Off the Spring was originally conceived as a short film that was to be my final senior project in high school. The first incarnation of Off the Spring was a screenplay, which included the first draft of the lyrics as well as the composition of the scenes as well as non-verbal character reactions (this would have been late August, early September 2004). It is from this document that I wrote the score. Since I imagined the scenes playing in my head, I knew how long certain musical passages had to be. Also, since I wanted to avoid lyrics as much as possible (for reasons I can't recall with great precision), a lot of the story was told visually, through acting and facial reactions. This is apparent in the fifth and eighth movement, which are entirely instrumental (save for the "Goodbye" reprise at the end of the latter).
Anyway, here it is...this is the original story based on the original screenplay. Some of this is
explained in the lyrics, but a lot of it was left to visual storytelling. I encourage people to make
up their own interpretations, but for those who want to know the original concrete intention of Off
the Spring, here it is.
The beginning introduces us to the protagonist, Hillary. She is a fun loving individual, who doesn't take many things seriously, including her education. She is sitting in class doodling, when the bell rings. With class dismissed and the school day over, she enters the hall and expresses joy at how great her life is. She has no desire to be tied down to any one boy, and pushes off the advances of several boys before meeting up with her best friend, Angela.
Angela drives the two around town, having all sorts of good times. They drink milkshakes at an Americana cafe, watch a movie, romping around town like they own it. After they spend the afternoon doing this, Angela drops Hillary off at her house. She is lamenting on her good times as her parents wave as they leave. She sees how happy they are, and hopes one day that she will maintain her level of happiness through the years.
However, as the night drags on, nothing appears as they seem. While she is getting food from the fridge, she notices a letter on the table addressed to her. She reads it. It is a suicide note from her parents. She doesn't know what to do, except to passively cry and sit down, weeping in nostalgia.
When morning comes around, she is utterly confused and saddened. She is afraid to talk to anybody. She can't remember her locker number, and doesn't bring any books to class. She just stares emotionless into space. After school, Angela notices her behavior change, and attempts to open communication. Entering into a burst of rage, Hillary yells at her to leave herself alone.
Alone in the parking lot, Hillary walks home, her mind loose and out of touch with reality. She is home alone. She makes food alone, and eats it alone. She looks around her bedroom, her face eternally void of happiness, and turns out her light. She is alone.
But the next day, rumors are circulating that there is a new kid at school. As he makes his presence known, he turns out to be quite the handsome fellow. All the girls oogle at him, and he enjoys his new attention. However, he is attracted to the one girl who gives him no notice, Hillary. She ignores him.
The boy tries to contact her after class, and introduces himself as Bishop. While she is no longer angry, she is apathetic to his presence. Bishop understands she needs her space, and walks away, toward a concerned Angela. Bishop is quite attracted to Hillary, and Angela fears that her major depression was due to something that she did herself.
That next day, after coming home from school, Hillary randomly stumbles upon her parents' car keys. They took one car with them on their fated voyage, but the other one was still accessible. With her new found freedom, she takes a spin at the wheel, driving around town with purpose but with no end goal. In the end, she is the same. Finding a nice park, she finds a spot to sit and brood about her life. Coincidentally, Bishop also happens to be in the park, and he attempts to strike up a conversation. This time Hillary is more open to conversation, and is a bit friendlier. She agrees to help Bishop with a class assignment at his house, and soon begins to take an interest in him. Bishop continues to solve her puzzle, but she resists all attempts. She does agree on a sort of mini date with him over the weekend, taking a walk in a nearby forest.
The next day at school, Bishop and Hillary walk together down the hall, talking about a myriad of topics. Angela notices this as she takes things out of her locket. After a few seconds of contemplation, she opens up her anger at being betrayed by her best friend for some new stud. She runs into Hillary's classroom, interupts the lecture, grabs her and takes her into the hallway, where a heated argument ensues. Angela is left distraught as Hillary blows her off.
When the weekend comes, Bishop takes Hillary on a walk through the woods. They enjoy their time together, hiking and talking and playing around. Things start to heat up between the two, but before they kiss, Hillary looks over at this small grassy field that they are next to. It is the same grassy field her parents took her to as a kid to play, and she recalls those beautiful memories. Desiring for those days in the past, she breaks down, goes on a knees, and begin crying, much to the annoyance of Bishop. Not understanding what's wrong, he walks off, ending the date.
That night, Hillary is at her greatest moment of despair. She thinks she has lost everything, and everyone. Her best friend is gone, her potential new boyfriend is gone, and she is suffering. Most importantly, she realizes she is alone. As she sits alone in her bedroom, the spirit of her mother appears. Is this real? Is this fantasy? There is no way of knowing, but whatever this spirit was, she comforted Hillary and told her everything would be fine if she just opened herself up again to the world, and treat life as if nothing has changed.
In the late afternoon of the following day, Hillary invites Angela over and the two reconcile. Hillary finally tells Angela what has happened, and Angela no longer feels betrayed and pledges to support her friend, although wonders why Hillary went so far as to isolate herself. After embracing, the door bell rings. Hillary hasn't had a visitor since the suicide, and upon opening the door, a police officer is revealed. After identifying Hillary, he says he has discovered the bodies of her parents, and have located Hillary to inform her that, being a minor, she has to go to a foster home. Not wanting to deal with that, she breaks free of the officer and runs away, taunting him as he tries to give chase. Angela follows, and the two try and evade the pursuing officer through their neighborhood.
After some time, they're finally save. Without a place to live, Hillary is offered to live with Angela until she's of age. Finally happy with her new life, the two walk across the street, until they are hit by a car driven by Bishop, who is heavily intoxicated from a bit too much whiskey that he started drinking after his failed date with Hillary.