SYNOPSIS:

A somewhat reserved TOM MITCHELL moves next door to outspoken tomboy SARAH NICHOLSON when they are both eight years old. Sarah has no problem wielding an imaginary sword or a very real baseball bat, even if it means enduring taunts from boys. One such boy, JACK, makes the mistake of stealing Sarah’s baseball glove one day in the schoolyard. After Sarah takes chase, Jack missteps just long enough for her to take back her glove. Seeing as he technically didn't give it back, she proceeds to hammer Jack over the head with it. Getting that out of her system, she jogs over to where the boys are playing baseball. Tom is at bat, and Sarah slides her glove on like battle armor. After proving her value by fielding a hard hit foul ball, she asks to be included; she’s refused yet again. Tom hits a fair ball, but instead of running toward first base, he runs over to Sarah and invites her to play catch with him. It was in that moment that Sarah knew Tom wasn’t like the other boys. Over the next nine years moments of tenderness bloom between them until the day before Christmas break, Tom finally works up the nerve to ask Sarah out. To his delight, she accepts with an unexpected kiss. Though nervous and expectant in their new roles as boyfriend and girlfriend, life seems pretty perfect as they settle into their homeroom to begin the school day…until gunshots suddenly erupt from down the hall. Taut silence fills the class until moments later another volley of blasts amplify in their ears, this time followed by piercing screams. Their worst nightmare approaching, students scramble for cover beneath their desks, paying no mind to the stalactites of gum peppered beneath them. Tom leans over Sarah’s body to protect her as the shots draw quickly closer. He whispers in her ear over and over that everything will be okay, but his runaway heartbeat against her back betrays his words. Knowing the end might be upon them, Tom whispers to Sarah that he loves her. She tries to answer, but the air abandons her lungs. A seemingly innocent tale of two young teenagers realizing their love for one another, but soon finding their love could be incredibly short-lived as two disgruntled students chose the same day to commit a Columbine-like massacre. The transition from innocence to violent mayhem unfolds instantly, for how else do such events unfold?

BLOSSOMS MALIGNED (SHORT)