Friday Feature: Melanie Mitchell
As a writer, director, music artist, and DJ, Melanie Mitchell is a modern-day Renaissance woman. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, she grew up immersed in the arts and developed an early passion for writing and storytelling. Inspired by The Twilight Zone from a young age, she became fascinated with television and the power of stories to explore the strange, philosophical, and the unknown with underlying commentary on society and the human condition. Before college, Mitchell wrote and directed her first short film. She later attended New York University, studying Dramatic Writing, and Ithaca College, where she received the Park School Scriptwriting Award of the Year as a freshman. Her work has also been recognized by NBCUniversal and national screenwriting competitions. Her most recent feature screenplay, When Willows Weep, explores the intersection of racial and environmental injustice through a horror-thriller lens. Mitchell's stories blend wit, philosophy, and existentialism across genres including horror, thrillers, comedy, and speculative fiction. As a multidisciplinary artist, she draws inspiration from music, performance, and visual storytelling to create work that challenges perceptions and defies genre conventions. Now based in Los Angeles, Mitchell develops television and film projects with the goal of becoming a genre-defying showrunner who centers women, queer voices, and people of color while pushing the boundaries of what television and media can become.
When Willows Weep
This writing sample is excerpted scenes of the feature. The '-------' lines indicate scene jumps to a different page/part of the script, not continuous scenes.
EXT. UNKNOWN ROAD - NIGHT
Parallel perfect allée of weeping willow trees line both sides of an empty gravel road. The air is still.
Slowly moving in towards the trees, it’s evident they’re in bad shape. There’s peeling, discoloration, rotting, cracks, dead branches and spotting leaves.
ON A SINGLE WEEPING WILLOW TREE, as a single thick drop of sap forms. It begins to trickle down the bark.
OVER BLACK:
“What cannot be said will be wept.”
--------
EXT./INT. SEMI-TRUCK - SUNSET
SYDNEY BANKS (27, Black American, slim but toned, wears glasses) takes in the scenery behind the wheel.
CURTIS WILTON (54, Black American, dad-bod) is focused between his phone and clipboard in the passenger seat.
The houses are large, bright and beautifully designed. Classic Americana vibes here— overwhelmingly white, kids playing in the large front yards, white picket fences, neighbors openly talking and laughing with each other.
But as Sydney quickly cleans her glasses, she notices things more clearly. The weeping willow trees lining the homes and streets are in bad shape. There’s peeling, discoloration, rotting, cracks, dead branches and spotting leaves.
Most houses have Trump signs and discriminative slogan signs throughout the yards.
Sydney tenses up in her seat, growing a bit uncomfortable. Noticing her, Curtis quickly glances out the window.
CURTIS
We’ve driven through plenty of
towns with signs like these almost
everyday. That’s why we get in
and get out. You’ll be fine.
Sydney slowly nods as she puts her eyes back on the road. Curtis goes back on his phone.
EXT. LONG ROADS IN JASPER TOWN - NIGHT
The semi-truck lights the roads that have narrowed and switched to gravel as the sky has gone dark.
There are longer distances in between houses, but still a lot of willow trees surrounding, leaning into the roads.
Curtis loudly streams a basketball game on his phone as Sydney keeps her eyes locked on the road.
Suddenly, SOUNDS FROM THE PHONE STOP. Curtis holds up his phone, moves it around.
CURTIS
Dammit. We might be out of reception for awhile.
SYDNEY
(nodding)
I downloaded the route for offline usage.
Sydney makes a big left turn.
CURTIS
Too wide.
SYDNEY
I’m sorry.
CURTIS
It’s not that much street to work
with anymore. You need to be more
careful with your turns.
Sydney nods as she adjusts her glasses, a bit nervous.
CURTIS
Are your high beams on?
Sydney nods.
CURTIS
Clearance lights?
SYDNEY
(a bit stern)
Yes. I have everything needed on.
CURTIS
It’s still your first week on
the road. You never know.
Eyeing the GPS back and forth with the road, Sydney shakes her head but keeps quiet.
CURTIS
Especially since you seem to
not be able to do much without
checking your notes.
The road begins to do twists and curves. Sydney manages to keep up, but she’s visibly growing upset.
SYDNEY
(snaps)
Why would that not be good
to do during training?
CURTIS
Because this is on the road
training. Not training from taking
notes from books. How will you ever
be ready for something on the fly?
Sydney shakes her head, both hands tightly grabbing the wheel.
CURTIS
Look out for squeeze trees.
SYDNEY
(beat)
How am I supposed to learn from you
when you either barely speak to me
or speak in code?! I have to take
notes to keep up.
CURTIS
(stern)
Use context clues.
Sydney turns to Curtis, glaring.
SYDNEY
(raised voice)
If you don’t help me at-
Curtis is looking at the road still, pointing to the window.
CURTIS
(abrupt)
Watch out-
Sydney is caught off guard by this tight right turn. She manages to quickly turn but...
SYDNEY
NO!
BANG!
The THUNDEROUS SOUND OF A TREE CRACKING is heard as airbags explode from the steering wheel, dashboard, and side door panels. The tree falls right in front of the truck.
Curtis fights the airbags and instantly looks to Sydney.
CURTIS
Can you hear me? Are you okay?
Another BOOM is heard, catching them both off guard.
Sydney begins to cry as she covers her ears, panicking.
EXT. BUTLER ROAD - CONTINUOUS
Curtis jumps out the door. With a bit of a limp, he moves past the tree and debris as he goes to the driver side. He opens the door and pulls Sydney out as she cries.
SYDNEY
Oh no.. No no...
Sydney puts her hands over her head as she breathes panicky.
SYDNEY
I didn’t mess up the turn.
I didn’t...I did not-
CURTIS
Just take a breather, alright?
You’re fine. Stay right here.
Sydney nods as she turns around trying to collect her breath.
Curtis walks over the tree to the right side of the semi to inspect the damage.
The front right corner of the truck is shattered from the willow tree, narrowly missing the passenger door.
Stepping over debris of the front area, he moves to the back. The trailer of the truck has completely tipped over onto the road, not touching anything else.
CURTIS
(murmurs)
Shit.
Sydney wipes her tears and puts her glasses back on.
SYDNEY’S P.O.V. through her now slightly cracked glasses:
This whole street is lined with parallel perfect allée of weeping willow trees on both sides.
These trees are also in bad shape, but much larger and stronger than the trees in the main streets of town.
The symmetrical planting of the trees combine to look like an endless forest in the night as they lean into the street.
A beat of silence.
RANDOM WEEPING WILLOW TREE P.O.V. on Sydney, as she begins to back up a bit, closer to the truck door.
SYDNEY
(softly)
Um, Curtis.
(beat, louder)
Curtis.
CURTIS
Yeah?
After no response, Curtis looks over from the back of the truck, walks over to her.
SYDNEY
These trees look...really weird.
Curtis turns to look out into the vastness of the trees.
CURTIS
Nighttime can do that to you.
Especially given you’re all shaken up.
Plenty of forests on the roads.
SYDNEY
I need to sit down.
Sydney opens the truck door and gets back in. Curtis hesitates, but joins her.
EXT./INT. SEMI-TRUCK - MOMENTS LATER
The truck, now slightly leaning to the right, is disheveled. Curtis rummages through their belongings behind the seats.
CURTIS
I don’t know if there’s any
first aid kits. You need something
from it? Could help if you have any cuts.
After a beat of silence, he goes back to the front seats as Sydney is still looking out at the trees.
CURTIS
Do you see someone? Something?
SYDNEY
(shakes her head)
It’s...it’s just this weird feeling. Almost like how
I’m staring at the trees, they’re staring at me too.
---------
INT. BUTLER FAMILY HOME - SPARE ROOM - DREAM
Sydney and Curtis are both knocked out.
HEAVY WIND SOUNDS wake Sydney up and she almost instantly sits up and grabs her glasses from the night stand.
SYDNEY’S P.O.V. as she scans the room, noticing the small window above Curtis is open. She sees the vast lined trees outside. The winds cause them to steadily sway.
She looks to Curtis, who is sound asleep on the couch.
SYDNEY
(whispers, panicky)
Curtis...Curtis!
He doesn’t budge.
SYDNEY
(rolls her eyes)
Ugh!
She hesitates, but gets out of bed and hurriedly walks over to the window.
As she reaches her arm out towards the window...
EXT. BUTLER FAMILY ESTATE - FORESTS - CONTINUOUS - DREAM
...Sydney is now outside with her hand reaching toward a willow tree.
SYDNEY
What the?!
She quickly puts her arm down and looks around.
SYDNEY’S P.O.V. as she sees she’s surrounded by the lined willow trees forest in the dark.
SYDNEY
(whispers)
Hello?
There’s a silence in the air as Sydney looks at the trees. They look even more sad than before. Some branches hang so low they might as well touch the ground.
They’re disfigured, some stripped of bark. Still peeling, discolored, rotting.
CRACK!
Sydney jumps, turning to see one of the tree branches falling off.
Instantly backing up, Sydney gasps as she’s run into something— a hangman’s noose. It dangles from this tree.
Out of nowhere SOUNDS OF A CHAINSAW is heard in the distance.
SYDNEY’S P.O.V. quickly scans the forest again. There’s no people in sight, but other trees now have noose’s on their branches too.
Before she can move again, a SCREAM is heard closer to her.
Sydney puts her hand over her mouth in horror and runs to hide behind one of the trees.
Gripping the tree, she sees dark sap that has gotten on her hand. Looking up at the tree she realizes the tree is leaking sap at random, like tear drops.
Suddenly, a mix of GROANS, SCREAMS, CRIES, AND CHAINSAWS SOUND up close and in the distance, growing louder.
Sydney cries as she covers her ears. And all the willow trees leak sap with her, too.
--------
INT. BUTLER FAMILY HOME - SPARE ROOM - MORNING
Sydney wakes up to see Curtis already up, staring out the window. Hearing her covers move, he looks at her then back out the window.
CURTIS
The night before...when you woke up
scared. What did you dream about?
SYDNEY
(chuckles)
You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.
CURTIS
I had a nightmare last night.
Sydney puts on her glasses and sits up. Curtis points out the window.
CURTIS
I was outside in the middle of
the road, by all the trees. I saw
the crash all over again.
Curtis turns to face Sydney.
CURTIS
You didn’t mess up that turn.
(beat)
It’s gonna sound crazy but, I think-
SYDNEY
The trees remember it all.
A beat as Curtis nods.
CURTIS
If those trees have some sort of
ability to send a message, it
could’ve easily decided to fall
onto the front of the truck.
But it’s like it almost...took the
hit for us.
A beat as Sydney looks out towards the trees.
SYDNEY
I decided not to tell anyone about
my dream. Figured no one would
believe me.
(beat)
That’s why I couldn’t strip the tree bark.
Curtis nods.
SYDNEY
There was this dark sap.
CURTIS
That was in mine too. So much that
it started to come down like rain.
SYDNEY
Like...like they were weeping.
###
Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. Programs include the Wildfire Reading Series, writing workshops, and retreats.
