Ana-Maria Espino Trudel is an experimental media artist and filmmaker living in Montreal. This project was realized as part of the Celine Bureau 2022 writing residency cigale journal.  

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INT. TV ROOM

A small television sits on a table. A woman inserts a video
into the VCR. The screen goes from blue to black to white.
The camera zooms in on the screen. The woman presses play and
watches the home video.

CUT TO:

EXT. DAY

                    MAN
Do  a little talking.

                    WOMAN
Hello...

*Director's note: Smile more - always face the camera with a
huge smile. Remember, your in-laws just gave you the
downpayment for the house, you should be grateful, excited.*

The camera is unfocused. We see flashes of snow and dirt. It
slowly zooms out to reveal a small backyard. A child screams
and laughs.

                    MAN
Here's our spacious backyard.
That's our rock and there's our
very own tree. Say a few words
again.

                    WOMAN
Hello again.

The man passes the camera to the woman.

CUT TO:

EXT. - MOMENTS LATER

                    MAN 
See REC?

                   WOMAN
Okay.

We see white haze while the camera struggles to focus on the
subject. We see a man building a snowman in the backyard.

Director's note: You've never used a video camera before in
your life.

                    WOMAN (CONT'D) 
It’s not focusing.

                    MAN
Is it on REC?

                    WOMAN
I don't know.

                    MAN
Power, Camera, Power, Camera.

                    WOMAN
Standby...and it says recording.

The child is screaming and running in circles around a
snowman in the middle of the backyard.

                    WOMAN (CONT'D)
Can you say hi sweetie doll?

                    CHILD
Hola!

                    WOMAN
En inglés, sweetie.

The child begins shrieking and running in circles again.
The man grabs a big piece of snow and throws it up in the
air. The child laughs. The man throws a snowball at the
child's feet. She laughs wildly. He throws a snowball in her
face. She cries. He apologizes. He hands her a snowball and
she dumps it on his head. She laughs again.

CUT TO:

EXT./INT. - MOMENTS LATER

                    WOMAN
Sweetie can you tell me a story?
The child shrieks with laughter.

MUSIC CUE: Canción de la pińata

                    CHILD
          (Singing)  
          Dale, dale, dale,
          No pierdas el tino,
          Porque si lo pierdes
          Pierdes el camino.
          Ya le diste una,
          Ya le diste dos,
          Ya le diste tres
          Y tu tiempo se acabó.

Director's note: You don't want the in-laws to hear the child
singing in Spanish, speak loudly over the child, pan to the
snowman.

                    WOMAN
Well, here we are at our new house,
building our first snowman.

The camera moves inside and a hand reaches forward, shutting
the glass door.

CUT TO:

INT. TV ROOM

The woman watching the small television screen does not
remember this scene, although she was the child on the
screen. Suddenly she grasps a thin memory, wedged in the back
of her subconscious. Maybe it's a dream or a strange
nightmare she had long ago.

CUT TO:

INT. NEBULOUS CLOUD

A nebulous cloud - shafts of blue light penetrate the smoky
orb. The smoke shifts to reveal a red paper maché piñata in
the shape of a star. The piñata is swinging in slow motion. A
broom stick emerges from behind and hits the piñata.

V.O
UNO.

INT. DAY - KITCHEN

CUT TO:

Flashback begins: A child sits and stares at the fresh Piñata
sitting on a sticky kitchen table, before the birthday party
begins.

                    CHILD
Who made you?

                    PIÑATA
I was made where everyone before me
was made. My arms were stretched
out flat. My frilly tips came from
endless coils from the void of
creation. My sparkly middle was
stuck and glued over my translucent
organ - which popped shortly after.
Then they added my hair, flat and
papery, sprouting at the base of
each of my arms. They filled me
with sugar cane, chiclets and toys.

CUT TO:

INT. NEBULOUS CLOUD

The piñata lurches back and is struck again.

V.O 
DOS.

CUT TO:

INT. DAY - KITCHEN

                    CHILD
Do you know you're about to break?

                    PIÑATA
I was made to be opened. I don’t
think of it as destruction. I feel
excited to join those who have been
broken before me.

CUT TO:

INT. NEBULOUS CLOUD

The red piñata swings once more in slow motion through the
smoky room. A blindfolded child leaps up in the air and slams
the broomstick down over the piñata. The piñata splits open.

V.O 
TRES.

CUT TO:

INT. DAY - KITCHEN

                    CHILD
Do you feel pain?

                    PIÑATA
Sort of. It’s an acute sensation,
each time you strike me. But how
can it be pain if you’re smiling
and laughing?

Director's Note: Like many other instances of your early
childhood, you will not remember the sticky kitchen table,
the birthday party, or the words to the Piñata Song. But
every time something beautiful breaks, you will smile.

END.