Script 1: Keys - V2
EXT. GROCERY STORE - DAY
JOHN walks out of the grocery store carrying multiple grocery bags in his arms. There are too many bags and he struggles to balance them all.
While he walks, he drops his cell phone. He slowly bends down to pick it up. Then an orange falls out of one of the grocery bags and starts rolling away.
JOHN Oh come on.
He stuffs his phone back in his pocket and chases the orange. He can’t run with all of the bags and the orange won’t stop rolling, so he chases it down one aisle in the parking lot, then another.
JOHN (CONT’D) A little help please.
He calls out to someone but they walk right past the orange. He chases it past a parked car with two little children in the backseat pointing and laughing at him.
When he finally catches up to the orange, he drops it back into the grocery bag. He looks around for his car and realizes he’s several aisles away from it. He starts walking.
When he finally reaches his Mercedes Benz, he tries to balance all of the bags while reaching into his pockets.
JOHN (CONT’D) Where did I put my keys?
He searches both pockets and feels the keys underneath his phone. He digs deep into his pocket and tries to grab the keys from under the phone but when he pulls them out, he pulls the phone out too.
He bobbles the phone and as it starts to fall to the ground again, he catches it but drops his keys in the process.
As he clumsily tries to catch the keys and the phone, groceries start to spill out of his bags. He’s trying to catch multiple things at once and it looks like he’s juggling. He doesn’t catch anything.
The keys fall on top of a sewer grate and dangle between the bars. John’s eyes widen in fear.
JOHN (CONT’D)
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
He carefully sets his bags down on the ground. H watches as part of the key chain slips through the grate. Just as he lunges toward the keys, a car drives by and runs over the other end of the grate.
Hey!!
JOHN (CONT’D)
He grabs a roll of paper towels that fell out of his bag and throws it at the car.
Meanwhile, the grate shakes enough that the keys slip all the way through and fall into the dark sewer. John, on his knees, clinches his fists and looks up to the sky.
JOHN (CONT’D) Nooooooooooooooo!!
John jumps to his feet, squats over the grate and grabs it with both hands. He pulls with all of his might but the grate doesn’t budge. He repositions his hands and tries again, but nothing. He strains and struggle to lift the grate over and over again.
Finally he gives, exhausted and out of breath. When he stands straight up, he sees several people standing in the parking lot, staring at him.
JOHN (CONT’D)
Anybody have the number for a tow
truck?
EXT. PARKING LOT - LATER
John is sitting on the back of his car, surrounded by grocery bags. He’s started eating some of his snacks.
A tow truck pulls up. He jumps down from the car. The window on the tow truck rolls down. It’s a woman wearing an old dirty baseball cap behind the wheel.
TOW TRUCK DRIVER He nods, embarrassed.
INT. TOW TRUCK - LATER
John is sitting in the passenger seat of the tow truck. The driver is outside hooking up his Mercedes Benz to the truck.
John?
-
When she’s done, she opens the driver side door and climbs in.
TOW TRUCK DRIVER Okay, we’re all set. Where am I
taking you? You got an extra pair of keys at home?
JOHN (sad)
No, that was my last set of keys.
TOW TRUCK DRIVER
Uh oh, sounds like you gotta go to the dealership then. And I hate to
tell you this but new keys aren’t going to be cheap.
JOHN No?
TOW TRUCK DRIVER Nope, afraid not.
She starts the truck and slowly pulls off, pulling John’s car behind them.
EXT. MERCEDES BENZ DEALERSHIP - LATER
The tow truck pulls into the dealership, towing John’s Benz.
INT. MERCEDES BENZ DEALERSHIP - MOMENTS LATER
John walks into the dealership, still carrying all of his grocery bags in his arms. A salesman in a suit approaches.
SALESMAN
(looking confused at the
groceries)
Hello sir, how can I help you?
JOHN
That’s my car out there. I dropped
my key fob down a sewer.
SALESMAN
Oh we can definitely help you with
that. Now, do you have a spare at home that we can take you to get or…
-
JOHN
That was my spare. I lost the
original last year at a New Year’s Eve office party.
The smile on the salesman’s face quickly disappears.
SALESMAN Oooohhh.
JOHN
Is that going to be a problem?
SALESMAN
Why don’t you come with me?
He leads John through the dealership towards a back office. He knocks on the door and opens it.
INT. OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
There’s a man sitting behind a desk in front of three different computer monitors.
SALESPERSON
John, this is our Chief Auto
Technician. He can help you from here.
JOHN Oh, okay.
He walks in and the Chief Technician extends his hand to shake his but John’s arms are still full with grocery bags so he just sits down.
JOHN (CONT’D)
So, I really just need to get a new
set of keys for my car. I dropped my last spare down a sewage grate.
CHIEF TECHNICIAN That’s not a problem sir. Now
because you don’t have anymore copies of the original key sets, unfortunately we’re going to have to reset your car’s computerized system and then create and code an entirely new set of keys. It’s kind of like resetting your password on your favorite website.
-
JOHN
Okay, well how much will that cost?
CHIEF TECHNICIAN Well, it’s going to be anywhere
between two thousand and five thousand dollars.
John’s draw drops and he drops all of his grocery bags onto the floor, spilling groceries all over the office.
JOHN
Sorry, I’ll get those in a second.
Um, is that the only option?
CHIEF TECHNICIAN I’m afraid so sir.
JOHN
How about a regular key, like the
kind you stick in the keyhole. Like the good old days.
The Chief Technician shakes his head, no.
JOHN (CONT’D)
Well, I mean, do I really have to
have a key? Can you just unlock it and I just won’t ever lock it again.
The Chief Technician looks at John in disbelief.
Fine.
JOHN (CONT’D)
EXT. MERCEDES BENZ DEALERSHIP - HOURS LATER
Chief Technician walks with John towards his car. The salesman follows behind, carrying John’s grocery bags.
They get to the car and the Chief Technician hands John two sets of brand new keys. He pushes the button and the doors unlock. The Salesman places the grocery bags in the back.
John gets into the car, waves goodbye to them and drives away.
FADE OUT.