Still Life (Short, Sci-fi) 6 Pages by John Staats – Some super powers just prolong the inevitable

How many times have you been confronted with this hypothetical question “If you could have any superpower, which one would you choose?”. There are so many to choose from! If you could fly you could travel the world, if you had super strength, you could save lives, if you had self-cleaning teeth, you would never have to worry about oral hygiene again!… It is a tough choice. Ultimately though, how would you feel about your decision after it is made? What if you get it wrong?

This hypothetical question forms the basis of John Staats excellent short script, Still Life.

This cautionary tale opens in an outdated and ill-maintained house belonging to a cranky OLD MAN (who we quickly come to love) as we follow his seemingly monotonous routine…

An OLD MAN (70) in a dirty bathrobe enters from the kitchen.
His long white beard and, what remains of his hair, is
unkempt.

He carries a bowl of SpaghettiOs and a can of Budweiser to a
TV tray by the sofa, sets it down, and continues to a shelf
of VHS tapes.

He trails an index finger along the aged and faded VHS
boxes.

OLD MAN
Seen it. Seen it. Hated it. Seen
it…

His arthritic knuckled finger stops on and taps a box with a
handwritten title: Albert’s Big Day.

OLD MAN
Hmmm…haven’t watched this in a
long while.

He pulls the tape out and sidles over to a large console
television.

As we join the Old Man is his daily viewing, we soon come to realize that the label of “Albert’s Big Day” is a criminal understatement!
But as we watch this young man on the biggest day of his life, it is difficult to decide which is more entertaining, the day itself, or Old Mans running, sarcastic commentary of it.

PODIUM

Albert stands between the MAYOR and FIRE CHIEF. The crowd
cheers until the Mayor waves his arms and settles them down.

MAYOR
Welcome one and all! We’re gathered
here today-

OLD MAN (OS)
For votes.

MAYOR
-to recognize Albert Madison for
his bravery and sacrifice-

OLD MAN (OS)
Yeah, no.

The image fast forwards through the Mayor’s speech and stops
on what appears to be a flash of light. The play resumes…

A flash of light that would change Albert’s and Old Man’s lives forever in a tangle of not-so-hypothetical questions, youthful miscalculations and a lifetime of dissonance.

I can’t say much about what follows so as to not ruin the story for you (Read it, you won’t be disappointed) but what I can say is that John’s brilliant storytelling brings all of the threads together and sheds light on what brought the Old Man to this point in his life, his connection to young Albert, and finishes off the whole thing with a bang in a story reminiscent of Tales of the Unexpected (Or Twilight Zone for the none UK readers).

So, producers, you might not be able to choose any superpower you want but you can choose to produce this super powered short that would make a great addition to any portfolio.

Winner of Writers Choice in the SS April OWC

Read the script HERE
Discuss the script HERE

Budget: Once main actor with a few supporting. One main location with a bit of SFX thrown in means a clever producer can make this cracker on a small budget.

ABOUT THE WRITER: John Staats is a freelance writer of screenplays, comics, and shorts of all sorts. His genres of favor are either gritty westerns, philosophical conundrums, or of topics not usually safe for work. You can track down his work at LinkedIn or right here on Simply Scripts. Just making it up as he goes….

About the Reviewer: Matthew Taylor is an amateur screenwriter with a few script sales and short script productions under his belt. He enjoys writing for the Sci-fi/fantasy audience and tends to lean more on the dark side of life.