Star Fall: Harbor Pals — The Mark on the Bench

Star Fall Harbor Pals The Mark on the Bench Starring Bess and Junie

Junie brings a sheet of music to the shared bench. Bess finds two scratches in the wood. Bess A beaver who likes to make room for the pals around her. Junie A mouse with a blue scarf and an ear for a good tune.

Wide establishing view of one low honey-brown wooden bench on the Ember Harbor quay. Bess, a russet beaver in a cream sweater, grips a shallow green tool tray at the left end. Junie, a small gray mouse in a cobalt scarf, stands behind the bench with one sheet of music. Nori and Pip wait near the right post. A folded cream cloth lies at the right end. Silent. Junie looks down and lays the single sheet of music flat on the folded cloth on the right end of the bench. Junie’s bare paws touch only paper and cloth. Silent. Bess pulls the green tool tray toward the left end to clear space, looking up toward the right. Junie looks down at her paper. The scratches will come into focus on the next page. Silent.

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Wide establishing view of one low honey-brown wooden bench on the Ember Harbor quay. Bess, a russet beaver in a cream sweater, grips a shallow green tool tray at the left end. Junie, a small gray mouse in a cobalt scarf, stands behind the bench with one sheet of music. Nori and Pip wait near the right post. A folded cream cloth lies at the right end. Silent.

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Junie looks down and lays the single sheet of music flat on the folded cloth on the right end of the bench. Junie’s bare paws touch only paper and cloth. Silent.

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Bess pulls the green tool tray toward the left end to clear space, looking up toward the right. Junie looks down at her paper. The scratches will come into focus on the next page. Silent.

Over the seat from the front. The tray now sits left of two fresh short parallel pale scratches, one near the front edge and one farther back. Junie’s sheet remains on the folded cloth to the right. Bess looks down at the scratches. Bess: “Those weren’t there before.” Medium-wide four-character view. Bess turns her gaze toward Junie. Junie’s ears dip. Nori and Pip stand at right, visibly listening. The marks and tray remain in place. Bess: “Junie, I think you scratched it.” Close on Junie. Junie looks up at Bess and keeps one paw on the paper. Her mouth barely opens before she speaks. Junie: “I set my music on the cloth.”

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Over the seat from the front. The tray now sits left of two fresh short parallel pale scratches, one near the front edge and one farther back. Junie’s sheet remains on the folded cloth to the right. Bess looks down at the scratches. Bess: “Those weren’t there before.”

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Medium-wide four-character view. Bess turns her gaze toward Junie. Junie’s ears dip. Nori and Pip stand at right, visibly listening. The marks and tray remain in place. Bess: “Junie, I think you scratched it.”

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Close on Junie. Junie looks up at Bess and keeps one paw on the paper. Her mouth barely opens before she speaks. Junie: “I set my music on the cloth.”

Bess lowers her paw toward the bench and pauses. Junie looks up at her. Nori and Pip stay at the right post, giving Junie space. Silent. Junie lifts the paper to show the folded cream cloth beneath and gestures toward the bare wood. The two scratches sit to the left of the cloth. Bess leans down to look. Junie: “I didn’t touch that spot.” Close on Bess at the bench, eyes shifting from the cloth to the shallow green tray beside the two scratches. The earlier frown gives way to a small puzzled crease. Bess: “Wait. I moved the tray.”

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Bess lowers her paw toward the bench and pauses. Junie looks up at her. Nori and Pip stay at the right post, giving Junie space. Silent.

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Junie lifts the paper to show the folded cream cloth beneath and gestures toward the bare wood. The two scratches sit to the left of the cloth. Bess leans down to look. Junie: “I didn’t touch that spot.”

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Close on Bess at the bench, eyes shifting from the cloth to the shallow green tray beside the two scratches. The earlier frown gives way to a small puzzled crease. Bess: “Wait. I moved the tray.”

Bess lifts the green tray with both paws and tips it up to show the underside. There are two exposed square brass feet on the right end and two dark felt pads on the left. Junie leans in to see. Silent. Directly overhead, Bess holds the tray flat and upside down beside the scratches. Each of the two right-hand brass feet lines up with one scratch. Junie leans her paws on the far edge of the bench. The music and cloth stay at right. Silent. Bess looks down from the feet to the two scratches. Shoulders soften as she sees the match. Junie looks from the tray up to Bess. The tray is still in Bess’s paws. Bess: “They line up. I made those.”

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Bess lifts the green tray with both paws and tips it up to show the underside. There are two exposed square brass feet on the right end and two dark felt pads on the left. Junie leans in to see. Silent.

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Directly overhead, Bess holds the tray flat and upside down beside the scratches. Each of the two right-hand brass feet lines up with one scratch. Junie leans her paws on the far edge of the bench. The music and cloth stay at right. Silent.

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Bess looks down from the feet to the two scratches. Shoulders soften as she sees the match. Junie looks from the tray up to Bess. The tray is still in Bess’s paws. Bess: “They line up. I made those.”

Wide view with the same Nori and Pip at the right post. Bess holds the tray above the left bench end. She turns to face both listeners. Junie stands beside the bench. Bess: “I said Junie scratched it. I was wrong.” Closer two-shot. Bess lowers her gaze to Junie’s eye level. Junie looks up and meets her eyes. Bess holds the tray low and still. Bess: “I’m sorry, Junie.” Junie’s shoulders relax. She lifts the music with one paw and uses the other to offer the folded cloth. Bess looks down toward the cloth and smiles. Junie: “Here. Put it on this.”

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Wide view with the same Nori and Pip at the right post. Bess holds the tray above the left bench end. She turns to face both listeners. Junie stands beside the bench. Bess: “I said Junie scratched it. I was wrong.”

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Closer two-shot. Bess lowers her gaze to Junie’s eye level. Junie looks up and meets her eyes. Bess holds the tray low and still. Bess: “I’m sorry, Junie.”

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Junie’s shoulders relax. She lifts the music with one paw and uses the other to offer the folded cloth. Bess looks down toward the cloth and smiles. Junie: “Here. Put it on this.”

Close on Bess’s paws setting the same green tray onto the folded cream cloth on the left end. The two pale scratches remain visible beside it. No exposed metal touches the bench. Silent. Bess and Junie sit together to the right of the tray. Junie holds the music up for Bess to see. They look down at the same sheet. Nori and Pip are still beside the right post. Junie: “Want to see the tune?” The tray stays on the cloth at left and the scratches are visible beside it. Junie points to a note on the sheet. Bess leans in to look. Nori and Pip share a smile beside the right post. Silent.

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Close on Bess’s paws setting the same green tray onto the folded cream cloth on the left end. The two pale scratches remain visible beside it. No exposed metal touches the bench. Silent.

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Bess and Junie sit together to the right of the tray. Junie holds the music up for Bess to see. They look down at the same sheet. Nori and Pip are still beside the right post. Junie: “Want to see the tune?”

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The tray stays on the cloth at left and the scratches are visible beside it. Junie points to a note on the sheet. Bess leans in to look. Nori and Pip share a smile beside the right post. Silent.

The End Think About It Bess listened to Junie, checked the tray, and told the others what she found. What can you check before deciding who caused a problem? More Harbor Pals The First Try

Created by CTSoftwares - Chuan Tang. Story development assisted by Codex. Illustration and panel lettering assisted by OpenAI image generation. Typography uses Barlow Condensed and Source Sans 3 under the SIL Open Font License.