH - DAY

Henry is sitting in his tollbooth and writing in his spiral notebook.

HENRY (V.O.) (CONT.)
Same stupid job. Same stupid life.

A car pulls up to Henry’s window. The car has a mother, with a three-year-old in the back seat. The three-year-old laughs at Henry.

HENRY (V.O.) (CONT.)
Sometimes, I just want to jump in front of one of those cars that drive by my window. Or tell the little kid in the back seat, laughing at me, to shut the fuck up. But I won’t. I just go about my life, being as pathetic as anyone could be.

Henry takes the money from the mother, and puts it in his register. The car drives away.

EXT. – STREET – NIGHT

Henry is walking with his umbrella. It begins to rain. Henry goes to open his umbrella, but it opens inside out. He is, again, left standing in the rain.

HENRY (V.O.)
See, I told you my life is pathetic.