CLOSE ON: A GREEN METALLIC PEACE-SIGN that hangs from A KEY CHAIN. PANNING BACK WE SEE THE LEGS OF A WOMAN as she drives - shifting hard and using her feet to quickly clutch, accelerate and brake. We hear the tires squeal as the car whips around sharp snowy curves.

PANNING UP THE WOMAN’S LEGS we see that she is wearing A SHORT SKIRT and has a MILK CARTON between her legs. She’s TERRA VERTE, an attractive but somewhat studious looking woman in her early thirties. A JACK-RUSSELL TERRIER is yapping loudly in the back seat. Terra tries to quiet the dog but it seems agitated and nervous. WE CAN HEAR THE CAR RADIO.

RADIO
The Southland is facing the worst winter storm
in a century. A flash flood and mud-slide watch
has been issued for all areas from the L.A. basin
to Palm Springs. Snow levels are at their lowest
ever. Experts say that global warming may be
contributing to the wild weather.

TERRA
(as she turns the radio off)
No shit.

We hear her pee filling the milk carton as she dials her cell phone.

TERRA
(to herself )
If I were a guy I’d get paid more and be
able to pee in a milk carton.

Her car swerves onto the shoulder of the snowy road. She loses control of the milk carton and disgustedly wipes her wet skirt.

TERRA
Oh no. No!

We can hear THE VOICE OF VIVIAN, Terra’s assistant as she picks up the phone at the other end.

VIVIAN
You okay?

Vivian hears the dog yapping in the background.

VIVIAN
You got your baby with you?

TERRA
I couldn’t leave him home in this weather.
He’s pretty freaked out. Can you have
wardrobe dig me out a dry skirt. I lost my
milk carton again.

VIVIAN
I told you - no more Cokes for breakfast.

TERRA
And don’t tell them it’s for me this time.
And can you have the tape ready for the
fox-hunt story by the time I get there.

VIVIAN
Honey - Ivan cut the fox hunt story.

TERRA
What? Why?!

VIVIAN
Because Barbara’s interviewing the President
on Saturday and apparently he’s cut off a few
tails in his day. Ivan calls it a social conflict
of interest.

TERRA
Vivian - I want that story up and ready
in ten minutes and I don’t care what
”˜Little Hitler’ says!

VIVIAN
I’ll see what I can do. He’s in a mood. How
was the date.

TERRA
I think he was expecting something more feminine.
He kept calling me doctor - which in any other
context I’d appreciate.

VIVIAN
You didn’t wear lipstick, did you?

TERRA
I can’t sell that Viv. Besides they test it on monkeys.

Terra’s dog climbs up the seat behind her and starts licking her neck.

TERRA
I’ve got my boy right here.

VIVIAN
Don’t give up. They’re not all dogs.


Terra sees A DEER IN HER HEADLIGHTS, misses a curve and her car careens over the side of a steep cliff. The car is flipped on it’s roof at the bottom of a snowy ravine. The overturned car rocks back and forth a few times before it settles and becomes eerily silent. Suddenly the car bursts into flames.

CUT TO:

EXT. ANTARCTICA - ICE-BERG - NIGHT

CLOSE ON A FIRE as it burns inside of AN OLD OIL DRUM and lights the faces of the three men seated around it. As the fire flitters in the drum, a snowy wind is howling as the men struggle to talk above the gale. PANNING BACK we can see that there are SEVERAL HIGH-TECH TENTS lit from within. The tents are rippling and snapping in the wind. We see nothing but ice in every direction. The men are checking some equipment set up on the ice-berg. They are LOU GARDNER, Chief of Operations for Green peace; a large man in his fifties with a very full bushy beard. ERIC DUVAL, a geologist and SID SANTOS, a climatologist. They have to shout to be heard above the wind.

LOU
Anything?

ERIC
Nine point six miles long and four miles wide.
About a mile deep. That’s about sixty trillion
tons of ice. It could fill the Everglades.

LOU
Holy Shit.

ERIC
This is nothing. The next one’s five times
this size and it’s ripe and ready to go.
That’ll be the biggest drifter this ice age.
We’ll be the last to see this one. She’ll be
water in less than a week.

LOU
We’ll leave this station set up ”˜til it melts.
We can monitor everything until then.
Hopefully we don’t go with it. How long
”˜til the big one breaks off?

SID
I’d give it a week, ten days. And there’s
one behind that.

LOU
Anything we can do?

ERIC
Yea. Buy property in Denver.

CUT BACK TO:

EXT. RAVINE - DAWN

A heavy snow is falling. TERRA’ S OVERTURNED CAR is on fire. Terra has been thrown free of the wreckage and lays motionless a few yards from the burning car. HER DOG lays a few yards away, dead.

AN AMBULANCE is on the scene along with THREE PARAMEDICS. Paramedic #1 (KELLY) desperately performs CPR on Terra. We hear THE FLAT TONE OF A HEART MONITOR indicating no heartbeat.

The other two paramedics stand complacently beside the ambulance. They look as though they’ve given up the effort.

The tone of the heart monitor remains steady as Kelly continues CPR. We get the sense that his efforts are futile at this point. A VOICE comes up over the ambulance radio.

VOICE
Unit 238 - we can’t get L.A. fire up to you.
We’ve got a mud-slide on PCH. You’re
on your own.

The snow turns to rain and extinguishes the burning car. Kelly looks up into the rain.

KELLY
Somebody’s up there today.

Paramedic #2 (THOMAS) stands at the ambulance. Paramedic #3 (FITZ) approaches Kelly who continues the CPR. He puts his hand on his partner’s shoulder and speaks to him softly - consoling - as the rain falls harder. He struggles to be heard. Kelly picks up the pace of the CPR, now even more determined than before.

FITZ
Buddy - it’s been too long.

ON THOMAS at the ambulance as he prepares A BODY-BAG. He pulls a hood over his head as the rain begins to pour down even harder. He pulls out A PORTABLE PHONE.

THOMAS
(on the phone)
County - this is PA 238 confirming that traffic
fatality. She’s a white female - approximately
thirty two years of age. Arrest occurred sixty
seven minutes ago with inoperative brain function
at forty eight minutes. No response to extended
fibrillation or adrenaline. We’re bagging her now.
It’s Terra Verte so you may want to hold back
the press. That’s our third celeb this week.

The rain becomes a torrential downpour as Fitz tries to pull Kelly off of Terra’s lifeless body. Kelly pulls free and frantically pounds on her chest with a renewed, almost angry vigor. Fitz is furious.

FITZ
Kelly - that’s enough!

KELLY
(frantic)
Get me ten more milligrams.

FITZ
No more! It’s over man.

Kelly gets up and pushes Fitz out of the way. He gets to the ambulance and pulls out A PLASTIC PACKAGE and sprints back to Terra, leaving deep footprints in the ever softening mud.

He tears into the package with his teeth. He pulls out a bottle marked Adrenaline - 10mg. Maxdose. He fills A LARGE SYRINGE with the entire contents of the bottle and injects it into TERRA’S I.V. TUBE. She doesn’t respond.

KELLY
Get me ten more milligrams. She comin’
back man. She’s comin’ back.

Fitz ignores him.

Kelly angrily gets up and runs to the ambulance. Fitz stands defiantly in front of him.

FITZ
Kelly - man - I can’t let’cha. We can’t do any
more for her.

Thomas joins him with A STRETCHER AND A BODY BAG. As Kelly sees the body bag, a look of anguish comes over him. Thomas pats him on the shoulder.

THOMAS
I phoned her in.

Kelly starts to cry as he stops the CPR.

Suddenly Terra is standing next to her own lifeless body. She looks down in wonder. She sees THE SHROUDED FIGURE OF A WOMAN SITTING ON AN OLD TREE STUMP in the mist about fifty yards away. She slowly goes toward the woman. The commotion of the accident scene fades away as Terra sees the woman beckoning her. Terra can’t see her face through the shroud.

WOMAN
Hi. Rough day?

TERRA
A little. (She looks around) Am I dead?

WOMAN
That depends.

TERRA
Who are you?

The woman takes Terra’s hand and breathes into it. Terra hears a humming in her head.

WOMAN
I’m part of you.

Terra opens her hands to find ONE FRESH RED ROSE PETAL.

TERRA
What’s this for?

WOMAN
It’s the meaning of life. What everyone wants.

Terra feels her vision dissolving as the bright fog turns to dark rain.

TERRA
What does it mean?

The woman fades into the fog.

TERRA
What about my dog?!

WE PAN BACK to the paramedics at work on Terra’s lifeless body. Kelly is distraught and his emotions are out of control as he crouches over Terra.

KELLY
I’m not lettin’ her go. She stands for something.
Nobody stands for anything any more.

Kelly rushes to the ambulance and returns with A HUGE SYRINGE WITH A FOUR INCH HEART-NEEDLE. Before Fitz can react, Kelly plunges the needle into Terra’s chest and empties the syringe. Fitz and Thomas step back in amazement and horror as Terra’s body jerks.

FITZ
I hope you can handle the consequences.

The heart monitor now shows a heartbeat.

KELLY
She was dead. Now she’s alive.

THOMAS
She’ll never come out of a coma.

KELLY
She’s alive. And I brought her back.

The rain suddenly stops.

FITZ
Let’s get her on the truck.

THOMAS
What do we do with the dog?

Fitz is disgusted and angry.

FITZ
Leave it. She’ll never know the difference.

Thomas is on the phone.

THOMAS
What do I tell base?

FITZ
Tell’em Kelly’s a God.

CUT TO:

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

Terra is up and stuffing A GREEN DUFFEL-BAG full of everything she can find that isn’t nailed down (RUBBER GLOVES, BED PANS, PILLOWS, SOAP, SHAMPOO, TONGUE DEPRESSORS, MOUTHWASH, etc.)

AN OLD FUSSY NURSE stands by and helplessly watches.

TERRA
I paid for all this crap and I’m takin’ it with me.

NURSE
I’ve notified the doctor.

Terra continues to pack the duffel-bag until it bulges at the seams.

TERRA
That’s fine. Where are my clothes?

NURSE
He’ll be here in just a minute.

TERRA
Great. Good for him.

NURSE
He’s going to be very upset that you’re
leaving.

TERRA
Look nurse Ratchet, I’m a big girl. Go suck
someone else’s blood.

THE DOCTOR ENTERS the room and sees Terra packing.

NURSE
I couldn’t stop her.

DOCTOR
What’s going on?

TERRA
What’s going on is you’ve done nothing
but stick me with needles and feed me
sleeping pills and over cooked vegetables
for two weeks. I’m leaving.

DOCTOR
Your blood is still way off - way off. You
shouldn’t be out of bed. Technically you
shouldn’t be alive, so if we could just...

TERRA
Well you better check you equipment - cause
I’ve never felt better in my life and I’m leaving.

DOCTOR
Please.

TERRA
Look - I had an accident, you patched me up
and now I’m fine. How complicated is that?

DOCTOR
You were clinically dead for sixty seven minutes.

TERRA
Detail. Where are my clothes?

DOCTOR
I have a friend that wants to see you. I think it’s
important.

TERRA
Look you’ve been a sweetheart. My clothes.

The doctor knows he can’t stop her. Terra can see his disappointment and frustration. She takes his hands and sits him down on the bed.

TERRA
Look - Doctor Burnell - Robert. I know you’re
worried about me but I’m fine. Really. (Terra hops
up and down a few times.) See. I’ll be back in a
few weeks and you can check me out. I just can’t
afford to stay here.

DOCTOR
Will you do me one favor. Will you see Doctor
Bridgeport before you go.

TERRA
I don’t need a shrink.

DOCTOR
He’s a clinical parapsychologist. He’s
an expert in near death experience - past life
regression and paranormal phenomena.

TERRA
Well thank God I’m an atheist.

DOCTOR
He’s a doctor. A specialist.

TERRA
You’re a doctor - act like one.

DOCTOR
You won’t let me.

TERRA
Don’t insult my intelligence Robert - I’m a die
hard scientist. If I can’t see it, hear it, touch it
or taste it - it doesn’t exist. It keeps life much
simpler. So I’ll come back and let you poke
around the body but stay out of the head okay.

At that moment OTTO BRIDGEPORT opens the door and stands in the doorway smiling. Otto is heavy-set and looks more like an old fashioned newspaper-man than any sort of doctor. He wears a BIG FLOPPY HAT, DISHEVELED CLOTHES and smokes A LARGE CHEWED-UP CIGAR.

TERRA
Thanks.

DOCTOR
Please.

Otto bounces into the room puffing on his cigar. Terra glares at the cigar and it immediately goes out.

OTTO
(to himself)
Impressive.

DOCTOR
Dr. Bridgeport, this is Terra Verte. She’s the
Earthlady - on television.

OTTO
I don’t have a television but it’s a pleasure to
meet you. Dr. Burnell’s told me all about you.

TERRA
All bad I hope.

OTTO
It’s not everyday that I get to probe the psyche of
someone who was dead for over an hour. It must
have been fascinating. (Otto eyes a tray of food that’s
left on Terra’s night-stand.) Is that chocolate pudding?

Otto picks up THE PUDDING CUP. Terra snatches it from him and throws it into her duffel bag. She tosses the duffel bag over her shoulder.

TERRA
Well ”˜doctor’- you can find yourself another dead
woman. Look I don’t mean to be rude but I didn’t
see any tunnels or white light or angels beckoning me
through the clouds - so I really don’t think we have
anything to discuss. I’ve gotta go - maybe I’ll see
you on Oprah.

DOCTOR
At least talk to him.

OTTO
Everyone’s experience is different. If you feel like
talking - give me a call. (He hands Terra a business
card.) If you have any trouble sleeping, nightmares...

TERRA
I sleep like a baby.

Terra walks by Otto and out of the room letting the door shut in his face. She opens the door and pokes her head back in to add something.

TERRA
And I don’t dream.

As Terra walks out the door and down the hospital corridor, we can see her butt wiggling through the crack in her hospital gown. She marches forward defiantly. Heads turn to watch her leave.

CUT TO:

INT. TERRA’S HOUSE - DAY

TWO YOUNG MEN struggle to get A PIANO through Terra’s small front door.

TERRA
Don’t scratch it.

PIANO MOVER #1
It’s the door or the piano.

PIANO MOVER #2
The piano’s too big.

TERRA
Just be careful. That’s twenty five hundred
dollars - and I can’t even play.

PIANO MOVER #1
Then what do you need a piano for?

TERRA
The lessons came with it.

PIANO MOVER #2
It’s really hard to learn when your older.

Terra takes offense.

TERRA
Just get it in here. I have my first lesson in
ten minutes. And I’m not older.

They squeeze the piano in and roll it to an empty wall.

PIANO MOVER #1
There you go.

They stand and wait for something.

TERRA
What - you expect a tip or something?
You can get a drink from the hose
outside.

There’s a light knock at the open door. It’s MRS. FINCH, the piano teacher.

MRS. FINCH
Hello. Who’s ready for their first piano
lesson?

She looks around the room, expecting a child.

TERRA
That would be me.

MRS. FINCH
Well I always look forward to my older students.

PIANO MOVER #1
She’s not older.

TERRA
Get out.

CUT TO:

INT. TERRA’S LIVING ROOM - LATER

Terra and Mrs. Finch sit at the PIANO BENCH in front of Terra’s new piano. Mrs. Finch is fumbling through some SHEET MUSIC.

MRS. FINCH
I’ve seen you on television. You look
so much prettier on person. I used to
play at Fenway Park - do you follow
baseball - oh my goodness that was
probably before you were born. So what
made you decide to take up the piano?

TERRA
I had a little brush with death and I thought I
should - you know - learn to play the piano.

MRS. FINCH
My brother was killed in a thresher. It’s
a very large farm machine that’s used to
separate the husk of the wheat from the
the kernel.

TERRA
I know what a thresher is. Could we get
started.

MRS. FINCH
Well since this is your first lesson, we should
begin with proper finger position and maybe
some simple scales.

She places Terra’s hands above the keys. Terra’s hands are shaking as she places them on the keys.

ON THEIR FACES as a beautifully skillful melody powerfully explodes from the piano. They both have a look of shock.

PANNING DOWN to the keyboard we can see that it’s Terra that’s playing. She continues to play as Mrs. Finch disgustedly gathers her papers.

TERRA
I’ve never played, I swear. Don’t leave.

MRS. FINCH
I’ve been the butt of some jokes in my day
but I simply don’t see the point in wasting
someone’s valuable time. You show-business
people are a sick bunch. You’ll will be billed
for the entire six week session - so the joke
madam is on you.

She leaves and slams the door.

CUT TO:

INT. OFFICE BUILDING HALLWAY - DAY

Printed on A GLASS WINDOW is the name PAMCO. Through the glass window we see THREE MEN standing around A LARGE CONFERENCE TABLE. They are dressed in EXPENSIVE BLACK SUITS. They look very serious. One of the men looks at his watch. He is SAM RICHOFF. He stands less than five feet tall but has the tenacious look of a bulldog. We can tell that he’s in charge. HE LIGHTS A CIGARETTE and paces angrily around the room. He suddenly yells, breaking the silent tension.

RICHOFF
Where is that tree hugging son of a bitch?!

OTHER MAN
He’s only two minutes late.

Richoff shoots him an angry glare.

RICHOFF
One more law suit from these environmental
ass-holes and we’ll be out of business. I want
Elliot Ross on our team. And remember we’re
in the ”˜fishing’ business. And only the fishing
business. Just keep your mouths shut.

Richoff throws his cigarette on the ground and grinds it out with contempt and laughs to himself as if he really enjoys it.

We see ELLIOT ROSS enter from the hallway. Elliot is A TALL MAN IN HIS EARLY FORTIES. Elliot has just returned from saving a rain forest in South America and is uncharacteristically tan. He wears ROUND GLASSES, his hair is long and his clothes are outdated.

As Elliot enters the office, Richoff turns from angry to charming. The other two men remain silent.

RICHOFF
Dr. Elliot Ross - welcome. Please sit down.

Richoff looks sternly at one of the other men who instantly gets up and pulls the chair out for Elliot. Elliot sits down and Richoff sits in the chair across the table from him. RICHOFF’S CHAIR SITS JUST A BIT HIGHER to make him look like a bigger man.

RICHOFF
I hear you’ve been out of the country.

ELLIOT
You do your homework.

Richoff pushes A FANCY CIGARETTE BOX in front of Elliot.

RICHOFF
Cigarette? No of course not. So where have
your little travels taken you?

ELLIOT
Saving a rain forest. And you? Still raping the
oceans? Why am I here Sam?

The familiarity strikes a sensitive cord. Richoff becomes a bit more tense.

RICHOFF
What do you make a year now? Elliot.

ELLIOT
I make a difference.

RICHOFF
How noble. How naive. Doctor Elliot Ross,
protector of the planet, saver of the whales and
the rain forests. Do you have any idea what you
and your little green friends cost me last year?

Richoff stands and looks as if he’s going to blow his stack. He composes himself and calmly sits back down in his chair.

RICHOFF
Pamco is prepared to offer you a large sum of money
to protect their interests in the fishing business. I said,
“why not just kill him and be done with it?” Apparently
it’s against company policy...so far. So very simply,
you offer us the time and location of one of your stalking
missions and for each you will receive twenty
thousand dollars. You’re bad for business Mr. Ross.

ELLIOT
Green peace rule number one - don’t do
business with pirates. How many of our
boats do you think you’ve put on the bottom?

RICHOFF
You have my word that no more of your ships
will be touched...ever.

Elliot thinks hard. Now the offer tempts him.

ELLIOT
Why should I believe you?

RICHOFF
I’m not a pirate. I’m just a company man.

ELLIOT
So am I.

RICHOFF
Every action you take against us costs our
company money. And costs your company
money. Who’s making money? Certainly not
you - look at you. You’re a smart man Elliot.

ELLIOT
Fortunately I’m not motivated by money.

The other two men break out in inappropriate laughter. Richoff produces A BLACK SATCHEL and slides it in front of Elliot.

RICHOFF
How much money are you not motivated by?
Everybody’s gotta eat.

CUT TO:

INT. TERRA’S HOUSE - DAY

Terra lovingly empties A BUCKET CONTAINING A SMALL FISH into ONE OF HER MANY AQUARIUMS.

TERRA
(to the fish)
You guys get along.

THE LITTLE FISH swims up to the glass. ANOTHER LARGER FISH swims up behind it and swallows it whole. Terra gasps.

TERRA
Ugh - nature.

Terra hears a humming in her head. A knock at the door snaps her out of it.

TERRA
Who is it?

ICE BOY
Ice.

Terra opens the door. A TEENAGE BOY stands on the porch. He’s tall and gangly with an adolescent mustache. He tries to act like a man when he sees Terra. He’s wearing LEATHER CHAPS and A T-SHIRT. He has A LARGE BLOCK OF ICE slung over his shoulder between A LARGE PAIR OF TONGS.

TERRA
What happened to Tony?

ICE BOY
Bad back. Where to?

Terra looks him over playfully.

TERRA
Do you have some identification.

He looks up at the block of ice melting on his shoulder.

ICE BOY
You’re kiddin’ me - right?

TERRA
Of course I am.

She pulls him in by his T-shirt.

TERRA
What’s your name?

ICE BOY
Matt. Where to Ma’am?

TERRA
How old do you think I am?

ICE BOY
Ma’am - this is heavy.

TERRA
Though here.

He looks around her house at all the aquariums.

ICE BOY
Cool.

He stands in front of one of the aquariums, mesmerized by A STARFISH. The block of ice is melting onto the floor.

TERRA
Excuse me.

He notices the dripping ice.

ICE BOY
Sorry.

EXT. TERRA’S HOUSE - SAME

A GREEN VAN pulls up in front of Terra’s house with the single word Green peace printed on the side. The two men in the van are arguing. Elliot and Lou Gardner. Elliot holds A CRUDELY WRAPPED GIFT in his lap.

Lou gets out of the van and comes around to the passenger side. Elliot is not getting out. Lou leans in the window.

ELLIOT
I’m just not ready - it’s too soon.

LOU
It’s been over a year since you’ve seen her. I’m
sure you’ll find things have changed.

ELLIOT
Some things don’t change Lou. Especially women.
Especially this woman.

LOU
I think I know a little about women.

ELLIOT
I’m having second thoughts. I lived here for
three years and it just seems like a blur. I’m
really uncomfortable. Do I have to?

LOU
Be a big boy.

Lou opens the door of the van.

INT. TERRA’S KITCHEN- SAME

Matt and Terra stand in the kitchen in front of AN OLD FASHIONED ICE BOX. There is another knock at the door and Terra leave Matt alone in the kitchen.

Terra answers the front door and sees Lou standing on the front porch. Elliot stands off to the side, out of Terra’s view. By Terra’s reaction we can tell that she hasn’t seen Lou in a long time.

TERRA
Lou!

She runs out onto the porch and throws her arms around Lou, giving him a big warm bear hug. She greets him like a father.

TERRA
I can’t believe you’re back - God - how was it?

LOU
Cold.

Terra squeezes him with delight.

TERRA
I wish I could have been with you.

Terra sees Elliot standing off to the side. She is visibly affected by his presence. The energy between them is not good. There is obvious tension. Terra continues to hug Lou for support.

TERRA
Elliot... you’re so... tan.

ELLIOT
It’s good to see you too.

Terra and Elliot stare awkwardly at one another. Lou breaks the silence.

LOU
Can we come in?

TERRA
I’m sorry - of course.

She ushers them in the door. At the same time, Matt comes out of the kitchen and into the living room. He stands in the middle of the room. He has the block of ice still slung over his shoulder. It looks as if the heavy load is beginning to take it’s toll. Lou and Elliot look at each other curiously.

ICE BOY
You’ve got a full block ma’am.

TERRA
That’s not possible, it’s been two weeks.

ICE BOY
You’ve got a full block.

She storms into the kitchen as Matt follows.

Elliot sees the new piano and begins to play a little chop-sticks. He shouts to Terra in the kitchen.

ELLIOT
Nice. Trying to stimulate that old right
brain. That’s good. You’ll probably be
a lot less anal.

Terra shouts back to him.

TERRA
Don’t touch the piano!

ELLIOT
She’s still got it. And I don’t want it.

Elliot goes over to the WET-BAR and fixes A DRINK for himself. Lou sits on the couch and begins to thumb through A BOOK.

ELLIOT
Getcha anything?

Lou is totally engrossed in what he’s reading.

LOU
Huh? No thanks.

INT. TERRA’S KITCHEN - SAME

From inside the ice-box we see Terra open the door, letting in the light. A PERFECTLY FORMED BLOCK OF ICE is inside with no apparent sign of melting. THE LIGHT BULB is burned out. Terra jiggles it but it won’t come on.

TERRA
I’ve got a full block.

ICE BOY
Yes ma’am.

TERRA
How can that be?

INT. LIVING ROOM - SAME

Elliot is staring into one of the aquariums. Lou is still engrossed in the book.

ELLIOT
I’m not sure this is such a great idea.

Elliot takes AN ICE CUBE from his drink and drops it into the fish tank. It bobs about half way down into the water and lightly bonks one of the fish on the head before it floats to the surface.

LOU
You’d make a great team. You have such
interesting chemistry. It’s like you’re already
married. She can’t stand the sight of you - you
fight all the time and you don’t have sex.

Out of reflex Lou tears a page from the book he’s reading and stuffs it into his coat pocket. He looks up as Terra comes out of the kitchen. She sees Lou with her torn book and Elliot with his drink leaning against the fish tank. She gets annoyed.

TERRA
You boys just make yourselves at home.

Matt is following her - bantering.

ICE BOY
I can’t take it back ma’am - it’s melting.

TERRA
I can see that. (to Elliot) Don’t lean on that.
(to Matt) I have a full block - what am I going
to do with another one?

ELLIOT
You could take it to bed with you.

Terra hears him.

TERRA
Then I’d never know you left.

ICE BOY
Ma’am.

TERRA
Just leave it on the porch... and tell Tony
I hope his back feels better.

As Terra shuts the door behind Matt she watches the block of ice slide off of the porch. She shakes her head.

ELLIOT
You sure told him.

TERRA
I thought some time in the jungle would have
improved your social skills. Jerk

Elliot slams his drink down on the coffee-table. He picks up the gift he brought her and heads for the door.

LOU
Kids - kids. Why don’t we all just sit and have a drink.

ELLIOT
I’m sorry Lou - I just don’t think this is gonna work
out.

LOU
Elliot - sit.

TERRA
What - just isn’t going to work out?

Lou smiles and makes the announcement as though they should be thrilled.

LOU
(to Terra)
Your first Green peace intervention. We’re going
after Pamco. Driftnet fisherman. Scum of the earth.

ELLIOT
You didn’t tell me it was Pamco.

LOU
What difference does it make - they’re all
bastards. You’ll make a great team.

TERRA
With him? Ha.

LOU
Before you say anything, at least let me give
you my pitch.

TERRA
Forget it Lou. I have a TV show remember.
A job. You know - a life.

LOU
There’s a new island forming in the arctic
circle. It’s just about to break the surface.
The water’s super heated and teeming
with life. Pamco’s gonna strip-fish thousands
of miles of virgin ocean. They’ll probably
destroy one of the richest new biosphere’s
we’ll ever see. This place is gonna be the new
Galapagos. We could alter the course of nature
forever if we don’t go....

Terra hears a humming in her head.

LOU
...I need you on this one.

TERRA
Why now?

LOU
I just think it would be great to see you two
kids together on a mission like this - that’s all.
You’re on hiatus after Friday and it’s a once
in a lifetime opportunity.

TERRA
Lou?

LOU
Okay - we need the publicity. The world’s changed
my dear and nobody pays attention unless there’s a
celebrity, a scientologist or a firefighter attached.
We’re losing Terra.

TERRA
What makes you think I’d prostitute myself
for publicity?

LOU
Because you care.

TERRA
I’ll go.

ELLIOT
Lou - do you really think...

TERRA
It’s settled - I’m going. If you want to come along
fine. If not - stay home and work on your tan.

ELLIOT
You are the most conflicted, confused, complicated...

TERRA
And you’re the biggest ego-maniac I’ve ever had the
displeasure of wasting three years of my life on - and
if you think you’re gonna keep me off of this because
your tiny little whatever is threatened then think again
jungle boy.

LOU
So it’s settled. We have a fully modified surveillance
ship. You’ll be briefed by Richardson on Friday
and we’ll ship out at dawn on Saturday morning.

TERRA
This Saturday?

ELLIOT
Here we go.

TERRA
Saturday’s great - fine. Saturday.

Lou pulls A LARGE MAP from his coat pocket. He unfolds it and spreads it out on the coffee table. He moves the gift that Elliot brought for Terra.

LOU
Give ”˜er the gift.

Lou hands the gift up to Elliot. Elliot takes the gift and reluctantly hands it to Terra.

ELLIOT
It’s a jar of dirt.

Terra takes the gift as if it were a newborn baby and gently unwraps it. It’s A JAR OF DIRT. Terra is delighted. Her attitude toward Elliot changes dramatically.

TERRA
Where’s it from?

She holds it up to the light.

ELLIOT
The outer rim of the El Ratigo rain forest in Brazil.
We saved sixty million acres - less that jar.

Terra hurries into the den. Elliot follows her.

CUT TO:

INT. TERRA’S DEN - SAME

DOZENS OF DIRT-FILLED JARS line the walls of the den, each on an individual shelf. Terra and Elliot enter the den. Terra proudly places the new jar on a shelf in the center of the wall.

TERRA
Thank you.

She kisses Elliot on the cheek. Ellliot looks around the room at the other jars of dirt.

ELLIOT
I didn’t know you saved all these.

Elliot picks up one of the jars and looks it over reminiscently.

TERRA
Never know when you’re gonna need dirt.

ELLIOT
I’m flattered.

TERRA
Well don’t be.

ELLIOT
Why do you keep the old ice-box?

As she answers him, he mirrors her - knowing exactly what her answer will be.

TERRA & ELLIOT
Because refrigeration uses fourteen percent of all
the worlds energy.

TERRA
That’s right.

There is an uncomfortable pause.

TERRA
And because it’s the first thing we ever bought
together.

ELLIOT
Will you have dinner with me tonight?

TERRA
I have an early show tomorrow. I’m the earth lady.

He gives her a puppy dog look. Terra points an accusing finger at him.

TERRA
An early dinner. No wine. No good conversation.
And no touching.

ELLIOT
Promise.

TERRA
By the way, you look really stupid with a tan.



DISSOLVE TO:


INT. TERRA’S BEDROOM - THAT NIGHT

Terra is standing in front of her mirror. She looks stunning. She looks closely at her face. She grabs a tissue and wipes off her lipstick. She shakes her head in disgust. She takes THE LIPSTICK TUBE and angrily throws it in her DRESSER DRAWER.

There’s a knock at the door.

Terra answers the door. IT’S POURING DOWN RAIN. Elliot is standing on the porch soaking wet. He’s wearing A VERY EXPENSIVE SUIT and holding A DOZEN LONG-STEMMED ROSES. He presents the roses to Terra.

ELLIOT
Hi.

TERRA
(to the flowers)
Oh you poor babies.

Terra grabs the roses and rushes them into the kitchen.

ELLIOT
(to himself)
Thank you Elliot. Can I get you a towel Elliot?

Terra returns from the kitchen with A LARGE PAN FULL OF WATER. Using it as a crude vase, she spreads the flowers out in the pan. Purely functional.

TERRA
They looked so thirsty. Take off your shoes.
Go dry off in the bathroom. Don’t drip.
What happened to you?

ELLIOT
The limo got a flat. And the driver’s kind of old.

TERRA
Limo?

Terra looks out the window and sees A VINTAGE ROLLS ROYCE LIMOUSINE. THE DRIVER blows the horn and waves at her.

TERRA
You can’t afford a limo. What kind of mileage
could that get?

ELLIOT
Just enjoy it. Do you still have any of my socks?

TERRA
Second drawer on the left. I use them to clean
with. Can’t we take my car? It’s new...and
it’s electric.

ELLIOT
Does it have a bar in the back?

CUT TO:

INT. LIMO - NIGHT

Terra and Elliot are DRINKING MARTINIS in the back of the limo.

ELLIOT
Why did you say yes to me tonight?

TERRA
I’ve been through some changes lately.

ELLIOT
You let your hair grow out. I like it long.

TERRA
Inside. Changes inside.

ELLIOT
Oh right.

TERRA
You could use a trim.

ELLIOT
It keeps the mosquitoes off my neck.

CUT TO:

EXT. FANCY OCEAN-FRONT RESTAURANT - NIGHT

At the entrance to A VERY FORMAL JAPANESE RESTAURANT, THE MAITRE D greets Elliot and Terra at the limousine. He opens A LARGE UMBRELLA and holds it over them as they are escorted down A SHORT PIER to the restaurant.

MAITRE D
Doctor Ross. Your table is waiting sir.

Terra is surprised at the attention that Elliot is getting.

As they walk through the restaurant there are BEAUTIFUL AQUARIUMS. Terra pauses to watch some of the fish. She whispers to the fish through the glass.

TERRA
Stay away from the chef.

They walk past THE SUSHI BAR where there is A LARGE ICE SCULPTURE in the shape of a mermaid. Around the sculpture there is a beautiful display of fresh fish.

In the front, A LARGE LOBSTER-TANK filled with LIVE LOBSTERS. As Terra and Elliot pass by, THE SUSHI CHEF plucks one of the lobsters from the tank and walks it over to A KETTLE OF BOILING WATER. Terra stops and watches.

As the chef drops the lobster into the water, there is A HIGH-PITCHED SOUND as the lobster boils. The people seated around the sushi bar all cheer as the lobster hits the water. Terra cringes. Elliot pulls her by the arm to rejoin the maitre d at their special table.
TERRA
(to the maitre d)
Do they have to do that?

MAITRE D
It’s very fresh.

There’s A BOTTLE OF DOM PERIGNON in the middle of the table.

Terra hears the high pitched sound of another lobster being boiled alive and snaps her head around toward the sushi bar as all the people cheer.

TERRA
That’s barbaric.

Elliot imitates the maitre d.


ELLIOT
It’s very fresh. Look - champagne.

Terra is dwelling on the lobsters.

TERRA
It’s torture. How would you like to be boiled alive?

ELLIOT
I’ve come close. Borneo, 1982.

TERRA
And all those people - cheering liked Romans.

Again she hears the sound. She closes her eyes tightly. She hears the humming in her head.

The lobster tank explodes, drenching the crowd and sending the hundreds of lobsters and water flowing through the restaurant. Terra and Elliot jump up from their table as water and lobsters flow under their feet. Elliot grabs the bottle of Dom and two glasses as they make a dash out of the restaurant and out onto THE PIER. They sit at the end of the pier with their legs dangling over the edge.

TERRA
So who died?

ELLIOT
Nobody - why?

TERRA
Cause you don’t even have enough money
for a haircut. Now you’re riding around in limos?

ELLIOT
If I tell you - don’t judge me. I don’t want to
be judged.

TERRA
Porn star - bank robber. What do I care?

ELLIOT
I cut a deal with Sam Richoff.

TERRA
Pamco?! What’s wrong with you?

ELLIOT
It was a true compromise. Everybody wins.

TERRA
I can’t believe this.

ELLIOT
Pamco is a huge company. They’ve got
their fingers in every evil pie that’s out there.
There’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. Now
at least none of our boats get sunk. And we
don’t have to be poor.

TERRA
We?

ELLIOT
I thought... about the future okay. I did it for us.

TERRA
Oh please. Don’t try to drag me down with you.

ELLIOT
Look - my whole life has been colleges and causes.
With no pay back. I have nothing to offer you.

TERRA
You had principal. That’s all I ever wanted.

ELLIOT
I can’t live on principal anymore. I’m tired and I’m
lonely and I’m getting old - too old to hang on to a
dream that never comes true.

TERRA
It will come true.

ELLIOT
Wake up and smell the toxins honey. It’s only
getting worse. And the tragedy is that we’re
the dinosaurs now. We’re the ones that are
obsolete. Ecology isn’t even a word anymore.
It’s a business - cause now there’s big bucks
in the clean up. And a logger or a paper company
or a developer only gives a shit about a forest
is when there’s no fucking trees left. The fishing
stops when there’s no more fish. The drilling
stops when there’s no more oil. It won’t come
true. It won’t come true ”˜til there’s not a God
damned stick left and then they’ll pay someone
ELLIOT
(continued)
to figure out a way to make a stick out of
something else. And the person they pay
might as well be me.

TERRA
You can’t justify it.

ELLIOT
I’ve been right in the eye of the storm - and that’s
just what it is. This elusive eye wandering around
from place to place like me and it never ends.

TERRA
You’re pathetic.

ELLIOT
Look - you and I are phased out. There’s nothing
to do about the ”˜environment’ except make money
off of it. You should know - you do it every day.
Why should I be the only one that dies broke?

TERRA
And what about the kids that come after us?

ELLIOT
The gameboys? The Butthead generation? Go
out and ask just about anybody the first president
they remember. It’s Clinton! They don’t
know what it was like to have a choice and it’s
not even their fault. It’s been happening for so
long that the truth changed. It got replaced by
a new and improved truth. And if I thought for
a second that there was still a chance I’d stay
and fight like hell. I’d give my life. But I won’t
give my life for nothing. Not anymore.

TERRA
How dare you? And even if it were true -
which it isn’t - who are you to dictate other
peoples hopes. This isn’t about the ”˜environment’
it’s about you and the fact that you’re a sellout and
now you need an excuse. Well nobody’s buying
your bullshit.

ELLIOT
Big words coming from the earth lady.

TERRA
What’s that supposed to mean?

ELLIOT
You’ve thrown your whole life up in my face.
You. Your job. Your ideals. Your
money. Doctor Terra Verte the gallant earth
lady - fighting for the cause from a cushy chair
with a big fat paycheck at the end of her grueling
day. And good old Elliot - in the trenches.
Sleeping in the mud.

TERRA
Not the poor me speech - please. You’re the
one that’s always throwing ideals around. I
saved the rain forest - I saved the ocean -
I’m Elliot Ross, the macho crusader of the
earth and everyone should praise me and feel
sorry for me. And now they should pay me.

ELLIOT
Do you know when I started eating meat. Not at
some gourmet restaurant - in a backward ass
country in the middle of nowhere in a civil war
with no food except termites and beetles to
keep me alive. So good luck saving the world
from in front of your insipid camera because
you’re too damn scared to give up your pathetic
fantasy life to go and see what’s really out there.

TERRA
I know what’s out there.

ELLIOT
You can’t even swim. You have a degree
in marine biology and you can’t even swim.

TERRA
I hate you.

Terra hears a humming in her head - she closes her eyes and suddenly A LARGE WAVE comes up and sweeps Elliot off of the pier.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. TERRA’S FRONT PORCH - LATER THAT NIGHT

Terra and Elliot stand awkwardly on the front porch. Elliot is still wet.

ELLIOT
Well - I had a good time.

TERRA
You did?

ELLIOT
Well I was wet most of the evening but I’m
used to it.

TERRA
Yeah.

ELLIOT
Well.

TERRA
You don’t want to come in? Dry off again.

ELLIOT
No. I’ll just go grab a hot shower at home.

` TERRA
Well then.

ELLIOT
Well.

They share a long stare. A cross between love, hate and general confusion.

TERRA
Goodnight.

She closes the door and takes a deep breath.

TERRA
(to herself)
He’s a dork. A wet, pathetic dork - and yet
somehow that makes me horny. How twisted
am I?

She closes her eyes and abruptly opens the front door. Elliot is driving away.

TERRA
Damn right. Dork

She slams the front door in frustration and struts into the kitchen.

INT. KITCHEN - SAME

Terra opens the old ice-box and mutters to herself.

TERRA
You’ve got a full block ma’am.

She pulls out A BOTTLE OF CARROT JUICE.

TERRA
Healthy.

She pulls out A CAN OF COKE.

TERRA
Unhealthy.

She pours the carrot juice into a glass.

TERRA
Healthy.


She opens the can of Coke and pours it into the carrot juice. The mixture foams over on to the counter. Terra slurps the foam from the rim of the glass. She takes her drink and wanders into the den.

INT. DEN - SAME

She looks fondly at the jar of dirt that Elliot gave her. She takes the jar from the shelf and goes back to the living room..

INT. LIVING ROOM - SAME

She sits on the couch and places the jar gently on the coffee table. She moves the jar about an inch toward her and to the right, treating it as if it were a piece of art. She begins to leaf through the books the Lou had left for her on the subject of drift net fishing. As she begins to read, the books reveal HORRIFYING PICTURES OF DOLPHINS BEING CUT FROM FISHING NETS then hacked to death. Terra is appalled and suddenly becomes very interested and begins speed reading - waving her finger frantically across the pages.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER

Terra is asleep on the couch. We DISSOLVE INTO HER DREAMS...

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. WHEAT FIELD - DAY

A SEVEN YEAR OLD TERRA is standing in A VAST FIELD OF WHEAT. The sun shines brightly on her face. She basks in the warm sunlight. A GRASSHOPPER lands at her feet. She picks it up by the wings and it lightly kicks her fingers with it’s hind legs. She smiles.

Another grasshopper lands - then another. Several land on her shoulders and then on her head. The sky begins to grow dark and we can hear the hum of millions of grasshoppers as the sky grows ever darker. Terra begins to run through the wheat field frantically scraping the insects from her body. As she is about to come out of the field she sees HER FATHER with A TORCH LIGHTING THE FIELD OF FIRE.

TERRA
(yelling to him)
Daddy!

Her father screams as he continues to light the field on fire.

FATHER
They’re not gittin’ my crop! No damn bug’s
gonna git my crop! I’ll see it burn first.

Across the field there is AN OLD YELLOW FARMHOUSE. The field goes up in flames quickly. The wind shifts and begins to blow in the direction of the house. TERRA’S MOTHER sits in a wheelchair in an upstairs window. She has fiery red hair and green eyes. She’s smiling and waving at Terra. She’s can’t see the fire outside. Terra runs toward the house. Her father stops her and hands her a torch.

FATHER
Take and set the lower forty on fire. You do what
I tell ya. No damn bug’s gonna get my crop.

The wind picks up as GRASSHOPPERS ON FIRE begin to race through the air pushed by the wind toward the house. As they pelt the house, Terra’s mother is forced to close the window as the flaming grasshoppers explode on the walls and on the roof. The roof ignites and bursts into flames. The house is fully involved.

TERRA
No!

Terra runs toward the house. Her father tackles her from behind.


FATHER
Terra - it’s natures way.

Terra closes her eyes and it begins to pour down rain. The house collapses as the rain extinguishes the raging fire. It’s too late, there’s nothing left but smoldering rubble.

CUT TO:

INT. TERRA’S LIVING ROOM - MORNING

The sound of thunder wakes Terra from a deep sleep. She’s sweating profusely. As she wakes up, the jar of dirt rolls from her arms and breaks on the floor. She’s flustered and bewildered. She’s hyperventilating, not used to dreaming.

TERRA
I don’t dream. I don’t dream. I don’t dream.

THE PHONE RINGS. Terra staggers to her feet and tries to get to the telephone. She cuts her foot on A SHARD OF GLASS from the broken jar.

TERRA
Damn you Elliot Ross.

She looks closely at the broken jar of dirt on the floor. There is A SMALL SPROUT growing out of the dirt. THE ANSWERING MACHINE picks up the call before Terra can get to the phone. We can hear the voice on the other end. It’s THE VOICE OF VIVIAN, Terra’s assistant.

VIVIAN
Please God don’t pick up. Please be on your way.
Please don’t answer - please...

Terra picks up the phone.

TERRA
Hey Viv.

VIVIAN
Shit. Why are you home?

TERRA
What time is it?

VIVIAN
Well we’re five minutes into the lead story - I have
an evil Hungarian director barking up my ass and I
have a warm camera pointing at an empty chair.
What time does that sound like?

Terra looks over at THE CLOCK. It’s stopped at five am.

VIVIAN
Terra please get here - I’d make a really
bad earth lady.

CUT TO:


EXT. CITY STREET - TERRA’S ELECTRIC CAR - MORNING

Terra speeds down a busy street in her NEW ELECTRIC CAR. She passes A BANK CLOCK that reads 8:22. She punches the accelerator to the floor. Nothing changes.

TERRA
Ample acceleration my ass.

CUT TO:
INT. NEWS STATION - SAME

A broadcast is in progress. We see the action from behind the cameras. There are TWO ANCHOR-PEOPLE, BARBARA MACAINE AND TOM STRIFF.

BARBARA
And coming up next a special behind the
scenes report from our earth lady Terra
Verte on the controversy surrounding
desalination.

Music comes up and they go to commercial.

TOM
Controversy? Why can’t she do something
with some meat?

BARBARA
The sponsors are vegetarians.

THE DIRECTOR approaches the stage. He is an imposing figure with a bad attitude, a thick Hungarian accent and A GOLD FRONT TOOTH.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
And we’re into commercial.

DIRECTOR
(screaming)
Vereza hell iz she!!?

His face turns red. He looks up at THE DIGITAL CLOCK that ticks off backwards.
Twenty eight - twenty seven - twenty six...

EXT. PARKING LOT - SAME

Terra has a special parking space with A RECHARGING STATION FOR ELECTRIC CARS. Terra pulls into her parking space and without missing a beat or a second she plugs her car into the charging station in one single motion with one hand. She has A BULGING SATCHEL UNDER HER OTHER ARM.

ON THE CLOCK as it ticks backward: Twenty - nineteen - eighteen...

CUT TO:

INT. STUDIO - SAME

Terra races down a corridor and into the studio and looks up at the backward ticking clock.

ON THE CLOCK as it ticks backward: Eleven - ten - nine...

Vivian meets Terra at the stage door and hurries her onto the set. Vivian hands her THE SCRIPT. Terra hands the script back to her and gives Vivian A VIDEO-TAPE from her satchel.

TERRA
How fast can you cue this up?

VIVIAN
Don’t do this to me.

TERRA
I’ll need it in thirty-one seconds.

VIVIAN
I could have been an air traffic controller
and had a stress free life.

Vivian takes off running toward the control booth carrying the video tape and the script that Terra was supposed to read. The director approaches the stage as Vivian runs past. He is coming toward Terra. He is visibly irate. As Vivian runs by him, she hands off Terra’s script football style. She disappears into the control booth. Just as the director is about to reach the stage, Terra settles into her chair as a buzzer goes off. A voice comes over a loud-speaker:

VOICE
And we are live in three - two - one...

THE CAMERA-MAN points to Terra. She is totally composed.

The director stands just off camera wildly waving Terra’s script. She ignores him. She begins her show.

TERRA
Today we were going to address the controversy
surrounding desalination. But something much
more important came across my desk this week.
The horrors of drift net fishing.

The director is irate and beats Terra’s script into his hand. Terra looks up toward the control booth and nods to Vivian.

INT. CONTROL BOOTH - SAME

Vivian punches some buttons and puts her hands together in prayer.

VIVIAN
Fingers do your stuff.

Vivian hits the last button hard and a picture comes up behind Terra. She pulls in her fist triumphantly.

VIVIAN
Yes!

Behind Terra there’s horrifying VIDEO OF DOLPHINS being clubbed and hacked to death, being slaughtered by the hundreds. We hear a gasp from the crew.

ON THE ANCHORMAN:

TOM
(whispering to the Barbara)
This is gonna be good.

ON TERRA:


TERRA
Every day all over the world scenes like
this take place. The world’s sea mammals
suffer and die by the thousands. They die
brutal and torturous deaths due to this
vicious and illegal practice.

The scenes of slaughter are horrifying.

ON THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR in the booth as he signals the director. The director looks into the booth. The phone lines are lit up. The director is furious. He storms into the booth and yanks the PHONE CORDS out of the wall.

DIRECTOR
(to the assistant director)
Your fired!

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
What’d I do?

The director storms out of the booth leaving the assistant director with a perplexed look on his face. The director looks up toward the control booth and shoots Vivian an angry glare. Vivian slouches in her chair.

ON TERRA:
TERRA
Scenes like these have been outlawed. But
companies such as Pamco, Redina, Stillwell
and scores of others continue to slaughter
thousands of sea mammals every day. The
animals are clubbed to death or butchered in
nets, some as long as thirty six miles. Their
carcasses are left to rot on the decks of ships
like these in oceans all over the world. And
some of these companies actually sponsor
programming on this network. Why?

The director signals to the CAMERA MAN to cut away by gesturing a finger across his throat.

Terra hears a humming in her head and stares the director down. The director clutches his chest and falls to the floor.
VIVIAN
Go to commercial. Go to commercial.

Vivian races down the stairs from the control booth and runs onto the set. Terra runs to the director’s side and takes his hand. Vivian reaches him at the same time.

VIVIAN
(yelling)
Call an ambulance!

TERRA
(whispering to him)
Ivan - I’m so sorry.

IVAN
(to Vivian)
Keep her away from me.

CUT TO:

INT. OLD BOOKSTORE - DAY

Terra enters AN OLD BOOKSTORE on the corner of a city street. She wanders among the dusty shelves and pulls out SEVERAL BOOKS. She opens one of the books. The binding crackles with age. The book is written in Braille. She runs her fingers over the pages.

AN OLD BLIND WOMAN sits in front of AN EASEL on A HARD WOODEN STOOL in a dimly lit corner of the bookstore. She wears DARK SUNGLASSES and AN OLD SMOCK COVERED IN PAINT. We can’t see what she’s painting. The old woman doesn’t look at THE CANVAS as she paints. A SMALL BELL ON THE FRONT DOOR JINGLES as Terra closes the door behind her.

DOTTIE
Another angel gets it’s wings.

The old woman doesn’t look up but continues to paint even more feverishly.

TERRA
Excuse me.

The old woman gruffly responds to Terra’s intrusion, not looking up from her painting.

DOTTIE
I’m not deaf. Can’t see ya. But I can hear ya.
I’m Dottie. Don’t just stand there.

The old woman seems to sense something and stops painting for a moment.

TERRA
I was looking for this address.

Terra tries to show the old woman OTTO’S BUSINESS CARD but realizes that the old woman is blind. The old woman doesn’t look at the card. She finds something amusing and lets out a chuckle.

A SMALL BOY enters the bookstore. The old woman snaps her head toward the door and barks at the small boy.

DOTTIE
Who’s that?

The small boy freezes. A look of terror comes over him. His voice shakes as he speaks.
BOY
Nelson Bennett. My mother sent me.

The old woman pulls her sunglasses down and stares at him with her gray eyes.

DOTTIE
You here for the bee keeper’s job?

The old woman lets out a screeching laugh that sends the boy bolting from the store.

DOTTIE
Can’t get good bee keepers these days.

The old woman takes Terra’s hand and rubs it all over.

DOTTIE
You ever tried you hand with the bees?

TERRA
Actually my mother raised bees.

DOTTIE
You got the hands for it. Gotta work out
in the damp. My bones can’t take the damp.
You know without bees, the world would
die.

TERRA
I did know that.

DOTTIE
Me and Theo used to love to go out and listen
the hives. That was before the child. You
don’t have children.

TERRA
No.

DOTTIE
Well they’re fun for a while.

The old woman pulls out A BOX OF CANDY.

DOTTIE
Care for a horehound? They last. Not like chocolate.

TERRA
No thank you.

DOTTIE
C’mon take it - I’m an old woman. Their to suck on.
Not to chew.

The old woman puts her hands on Terra’s face and senses something in her.

DOTTIE
Otto sent you.

TERRA
Yes.

DOTTIE
He’s a good boy. A few drones short
but he’s my only. I guess you always
have a soft spot.

TERRA
We met when I was in the hospital.

DOTTIE
For my eyes.

TERRA
Excuse me.

DOTTIE
He sent you here for my eyes. He’s a good boy.
You were very kind to come.

TERRA
I came for his help.

The old woman becomes a bit disoriented.

DOTTIE
You here for the bee keepers job?

Otto comes through the door of the bookstore carrying A LARGE BUNDLE OF BOOKS. The little bell jingles. Otto greets Terra warmly.

OTTO
Doctor Verte. I’ve been expecting you for
some time.

DOTTIE
I don’t need no damned doctor. Wipe your feet!

OTTO
Mother please. She’s not that kind of doctor.

Otto obediently steps back outside the door and wipes his feet on the mat.

OTTO
I hope I haven’t kept you waiting. And I
hope mother hasn’t been bothering you
with her goings on. Have you mother?
None of your bee stories I hope.

DOTTIE
Just you mind yourself.

TERRA
She’s charming.

DOTTIE
She’s come for my eyes but she’s a bee keeper
too. She told me all about it.

Terra looks at Otto. He turns away uncomfortably.

OTTO
We can talk in my office.

Otto leads Terra through an ORANGE DOOR in the back of the bookstore. The door opens with a creak. Terra looks back at the old woman.

TERRA
Thank you for the candy.

DOTTIE
That’s to suck on now.


INT. OTTO’S OFFICE - SAME

Otto’s office is dark and cramped. A LARGE OAK DESK takes up most of the room. Otto turns on A DESK LAMP that casts an amber light on the scene. The walls are lined with OIL PAINTINGS all signed by Otto and all depicting a figure of a woman standing in a beam of light. The faces are complete except that they have no eyes. Behind his desk is A WINDOW with A PURPLE CURTAIN drawn over it.


TERRA
Why does your mother think I’m here?

OTTO
My mother’s very old.

TERRA
My injuries didn’t leave me stupid doctor.

Otto opens his desk drawer and pulls out A CHUNKY CANDY BAR. He unwraps the candy and breaks off a piece.

OTTO
Chunky? Instant gratification.

TERRA
Dr. Bridgeport - is this your institute?

Otto points to his head.

OTTO
My institute is in here. I’ve been waiting for
someone like you for a long time.

Terra gets up and looks at the paintings on the wall.

TERRA
You do very nice work.

OTTO
They’re my mother’s. They’re self
portraits. You see - the faces don’t
have eyes....they’re blind.

Terra looks at the signatures at the bottom of the paintings.

TERRA
Your signature.

OTTO
She makes me sign them. She says she sees
them through my eyes.

Terra sits down and rubs her forehead with her hands. Otto sits at his desk.

TERRA
I started dreaming.

OTTO
Started?

TERRA
I’ve never dreamed.

OTTO
Everybody dreams. Never?

TERRA
Since I was seven.

OTTO
What happened?

TERRA
My mother died when I was seven. When she
was sick I prayed every night that she wouldn’t
die and every night I’d dream about us running
up to the waterfall behind the farm. That was
her favorite place. She loved the waterfalls. One
morning I went into her room with a special
breakfast that I made for her. French toast and
poached eggs with fresh squeezed orange
juice and lots of pulp like she liked it. She
smiled so big that morning. She didn’t touch
a bite - just smiled. I went into the fields that
day to help my....... She was so afraid of fire.
I thought I could save her. He wouldn’t let me
go back into the house.

OTTO
I’m sure that left a lot of unanswered questions.

TERRA
That’s why I became a scientist. All the questions
have answers.

OTTO
Do you believe in God?

TERRA
I’m an atheist. People save the world doctor.
Not messiahs.

OTTO
Is that the seven year old who lost her mother?

TERRA
You asked me a question and I answered. Don’t
psychoanalyze me.

OTTO
I didn’t mean anything by it.

TERRA
There isn’t a shred of evidence that points
to the existence of a higher power.

Otto pulls A CIGAR AND A LIGHTER from his pocket and attempts to light it. His lighter won’t work. He tries over and over.

OTTO
This is a brand new lighter.

TERRA
Maybe God’s trying to tell you something.

OTTO
Touché. Tell me about your dreams.

TERRA
It’s more than just dreams.

OTTO
I knew it. Do you remember anything just after
your accident.

TERRA
I remember waking up in the ambulance and three
guys cheering. No white light. No tunnels. There
was a woman.

OTTO
A woman?

TERRA
Maybe. A woman. I don’t know.

Otto becomes suddenly agitated and abrupt.

OTTO
Think.


TERRA
Look - maybe I shouldn’t have come. I don’t know
what I was thinking. What’s a few stupid dreams?

OTTO
I want to take you back.

TERRA
What?

OTTO
I can take you back to the experience of
physical death.

Terra laughs.
TERRA
I’m a big girl Doctor Bridgeport.

OTTO
Are you familiar with Michael Skalton? He
has an institute in Missouri. A very famous
institute that deals in specialized regression.
He started out as a scientist much like you
- and me. He was the quintessential skeptic.
But he knew that there were questions that
no scientist would ask because there would
be no answers. He wanted to open pathways
to science that were taboo - places that no
other scientists would go because they didn’t
want to be laughed at by the main stream -
petrified of being ostracized by their peers.
He took a risk that paid off in a big way. He
took science and applied it to the human soul.
He proved beyond any doubt that the soul exists.
Not only that it exists, but that it exists outside
the human body. Like a shell. You see
everyone was looking inside. That’s why
we can create. The body is just the core
and the soul is like this great warm ocean
surrounding it - giving it life. The body
provides the gravity that holds the soul
to the earth. When your body died the
gravity dissolved and your soul was set free
for sixty seven minutes. I can set it free
again. Free to explore - free to create - to create Terra!]]> http://darrenblockmusic.com/news.html#23 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Music, Poetry & Art - Singer/Songwriter Darren Block - Screenplays http://darrenblockmusic.com/news.html#27
Ed Mackey Jr. sits quietly behind black sunglasses waiting for his bus. His sleeves roll down past his wrists to the base of his thumbs and his frayed bell-bottoms drag well below his boot heels. A three-day beard and the wide brim of a beat-up cowboy hat shades all but just a hint of his perfect chin. He believes that he’s mastered a consummate disguise but ironically his determination to be anonymous makes him the target of every eye. He stares straight ahead, pretending not to be noticed. He lights a short filterless cigarette with the tiny butt of one burned down to nothing, flicking what’s left to the ground in a silent shower of sparks. He tries to ignore the pain; secretly rubbing his singed fingers together.

From a distant corner of the terminal, Ed spots a woman approaching; an ordinary woman drawn toward him like a giddy bride - waving a pen and an old bus ticket stub like a bouquet. Like a million times before, Ed pretends to remain unaware until that awkward moment of unwanted contact. She stands before him as if to offer her virtue. Ed snatches the pen and the old bus ticket stub from her hand and hides them under his coat. He pulls her down by her dress onto the bench beside him. He speaks to her softly, making sure no one else hears.

ED
How did you know who I was?

WOMAN
You wore that hat in Whiskey Train. And those
were the glasses from Risk Factor. You were
so funny in that movie.

ED
It wasn’t a comedy.

WOMAN
I’d be honored to have your autograph. Could you
make it to ”˜my true love, Donna, love Ed Mackey.’

He takes out the pen, signs her ticket stub and hands it back to her, making sure that no one sees him do it.

ED
I’d really rather not have anybody know I’m here.

WOMAN
Maybe you should stop wearing clothes from
your movies. Listen to me - telling Ed Mackey Jr.
what to do.

ED
No you have a good point. Too recognizable.
I always tried to tell them my clothes were too
recognizable, that I should be the focus, not the
clothes - but they wouldn’t listen. That’s the
problem Donna - nobody listens.


Hearing Ed Mackey Jr. speak her name gets her very excited and nervous...and strangely possessive.

WOMAN
Who are you waiting for? Are you waiting for
someone?!

Ed counters her energy by becoming dead calm, something he’s mastered over the years of having fans get star-struck in his presence.

ED
No. I’m on the next bus. I’ve quit making movies
and I’m leaving L.A. - tonight.

WOMAN
Like in Runaway when you left Wall Street for
Marissa Tome. You were so strong.

ED
But this isn’t a movie.

WOMAN
If it were I’d be in an Ed Mackey movie. I’d
just die.

She practically passes out at the thought.

ED
I really don’t want anyone to know I’m here
so if you could just.....

The woman takes her prize and dashes off across the terminal to a far corner where her friend waits for her. The woman whispers to her friend and they both gaze dreamily in Ed’s direction. He pulls the brim of his hat down over his eyes, gets up and ambles over to the ticket window. Seth Molen, the ticket clerk sits in the small glass booth, just biding time until the next time he can get stoned. A thirty something adolescent, Seth has a certain depth about him but unfortunately he’s killed a good number of brain cells attaining it. Ed dejectedly pushes his ticket across the counter.

ED
I’d like to trade this ticket in.

SETH
Is there a problem?

ED
I just need to get on a different bus.

SETH
There’s no other bus to where you’re going?

ED
I don’t care, just get me another ticket.

SETH
Where to?

ED
(in a loud whisper)
Surprise me.

SETH
The next bus out ends up in Franklin Idaho on
... next Thursday. Number sixty-eight. Weather
won’t let us take you directly north - so you’ll
have to travel sixty-six to Oklahoma and then up
and around.

ED
How many people live in Franklin Idaho?

SETH
Not as many as in L.A.

ED
Sixty eight then.

Seth pushes the new ticket across the counter but pulls it back as Ed reaches for it.

Seth leans into the glass.

SETH
I know what you’re going through. It’s like a
box, man. It’s like a glass box that gets smaller
and smaller. Everybody’s watching and everybody
wants something. I know. You need to get out
of the box man.

ED
Can I just have my ticket?

Seth is insulted.

SETH
That’s another thirty six dollars.

Ed sees that he’s insulted him.

ED
Hey I didn’t mean to be an ass-hole,
it’s just that - you don’t know me.

SETH
But I was listening.

ED
I’m sorry.

SETH
You said nobody listens. Am I nobody?

ED
I’m just not used to dealing with regular people.
(he pulls down his sunglasses)
I’m a movie star. I was a movie star.

Ed takes off the glasses and points out the People Magazine on the stool next to Seth. Ed’s picture is on the cover as the ”˜World’s Sexiest Man’. Seth is unimpressed. Ed slides two twenties across the counter.

SETH
So I should keep the change?

ED
Sure. I guess.

SETH
I’ll tell you when people listen - when they want
something - then they listen real good.

Seth picks up a microphone and through the feedback addresses the passengers in the terminal. He intentionally fakes enthusiasm as he stuffs Ed’s four dollar tip into his pocket.

SETH
May I have your attention please?

Everyone in the terminal gets quiet. Seth waits a good long time before he makes his announcement, savoring the power of the moment.

SETH
(continued)
Greyhound proudly announces the arrival of bus number
seven from Anaheim and we would now like to invite
you to board. The next stop is Las Vegas Nevada.
Bathrooms are at the back of the bus.

He releases the lever on the microphone with a high-pitched crack that seems to echo through the terminal forever. His professionalism turns off with the microphone as he slumps back
down in his chair waiting for the next bit of his soul to be snipped away by somebody who thinks they’re better than him.
Ed sits back down on the bench and pops open one of same People Magazines with his face on the cover and hides behind it as the remaining passengers board bus number seven for Las Vegas Nevada. He looks up just in time to see the bus pulling away and Donna’s heartbroken face in the last window in the back, the autographed ticket stub pressed up against the glass. He cautiously looks around to see that the terminal is empty. Ed yells out as if he’s yelling to an audience.

ED
Why did I ever want to be famous!?

SETH
They say that comes from a lack of attention as a
child.

ED
I’m sorry - I thought I was alone. And I didn’t mean
anything by that.

SETH
But who are ”˜they’ anyway?

ED
I don’t know.

SETH
Bastards.

ED
Yea. Bastards.

SETH
That lady turned in her ticket to get on the same
bus that you would have been on.

ED
She did?

SETH
Yeah. And now you’re on a different bus. That’s
kind of.....

ED
Ironic.

SETH
No.


ED
Funny?

SETH
No.

ED
Pathetic.

SETH
Fucked up. It’s pretty fucked up.


Seth sadly sits back down in his chair. The unmistakable sound of several Harley-Davidson motorcycles rumbles up to the glass wall of the terminal that leads out to the busses. Seth cowers as five Harleys stop. The riders dismount in unison and stride deliberately to the glass. They stop in unison. The riders are menacing as they stand an even foot apart, staring coldly inside.

SETH
Uh-o.

Again in unison, the bikers lift their left hands and all point at Ed. Ed meekly points at himself to verify that it’s him they’re pointing at. They all nod (in unison.) Seth takes a deep breath - as if he knows something very strange is about to happen.

ED
Why are they pointing at me?

SETH
Maybe they’re fans.

ED
I don’t know. I don’t think so.

SETH
Maybe they’re the five horsemen of the apocalypse.

As though a spell had been removed, they break from their positions, mount their bikes and ride away.

CUT TO:


INT. BUS - NIGHT - 1:14 a.m.

Toby Wallace, an old-fashioned black gentleman in his late sixties is an old-school bus driver who believes in dedication and service - always professional, always courteous. Close to retirement, Toby’s a man who makes sure that all the rules are followed - and it shows.

The light in the very back of the bus flickers with each ripple in the road. The buzzing of the wheels is amplified by the absence of warm bodies and the flickering light adds unnecessary drama to Ed and Seth sitting side by side, knees touching, talking with the intensity of a real conversation.

ED
So you know a lot about the bible?

SETH
It’s like rub-adub-dub.

ED
Explain.

SETH
Rub-a-dub-dub three men in a tub and how
do you think they got there? The butcher
the baker the candlestick maker, they all
jumped out of a rotten potato. ”˜Twas enough
to make a man stare.

ED
Is that really how that goes?

SETH
That’s really how it goes.

ED
That’s intense.

SETH
And we’re them.

ED
Who?

SETH
We’re the butcher and the baker. And this bus is the
tub. They all jumped out of a rotten potato - they all
jumped out of their scene like we jumped out of ours.

ED
I’m having second thoughts.

SETH
L.A. is the rotten potato - you had to jump out of it.
You did the right thing.

ED
”˜Twas enough to make a man stare. People are always
staring at me.

SETH
I can see you dig.

ED
Who’s the candlestick maker.

SETH
I don’t know.

ED
Maybe it’s the bus driver.

SETH
It’s not the bus driver.

ED
Then who is it?

SETH
I don’t know.

ED
Why can’t it be the bus driver?

SETH
Cause he’s a bus driver - not a candlestick
maker.

ED
He’s not a candlestick maker.

SETH
No he’s not. And this is his rotten potato. He hasn’t
jumped out of it yet.

ED
So which one am I?

SETH
You’re both. I’m both. We’re both - both.

ED
How can that be?

SETH
The baker’s essence is to create and the butcher’s
essence is to destroy. They both provide
nourishment but they represent different ends
of the spiritual spectrum. You create - I destroy.
Yin and Yang. You’ve never killed anyone right?

ED
No.

SETH
See you and I are perfectly balanced. We know
that there’s only so much we can take - then we
snap and we gotta go the opposite way - like a
pendulum.

Ed looks puzzled.

ED
And what about the bus driver?

SETH
He’s just transporting the experience man.

ED
Wow. (Long pause) What passage is that from?

There’s a long awkward silence.

ED
Who did you kill?

SETH
Nobody special.

Ed sits back in his seat and takes a deep breath.

ED
So L.A.’s the rotten potato?

SETH
L.A. is the rottenest potato of ”˜em all man.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. BUS - DAWN

The sun creeps painfully under Ed’s eyelids, red from only two hours sleep and ten years of Hollywood parties. The bus idles at a small bench-stop in Arizona. With his shoulder propping up Seth’s greasy head, Ed slides his last cigarette from behind his ear and with trembling fingers he straightens it out, lights it, then quickly plucks it from his mouth as Toby glances back at him. He holds the smoke in his lungs until Toby turns his eyes back to the road. Ed snaps his shoulder out from under Seth’s head to lean down behind the seat for another drag. Seth wakes up hard, but ready to share his dreams.

SETH
Oh man. I dreamed about this badger - or a
hedgehog. I was picking avocados - that must
represent L.A. - and they’d dissolve in my hands
so that I just had a basket full of pits. And my
eyes were blue. But I wasn’t really me. I had
a third arm that kept punching me in the side.
And my mom was there but she didn’t have any
arms.

ED
Why a badger? What do you think the badger was.
Was it me? Was I the badger?

SETH
It might have been a hedgehog. I don’t know.
You got another smoke?

ED
This is my last one. I dreamed I was swimming with
Tim Burton - and Tony Bennett was shooting at me with
a bee-bee gun - and he was singing that f’d up
Beatle’s song - that instrumental piece of shit that
they all wrote together.

SETH
Flying.

ED
Yes - thank you. Why does no one else remember
that song?

SETH
Was he singing it or humming it - cause it didn’t have
any lyrics.

ED
It was more like a scat.

SETH
A scat. That’s deep.

Ed presents Seth with his half smoked Camel.

SETH
I gotta pee.

Right behind their seats, the bathroom door is ajar and buzzing with the rhythm of the idling bus engine. Seth hands Ed’s smoke back to him, takes a deep breath and darts into the smelly bathroom.

Ed rests his head on the edge of the window and stares out at the vast Arizona dawn. Toby is outside tossing bags into the storage compartment under the bus. VIOLET BAINS, a young woman in her late twenties stands nervously beside him. She’s dressed in layers of purple and pink and violet; scarves and more scarves around her neck and a purse that overflows with sundries and snacks. She tries over and over to hand Toby her ticket, but he seems in no hurry.

Although having made a habit of avoiding eye contact with other human beings, Ed is strangely compelled to stare. Finally Toby closes the baggage compartment doors, takes Violet’s ticket and escorts her to the door of the bus. Ed smells something foul behind him and reaches back to slam the bathroom door the rest of the way closed.

SETH
Yo - there’s no light in here. And no ventilation.

Ed starts to get visibly nervous as the doors to the bus squeak open and Violet steps up the stairs. He squirms in his seat and slips into his sunglasses. She doesn’t even consider the other fifty three empty seats on the bus. She plops down right next to Ed and starts talking before she’s even in the seat.

VIOLET
Do you mind if I sit here ”˜til we’re out of Arizona?
My husband might be following me - ex-husband
as of midnight last night. Jonathan T. Bains, the most
boring man on earth - but as it turns out also
quite psychotic - something you don’t find out
about someone until you get caught screwing
the pool boy in the cabana room. Him - not me.
He’s totally straight though - just so you don’t get the
wrong idea about him. So what’s your story?
Something wrong with your eyes. Did you
just have those drops put in or something?
I’m Violet.

Ed can’t think of a thing to say. Seth comes out of the bathroom to see that he’s been replaced but he’s pleasantly surprised by Violet.

SETH
That’s my seat but that’s okay. I’m Seth.

Seth shakes her hand and doesn’t let go.

ED
And I’m...

Seth interrupts him.

SETH
This is Todd - Todd Mantooth. He’s gay.

VIOLET
Oh I’m so stupid. I hope you weren’t offended
by what I said before about my husband - ex-husband
not being gay. My parents were insane. I don’t
know what’s wrong with me. What’s that smell.

Seth kicks the bathroom door closed.
ED
I’m not gay.

VIOLET
Now you think I’m racist against the gays. Well I’m
not. Look.
.
Violet pulls Ed into her by the back of the head and kisses him with as much tongue as she can muster.

VIOLET
See. Now I could have whatever you have and
I don’t care.

She breaks down crying.

SETH
What’s wrong?

VIOLET
I kissed a fagot.

Seth kneels down beside her.

SETH
Hey it’s okay. He’s not gay. I just said that.
I got confused - and insecure - I am extremely
messed up.

She composes herself.

VIOLET
You’re not gay?

ED
No.

VIOLET
Well you sure kiss like it.

ED
First of all I wasn’t kissing you - you were kissing
me. Second of all I just woke up. And third of all I
don’t even know you.

VIOLET
Hey I’ve kissed dead guys that were better than
that. You need help.

Ed whips his dark glasses off.

ED
Look, I was just sitting here.

VIOLET
You’re Ed Mackey. You are the worst actor I’ve
ever seen - you’re so wooden and detached. When I
saw you The Bleeding Heart I swear to God I laughed
my ass off through that whole movie.


ED
It wasn’t a comedy.

VIOLET
You suck. And now you’re sitting next to me on a bus.

ED
You know when I first saw you - out there - before
I knew you could speak, I thought to myself - now
there’s a girl I could really go for. She seems real.
She seems nice. She’s pretty.

Ed sits back smugly in his seat, thinking that he’s put her in her place.


VIOLET
You think I’d date an actor - even a good one?

ED
I don’t know - let’s see - you married a psychotic
bore - you catch him fucking a pool boy - you don’t
think he’s gay - you kiss dead guys. And I’ve known
you less than a minute. But I’m sure there’s more.
And I don’t suck.

VIOLET
You suck hard dude.

SETH
It doesn’t matter - he quit.

VIOLET
Who did you quit to?

ED
I didn’t quit to anyone - I just quit.


VIOLET
You have to quit to someone.

ED
If you’re a cashier.

VIOLET
I was a cashier - and I didn’t quit to anybody.

ED
What?

Violet digs through her purse and comes up with an eyelash curler. She wiggles one of her lashes between the rubber pinchers and squeezes the levers hard, holding them tightly together.

VIOLET
I may have mis-spoken when I said ”˜pool boy’.
He was more of a pool man but I think he
was from Venezuela so in his defense he didn’t
have a lot of body hair.

She releases one eyelash and goes in for the other, repeating the procedure.

VIOLET
(continued)
And the dead guy wasn’t dead when I started
kissing him. Why am I explaining myself to you?

ED
I have no idea.

SETH
Your chakras are starting to open. You’ve
been oppressed by this husband for so long that
your chakras closed up and now they’re
opening and you can’t help it. Your caged
soul needs to purge all that baggage that you’ve
been accumulating. How long were you married?

VIOLET
Three days.

ED
That’s impressive.

VIOLET
Hey, those were three very long days.

The bus lurches forward, squeaking and whining as it runs through it’s gears then pulsing forward with a steady hum over the Arizona highway.

Ed’s cell-phone rings. He already knows who it is as he pulls it from his coat like a gun-slinger.

ED
(on the phone)
Hi Allen. (Pause) Well sometimes the tabloids
know things before I do. Maybe my house is
bugged, I don’t know. (Pause) A comeback -
I’ve only been gone for half a day. (Pause)
How much? Wow. That’s very tempting.

Ed looks back at Seth who is disapprovingly shaking his head.



ED
(continued)
But I’m not coming back. (Pause) Put me on
three-way, I’ll tell him myself. Hi Paul - yeah
Allen told me your offer and it’s very generous
but...(pause) how much more?...and the jet...

Seth reaches over the seat and yanks the cell-phone out of Ed’s hand and throws it out the window. The phone skims across the street where it’s crushed by an oncoming car.

Ed turns back and stares at Seth.

ED
Thanks.

SETH
What kind of jet?

ED
Twenty-first Century Gulf Stream. With a pilot and a
personal chef. And a doctor.

SETH
A doctor?

ED
That’s a big perk. Unprecedented.

VIOLET
What are you afraid of ...Ed? Is it the money,
the planes, the women, death? What drives
a person to throw their life down the sewer and
give up fame, fortune and success? What is
that?

SETH
He was in a box. He had to get out.

VIOLET
You can’t get out of a box in your own jet?
You’re on a fucking bus.

ED
Can I get out of the box in my own jet?

SETH
No. No. The jet’s just another box. You need
to become part of your own solution Ed.

VIOLET
What the hell does that mean?

SETH
It means he can’t be a part of his own problem.

VIOLET
That’s the same thing.

ED
Hey leave him alone. He makes sense.

VIOLET
And what’s your point of reference - Hollywood?

There’s a loud thud from the front of bus as it jerks to a violent stop. Toby, Ed, Seth and Violet run out and around to the front of the bus.

EXT. BUS - SAME

A dead horse lays on it’s side with one eye wide open and staring at the sun. About a hundred yards in front of the bus is a jack-knifed truck and horse trailer with the doors swung wide open. Violet starts screaming with unbridled despair and begins to vengefully kick in the front of the bus. Ed and Seth restrain her and take her around to the stairs of the bus where they sit her down and try to get her calm. She suddenly turns eerily quiet and starting with her shoes, she systematically takes off every strip of clothing and walks naked across the highway into the desert. Seth and Ed stare at her surprisingly perfect body as she gets smaller and smaller, finally sitting down cross-legged in the hot sand. She just sits.

SETH
Now there’s something you don’t see every day.

ED
I’ve never seen a dead horse either.

Ed and Seth look back to see Toby walking toward them as two men and a very fat woman drag the dead horse about a foot at a time back up the highway toward the trailer.


TOBY
It’s gonna take about four hours for a repair crew
to get out. They only have one truck out here
and they’re on a call about two hundred miles
away. Sorry. I’ve got some water underneath and
some emergency rations if you get hungry.

He notices Violet sitting naked in the desert.

TOBY
And you’ll take care of her? I think she’s had a hard
time of it.

Ed looks out at her with a new depth in his eyes.

ED
Yeah.

TOBY
You tell her that horse was dead before we
hit it. She’s got enough blame in her already.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. DESERT - LATER

Ed and Seth have joined Violet in her vigil. A desert thunderstorm spreads across the sky and pours a torrential rain as they all three sit naked in the sand. As they stare into the expanse, lightning strikes the mountains in the distance and thunder rumbles through the sky. They sit silently forming an unspoken bond.

CUT TO:

EXT. BUS - SUNSET

The front end of the bus is up on jacks. A tow-truck drives away from the scene and disappears down the highway.

INT. BUS - SAME

Toby bumps his way through the open door of the bus where Ed and Seth sit in the back. He’s lugging three suitcases. Violet comes out of the bathroom draped in Ed’s coat. Not making eye contact, she sits down hard.

TOBY
Well, we have a broken axle. We’re gonna be
here at least ”˜til morning. I brought your bags
in case you need anything.

With just her eyes, Violet looks up at him.

TOBY
I love horses too.

He drops their bags and goes and sits behind the steering-wheel. Violet snatches her suitcase, flips it up onto one of the seats and prepares to open it.

VIOLET
Could I get some privacy?

Ed gets up and opens his suitcase.

ED
C’mon boys. I’ve got some Cubans that I need
to get rid of.

CUT TO:


EXT. BUS - SUNSET

The Arizona sun looms large just above the night before descending gently into twilight.

To Ed, Seth and Toby, the bus is just a dark speck on the horizon. They’ve wandered almost a mile into the desert, all sharing the notion that Cuban cigars and female energy do not mix. They ceremonially stand in a circle and light up.

Toby takes a deep draw from the finest cigar in the world and is overcome with a pleasure he’s dreamed of but never known. He looks up through the cloud of Cuban smoke and sees the bus in the distance, glowing like a jewel against the pale desert sky.

TOBY
I’ll be damned.

They all stare at the bus, awestruck.

CUT TO:

INT. BUS - LATER

From front to back, the rails under the windows are lined with lit candles - hundreds of candles, each one different than the next. The windows in the back of the bus are draped with Violet’s scarves, all in shades of pink, purple and lavender.

Toby, Ed and Seth file into the bus. They don’t see Violet sitting cross-legged on the floor writing in a journal.

SETH
Trippy.

ED
She’s amazing.

SETH
You know what this means?

ED
Yeah.

SETH
She’s the candlestick maker.

VIOLET
Is there a problem with that?

Toby walks slowly toward her. Violet stands defiantly to face him. They stand nose to nose.

Toby is sweet to her.

TOBY
You take as much time as you need.

Violet throws her arms around him.

VIOLET
It wasn’t your fault.

TOBY
I know baby. I know. Sometimes things just
happen that’s all. Things just happen.

VIOLET
I need to read this out loud. Do you mind?

The three men don’t dare deny her.

ED & SETH
No. No.

Violet begins to read from her journal.

VIOLET
I rode through fields of wheat and storm.
My best friend strode beneath me torn.
To carry me his pleasured joy.
Careful not to destroy his spirit.

He loved me like his mother. A gentle soul.
I gave him everything I had.
But couldn’t save him. He was gone.
I cried all night and months and years.
My tears went dry before my sorrow.
I wrote that when my horse died.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. DINER - FLAGSTAFF ARIZONA - DAY

The bus parked outside casts a cool shadow over a tiny mom-and-pop diner alongside the desolate Arizona highway. Outside, Toby struggles to get an old pay-phone to work while Ed, Seth and Violet are cramped into one of the three red-leather booths inside the diner. They read their greasy menus.

ED
So what is it exactly about my acting that sucks?

VIOLET
Could you stop talking about yourself for five
minutes.

ED
I’m just trying to better myself.

SETH
He is.

VIOLET
Okay, if you want to better yourself. It’s not
your acting - it’s you. You suck. You suck
...as a person....as a human being.

SETH
That’s pretty harsh.

VIOLET
Have you ever been nice to anyone without
wanting anything in return? And that includes
recognition, acceptance or love.

SETH
Wow.


ED
I don’t know.

VIOLET
Then you haven’t. How old are you?

ED
They say I can do anything from eighteen
to thirty two. You mean how old am I really?


VIOLET
I mean everything - really. Your problem
is that you have no soul. Most people on
the planet have one - but you don’t. You
are a soulless man. And there’s no way you
can get one either - you either have one or
you don’t. And you don’t.

With barely enough room for the waitress to move between the tables, she squeezes through to take their order. Too many children, bad genes, hard work and the Arizona sun have made her old beyond her years. She flips open her order-pad and pulls a pencil from somewhere under her disheveled hair.

WAITRESS
What’s for lunch?

SETH
Cheeseburger. Do you have curly fries?

WAITRESS
We have straight fries. What about you missy?

Nobody has ever called Violet missy and she doesn’t take very well to it.

VIOLET
Do you have anything vegetarian?

WAITRESS
We have salad.

VIOLET
What kind of lettuce?

WAITRESS
Plain - old - lettuce

VIOLET
You mean iceberg.

WAITRESS
This is Arizona honey. I don’t think you’ll
find any icebergs around here.

The cook laughs.

VIOLET
I’ll have a cup of piping hot water.

The waitress looks over at Ed who has forgotten to put on his disguise.


WAITRESS
How ”˜bout you sugar?

ED
I’ll have a club sandwich with extra bacon.

WAITRESS
Hey, you’re Ed Mackey Jr.. Danny, it’s Ed
Mackey Jr., the movie star. You were so good
in Day of Judgment.

VIOLET
No! No he wasn’t. He was horrific in that film.
Did you know that he was supposed to be
an officer in the Royal Air Force? He slapped
on a Scottish accent - the worst ever by the way
to hide that fact that he has absolutely no talent,
an abysmal sense of truth and zero chemistry
with any other human being on the planet.

ED
Could I get a Coke with that?

EXT. DINER - SAME

Toby looks discouraged as he hangs up the phone and opens the diner’s wood framed screen-door. Equipped with a small rusted bell and woven with duct-tape and fishing line, the door barely holds together as Toby lets the wind slam it behind him. He squeezes into the booth next to Violet who rhythmically dips a worn out tea-bag (and her fingers) into her luke-warm cup of water.

ED
What did they say?

TOBY
Bus number sixty eight is out of commission.

VIOLET
What does that mean?

TOBY
That means that they send another bus to get
you and they tow this one and me back to the yard.

VIOLET
Our bus works just fine.

TOBY
The law says they gotta take it back.


SETH
I don’t want another bus. I like this bus.

TOBY
Yeah - so do I - I’ve driven that bus since she
came off the line twenty years ago. I would
have turned over one million miles on her if
we’d have gone all the way through to Idaho.
We been through a lot.

ED
How much for the bus?

TOBY
What?

ED
Money. How much do you want for the bus?

TOBY
It’s not my bus.

ED
Then I’ll give you ten thousand dollars to drive
us to - where are we going?

SETH
Franklin Idaho.

ED
Ten thousand dollars to drive us to Franklin Idaho.

TOBY
It’s not my bus.

ED
Twenty thousand. You can turn over a million miles.

TOBY
I’m thirty two days from retirement.

ED
Fifty thousand.

TOBY
Done.

CUT TO:



EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY

The bus rolls down the highway with Violet’s scarves filtering out the open windows.

INT. BUS - SAME

As if suspended in time, the once cascading wax from Violet’s candles hangs like icicles from the ledges of the bus windows. Toby is focused as he maneuvers the bus through the twisting curves of a mountainous Northern Arizona highway. Even with headphones firmly over his ears, music leaks through into the bus.

Violet lays day-dreaming across Ed and Seth’s laps as they doze in their seats. The frantic sound of a car-horn honking wakes them from their light sleep. They look out the window. Toby can’t hear a thing and continues to deliberately navigate through the mountain pass.

Blasting it’s horn, a topless yellow Corvette convertible swings along-side the bus into the oncoming traffic lane.

VIOLET
Shit. That’s Mr. Bains - my husband.

ED
Ex husband.

VIOLET
Husband - technically.

ED
What?

VIOLET
By law. I didn’t legally divorce him. Just
in my heart. He’s a lawyer. What does he want?

Mr. Bains points at Violet while waving his hand up and down.

SETH
Right now I think he wants you to roll down the
window.

Jonathan Bains manages to stay with the bus curve for curve while not taking his eyes off of Violet. Seth struggles to get the window to go down just about a foot, allowing Violet to poke her head out sideways. She yells across the highway.

VIOLET
Go away.

He just stares at her as he whips the Vette around another sharp curve.

VIOLET
(yelling)
You’re going to kill yourself.

Mr. Bains pulls a gun from under the seat and aims it straight at Violet. Ed and Seth duck down below the glass trying to pull Violet down with them but her head is stuck - wedged in the window.

ON TOBY:

With it’s emergency flashers blinking, Toby sees a stalled black Cadillac about a hundred yards ahead in the on-coming traffic lane. He briefly looks to his left to see that it’s a disabled Hearse sitting with it’s hood up in the middle of the lane. He sees that there’s no one in the Hearse as he passes by, he then quickly refocuses on the road as he approaches another curve.

ON THE CORVETTE:

Just as Mr. Bains raises the gun to shoot, his car smashes head-on into the Hearse, practically disintegrating the Corvette on impact. The sound is explosive and terrifying. Ed, Seth and Violet watch in horror as a casket is ejected from the back of the Hearse and careens end-over-end down the side of the steep mountain, disappearing into a deep ravine. The bus takes another sharp curve and the horrific scene vanishes behind them.

ON TOBY:

Toby briefly stops whistling whatever he’s listening to on his head-phones. He glances back for a brief check on his passengers, oblivious as to what just took place.

TOBY
Everybody awake back there?

In shock, they all quietly nod.

TOBY
We’ll be in Flagstaff in about five minutes.
They’ve got a nice little tavern there, with
a waitress named Daisy. Don’t get me wrong
now, we just talk - but it’s good talk - music -
poetry - philosophy. Listen, my wife’s
a wonderful woman but she thinks Plato’s a
big dog at Disneyland.

CUT TO:

EXT. ROADSIDE - MOMENTS LATER

A small man in a black suit stands hopefully by the side of the road as bus number sixty eight draws closer. He’s Jake Alcot, a mortician and (unbeknownst to him) the owner of a mangled Hearse and a missing casket. Toby stops the bus and opens the doors to let the man on.


TOBY
That your Cadillac?

JAKE
Unfortunately, yes. The Hearse has a long
and tempestuous relationship with Cadillac.
Sure they were prestigious - that was before
the Germans got into the act. Now it’s
Mercedes all the way. I say ”˜in with the
old and out with the new.’ That’s an old
morticians joke. I’m Jacob Alcot. Jake.

TOBY
Name’s Toby. Climb abroad Jake - that’s an
old bus-driver’s joke.

JAKE
Do you think you could take me into Flagstaff,
I need a new water pump pretty quickly. We have
to bury my passenger today. You know us Jews.

TOBY
No I don’t - but I’ll take your word. Climb
on in. Flagstaff’s only a few miles up
the road. I’m sure your passenger will be fine.
That’s my business - passengers.

CUT TO:

INT. TAVERN - AFTERNOON

Animal heads line the walls of the small tavern, many with baseball caps and cowboy hats hanging from their dusty antlers - one with a dart stuck between it’s eyes. Toby sits in a booth in a dark corner talking with Daisy, the waitress. Daisy is a young black woman with a warm smile and an inviting personality.

Ed, Seth and Violet sit at the bar waiting for the disgruntled bartender to finish the last few bites of his hamburger. Behind the bar, windows look out over the deserted street. Across the street, the bus is parked in front of a small roadside motel. They watch as a tow truck passes the bar. Jake is waving and smiling from the passenger seat as the tow truck disappears down the road.

ED
We should have said something?

SETH
He’ll find out soon enough.

ED
What if they think somebody stole the coffin
and they never look for it?


SETH
What’s meant to be will be.

ED
I think we should have said something.

VIOLET
I can’t believe Mr. Bains wanted to kill me.
He said he loved me. That’s not love.

Licking his fingers, the bartender finally comes over to take their order. He obviously hasn’t been in the mood to work in some years. Jesse Kratzer has been tending bar since he was fifteen years old. He’s forty.

JESSE
What’ll it be?

ED
I’ll have an Amstel light.

JESSE
A what?

ED
How ”˜bout a Heineken.

JESSE
We have Bud, Coors and Miller Lite. And
we’re out of Miller Lite.

ED
Bring us a round of Coors and get that guy
over there whatever he wants.

JESSE
Gotta tell the waitress that.

ED
Where’s the waitress?

JESSE
With that guy over there.


VIOLET
Look just get us our beers and go see what
that gentleman wants. And stop licking your
fingers.

Jesse stops licking his fingers and leans down on the bar. He stares coldly into Violet’s eyes. He slowly and deliberately works his entire fist into his mouth and rolls his tongue around and


through his fingers. He pulls his wet fist from his mouth.

JESSE
Now I’ll get your beers.

He’s in no hurry as he walks to the other end of the bar.

ED
(to Violet)
You’ve got quite a way with people.

VIOLET
He said he loved me.

ED
You do realize that he’s dead.

VIOLET
What?

SETH
His car disintegrated.

ED
And there was an explosion.

SETH
A big explosion.

ED
And a fire.

VIOLET
Oh my God.

Jesse returns and puts all three beers down in front of Ed.

JESSE
That’s six fifty.

ED
How much are they?

JESSE
I said - six fifty.

ED
I mean a piece. How can three beers add up to
six fifty.

JESSE
Three beers are six fifty cause we sell a six pack
for thirteen dollars - what’s half of thirteen?

SETH
That’s six fifty.

ED
So how much is one beer.

JESSE
You didn’t order one beer. You ordered three
beers and it’s six fifty.

SETH
He makes an intriguing point.

ED
What if we all paid separately.

JESSE
Too late.

Ed pulls a twenty out of his wallet and tosses it up on the bar.

ED
Keep the change.

Without even looking at the bill, Jesse slides it off the bar, bypasses the cash register and stuffs it directly into his tip jar. He pulls a rumpled pack of cigarettes from his tee-shirt pocket as he gives a single swift tug to the dirty piece of rope that rings the tip bell. He goes and sits on a worn red-leather stool at the end of the bar and lights up.

ED
You got another smoke?

Jesse pulls the pack from his pocket, takes out his last cigarette, slides it behind his ear, crumples the pack and throws it into the trash can.

JESSE
Nope.

ED
Do you sell cigarettes here?

JESSE
Nope.

ED
Anywhere around here?

JESSE
Nope.

ED
I’ll give you a hundred dollars for that one behind
your ear.

Jesse pulls the cigarette from behind his ear.

JESSE
A hundred dollars for this cigarette.

ED
One hundred dollars.

JESSE
Listen mister. I don’t know who the fuck you
think you are but I ain’t nobody’s bitch.

He grabs Ed by the shirt and pulls him up out of his stool. He begins to become enraged.

JESSE
You think you can buy me? You think I’m just
some low life piece of shit? How would you like
me to cut your nuts off.

He pulls a large butcher knife from behind the bar, holding Ed up with one hand.

ED
No thank you. I’m sorry.

Jesse pushes him back down onto his stool. He crumbles the cigarette on the bar in front of Ed, walks back to his stool and casually begins to read the newspaper.

ED
I didn’t mean to insult you.

Jesse glares over at Ed.

VIOLET
He doesn’t like you.

ED
Everybody likes me. You set him off.

VIOLET
People only pretend you like you - because
they want something. He doesn’t want anything.



ED
(to Seth)
That’s not true. Is that true?

SETH
People are incomparably petty. Most people
value money and status above anything else
and want to be close to it. It’s fame and fortune
by association.

VIOLET
And you want love and acceptance from them.
It’s a classic co-parasitic existence.

ED
(to Violet)
What about you?

VIOLET
What about me?

ED
Are you my friend - or do you want something?

VIOLET
I’m still grieving.

ED
Seth?

SETH
We’re two parts of the same organism. Technically
we can’t be friends.

Ed has a moment of realization.

ED
Nobody likes me.


VIOLET
Did someone try to kill you today?

ED
I’m serious. I don’t have one true friend.
I’ve wasted my life.

From behind his newspaper.

JESSE
I’ll be your friend.

ED
I’m sorry - didn’t you just offer to cut my
nuts off.

JESSE
But you were polite. Not too many people have
manners. When I offered to cut you’re nuts
off you said ”˜no thank you’ - I appreciate
that.

ED
I don’t really know you that well...so.

JESSE
I see.

ED
No - there’s no I see. I’ve got nothing against
you. Friendships need to be nurtured and
trust needs to be built. Bonds need to form.

VIOLET
Shit - no wonder you don’t have any friends.

ED
(to Jesse)
Come with us then.

VIOLET
What?

ED
Come with us. We’re headed into our unknown
futures in ... where?

SETH
Franklin Idaho.

ED
Franklin Idaho.

JESSE
Idaho?

The dart falls out of the moose-head and sticks with a thud into the soft wood floor.

CUT TO:

EXT. TAVERN - MORNING

Carrying a large green duffel-bag, a bottle of Bacardi 151 and puffing down the last few drags of a cigarette, Jesse comes out the front door of the tavern. Ed, Seth and Violet gape curiously out the windows of the bus. Jesse yells up to Toby who holds an impatient idle behind the wheel.

JESSE
Just a minute.

Not quite running, Jesse’s gangly legs whisk him back toward the tavern. He slinks in the front door and back out again without the Bacardi. Before slamming the door for the last time, he flicks his lit cigarette butt back into the tavern. As if he hasn’t a care in the world, he shuffles from the tavern door to the bus in twice the time it should take him. He climbs up onto the bus and the doors close behind him.

The bus pulls away from the tavern and disappears down the road and over the crest of the highway.

The busses’ absence leaves a lingering silence that’s finally broken by the sound of the old wooden tavern bursting into flames. The tavern burns.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. BUS - DAY

Jesse’s bare ass is the focus of attention as he demonstrates how his tattoo of Bugs Bunny leaps from the butt-cheek into the hole with one well practiced flex.

VIOLET
Who did this to you?

JESSE
A carny. His name was Fish - or Danny.
He pierced my scrotum with a McDonald’s
straw. He was paralyzed and worked with
a helper monkey. Damnedest thing you’ve
ever seen. That little monkey could hold
a grown man down for a full ten seconds.

A small bell rings from somewhere between Jesse’s legs as he jerks his pants back up.

JESSE
School’s out.

Jesse reclines into his seat and rubs his hands together in imagined anticipation.

JESSE
So what’s everybody gonna do with their share
of the gold?

SETH
What gold?

JESSE
There’s no gold?


ED
There’s no gold.

JESSE
Are we gonna repopulate the earth?

VIOLET
Don’t even let him look at me.

JESSE
We gotta do somethin’ big. What are we
gonna do?

ED
We’re going to Idaho.

JESSE
That’s it?

SETH
That’s it.

JESSE
I’ve never been to Idaho.

CUT BACK TO:

EXT. TAVERN - SAME - IN ASHES

The five Harleys race right through the smoldering rubble that was the tavern, leaving a huge cloud of black dust in their wake.

CUT TO:

EXT. CORN FIELD - NIGHT

A billion stars light a moonless Arizona night. The bus has cut a narrow path into a corn field. Toby sleeps, slumped over the steering wheel snoring as Seth and Violet make-out across the back row of seats. Ed and Jesse lay on the top of the bus gazing up at the vast blanket of stars.

JESSE
I was always waiting for something to happen.
Nothing’s happened. I started tending bar when
I was fifteen. I’m forty. I barely remember any
of it. I drank since I was six. My grandpa used
to make beet wine in the cellar and me and my
brother Ernie would go down and drink. Six
years old. Ernie’s dead. His liver gave
out about five years ago. He was forty.
But I always thought somethin’ would come
along. I thought I was a late bloomer. But I was
just a drunk. And now I’m goin’ to Idaho -
That’s where Ernie lived. This bus goes right
through the town that he lived in - I checked it
on the map before we left. He has two
kids - I never met ”˜em.

ED
You should go. See his kids.

JESSE
No.

ED
We’ll go.

JESSE
I wouldn’t want ”˜em to see how I turned out.

The whir of crickets fills the awkward silence between them.

ED
I wanted to be an astronaut - but I was too tall.

JESSE
So you became a movie star.

ED
Yeah.

JESSE
That’s rough.

ED
Yeah.

JESSE
People should be able to be whatever they want
to be.
ED
I know.

JESSE
Sometimes I think the world just tries to keep us
down. You know?

ED
I know. You know I lost Pulp Fiction to John
Travolta.

JESSE
I never saw that.

ED
You’d like it. It kind of reminds me of you.

JESSE
That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Why should John
Travolta get a part and you don’t?

ED
That’s what I say.

JESSE
Once I was takin’ a crap at a bar down in Tuscan
and a snake came up out of the toilet and went
right up my poop-shoot. Had to lure it out with
a live mouse.

ED
Life.

JESSE
I’m sorry you couldn’t be an astronaut.

ED
Me too. Look at all those stars. It makes me feel so
small and insignificant.

JESSE
Me too.

ED
Maybe I’ll get there someday.

JESSE
Probably not.

ED
I like you Jesse - you’re a realist.

JESSE
Most people find me offensive.

ED
You just say what’s on your mind is all.

JESSE
No.


ED
Yea you do. And you’re not afraid of what people
think of you either.

JESSE
That’s true.

ED
And if you want to do something - God dammit - you
do it.

JESSE
I do.

ED
You’re your own man. I wish I could be more like
you.

JESSE
Really?

ED
Yea.

JESSE
Huh. That makes me not want to kill myself.

ED
You think about that?

JESSE
Every day. But I figure I’ll die soon enough.

ED
I’m sorry you’re a drunk.

JESSE
Me too.

The bus starts gently rocking back and forth as Violets soft moans drift through the night like perfume.


JESSE
I thought she was your girlfriend.


ED
We just met yesterday.

JESSE
You looked like you belonged together.

ED
Well it’s too late now.

JESSE
You should stop ”˜em.

ED
It’s none of my business.

JESSE
If you love her you should stop ”˜em.

ED
I just met her yesterday. I don’t love her.

JESSE
So.

ED
You can’t stop people in the middle of sex.

JESSE
I have. Women love it.

ED
Right in the middle?

JESSE
Right in the middle. They feel like they’re being
rescued.

Ed makes his decision as Violet’s moans become more intense.

ED
You my friend are an inspiration - I’ll do it.

INT. BUS - SAME

Seth and Violet are going at it full force. Violet is on top, making Ed think twice about the rescue scenario as he stands over them. Ed goes unobserved, silently watching as they finish in a crescendo of mutual pleasure. Finally looking up into his face, Violet pretends not to see the pain in Ed’s eyes. She continues to lay on top of Seth.



VIOLET
(to herself)
Where’s your creepy new friend? Didn’t he want
to watch too?

ED
He told me come and rescue you.

VIOLET
Rescue me from what?

Seth’s transition from sexual to philosophical is startling.

SETH
From yourself.

VIOLET
Shut up.

Violet puts the remainder of her body weight on him as he struggles to speak.

SETH
You’re obviously in love with him - and you’re
just taking it out on me.

Violet’s vulnerability suddenly becomes apparent to her.

VIOLET
You prick.

She scrambles up, straightens her clothes and storms out of the bus.

SETH
Now you can rescue her.

ED
You shouldn’t have said that.

SETH
Always say what’s true.

ED
Not if it hurts people.

SETH
You do love her.

ED
If I do - I don’t like it. I don’t know what
love is. Do you? Do you love her?


SETH
Love’s a chemical that ultimately wears off -
so I don’t get too attached to it.

ED
What should I do?

SETH
If it were me?

ED
If it were you.

SETH
If it were me I’d fuck her and then pawn her off
on you.

CUT TO:

EXT. BUS - DAWN

The bus races past a sign welcoming them to the great state of Oklahoma.

INT. BUS - SAME

Scattered about the inside of the bus about as far away from each other as they can get, Ed, Seth and Violet stretch out asleep across their seats. Ed is jarred awake as the bus hits a small sink-hole in the road. The road smooths out again. Ed groggily makes his way to the front of the bus. He passes Violet and then Seth, both sleeping. He looks back behind him like he’s forgotten something and as if to clear his mind, shakes his head. He startles Toby as he taps him on the shoulder.

ED
Sorry.

TOBY
Thought you was all dead back there.

ED
How long have we been asleep?

TOBY
We’ve been on the road about six hours.

ED
Where are we?

TOBY
Oklahoma.

ED
What happened to New Mexico.

TOBY
You missed New Mexico. Just as well.


ED
But I wanted to see New Mexico. Me and
Jesse were gonna walk barefoot on the
sand at White Sands. And he was gonna show
me where he was standing when they tested the
last atomic bomb.

Toby gets a dumbfounded look on his face.

TOBY
Jesse?

ED
Where’s Jesse?

CUT TO:

EXT. DESOLATE ROADSIDE - LATER

A full moon lights the top of the bus, now stopped along the side of a desolate Oklahoma road. On top of the bus Toby kneels next to Jesse’s lifeless body, his wrist hanging limp in Toby’s trembling hand. Ed, Seth and Violet stand helplessly below as they hear Jesse’s dead hand hit the aluminum roof of the bus.

CUT TO:

INT. MORTUARY - DAY

Surrounded by caskets, Ed and Seth sit in a large room waiting for the mortician. Seth gets up and begins to carefully inspect one of the coffins. He cautiously lifts the lid and caresses the velvety lining inside. He feels the soft satin pillow. He closes the lid and checks the seal to make sure it’s tight. He opens the lid again and pulls it up and down a few times. The mortician enters.

MORTICIAN
That’s our most comfortable model. It’s called
the eternal flame.

SETH
It’s beautiful.

MORTICIAN
I know. Your loved one will enjoy eternal comfort.


ED
What’s your least comfortable? He was a simple man.

MORTICIAN
That would be the traditional pine box.

ED
We’ll take that.

MORTICIAN
Your loved one will enjoy the simplicity.

ED
I’m sure he will.

MORTICIAN
We should talk about flowers.

ED
No flowers.

MORTICIAN
No flowers?

ED
He hated flowers. Could we just pay? What
do we have - the plot, the coffin, the priest...

MORTICIAN
Non-denominational Minister.

ED
Okay.

MORTICIAN
And the digger. We don’t have our own back-hoe.
It’s a total of thirty two thousand and fourteen
dollars.

SETH
What would happen if the eternal flame went
off the side of a cliff?

MORTICIAN
Why would it go off of a cliff?

SETH
Hypothetically.

MORTICIAN
They’re specifically designed to be in the ground.

Ed takes out a credit card.

ED
Could we pay?

MORTICIAN
He only had sixty four dollars. Normally that would
go to next of kin.

The mortician hands the money to Ed and takes his credit card.

SETH
Would you mind if I tried this out?

MORTICIAN
Help yourself.

Seth climbs into the Eternal Flame casket.

SETH
This is very comfortable.

MORTICIAN
It’s designed for perpetual tranquillity.

ED
Put it on the card too.

MORTICIAN
Excuse me.

ED
We’ll take that coffin.

MORTICIAN
It’s twenty thousand dollars.

Ed takes out a different credit card and hands it to the mortician.

ED
Better put it on this one then.

SETH
Thank you Ed.

ED
Life’s for the living - right?

MORTICIAN
No one’s actually ever taken one out before.

SETH
It’s okay - we have a bus.

CUT TO:



EXT. CEMETERY - DAY

In a quaint suburban Oklahoma cemetery, Jesse’s casket is about to be lowered into the ground. Ed, Seth, Violet and Toby are the only onlookers. A generic preacher is saying some prayers over the grave but no one’s really listening.

VIOLET
It was nice of you to do this for him.

ED
He was my friend - kind of.

SETH
How long do you think he was dead?

TOBY
The coroner said he was dead before we left
Oklahoma - said it was probably his liver.

ED
Just like Ernie.

VIOLET
Who’s Ernie?

ED
His brother.

SETH
He had a brother?

ED
He lived in Idaho. Has two kids.

VIOLET
I didn’t know you knew so much about him.

ED
His liver gave out when he was forty - just like
Jesse. You know he had to lure a snake out of
his ass with a live mouse.


SETH
He was a good man.

TOBY
A fine man.

Violet shrugs.


ED
Where do you think we go when we die?

VIOLET
Good go to heaven. Bad go to hell.

SETH
Duality is for suckers. There’s no heaven and hell.
Everything in the universe is in perfect balance.
Only perception changes. Not perfection.

ED
You didn’t answer the question.

SETH
What was it?

ED
Where do we go when we die?

SETH
If you’re Jesse - right here. There’s no mystical,
magical boundary between life and death. They
exist simultaneously.

VIOLET
Shut up Seth.

SETH
You’ll see.

VIOLET
What about you Ed? Where do we go?

ED
Well I’ll tell you what I think - but keep in mind
that I don’t have a soul....

CUT TO:

INT. BUS - DAY

Seth and Violet sit on either side of Ed who lays face up in the open coffin that’s wedged into the isle of the bus. Toby pilots his way across the expansive Oklahoma prairie.

ED
This is where we go when we die.

VIOLET
Do you have to lay in there?

ED
It’s really comfortable. It’s designed for
perpetual tranquillity.

VIOLET
It’s creepin’ me out.

SETH
Everyone deals with death in their own way.

VIOLET
Shut up. I’m still very mad at you.

SETH
I’m sorry I had sex with you.

Violet gives him the dirtiest look she can without seeming to care.

SETH
I mean I’m sorry it wasn’t Ed.

VIOLET
Oh you’re not half as sorry as I am. At least
Ed could have faked some emotion.

ED
I’m still alive here.

SETH
Do you want me to lie. I’m not like him - I can’t
bullshit my way through life - inflicting pain -
toying with peoples feelings to get more of
what I think I want. Lying about everything.

ED
Fuck you guys.

VIOLET
You think you know everything about everyone.
Why don’t you take a look in the mirror. I’m
sure Ed has one on him.

Ed closes the coffin lid.

SETH
Why don’t you just admit you love him and get
on with your life.

VIOLET
The first time I saw him - the very first time
I literally vomited. His face popped up on
the screen at the Peppertree theater and
I just spontaneously threw up. It was like
I saw Satan.


SETH
Love’s never perfect.

Toby yells back to them.

TOBY
We got some weather ahead. I’m gonna pull over
for a while.

Ed pops up out of the coffin.

Suddenly baseball sized hail-stones rain down outside, bombarding the bus. Inside, it sounds like they’ve driven into a war zone. Toby yells back to them again.

TOBY
I’m gonna try to make that tunnel. The hair on
the back of my neck’s standin’ up - that’s the sign.

SETH
Of what?

TOBY
Tornado.

ED
No. No tornado.

TOBY
The hair’s never wrong.

Seth gets very excited.

SETH
We should have buried him in eternal comfort!

The sound inside the bus is nearly deafening as Toby races the bus toward the tunnel. Suddenly darkness and silence.

ED
What happened?

VIOLET
We’re in a tunnel. Don’t be such a baby.
It’s just wind.

Seth is genuinely disappointed.
SETH
It’s not over, is it?

TOBY
Don’t worry. Wait three seconds - two - one.

The bus starts shaking and rocking violently and it sounds like a freight-train is coming right at them.

VIOLET
Holy shit.

Toby sees the light at the end of the tunnel go black.

TOBY
Hold on to somethin’.

The bus becomes momentarily weightless, lifting off the ground and turning about thirty degrees, hitting the inside wall of the tunnel. Within that moment, the door violently bursts open and one of the back windows is sucked out, along with everything that isn’t nailed down. The bus free-falls back down to the ground with extraordinary force. Suddenly it’s light. There’s a still calm. Everything goes quiet. Toby continues hugging the steering wheel with all his strength. Ed and Seth clutch their seats. Violet is obviously missing and the next few moments grow extremely tense.

ED
Violet! Violet!

SETH
She’s gone.

ED
Violet!

SETH
She must have got sucked out.

As the dust begins to settle, Ed puts his head in his hands and sits down on the closed coffin.

ED
God damn it. I finally fall in love with a girl and
she gets sucked out.

Ed begins to cry but stops as he hears a knocking coming from under his butt. He jumps up and opens the coffin. Violet is staring back up at him, confused.

VIOLET
You’re in love with me?


ED
No.

SETH
Yes. Of course he is.

VIOLET
You were crying because you thought I got sucked out.

SETH
He was.

ED
I spent thirty thousand dollars on a funeral for a
complete stranger - and a weird one at that.
I bought Seth a coffin. And I gave up fame
and fortune to ride on a bus to... where?

SETH
Franklin Idaho.

ED
So what I say or do is completely irrelevant. It means
nothing.

VIOLET
Before - when I said you have no soul. I was
wrong - I apologize for that. You probably do
have a soul.

ED
I accept your apology.

VIOLET
A very small one.

Toby hasn’t moved. He’s still hugging the steering-wheel with all his might.

TOBY
(not looking up)
Everyone all right back there. That was a big one.
I’ve run this route for thirty years and that was a
big one.

Toby pries himself from the steering-wheel and goes out to check for damage.

Violet chokes down some pride.

VIOLET
You may even actually be a nice person. You just
don’t have any social skills.

ED
I just seem to have trouble with people that are alive.
And with non-scripted conversation
.
VIOLET
Why?


ED
I started doing commercials when I was eight years
old, after my dad died - never went to a school,
never had any friends. My dad was the only person
I ever really talked to - opened up to - and he was
dead. You know that coffin’s probably the first
real gift I’ve ever bought someone. And I bought
a coffin. Don’t you find that odd? It’s a gift that
someone can only use if they die. I think I’m afraid
of the dying.

Seth’s nature won’t allow him to pass up an opportunity to inject his insight.

SETH
You’re afraid of living.

Ed has a moment of clarity.

ED
I’m afraid of living.

Ed starts to laugh.
ED
(laughing)
I’m afraid of living.

SETH
And you were pretending to live so you thought
you were living. Your whole career was based
on pretending to live. You were pretending.

ED
(still laughing)
I was pretending to live.

SETH
And now you’re living.

Ed stops laughing and looks up at Violet, confused.


ED
And now I’m living.....?

SETH
Living - not pretending.. Let’s go look at the devastation.

VIOLET
We can’t go through there. If we go through there we’ll
never be the same. This is it. This is a defining moment.


SETH
The cross-roads?

Violet becomes terrified.

VIOLET
We can go back!

SETH
Let’s go through - we’ve got nothing. We’ve got nothing
to lose.

Ed stares out the tunnel at the future.

ED
It’s page sixty.

SETH
What’s that?

ED
Page sixty - of a movie script. The turning point.

SETH
Does it have to be page sixty? Can it be fifty eight or
sixty two.

ED
It’s around page sixty. Every page represents one minute
of screen time so you’re an hour in.

SETH
And what happens?

ED
It depends on what kind of movie it is.

SETH
What if this were a movie? What would happen when we
got to the other side.

ED
This couldn’t be a movie.

VIOLET
Well I don’t want to know what happens.


END OF ACT ONE...]]> http://darrenblockmusic.com/news.html#27 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Music, Poetry & Art - Singer/Songwriter Darren Block - Screenplays