As I mentioned in a previous post, there were some changes I wanted to make to my story. They seem like big changes, but the premise is still there and there are less characters, less lip-sync, and it's a shorter film overall. So, I think I killed the original idea and made it into something better and more attainable in a way that will allow me to focus more of my time on animation. I'm still not exactly sure how I am going to work my ending, but let me know what you think.
Half-melted snow slushes around the tires as the car pulls into a parking spot at the supermarket. Lynn’s father opens the driver’s side door and slides out. Before closing the door, he peeks his head back in and says, “I’m just going to run in, you can stay in the car if you want.”
Lynn does not respond to her father as she is too absorbed in her phone. After a brief moment, her father says, “You have nothing to worry about, he’ll be fine,” and closes the door behind him.
Lynn continues to scroll through social media at a plethora of posts about lost dogs, but none catch her eye. Frantic and becoming more and more frustrated, Lynn begins to tear up as she scrolls faster and faster. While swiping all kinds of ways on her phone, Lynn has quick flashes of a moment just ten minutes prior when she and her father had come face to face with an animal alone in the high, frigid mountains. She sees the animal standing before them in the middle of the road. She hears her father saying “it’s dangerous and not to get any ideas.” She sees it limp out of the way. She hears her father saying “wolves are intelligent creatures and know how to lure people in.” She sees it’s innocent, bright blue eyes. Lynn knows this animal is not meant to be out on his own in the wild. She frustratedly throws her phone at the dashboard of the car and throws her legs into her arms on the seat.
Lynn’s father beeps the car and places the shopping bag in the back seat before sitting himself in the front. He looks over at Lynn, still curled up in her seat, and closes his door with a sigh. He begins to drive.
“What would you even do if that was a dog up there? You can’t take it home,” he reasoned as the two started on their way home.
Lynn looks up from her knees at her father. After a brief pause for thought, Lynn quickly grabs her phone and begins calling as many local animal shelters as she can. As the phone dials, Lynn smells something from the back seat and asks what that awful smell is. She rummages through the bag behind her to find a bag of dog treats. She quickly places it back in the bag when the voicemail machine on the other end picks up, thinking someone had answered. She hangs up and calls somewhere else. Each time she calls a new location she gets a similar voicemail message every time, “Please call back within normal business hours 10am-5pm,” to which she would hang up immediately and try another.
Unable to get through to anyone and growing even more frustrated, Lynn yells, “Now what?! No one can help me! No one can help that dog! He’s hurt and he needs somebody!” The car comes to a stop at an intersection. Without hesitation, Lynn quickly unbuckles her seatbelt and runs out the car door in search of the animal, “He needs me!” Her father yells after her.
After some running through trees and snow banks on the side of the road for some time, Lynn is met with those same big, blue eyes she had seen earlier that day as the animal emerges from the tree line looking at her. Relieved to have found him, Lynn smiles back at the animal.
Trying not to frighten the dog, Lynn places the treat down on the ground in front of her and begins to take a few steps back. The animal begins to walk toward the gift. Out of breath, Lynn’s father comes running toward her as if to save her from the wild animal just a few feet away, but suddenly backs off as the animal passes the treat and rests itself into Lynn’s arms. The two share a warm moment as they curl up together in the snow.
Today, Max has found his “furever” home.
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