Chihuahua

By
Zachary Kingham-Seagle

© 2017
 FADE IN
1 INT. HOUSE - NIGHT 1
A small dog bounces, barking, while moving from one room to
another.
2 EXT. BUSHWICK - DAY 2
MONTAGE:

- A girl, ELAINA, sits outside in Bushwick.

- She walks by old broken down houses and poverty in
Bushwick.
3 INT. HOUSE - NIGHT 3

The opening static of a voice message plays on a phone.

4 EXT. BOARDWALK - NIGHT 4
A man and a woman walk hand in hand along the Coney Island
Boardwalk. Her face isn’t visible, but the man, JOHN, smiles
as he breathes in the ocean air.
A VOICE V.O.
I’m just checking in on you. I know
you don’t want us to bother you,
but I really need to talk to you
about your dad. You need to come
down, back home, even if just for a
little while.
MONTAGE:

- The two play games in an arcade.

- John hands her a large stuffed animal.

- They kiss.
- The lights of CONEY ISLAND buzz and sparkle by the sea.
5 INT. MUSIC CONCERT - NIGHT 5

Elaina wades through a crowd in a bar while holding

someone’s hand. She stares up at the musicians and the
lights before looking lovingly into the eyes of the man next
to her.

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 2.

ELAINA V.O.
My father said he would return
before the flowers wilted.
(beat)
But time passed and the flowers
drooped, their leaves turned to
dust and their sweet smell turned
to rot.
6 INT. HOUSE - NIGHT - FLASHBACK 6

Elaina smiles and places flowers into a pot of water then

onto the kitchen counter. She breathes in the smell of the
flowers.
ELAINA V.O.
Since then I’ve lost my ability to
smell.
Her father leaves the house.
7 INT. ROOM - NIGHT 7

John looks through his things. His room is scantily filled

with random odds and ends, boxes sit unopened. He holds
something brilliant that sparkles red above his head. Movie
posters speckle his walls.

ELAINA V.O.
One day I dream a beautiful boy
will come to me with a bouquet of
flowers.
8 INT./EXT. HOME - NIGHT 8

The small dog sniffs at a door open just a crack. It pries

the door ajar and runs out the door.
ELAINA V.O.
I’m still waiting.

OPENING TITLE: CHIHUAHUA

9 BLACK SCREEN 9
SOUNDS of John scratching at a bar table and breathing in
deeply.
 3.

10 INT. BAR - NIGHT 10

John looks at a group of friends. They leave revealing a
solitary woman at the end of the bar. John is staring before
the bartender cuts in.

BARTENDER
How’s it going bud?
The sounds of the bar poor in and the pair have to speak
loudly in order to hear one another. John gestures for the
bartender to repeat himself.
BARTENDER
How’s it going bud?
John motions for the check.

11 EXT. BUSHWICK - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 11

John stands outside a crowded club, TAYLOR’S, as a live band
plays.

John walks away and passes two girls coming down the street.
He breathes and closes his eyes. One of them sniffs the air
in disgust.
He watches them go and turns back around to notice something
skitter into the dark.

12 EXT./INT. CORNER STORE - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 12

John walks into a corner store and peruses the food. He
looks backward, a shadow moves quickly. He looks at someone.

13 EXT./INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 13

Elaina listens to music surrounded by pictures of far-off
places, paintings of Frida Kahlo and books by Isabel
Allende. A backpack sits in the corner. The room feels warm.

14 INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT 14

Elaina walks out into her living room where her mother,
ROSITA, sits watching tv. Behind the couch is a table with a
pot of decaying flowers.

ROSITA
Elaina.
Elaina doesn’t look at her mother.

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 4.

ROSITA
Elaina, tiene planes?
Elaina looks through the mail.
ROSITA
Necesitas un trabajo.
(beat)
Elaina.
(beat)
Escucho Elaina, Elaina.

Elaina walks past her mother as she drones off in the

corner. Elaina glances at the potted plant before walking
out into the cold Bushwick air.
A small dog barks at her before running away.

15 EXT./INT. CORNER STORE - NIGHT 15

Elaina walks into a corner store and makes eye contact with
a scruffy hipster - John. His nostrils flare as he smells
the air.

16 EXT. CORNER STORE - NIGHT 16

John stands outside the corner store as Elaina walks out.
The pair smile at one another.

17 EXT. BUSHWICK - NIGHT 17

Elaina and John walk down the street. She runs her hand
along his scratchy face. The Metro screams overhead rattling
the railway’s frame. They’re basically yelling to one
another.

JOHN
I know I need to shave.
ELAINA
What?

John makes a shaving motion as the train rattles away.

ELAINA
Are you one of those hipster
boys?That listen to lots of sad
music and work at a coffee shop?
JOHN
You don’t like our kind?

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 5.

ELAINA
(she can’t hear him)
Yea.
Something scampers behind John, he looks back. He starts to
walk towards it, but Elaina tugs on his arm.
18 INT. TAYLOR’S - NIGHT 18
They watch live music at TAYLOR’S.

ELAINA
You come here a lot?
JOHN
Sometimes.

A guy smiles at Elaina and she smiles back. John seems to

notice.
JOHN
Do you want something to drink?

Elaina nods and John moves her towards the bar. They drink
and stand close together, brushing up against one another.
JOHN
How do I smell?

ELAINA
I don’t really have a sense of
smell.
19 EXT. BUSHWICK - NIGHT 19

The pair walk down Myrtle Ave.

JOHN
You were probably that girl that
got all the guys in high school.
That went to all the cool parties.
ELAINA
Is that what you want?
JOHN
I just wish I was one of those
guys.
She smiles.

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 6.

ELAINA
You’re corny.
20 INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT 20
The pair walk into Elaina’s home.

JOHN
Do you still live with your
parents?

She runs her hand along his face and kisses him. The two
kiss passionately as their bodies push open the bedroom
door.
21 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 21

They slow down a moment as John takes in the room. His

stubble shows as he scans the photos.
Two yellow eyes glow outside before Elaina closes her
curtain.

John looks down and sees a backpack next to a large stuffed

animal. He looks a little surprised. He pulls her back in
with a kiss.
John looks back and the stuffed animal is gone.

22 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 22

John breathes her smell in. The two lie in bed, clothed.
JOHN
Let me see your ID.

Elaina hands her ID to John. He scans it and sees that her

story checks out. She is indeed 18 years old.
JOHN
But you’re still in high school?
ELAINA
Just for a few more months.
John goes to undress Elaina, but she pulls away.
 7.

23 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 23

Elaina curls up with John as he assesses her room.
ELAINA
You remind me of Kurt Cobain, sad
and angsty.
JOHN
You remind me of a latin mami.

She looks annoyed. He smiles.

ELAINA
What was that?
JOHN
Don’t worry about it.
His phone begins to ring. He looks at it and quickly puts it
away.
24 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 24

A dog barks intermittently outside. Yellow eyes glow thru

the curtain.
ELAINA
Happy papi?
(beat)
Got your Puerto Rican mami?
The barking gets louder outside. Elaina gets up and John
looks at her. She puts on a jacket before heading outside.

25 EXT. APARTMENT - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 25

A little dog barks at Elaina.
26 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 26

John sniffs the bed. The SOUNDS of the sea oscillate through
his mind.
27 EXT. BUSHWICK - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 27

The little dog keeps barking at Elaina as she closes in on

it. The dog runs as she follows it.
 8.

28 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 28

John sits up in bed and starts to look at the photos and
artwork hanging up around her room.
29 EXT. BUSHWICK - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 29

The dog runs under a fence and gets away. Elaina starts to
walk back.
30 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 30

John keeps riffling through her things. The door CREAKS and
John is startled as Elaina walks in.
JOHN
Are your parents home?

Elaina shrugs.
ELAINA
Mi madre? Probably.

JOHN
Should I slip out the back? Or do
you want me to stay?
Elaina pulls out a notebook and sits at her desk.

ELAINA
Do whatever you would like.
Elaina starts to scribble in her notebook.
JOHN
What’s with the book?
John starts to lean over. Elaina closes the book.
ELAINA
My eyes only, white boy.

John goes back to her bed and looks through her other
things. Elaina scribbles in her notebook. She puts
headphones on.

ELAINA V.O.
His skin was like satin. Our hearts
touched one another with the
unmistakable feeling of firey love.
We collapsed into one being.
 9.

Behind Elaina John sifts through her panty drawer. He smells

her panties, he audibly groans as he stuffs the panties into
the back of his pants.
31 INT. DANCE HALL - NIGHT 31

The two dance together arm in arm.

ELAINA V.O.
He carried me in his strong muscled
arms-

32 EXT. BUSHWICK - NIGHT CONTINUOUS 32

The little dog runs and runs. Someone picks it up, but it
doesn’t go without a small scuffle.

33 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 33

John watches her intently as she writes. His phone vibrates
in the background, before he silences it.
ELAINA V.O.
His piercing eyes staring into my
soul.
Elaina pulls off her headphones and looks behind at John. He
quickly falls backward as if he’s doing nothing.

ELAINA
Maybe you should leave.
(beat)
But call me.
34 INT. HOUSE - NIGHT 34

Someone places the small dog inside of a cage. It barks and

howls, but to no avail.
35 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 35

John enters his bedroom and collapses into bed. He pulls out
her panties. He looks down at his vibrating phone. He’s
annoyed before he looks and sees that it’s Elaina. He puts
her panties down.

JOHN
Elaina?
 10.

36 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 36

Elaina lays in her bed with her notebook.
JOHN
You missed me?

ELAINA
Sorry I was so weird.
INTERCUT - PHONE CONVERSATION

John’s room is covered in old things, it’s dark and hard to

see anything else in his little den.
ELAINA
I just, it’s going to sound corny.

JOHN
What?
(beat)
You want to take things slow mami?

ELAINA
Ugh, if you have to say it like
that fine.
INTERCUT - PHONE CONVERSATION

JOHN
No I get it.
ELAINA
I just want to know you a little
first.

INTERCUT - PHONE CONVERSATION

JOHN
What do you want to know?
(beat)
My father was a wolf and my mother
was nowhere to be found.
ELAINA
That’s sad, is it true?

John sniffs deeply. Elaina giggles through the phone, but

they sit there for awhile.
INTERCUT - PHONE CONVERSATION

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 11.

ELAINA
What do you want to be John, what
do you want to do?
FLASH INSERT: John seems to be having sex with someone for a
moment.
FLASH INSERT: John and Elaina hold hands.
JOHN
Hold hands.

INTERCUT - PHONE CONVERSATION

Elaina smiles.
ELAINA
With me?
JOHN
Yeah.
INTERCUT - PHONE CONVERSATION

John looks at his hands.

JOHN
On Coney.

ELAINA
Oh papi that sounds nice.
Elaina begins to scribble in her little notebook.
FLASH INSERT: Shots of two people at Coney Island.

ELAINA V.O.
The boy he walked with me, the sea
to our backs the wind in our hair.
(beat)
He found me.

37 INT. HOUSE - NIGHT 37

The little dog tries to escape its cage, biting at the steel
that contains him.
 12.

38 INT./EXT. CLUB - NIGHT 38

Elaina and John walk down Bushwick streets giggling and
smiling with young love. The pair approach a night club
while music plays. The doorman seems to recognize John and
looks between the two of them. He looks at Elaina with the
eyes of a protector and sniffs the air.
DOORMAN
Sure you want to come in here?
(beat)
Guys be crazy.
MONTAGE:
- The pair squeeze past the doorman. They watch the
musicians play and both of them nod to the music.

- The two sit at the bar. John watches as Elaina talks to

several people at the bar.
- Again on the dance floor the two bounce to the music.
Elaina talks to people next to them.

- A guy comes up to Elaina and seemingly hits on her. John

watches with two beers in his hand.
JOHN
Back up buddy.

DUDE
Chill bro.
John boxes the dude out and tries to wrap his shoulder
around Elaina.

39 EXT. CLUB - NIGHT 39

John sits on the club’s steps as Elaina leaves. She starts
to walk away, but he follows close, eventually catching up
to her.

40 EXT. BUSHWICK - NIGHT 40

Someone walks the small dog, but it manages to free itself
from the collar as it slips into the night.
 13.

41 INT. BUSHWICK - NIGHT 41

John and Elaina walk down Bushwick streets.
ELAINA
Let’s stop in here.

The two stop in front of another crowded bar. Elaina begins

to drift into the bar before John tugs on her arm.
42 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 42

John rests on Elaina’s bed. She writes in her book.

ELAINA V.O.
The man, he lied.

She looks back with dark eyes.

ELAINA V.O.
El cabron tried to keep hold of me,
he tried to own me. He tried
everything in his power to force me
to love him. But I am a strong
flower with poisonous petals, he
shall never hold me.
Her pencil breaks as she burrows her pencil into the
parchment. John sits up. Yellow eyes glare through the
window.
43 EXT. BOARDWALK - NIGHT 43
The pair play arcade games at the Coney Island Boardwalk. He
misses with a ski-ball.

ELAINA
Oh papi can’t play ski-ball real
well.
John looks frustrated.

44 EXT. BOARDWALK - NIGHT 44

John loses the horse racing game with the water gun.

ELAINA
Oh no stuffed animal for me papi?
 14.

45 EXT. BOARDWALK - NIGHT 45

The two walk down the boardwalk. John goes to kiss Elaina.
She pushes him away.
ELAINA
I’m going home.
She looks out to the sea and begins to walk away. John
starts to follow her.

JOHN
Elaina.
Elaina looks back and notices something red sticking out of
John’s pocket. She reaches for it and pulls out her panties.
She’s horrified.

JOHN
I don’t...
The chihuahua attacks John. The two roll around on the
wooden planks illuminated by the Coney Island lights.

ELAINA
Stop! Stop!
John grabs hold of the dog and tosses him into the sea.
There’s a moment of silence as the two try and grasp what
just happened.
ELAINA
What the fuck?
JOHN
It attacked me.
Elaina begins to walk away. She sniffs the air.
ELAINA
Oh it’s horrible.

Elaina runs away.

46 EXT. BUSHWICK - NIGHT 46

John walks the city streets alone. He sees several girls and
looks down, distraught.
 15.

47 EXT. OCEAN - NIGHT 47

Elaina sits by the sea.
A little dog walks forth from the sea. His eyes glowing in
the moonlit night. It walks towards Elaina and cozies up to
her.
48 EXT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY 48
Elaina writes in her little notebook, she titles the
journal: THE WOLF. A boy walks in and catches her eye. He
wears a colorful shirt and talks amongst a group. He looks
over towards her.
49 INT. DEN - NIGHT 49

John looks through pictures of his family and trinkets from

his past. He holds up the little red orb, holding it up to
the light. He puts it down and then looks at a photo of him
and Elaina together. His phone rings, the caller ID reads:
MOM. He answers it.

50 INT. HOME - NIGHT 50

The little dog ravenously humps a stuffed animal.
Elaina sits at her dining room table, her mother sits on the
couch nearby.

ROSITA
Elaina...
(beat)
Elaina...

Elaina appears in her natural state: a pissed off teenager.

She looks over at the potted plant, she smells it and looks
queasy. She goes to throw it out. The little dog humps away
and howls.

ELAINA
Stop that.
The little pup keeps humping.
FADE OUT