Creative Notes:
This is an original Halloween song created for the scene on page 63. Luna's and Violet's parents are finishing their Halloween decorations on Halloween day, and they play and sing this song as they do their work.
The Mysteries of Surreptitious Forest
Four kids set out to solve the cold case of a girl gone missing in the forest. But when they link the case to their secretive 70 year-old neighbor and her son, strange events begin to happen to them. Will they solve the cold case or become the next set of victims themselves?
Synopsis:
Part I: Collecting acorns by a forest nestled in a valley, sisters Violet, 15, and Luna, 12, hear the voice of a girl calling for help from within the forest. They go into the forest to find the girl, but instead of finding the girl, they are chased out of the forest by a ferocious dog.
Scared out of their wits, they go back home, where Luna discovers that Mrs. Jabru, a recluse 70 year-old neighbor who lives next door, is observing them from her window. Luna's crept out by it, but keeps it to herself.
That evening, Luna's friend Serena, 12, shows up for a sleepover that will last the entire weekend. Serena's brother Neon, 15, has come along.
Neon's the science type, and had almost burned down the house with one of his science experiments in the past. Since his parents are going out of town and they don't trust him to stay alone, Neon ends up going to his sister's sleep over.
During the first night, it's evident that Serena and Neon don't get along. They constantly fight.
Neon's a bit of an antagonist, requiring that everything discussed around him conform to the scientific method, something that gets in Violet's and Luna's nerves. As a result, all three girls team up against Neon, who has to deal with three girls he considers annoying and immature.
Still worried about the girl they think they heard in forest, Violet and Luna ask their father, who happens to be journalist, if there are reports regarding a girl in the forest. Their father doesn't have any news regarding the matter, but ends up telling them the story of a girl who had gone missing in the forest thirty years earlier, but was never found.
Violet, Luna, Serena and Neon head out for a wild berry hunt near the forest and look for the girl Luna and Violet heard the day before calling for help, but nothing turns up.
They set up a picnic and tired, they fall asleep. When they wake up, they see a creature emerging out of the fog in the forest. The creature look like a giant bird, but as the creature leaves the fog behind, the kids discover that the creature's just their neighbor Mrs. Jabru, dressed with baggy overalls and boots.
Curious as to why the old woman was in the forest the kids follow Mrs. Jabru to her house, and while spaying on her, they watch her rise out dirty shovels she's brought back from the forest.
Serena immediately assumes that Mrs. Jabru has killed the girl that Luna and Violet had heard calling for help, and that Mrs. Jabru has buried the body somewhere in the forest.
Serena's suspicions are further expanded when while still spying on Mrs. Jabru, the kids hear Mrs. Jabru talking to her son, Mr. Edoji Jabru, 40's, about events that had taken place thirty years earlier, the cold case about the girl gone missing had occured.
Connecting the dots, the kids start wondering if Mrs. Jabru and her son are responsible for the disappearance of the girl thirty years earlier.
Part II:
Violet, Luna, Serena and Neon agree that the best thing they can do is dig up some information about the disappearance of the girl thirty years earlier and see if Mrs. Jabru and her son are connected to it in any way.
But when they go to the library, they find the Mr. Edoji Jabru is already there checking out the same news articles they were looking for. Now the kids suspect Mrs. Jabru and Mr. Edoji Jabru are spying on them and know ahead of time what they're investigating.
The next day, while out hunting for edible plans, the kids fall into a hole in the ground. When they figure out that Mr. Edoji Jabru is on his way to the hole, they think that the hole in the ground is the way he and Mrs. Jabru capture their victims. But the kids get lucky, and they escape from Mr. Edoji Jabru through a tunnel in the ground before he has even sees them.
Celebrating their escape from Mr. Edoji Jabru, Neon looks at Violet with different eyes and Luna notices. Luna tells Neon and she knows he likes her sister, but that she will keep his secret.
As the kids return home, Mrs. Jabru and Mr. Edoji Jabru are waiting for them in front of their house and warn them to stay out of Surreptitious Forest or risk getting hurt.
The kids go back home and tell Luna's and Violet's parents about what happened. Which prompts Violet and Luna's dad to go and speak to his neighbors. Mr. Edoji Jabru tells their father that a river used run through the valley eons ago and that all his mother and him are doing is filling up the holes so that nobody will fall into them. But the kids accept the story only half-heartedly.
With the weekend over, Serena and Neon go back to their house with their parentsr, but they find their house on fire. Serena initially blames Neon's experiments for the fire.
Unable to sleep in their house because of the fire, Serena, Neon and their parents go to spend the night at Luna and Violet's home.
That evening, Violet, Neon and their mothers go to a store to buy some medication, but are kidnapped by a man that looks like Mr. Edoji Jabru.
Part III:
Now Luna and Serena seriously think that Mrs. Jabru and her son are behind the disappearance of their mothers and siblings.
While their fathers are busy with law enforcement looking for their family, Luna and Serena trespass into Mrs. Jabru's house hoping to find their family there.
While spying on Mrs. Jabru and her son inside their house, Mrs. Jabru's son discovers them and drags them out into the living room, where Luna and Serena see that Mrs. Jabru has pictures of a missing child on her table, and pictures on TV about Violet, Neon, and their mothers gone missing.
Luna and Serena think they're done with. But instead of kidnapping them, Mrs. Jabru tells Luna and Serena that the girl who had disappeared thirty years ago was her daughter.
Luna, feeling bad for Mrs. Jabru, tells her a place that could be a decisive clue in finding her daugher. Mrs. Jabru is very interested in finding out where this place is located, and Luna tells Mrs. Jabru and Mr. Edoji Jabru how to get there.
Mrs. Jabru sends Luna and Serena back home and asks them to not tell anyone about their conversation.
Feeling they've done something good, Luna and Serena go back home and wait behind the front window of the house for some sort of good news to arrive. But instead, they see Mr. Edoji Jabru emerge from Mrs. Jabru's house with a shovel, taking a different route toward the place Luna had told them about.
This makes Luna and Serena think that Mrs. Jabru and Mr. Edoji Jabru knew all along about the place, and that they had conned them with the missing daughter story into revealing how much they knew about the missing child case.
Thinking Mrs. Jabru has sent her son to kill or move all those who they have kidnapped, Luna and Serena follow Mr. Edoji Jabru into a cave in the forest. There, they discover that not only are their mothers, Violet and Neon being held there, but other fifteen children who are made to work as slaves.
Luna and Serena are convinced Mrs. Jabru and Mr. Edoji Jabru are the culprits, until the man who did the actual kidnapping appears in the cave and knocks Mr. Edoji Jabru unconscious.
Luna and Serena end up having to fight the man, and with the help of a woman who turns out to be Mrs. Jabru's missing daughter, they win against him. Together with Violet and Neon, they free all the enslaved children.
The entire adventure has helps to create a meaningful relationship between Neon and Serena, and although they still fight with each other, it becomes clear they truly love each other.
And although the kids absolutely proved wrong about their assumption that Mrs. Jabru and her son were the culprits of the disappearance, in the end, Violet, Luna, Neon and Serena are celebrated as heroes for their role in solving the case of Mrs. Jabru's missing daughter, and for freeing the enslaved children.
Scared out of their wits, they go back home, where Luna discovers that Mrs. Jabru, a recluse 70 year-old neighbor who lives next door, is observing them from her window. Luna's crept out by it, but keeps it to herself.
That evening, Luna's friend Serena, 12, shows up for a sleepover that will last the entire weekend. Serena's brother Neon, 15, has come along.
Neon's the science type, and had almost burned down the house with one of his science experiments in the past. Since his parents are going out of town and they don't trust him to stay alone, Neon ends up going to his sister's sleep over.
During the first night, it's evident that Serena and Neon don't get along. They constantly fight.
Neon's a bit of an antagonist, requiring that everything discussed around him conform to the scientific method, something that gets in Violet's and Luna's nerves. As a result, all three girls team up against Neon, who has to deal with three girls he considers annoying and immature.
Still worried about the girl they think they heard in forest, Violet and Luna ask their father, who happens to be journalist, if there are reports regarding a girl in the forest. Their father doesn't have any news regarding the matter, but ends up telling them the story of a girl who had gone missing in the forest thirty years earlier, but was never found.
Violet, Luna, Serena and Neon head out for a wild berry hunt near the forest and look for the girl Luna and Violet heard the day before calling for help, but nothing turns up.
They set up a picnic and tired, they fall asleep. When they wake up, they see a creature emerging out of the fog in the forest. The creature look like a giant bird, but as the creature leaves the fog behind, the kids discover that the creature's just their neighbor Mrs. Jabru, dressed with baggy overalls and boots.
Curious as to why the old woman was in the forest the kids follow Mrs. Jabru to her house, and while spaying on her, they watch her rise out dirty shovels she's brought back from the forest.
Serena immediately assumes that Mrs. Jabru has killed the girl that Luna and Violet had heard calling for help, and that Mrs. Jabru has buried the body somewhere in the forest.
Serena's suspicions are further expanded when while still spying on Mrs. Jabru, the kids hear Mrs. Jabru talking to her son, Mr. Edoji Jabru, 40's, about events that had taken place thirty years earlier, the cold case about the girl gone missing had occured.
Connecting the dots, the kids start wondering if Mrs. Jabru and her son are responsible for the disappearance of the girl thirty years earlier.
Part II:
Violet, Luna, Serena and Neon agree that the best thing they can do is dig up some information about the disappearance of the girl thirty years earlier and see if Mrs. Jabru and her son are connected to it in any way.
But when they go to the library, they find the Mr. Edoji Jabru is already there checking out the same news articles they were looking for. Now the kids suspect Mrs. Jabru and Mr. Edoji Jabru are spying on them and know ahead of time what they're investigating.
The next day, while out hunting for edible plans, the kids fall into a hole in the ground. When they figure out that Mr. Edoji Jabru is on his way to the hole, they think that the hole in the ground is the way he and Mrs. Jabru capture their victims. But the kids get lucky, and they escape from Mr. Edoji Jabru through a tunnel in the ground before he has even sees them.
Celebrating their escape from Mr. Edoji Jabru, Neon looks at Violet with different eyes and Luna notices. Luna tells Neon and she knows he likes her sister, but that she will keep his secret.
As the kids return home, Mrs. Jabru and Mr. Edoji Jabru are waiting for them in front of their house and warn them to stay out of Surreptitious Forest or risk getting hurt.
The kids go back home and tell Luna's and Violet's parents about what happened. Which prompts Violet and Luna's dad to go and speak to his neighbors. Mr. Edoji Jabru tells their father that a river used run through the valley eons ago and that all his mother and him are doing is filling up the holes so that nobody will fall into them. But the kids accept the story only half-heartedly.
With the weekend over, Serena and Neon go back to their house with their parentsr, but they find their house on fire. Serena initially blames Neon's experiments for the fire.
Unable to sleep in their house because of the fire, Serena, Neon and their parents go to spend the night at Luna and Violet's home.
That evening, Violet, Neon and their mothers go to a store to buy some medication, but are kidnapped by a man that looks like Mr. Edoji Jabru.
Part III:
Now Luna and Serena seriously think that Mrs. Jabru and her son are behind the disappearance of their mothers and siblings.
While their fathers are busy with law enforcement looking for their family, Luna and Serena trespass into Mrs. Jabru's house hoping to find their family there.
While spying on Mrs. Jabru and her son inside their house, Mrs. Jabru's son discovers them and drags them out into the living room, where Luna and Serena see that Mrs. Jabru has pictures of a missing child on her table, and pictures on TV about Violet, Neon, and their mothers gone missing.
Luna and Serena think they're done with. But instead of kidnapping them, Mrs. Jabru tells Luna and Serena that the girl who had disappeared thirty years ago was her daughter.
Luna, feeling bad for Mrs. Jabru, tells her a place that could be a decisive clue in finding her daugher. Mrs. Jabru is very interested in finding out where this place is located, and Luna tells Mrs. Jabru and Mr. Edoji Jabru how to get there.
Mrs. Jabru sends Luna and Serena back home and asks them to not tell anyone about their conversation.
Feeling they've done something good, Luna and Serena go back home and wait behind the front window of the house for some sort of good news to arrive. But instead, they see Mr. Edoji Jabru emerge from Mrs. Jabru's house with a shovel, taking a different route toward the place Luna had told them about.
This makes Luna and Serena think that Mrs. Jabru and Mr. Edoji Jabru knew all along about the place, and that they had conned them with the missing daughter story into revealing how much they knew about the missing child case.
Thinking Mrs. Jabru has sent her son to kill or move all those who they have kidnapped, Luna and Serena follow Mr. Edoji Jabru into a cave in the forest. There, they discover that not only are their mothers, Violet and Neon being held there, but other fifteen children who are made to work as slaves.
Luna and Serena are convinced Mrs. Jabru and Mr. Edoji Jabru are the culprits, until the man who did the actual kidnapping appears in the cave and knocks Mr. Edoji Jabru unconscious.
Luna and Serena end up having to fight the man, and with the help of a woman who turns out to be Mrs. Jabru's missing daughter, they win against him. Together with Violet and Neon, they free all the enslaved children.
The entire adventure has helps to create a meaningful relationship between Neon and Serena, and although they still fight with each other, it becomes clear they truly love each other.
And although the kids absolutely proved wrong about their assumption that Mrs. Jabru and her son were the culprits of the disappearance, in the end, Violet, Luna, Neon and Serena are celebrated as heroes for their role in solving the case of Mrs. Jabru's missing daughter, and for freeing the enslaved children.
Latest Work
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Trailer 206/11/12
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Script 2 - Veronica's 2nd Draft06/10/12Creative Notes:The title changed, the script's title is now The Creeps Next Door. The actual writing style has been cleaned up to reflect a script format (it was originally a novel). The story focuses more on the creepy neighbors next door, and adds more mystery on the forest. Overall the script has been changed to be a Halloween story, focusing on creating a commercial mystery-Halloween movie.
All Work
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Trailer 1 - Nightmare Song06/11/12
Creative Notes:This is the song that the trees of the forest sing during Luna's nightmares. "The trees swing softly from side to side, dancing charmingly... From within the trees, the voices of children sing... A tree gives Luna a nurturing smile and opens its branches to give her a hug. Luna opens her arms to hug him back, but the tree turns into Mrs. Creeps, opens a wide mouth with pointy teeth and eats her.
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Script 1 - Veronica's Original Draft05/28/12
Creative Notes:This is a Halloween-time story for children. Although there's no mention of Halloween, the main mystery of the secretive neighbors and the dark tone of the foggy forest make it a scary movie for kids of all ages. The dialogue and humor are appropriate for any age, but I envision kids between the ages of 8 and 14 enjoying the mystery and the conflict of the characters in the story the most.