EM, let me know when come on , please

Hey Emmi!! I just rented a movie and am going to watch it right now. It's 11p.m here. I'll be back in two hours. Will you be on??
I hope so :DD
xxxxxx

Oh, Sofi! I have to tell you!

Jason's friend Tom Flannery answered my email and he's going to answer interview questions! I need help to think of good ones. I don't want to blow my shot. :DDD

About the order

I think that our blog is kind of confusing lol! When you edit my passages, you could just type your name above the text you write. I think it would be better. :))

Cover

I'm back! Please tell me you're on!

Lol you edited the name. sorry, I forgot, Emee!!

Third Chapter - behavioral changes

EMEE'S EDIT:

Chris entered the kitchen with a weary sigh.
"C'mon, Regan!"
"Sharon? What's up?"
"She won't eat. She hasn't eaten all day."
Chris circled the table, and stroked her daughter's hair tenderly. She looked at the milk glass and stew that hadn't been touched.
"You're not hungry, babe?"
"No."
Sharon was glaring.
"She wouldn't do her school work either."
"Don't you feel well?"
She was silent.
Chris observed her daughter, worriedly. The child's body was alive with small twitches. She fidgeted. Something small on the table had her attention. She fiddled with it as if hypnotized. I should make an appointment with a Doctor, Chris reminded herself.
"She threw her notebook at me today, as well."
Abruptly, Regan stood up from her chair in fury. "You're a liar!" She pointed her accusation at Sharon with a trembling finger.




Early on the evening of 9th April, Chris returned home from work exhausted.

Nothing comes out of my mind Emee!! Oh no! ;)

The house was immersed in the silence. Where's everybody? Chris thought.
She heard voices coming from the kitchen.

I have to go for an hour :(( Will you still be here?

K, I'll write the ideas ..... loli.

Chris goes to the kitchen and finds Sharon trying to make Regan eat. She informs Chris that Regan hasn't eaten all day, Chris strokes her daughters hair lovingly, and asks if she's not hungry. Regan says, no, she isn't. Sharon tells Chris that Regan also refused to do her schoolwork exercises, and even threw something at Sharon. While Sharon tells this, Regan is nervously touching something. Her body fidgety and alive with small, restless movements. She stands up and yells, "Liar!!" (to Sharon) ;))

What you think?

Lol, I typed Lair!! And Shirl at the beginnin! ohh god, it's that I'm so used to think of her as Chriss

Third Chapter edit

Cold, dim light assaulted Chris' eyes. But it wasn't that which woke her. A voice was shouting, "Momma, Mommy! Come here! -"
Confusion paralyzed her no more as she leaped from the bed and sprinted down the hall. She flung open the door. Regan, standing in her nightgown, in the middle of her room, her face shocked and bewildered, said, "Someone moved all my furniture around, Mommy! It's all in different places!"
"What happened?" Chris asked Karl who was pushing a pink and white bureau to it's proper place, halfway across the room.
"Someone is funny." He replied dully.
"It must have been someone in this house." Chris said to Regan.
"I didn't move it." Regan said in a small voice.
There was not the slightest doubt in Chris' mind who had done it. Karl or Willie would never do such a thing. Sharon didn't sleep in the house.
It was Regan herself.
Oh, Christ, why would she do this? To get my attention?

Third Chapter

I’d like to see these first behavioral changes of Regan in dialogues and narrative.

From the book: "Fits of temper. Threw things. Kicked things. Wouldn't eat... in addition her energy seemed abnormal. She was constantly moving, turning, running and jumping about. Doing poorly with schoolwork..."

This was based on Blatty's first draft screenplay:
"Displacement of furniture"

Chris awoke abruptly by a cold, dim light and by a voice that was shouting, “Momma!” She got up from her bed, and ran down the hall to Regan’s bedroom. When she flung open the door, she saw Regan standing in her nightgown, her face shocked and puzzled.
"Someone moved all my furniture around, Mommy! It's all in different places!"
"What happened?" Chris asked Karl, who was in the bedroom pushing a pink and white bureau back into place from a spot that was halfway across the room.
"Someone is funny." He repeated.
"A person in this house must have moved it," Chris said to Regan.
"I didn't move it." Regan said in a small voice.
There was no doubt in Chris's mind of who had moved the furniture. Karl and Willie wouldn't do such a thing. Sharon didn't sleep in the house. There was only one answer - Regan did it herself! But why? To get my attention??

First chapter extension 2 edit

The following day when she came home from her day’s filming, she found Regan in the kitchen surrounded by paste papers and crayons. The child reached up and flung herself upon her mother.
“What're ya drawin', baby?” Chris asked, kissing her daughter’s face.
“Oh, you, me and Daddy when we were in Rome.” She smiled.
Rome. Chris remembered. Two years ago they had spent a wonderful time there, in a cottage, with woods and trees and miles of grass all around them. Howard had made them huge swings… and is that what she’s drawing? Yes it is. Regan on her mother’s lap, Howard pushing the swing really high.
"Finish your math already?"
"Yep."
"That's my baby. Whadda ya want to do now?"
Regan thought, nibbling her lips.
"I'm going to write a poem!" she announced her burst of inspiration.
"What a good idea." Chris smiled serenely at the happy child. Does she know her freckles dance when she smiles like that? Does she know how much I love her that it kills me to leave the house every morning?
"What's the poem going to be about?"
"You!"
"Me? You can't think of anything more interesting?"
Regan snickered shaking her head, making her red hair swirl as if a halo.
"'K, Sweetheart. Have fun."
Her cheeks were flushed strawberry pink from laughing. Her eyes so alive. You are having fun, aren't you, Rags?
The telephone rang.
Sharon had popped her head in silently. “It’s for you, Chris.”
"Who is it?"
"Agent."
"Ugh." Can he sense me having a good time? Why does that bastard want to snatch my daughter's laughter from me?
Sharon snapped her head out of the doorway and walked down the hall. Chris shifted her eyes to Regan.
"I'm sorry, baby. Why don't you write your poem and I'll be back in a few minutes to read it?"
"Okay."
"I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail. Promise."
I wish those people would leave you alone, Momma. I miss you! Regan smiled a little to protect her mother from her disappointment.

"What's up?" She sat in her office, in her comfortable chair. Cozy. Hateful. He droned on for almost an hour. I'm giving him 10% for this? What?
"What?! You're kidding! Well to Hell with that!"
Regan walked across the room toward her mother.
"Momma... I finished. Read it. Momma?"
Chris dug her nails into the arm of the chair.
"Wait, Regan... What? No, not you. I don't care what he wants, I've worked too damn hard to-"
"Momma... Please read it. I made it just for you. I-" Regan’s voice mingled with the agent’s voice. Chris felt her scalp tightening and a sudden impulse to run from the house.
"Don't you see I'm on the phone?!" She shouted.
Regan pulled back. Shaking. Her poem trembled in her hands. She turned, and ran from the room.
"I'll call you back... When I'm good and ready, THATS when!"
She nearly broke the phone's cradle as she slammed it down. Goddamn it!

First Chapter extention 2

and the following day (Thursday instead of Sunday). This is where my addition begins --- when she came home from her day’s filming, she found Regan in the kitchen. The child was flinging herself upon her mother.
“What're ya drawin', baby?” Chris asked, kissing her daughter’s face.
“Oh, you, me and Daddy when we were in Rome.” She smiled.
Rome. Chris remembered. Two years ago they had spent a wonderful time there, in a cottage, with woods and trees and miles of grass all around them. Howard had made them huge swings… and is that what she’s drawing? Yes it is. Regan on her mother’s lap, Howard pushing the swing really high.

Hmm, then Regan could start writing a poem for Chris when Sharon interrupts them, telling Chris that her agent is on the phone. While she talks to him, Regan is running her tongue around her lips trying to get the letters just right. When she's done, she brings the poem to her mom who is not in a very good mood now ;)) She's still talking to the guy and is pissed off over something ( I have to think of what later. Maybe something Shirley would get upset about, hehe) . But Regan is so eager to show her the poem, that she doesn't realize her mother is busy and keeps saying, " I finished, Mama. Read it, read it..." Finally Chris loses her temper and shouts: "Don't you see I'm on the phone?!" Regan pulls back, shivering, bewildered.

This passage could end with Chris feeling guilty.
Do you think what I wrote is kinda cliché?
Lemme know what you think, s'il vous plait :D

Trip to Washington part 1

Sunday
The recent cold spell that hit the Eastern seaboard finally snapped that very day. The air was crisp, frigid. Chris left the house with a warmly bundled Regan and gingerly placed her daughter in the passenger seat of her Jaguar XKE.

This part should follow with them arriving the Lincoln Memorial. They could be running, or something and when they finally reached the place, they're both out of breath. Whaddya think?
=)

On the cherry blossom lagoon:
"They spent hours on the lawn, reading, telling kid's jokes... "

(I thought the freckles joke is funny. But if you come up with something else, let me know!) :D

...“Nah," Chris replied. "I don’t even have freckles!”
“Yes, you do!” Regan snickered. “An’ they’re not fake.”
She slowly descended to her knees, bringing her smiling face close to Chris. Her sea blue-green eyes squinted as she studied the burst of freckles on her mother’s face.
“Okay!” Chris broke into laughter. “See for yourself. They’re fake!”
Regan put her finger to Chris’s cheek. “They don't come out! You’ve got one...two...three...”
“That’s because they’re very well glued, honey.”
“Hey," said Chris. "Stand over there with the water behind you. I want to take another picture.” Regan ran to the spot where Chris pointed and smiled at the camera. Chris couldn’t get over that smile...

First Chapter extention 1

The novel starts on April 1st, Friday, but since it's set in 1969 it should be a Tuesday. I'd love to extend the first chapter to a week long and see more of normal Regan. :)

Some people complain that there's little description of the settings and surroundings, so when Chris comes home from work, I described the kitchen. What do you think? ;)

What I extended is in bold.

For the last three years, she had been tutor to Regan and social secretary to Chris.
Chris paused by the door to switch on the light. Gray Formica-topped counters and the polished stainless steel sink immediately reflected the dazzle from the electric light.
“Oh, the usual crock.” she sauntered to the table and began to sift messages. “Anything exciting?”

Trip to Washington (from novel)

Original passage from the book:

(Blatty tells us where they've been and I want to show it with dialogues and narrative).

They drove around to points of interest in Chris's Jaguar XKE. The Lincoln Memorial. The Capitol. The cherry blossom lagoon. A bite to eat. (I don't want to change anything after that) Then across the river to Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Regan turned solemn, and later, at the grave of John F. Kennedy, seemed to grow distand a little sad. She stared at the 'eternal flame' for a time; then mutely reached for Chris's hand. "Mommy, why do people have to die?"

The question pierced her mother's soul. Oh Rags, you too? You too? Oh, no! And what could she tell her? Lies? She couldn't. She looked at her daughter's upturned face, eyes misting with tears. Had she sensed her own thoughts? She had done it so often ... so often before. "Honey, people get tired," she answered Regan tenderly.

"Why does God let them?"

For a moment, Chris stared. She was puzzled. Disturbed. An atheist, she had never taught Regan religion. She thought it dishonest. "Who's been telling you about God?" she asked.

"Sharon."

"Oh." She would have to speak to her.

"Mom, why does God let us get tired?"

Looking down at those sensitive eyes and that pain, Chris surrendered; couldn't tell her what she believed. "Well, after a while God gets lonesome for us, Rags. He wants us back...

Tuck into bed part 1

Added passage for the beginning:

Chris tucked her into bed and then sat on the bedside. "Honey, do you want me to keep reading that book?"
Regan nodded. Chris had given her daughter Swan Lake (tell me if you think of a better book,please) a few days before and Regan was enchanted by the story. So much so, that she never tired of asking the same questions.
"Why did Rothbart turn Odette into a swan?"
"Well, he was an evil magician, hon, and wanted Odette all to himself."
"But if he was a bad man, why didn't he turn her into a scary animal?"
"That's true." Chris chuckled. " Then, he wasn't so bad, after all. But he put a spell on her honey, and she had to be a swan until a man came along, and broke the spell."

Alternate ending:
“Can you read more? I’m not sleepy.”
Chris glanced at her watch. “Well, hon, it’s getting late and Mommy still has a script to read.”
“How come?” Regan pouted.
“If I don’t get it read, I could get fired! Silly-goose. And then what would we eat?”
“But, if you get fired I could spend all the time with you.”
Chris studied her daughter for a moment, and then her eyes filled with tears. She drew Regan to her chest and cuddled her face into her daughter’s soft red hair, “I want us to spend all the time together, my baby. Tell you what, after this film is wrapped, I'll take off from work for a year! Is that all right?”
Regan nodded joyfully. She put her arms around her mother’s neck and kissed her face with little passionate (?) kisses.
Chris returned them, no longer feeling ashamed of herself.

Now it can cut to Blatty's original ending:

"You can read your new book, hon, until you get tired."
"Thanks, Mommy."
" Good night, hon."
"Good night."

Trip to Washington part 2

"What?" Regan's voice broke Chris' trance-like awe over her daughter's sweet smile.
"Nothin'... You're just so cute."
"Aww, Mom."
"Smile!"
She beamed brightly as the camera flash blotted her out of Chris' view for a heartbreakingly eternal instant.
"Wanna go see the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier now?"
"Ok."
"What's the matter, Rags?"
Sullen, seemingly darker eyes, searched hers.

Cut to the "Why do people die" part.

Blatty scene 1

INTERIOR SECOND FLOOR HALL OF MACNEIL HOUSE - DAY

THE CAMERA LOOKS DOWN FROM A HIGH ANGLE THAT INCLUDES THE STAIRCASE AT THE EDGE OF THE FRAME AS CHRIS, RUNNING AS SHE KNOTS THE BELT OF HER BATHROBE, EXITS HER BEDROOM, AND HEADS FOR REGAN’S DOORWAY. FROM REGAN’S BEDROOM (OFF SCENE), WE HEAR THE SOUND OF HEAVY FURNITURE BEING MOVED AND OF REGAN’S VOICE, SHOUTING:

REGAN

MOM!! MOM!

INTERIOR OF REGAN’S BEDROOM - CHRIS’S POINT OF VIEW.

THE ITEMS OF FURNITURE ARE IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS. KARL, PUSHING A BUREAU BACK TO ITS FORMER POSITION, PAUSES A MOMENT TO GIVE CHRIS A DARK AND INSCRUTABLE LOOK. HE THEN CONTINUES HIS WORK.

FRONT AGLE - CHRIS AND REGAN

REGAN IS STANDING IN HER NIGHTGOWN IN THE CENTER OF THE ROOM, PUZZLEMENT AND SHOCK SPLITTING HER FACE, HER RED HAIR TOUSLED. CHRIS LOOKS FROM KARL TO REGAN. CHRIS What happened??

REGAN LOOKS UP, SQUEEZING HER MOTHER’S HAND, AND IN A FLAT, FRIGHTENED TONE:

REGAN

Someone moved all my furniture around during the night!

We're here!!!

Yay! This is only a test. Care for the pink, Sof? LOL