1. Half of My Heart
By
Travis Higdon
COIN TOSS SCREENPLAY COMPETITION 2015
Log line:
A young man in an unhappy and
unfilled relationship suddenly
has half of his heart bounce
out of his chest, searching
for the other half; his soul
mate.
Cell: (253) 929-9351
1501 N. Alder St. Apt. #I11
Ellensburg, WA 98926

2. INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - DAY (2015)
A suburban house sits quietly. Neighbors mow their lawns on
the houses on each sides.
All seems peaceful until--
A lamp flies through a window in front of the house.
Inside, a young woman, CHELSEA (22) thrashes furniture
around the room.
CHELSEA
So, you want me to believe that a
random girl walked up to you, and
asked to help you try on clothes?!
A man, CORY (23) sits on a nearby couch inside the house. He
sits forward with his hands clasped together in front of his
face.
He sets his hands down onto his knees.
CORY
She worked there...
(beat)
What do you want me to say?
CHELSEA
(screams)
Bullshit! She was a whore who
wanted your dick!
CORY
Chelsea... Listen to yourself.
CHELSEA
I don’t need to listen. I need to
speak!
(beat)
I am your girlfriend, which means
no other girl is ever allowed to
talk to you!
CORY
What? You’re being crazy.
CHELSEA
Crazy? You want to see crazy?
(CONTINUED)

3. CONTINUED: 2.
His girlfriend grabs a nearby picture frame of Cory and his
mother. Cory wears a cap and gown. His mother has her arm
around him. A big smile across her face. A sign is in the
background with the name of Cory’s high school: The
buccaneers.
Chelsea throws the picture into a nearby wall. It smashes
into tiny pieces.
CHELSEA (CONT.)
That’s crazy!
CORY
What the hell!
(beat)
(stands)
I can’t take this! I’m out of here.
CHELSEA
Where are you going?
CORY
Outside!
EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - BACK YARD
Cory smashes open a screen door that leads to his backyard.
He screams in frustration!
He paces back and forth on his back porch.
After a beat, Cory sits down on the first step and reaches
into his pocket. He pulls out a pack of Marlboro
cigarettes.
Just as Cory pulls out a drag and puts it to his mouth, he
stops.
Cory stares down at the lone cigarette in his hand for a
beat. He clenches his teeth and crushes the cigarette in his
hands.
Cory clasps his hands together and sighs a deep breath.
Suddenly, an uncomfortable look brushes through Cory’s face.
He reaches his hand up to the left side of his chest, where
his heart is.
Pain surges through Cory like a heart attack! He screams in
agony as he clasps his chest tightly!
(CONTINUED)

4. CONTINUED: 3.
Cory tosses his body back! His arms hold him before he
collapses to the floor.
Through his jacket, a half-heart pops out from his chest!
It lands on the grass lawn in front of Cory.
With the pain at ease, Cory leans forward to stare at his
unattached organ.
His eyes are wide open in shock. His mouth gapes in terror.
Cory leans himself forward and reaches down toward the
heart.
With speed, the heart jumps away from him!
Cory lifts himself up from the step and walks even closer to
the heart.
With every step he takes, the heart bounces even further
away from him.
Cory stands still for a beat. He stares at the heart with
purpose. The half-heart stands in place, ready to run at any
moment.
Cory jumps at the heart! The heart leaps itself away.
The young man gives chase to this freed organ.
The heart bounces farther and farther away from him. It
turns its course to the front yard of the house.
EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - FRONT YARD
The heart bounces over the side gate.
Cory pushes the wooden door open with force! He spots his
heart on its way to the street.
He chases the heart through his front lawn.
The heart takes a turns and bounces up and down on the
sidewalk in the opposite direction of Cory.
He runs as fast as can to catch the heart. The neighbor’s
nearby all stare at Cory with confusion as he runs and
reaches forward to grab this body part.

5. 4.
EXT. TOWN STREET
In his chase, Cory finds himself in the populated town.
With the half-heart in view, Cory runs towards the heart as
it climbs up a dirt hill.
EXT. HILL TOP
The heart reaches the top of the hill and jumps onto the
side of a water tower.
Cory appears at the top of the hill. He follows close
behind.
He sees the heart climb higher and higher up the water tower
until it reaches the very top.
Cory stands at the bottom and looks up. He breathes heavily
and stares upward in confusion.
EXT. PARKING LOT
A local man, FRED (35) sits on a bench and reads the
newspaper.
After he hears the commotion of Cory on the hill, he looks
up from his paper to see him. Cory stands in place with his
hands on his hips as he looks up at the top of the water
tower.
Fred looks at the top of the water tower, as well, to see
what this kid stares at.
He notices the half-heart at the top as it stares down at
the young man, mocking him.
FRED
Oh, boy...
Fred puts his paper down, folds it closed and sets it down
on the bench.
He gets up from the seat and walks over to Cory.

6. 5.
EXT. HILL TOP
Fred walks up to Cory and stands beside him.
Both stare up at the heart on the top of the water tower in
silence until--
FRED
Got a runaway heart, do ya?
CORY
(turns to Fred, confused)
What?
FRED
Half of your heart got away from
you. Seen it happen many times
before.
CORY
You have?
FRED
Oh, ya!
Cory grabs Fred by the collar and shakes him angrily.
CORY
Well, what the hell is going on?
Why is my heart out of my chest!?
FRED
(frees himself)
Easy, son! It’s nothing to be too
worried about.
(beat)
You’re heart is just incomplete.
CORY
What?
FRED
Same thing happened to a friend of
mine. He was so unhappy with his
love life that his heart jumped out
of his chest, and started running
away from him.
CORY
Why?
(CONTINUED)

7. CONTINUED: 6.
FRED
Well, it turned out his heart
wasn’t running away from him, it
was leading him.
CORY
Leading him?
(beat)
To what?
FRED
... his other half. His real true
love.
Cory chuckles to himself in disbelief.
CORY
His real true love?
(beat)
I already have a girl, buddy!
FRED
But is she your true love?
He stares silently at Fred for a beat.
FRED (CONT.)
Thought so.
CORY
(turns his back to Fred)
This is ridiculous! I’m just too
stressed out and I’m hallucinating.
Cory turns back around to face Fred, but--
No one stands there. Cory is alone.
He looks back up at the top of the water tower to see
nothing there.
He takes a deep breath and walks back down the hill.
EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - FRONT
Cory walks up to his house to see clothes, dressers and
other miscellaneous household items on the front lawn.
He walks past them to his front door with a confused look on
his face.
Cory opens the unlocked door and walks inside.

8. 7.
INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE
Everything inside the home is destroyed. Furniture is
flipped over, glass is broken on the floor, and dirt covers
it all.
CORY
What in the...?
In all of the mess, there is one clean spot where a desk
drawer sits. The drawer is right in the middle of the living
room.
On the top of the drawer sits a folded note with Cory’s name
written on it.
Cory walks over to the note and opens it.
It reads:
"Dear Cory,
I am LEAVING. I can’t take it anymore. Following you around,
and catching you with skanks is not what I see as a perfect
relationship.
I know you never really loved me. Maybe that is because I
never really loved you.
Go fuck yourself.
-Chelsea
P.S.
I’ve been fucking another man for two months now. Have a
nice life."
Cory sets the paper down on the table. No emotion comes
across his face. He isn’t even fazed by his girlfriend’s
betrayal.
With a sense that someone watches him, Cory turns his head
out of his broken window to see a familiar sight.
His half-heart sits at the bottom of his driveway.
Cory exits his front door.

9. 8.
EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - FRONT
Cory walks up to the half-heart. This time the heart doesn’t
run away from him.
He reaches down to grab the heart, but it bounces away, just
as before.
CORY
Not again...
The heart bounces down the street again, with Cory fast on
its trail.
EXT. COFFEE SHOP - EVENING
As the heart bounces along, it finds its way to a table that
sits in front of a coffee shop.
The heart bounces on the table and sits in the middle.
Cory reaches the table soon after the heart does and stands
next to it.
With a relieved smile, Cory reaches for the heart. The heart
jumps to the other end of the table to escape him.
Over and over, Cory reaches out to grab the heart, but fails
every time.
Soon, Cory stops and sits down in one of the seats at the
table. He stares at the heart with frustration as he rests
his chin on the palm of his hand against the edge of the
table.
Out of the corner of his eye, Cory spots another half-heart
approach the table!
Cory straightens himself up in anticipation.
The other heart bounces over and jumps up on the table next
to Cory’s half-heart.
Around the corner of the building, Cory sees a young woman
round it.
SARAH (23) is a beautiful girl with glowing blond hair, a
cute face, and a slim figure.
As she rounds the corner she searches in and out of every
garbage can, and dark corner nearby.
(CONTINUED)

10. CONTINUED: 9.
Soon, Sarah sees that her half-heart sits on top of a coffee
table with another half-heart.
She also sees Cory at the table seat. He stares at her in
surprise.
Sarah walks up to the table and sits down. She blushes with
a big smile on her face.
When she sits down, both her and Cory lean forward. The two
of them gaze into each others eyes like they just witnessed
the most beautiful thing in the world.
The two reach their arms forward and take hold of the two
half-hearts.
Together, they push the two half-heart’s together to make it
whole. Both smile at one another in bliss.
CORY
I’m Cory.
SARAH
I’m Sarah.
FADE OUT:
THE END