[…] July is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a prompt for writing a script scene. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. If you really want to get …read more […]

Scene 8 Today’s prompt: Write a scene using voice-over narration. EXT. MOSCOW MONTAGE - DAY Establish shots City of Moscow, landmarks, historical sites. Beauty shots. SUPER: “MOSCOW 1990” ALEX (V.O.): We came from across the Soviet Union yearning for the American Dream. STREET Young immigrants standing in queue outside a store. ALEX (V.O.): Georgian. Crimea. Chechnya. Dagestan. From all the republics. We all wanted change. A promise. A chance. CAFE Young immigrants talking, drinking, smoking, hanging out. ALEX (V.O.): Over a million of us invaded Moscow. College educated. We wanted to work and grow rich. PARK Young immigrant passed out on passed ALEX (V.O.): Only jobs were handed out to Russian’s first. What work was to be found was in factories. VARIOUS FACTORIES Immigrants of different eastern ethnics wait in lines for work. ALEX (V.O.): Those who couldn’t find work found a family to cling to. STREET CORNERS Groups a ethnic immigrants standing around. Drinking. Smoking. A fight outside a store. Stealing a truck. ALEX (V.O.): Without a family you were a ghost. BUS QUEUE They start to file onto a bus. Four young immigrants race to the bus, laughing, horsing around. ALEX (V.O.): That’s me Alex with my college friends. ALEX (24), satchel, ARTHUR (25), bearish, MAXUM (24), smallish, RUDY (22), body builder board. INT. BUS Our guys find a seats at the back crowded with other immigrants young and old. ALEX (V.O.): That’s my dream. I want to be a Capitalist. Alex removes a note book from his satchel starts writing. ALEX (V.O.): I have a plan. I will build a business then move to America to raise a family and retire. EXT. BUS The bus stops for the light. A Mercedes pulls along side. A MOTORCYCLE pulls up behind the car. ALEX (V.O.): it won’t be easy. The rider pull an Uzi, shreds the Mercedes, driver and passenger. Speeds off, leaves a wake of BLUE SMOKE. ALEX (V.O.): Moscow has turned dangerous and wild. INT. BUS Alex writes his plan ALEX (V.O.): It’s my perfect storm. EXT. STREET The bus rolls away from the destruction.

Scene 8: INT. BAUMANN APARTMENT - AUSTRIA 1926 ELISE BAUMANN (6) and her mother ROSE BAUMANN (28) sit on a piano bench together. Elise listens as her mother plays Furr Elise. DIMITRI (V.O.): Love. Beside them Elise’s father, WILHELM BAUMANN (32) watches while holding a violin in his hands. DIMITRI (V.O.): For some it is an uphill battle. Rose finishes the beginning of the song and then nods to Elise. Gently placing her small hands on the piano Elise plays the same music. DIMITRI (V.O.): Others rely on coincidence, fate, or destiny. Rose and Wilhelm clap for Elise. Wilhelm hands the violin to Elise. Elise stands and takes the small instrument. Rose looks at her daughter, then together Elise (on violin), Rose (on piano) they play. DIMITRI (V.O.) For me - The apartment starts shaking. Wilhelm reaches for Elise pulling her into his chest. He then reaches for Rose - An explosion comes up from below, fire, debris and dust fill the room. Rose lays lifeless on the floor. Elise screams. Wilhelm cradles his wife’s body in his arms. DIMITRI (V.O.): - it came and went in an instant.

Scene 7 – using voice-over narration EXT. GLACIER - DAY Blinding. Ice and snow reflecting the cold glare. Flying across the broken surface. JASE (V.O.): Eventually you don’t feel the cold. A hundred miles behind us, no change in the blurred and barren landscape. JASE (V.O.): You don’t feel the loneliness. Slowing, great rifts now visible in the ice. Chasms dropping beyond sight. JASE (V.O.): You don’t notice the old wounds. Settling. A huge section of the glacier collapses revealing a rough cliff, a new canyon. JASE (V.O.): You can’t feel the new wounds opening up. Down the face of the cliff now, into darkness. A throbbing. Below a red glow, small but growing. JASE (V.O.): But despite the numbness… Louder. Brighter with each thump. JASE (V.O.): Despite the hurt… In the darkness beat a glowing heart. JASE (V.O.): There is hope.

EXT. COLOURFUL PLAYGROUND - DAY A cute little fluffy TEDDY BEAR's face beams with happiness, it swings under the arm of GOLDEN CURLS, 5. An unseen force rips teddy bear's arm right off, to reveal a cotton balled interior. A child wails. VALERIE (V.O.): Hate is such a strong word. SERIES OF SHOTS A hand holding an apple stretches forward to Golden Curls, who takes it. A caterpillar wriggles its way out. Crunch of teeth into the apple. A branch is stretched forward into the spokes of a bicycle with suspenders. Golden Curls jettisons head over heels across the handlebars. A hand pushes Golden Curls from the edge of a tree house. A thud. VALERIE (V.O.): You could say it's ugly. A frog is dropped down the back of a child's shorts. Berries are squashed into a blue t-shirt. VALERIE (V.O.): But you could say I didn't like my neighbour, Master Leslie Jones. VALERIE, 9, with braces, sits on a swing and smiles as we see the back of Golden Curls head, 9, as he leans in to kiss her. VALERIE (V.O.): Leslie Jones, the boy next door. GOLDEN CURLS/ LESLIE JONES: Aaagh! Aaagh! Lovers locked in a...vice like jaw grip, Valerie's wedged her braces into his gums. She kicks her feet off the ground, raises the swing backwards, dragging Leslie Jones forwards and back with her. FAST FORWARD PAST VARIOUS BRUTAL HUMILIATIONS: Trouser pulling, grape pelting, worm dropping, egg squishing. VALERIE(V.O.): So how comes... EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - DAY Valerie, 15, sits in a tree house, spies on the house next door. VALERIE (V.O.): ...since he told me he's moving away, Leslie Jones has gotten so hot? Leslie Jones throws hoops in the yard next door.

(Scene 5) Over BLACK – JOSH (V.O.) But I’m telling this whole thing backwards! What we need to do is start from the beginning. EXT. CHESS CAFE - HAVANA – DAY At a street cafe table, Josh sits across a chess board from a woman whose face we can’t see. Moves a chess piece - as they play footsie under the table. JOSH (V.O.) Nope, further back than that. EXT. DOMINIC’S ROOM - HOSPITAL – DAY Bright sunlight and palms through the window. Here, in shadow, a MAN dials an old fashioned phone and sets the receiver to his ear… JOSH (V.O.) Okay, close, but maybe just a… EXT. SCHOOL YARD - MICHIGAN - DAY (TWENTY YEARS AGO) A ring of KIDS urge on the chunky SCHOOL BULLY (15), as he squares up to underweight, neglected TWELVE-YEAR-OLD JOSH. The big kid takes a swing - slow-motion - But even as the punch connects, Josh’s HAND DIPS INTO THE BULLY’S POCKET - tugging free a brown wallet… JOSH (V.O.) Not this far! Jiminy Cricket, what’s this got to do with anything? The bully walks away. Job done. The crowd follow, adoring. Josh, on his ass on the asphalt, wipes blood from his nose - and opens the bully’s wallet. Twenty bucks. Sweet! JOSH (V.O.) Though you could say it actually started that afternoon, when a stranger walked into the West Peoria Dairy Queen and asked for my mother, but… (he doesn’t want to go there) Pashat! It starts in Pashat! EXT. PASHAT, PAKISTAN – DAY Ramshackle houses and shops behind a veil of dust - kicked up by the motorcycles, pick-ups and donkeys that throng the narrow streets. JOSH (V.O.) Finally! Pashat, Tribal Area of Pakistan, ten days ago. And the fun starts, oh, just about… here. On the corner, a tea shop. OLD MEN sit in the window, sipping black tea, smoking - and eying the BLACK HUMVEE parked across the street. JOSH (V.O.) Okay, I admit this doesn’t look good. But conmen and war have a long and honorable association. INT. TEA SHOP - PAKISTAN – DAY THREE CIA GUYS - the wrap-around shades give them away - sit with a shifty GUY IN LOCAL DRESS, headdress hiding his face. JOSH (V.O.) Because every war, like every story, has three sides. Two sides fighting – The CIA guys push a cardboard box across the table. A cheap DVD player. JOSH (V.O.) And one side in the middle, taking them for everything they’ve got. When the Guy In Local Dress lifts the lid, the box is packed with hundred dollar bills. He WINKS TO CAMERA. As if we haven’t guessed - he’s Josh.

SCENE 8 EXT. TOWN - NIGHT A small farm town, surrounded by wide, open fields. It’s a moonless night, but the streets are brightly lit, because the entire town is on fire. Bright orange flames lick the moonless sky as people run through the streets, some screaming, some dazed, some rushing to help each other. A pair of bare feet pad down the main road, moving slowly among the chaos. AGATHA (V.O.): After it was all over, they would blame the wind. It was the wind that passed the fire from the barn, to the tree - A barn and a tree are completely engulfed in flames, almost unrecognizable. AGATHA(V.O.): Moses heard God speaking from a burning bush - I wonder who’s speaking from a burning tree? The feet continue through the town, seeming even slower as people run around frantically. A man carries a little girl off of a burning porch. Someone else runs out of a house with a box. House upon house, building upon building, burning. Screaming and coughing mingles with the sound of sirens, getting louder. AGATHA (V.O.): Later, they would say that it was the worst disaster that ever befell our little town. Almost all of the buildings burned to the ground before the firefighters could get it under control. The crops in the fields, all gone. Everybody’s homes, their lives, everything destroyed. PETER runs down the road. He’s calling, but there’s too much noise. Finally, he comes close enough to be heard. PETER: Agatha! Agatha! The bare feet stop. They belong to AGATHA, who looks completely disheveled, her eyes red and puffy. She stares at Peter. AGATHA (V.O.): In the end, everyone would keep looking to me as if I knew how one little match could bring down the entire town, as if I had all the answers to their questions. PETER: Agatha! What the hell did you do? Agatha just stares at him, her eyes welling up. A matchbox falls from her hand and bounces onto the road.

SCENE 8 (PROMPT: Write a scene using voice-over narration.) INT. JACOB’S ROOM – DAY JACOB stands in front of a mirror. He’s seventeen, looking thirteen. Rounded cheeks. Freckles. Thick glasses. The type of guy who’d sit in his room and make model cars… and that’s just what he has on his desk. Parts, glue, everything. JACOB VO: One year from today, I will be virgin-less. He flexes his arms in the mirror. Skin and bones, my friends. JACOB VO: Phase one, add muscles. Jacob drops to the floor and pounds out A pushup. By ‘pound’ I mean arms wobbling, chest strained, face red. JACOB VO: Phase two, lose the glasses. He rips the glasses from his face and flings them away – they sail out the window. JACOB VO: Three, get a cool hairstyle. Jacob, now blind, reaches for the gel on his desk – grabs the SUPER GLUE instead and squirts a handful. Throws his hands in his hair and ‘messes’ it. JACOB VO: Got the look, got the body, all you need is the confidence. He turns to the mirror – it’s really the window – and rehearses: JACOB: How you doin? MOTHER (OS): Fine. Jacob whips around and to his mother – actually the mirror. MOTHER: Over here, honey. He turns fifteen degrees to his right. MOTHER: Still over here. JACOB (tries to be casual): Hey, mom, what’s up? MOTHER: Dinner. Five. And change your shirt. It’s filthy. JACOB: Sure thing. MOTHER: And Jacob? JACOB: Yeah, mom? MOTHER: You’ve got glue in your hair. Jacob’s hand goes to his hair as his mother exits the room.

These are great, you guys. I have to admit, I'm struggling with this one. I usually try to avoid narration like the plague. This is a good challenge.

8-7/10 TITLE A POEM FOR MANHATTAN FADE FROM BLACK Stock footage, black and white, the construction of Manhattan. YOUNG WOMAN (V.O.)-I slept through the night... Laborers building high rises, on beams above the city, before regulation was mandatory, chain smoking. YOUNG WOMAN (V.O.)-Well past first light... 1950’s subways, and elevated trains with windows open, business men with Fedoras and secretaries in poodle skirts. YOUNG WOMAN (V.O.)-I slept safe and sound only to awaken to the news that shattered the Earth to the ground... 1960’s color film, civil rights protest and marches, people of all colors performing civil disobedience. YOUNG WOMAN (V.O.)-Centuries of work reduced to rubble... 1970’s. Sped up still camera shots of the World Trade Center being built. YOUNG WOMAN (V.O.)-As we learn how easy humanity can crumble. In the hands of fictitious gods do we fall apart, and drift through man made fog. 1980’s-Long shot of the Island, with the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center front and center. YOUNG WOMAN(V.O)-Generations of work and life, gone in a brief snap... EXT. SPACE - MORNING The bright blue marble that is Earth from the space station. Smoke is visible, zoom in. YOUNG WOMAN (V.O.)-The rest of the planet recalled things they said or did, things they wish they could take back EXT. REST AREA - MORNING ATTRACTIVE BOAS CAM Kim holds Hudson while she and hundreds of other people stare East to a sunrise over a city that is no longer there. YOUNG WOMAN (V.O.)-I slept through the night, well past first light... People cry, many in their pajamas. Strangers hold and comfort strangers. YOUNG WOMAN (V.O.)-I slept safe and sound but awoke feeling something was wrong, THE 9/11 FLAG RAISING PHOTO THE HURRICANE SANDY HOSPITAL EVACUATION PHOTO AND END ON THE ICONIC JOHN LENNON I HEART N.Y. PHOTO YOUNG WOMAN (V.O.)-But right now, there is no sense of calm... TITLE A POEM FOR MANHATTAN... YOUNG WOMAN (V.O.)-For Manhattan is gone... INSERT TITLE A POEM FOR MANHATTAN...(is gone0 INT. BEDROOM - MORNING THE POET, 11 year old Hispanic girl, could be in Iowa, Dallas, or Miami, reads from a piece of paper that she hand wrote. She drops the poem she just read, reaches over to her laptop and CLICKS OFF FADE TO BLACK

SCENE EIGHT Open on a black screen. ELLIE (V.O.): If I could punch anyone in the nuts, and we’re talking like full force, open shot, no punch-backs – and before you give me your indignant bullshit, Hitler and the guys in the KKK and murders and all them, they don’t count. EXT. HIGH SCHOOL PARKING LOT – MORNING ELLIE sits on the back of an old, rusty pick-up truck, her feet dangling off the edge, eating a lollipop. BROOKE lays next to her, her hair falling over the edge next to Ellie’s feet. MAX stands next to the truck, tossing a baseball to himself. ELLIE (V.O.): If I could junk-punch anyone, it would be Johnny Muller. Across the parking lot, we see a group of soccer plays juggling a soccer ball amongst themselves. We narrow in on JOHNNY, who is handsome in an athletic, future-Senator sort of way. ELLIE (V.O.): What kind of seventeen-year-old boy calls himself Johnny anyways? You’d think he could at least drop the ‘Y.’ Or he could go by Jay. Anything’s better than Johnny. Back to the three friends, sitting in the truck. A bell rings and the three sigh and slowly begin to get up and make their way toward the school. ELLIE (V.O.): Back before all the boobs and the blowjobs, in the good ol’ pre-pubescent days, the four of us – me, Max, Brooke, and Johnny – were something of a clique. You know, thick as thieves, BFFs, four peas in a pod, all that sappy shit. Johnny and his friends end their juggling game and begin walking into the school, behaving like typical jocks. ELLIE (V.O.): Then Johnny became a soccer star and he said he had to get to know the guys off the field to learn to trust them on the field – let’s be honest, he stole that straight out of some underdog Disney sports movie. Anyways, long story short, Johnny, cool, us, not so cool. So now it’s the three of us, which works just fine for us. Ellie, Max, and Brooke wander through the halls to their lockers. ELLIE (V.O.): Wait, no! Fucking Dermot Mulroney. That’s who I would punch in the junk. I honestly don’t know why, but come on, that guy deserves a good sack in the nuts. You can just tell. But Johnny is definitely first runner-up.

Scene 8 EXT. FIELD - DAY Three boys, SAM, DAVID and TODD, all 12, walk in a large field in the sweltering Missouri heat. Clusters of cows are grazing. Todd gives Sam a little push and he steps in something, looks at his shoe in disgust, then gives chase to the fleeing boy. David just smiles, shaking his head. DAVID (V.O.): It wasn't an unusual adventure. Not for us three on a long summer day. We just wanted to get to the top of the hill on Mr. Johansson's ranch so we could get a good view of Bottom's Point. The boys reach the top of a hill. A large, slow-moving river glimmers with sunlight about a football field away. DAVID (V.O.): That's where the river crests. Older kids and young adults go camping or throw parties there. If we were lucky we might even get to see some titties. But none of us expected to see that. CLOSE on Sam's face, wide-eyed with his jaw dropped. A subtle smile slowly creeping over his gaping mouth. DAVID (V.O.): Sam was mesmorized, in a trance, like he was born again at the sight of it. David, looking to his left with a furrowed brow, turns to his right. Todd's giving a side-glare through a hard frown, his head turned as far as it can go, but his eyes remain fixed. DAVID (V.O.): Todd just looked baffled, torn. Like his whole body wanted to run away from it, but his mind just wouldn't let it go. David looks forward, searching, confused. DAVID (V.O.): I didn't see nothin'. The boys are walking back through the field. Todd and Sam are animated, arguing. David walks between them, head down and silent. SAM: It was an angel. TODD: An angel? Don't be stupid. SAM: Well maybe not an angel, but some kind of a spirit, or a sign from God. TODD: It was an optical illusion. Plain and simple. There's got to be a rational explanation. SAM: What do you think it was, David? DAVID: I didn't see it. TODD: What do you mean you didn't see it?! You were lookin' right at it, same as us. What are you blind?! SAM: Leave him alone. He just doesn't want to get involved. You know how he is. DAVID (V.O.): Sure enough I felt left out. Like I missed something special, something amazing. To tell you the truth, I count myself lucky. Sam and Todd were obsessed. The endless debate would consume their lives. INT. SCHOOL CAFETERIA - MONTHS LATER David is eating his lunch. Sam sits across from him reading the Bible. Todd plops down holding up a book on optics. TODD: It's all right here. Reflection and refraction and such. You ever seen a rainbow? SAM: It wasn't no rainbow. TODD: Of course it wasn't a rainbow! But it's the same principles. Light can do all kinds of crazy things. SAM: Listen here. Ezekiel 1, verse 4. "An immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like-- TODD: Don't read me those fairy tales. This book here is fact. Observable science. I don't understand it all yet, but one day I will. You'll see. SAM: You go ahead. But I think I got all the answers I need right here. What do you think David? DAVID: I think I need another chocolate milk. David gets up and walks away. Sam and Todd just shake their heads. SAM: Still in denial. DAVID (V.O.): He could be right. To this day I swear I didn't see it. But then again, maybe people just see what they want to see.

Sc. 5 EXT. SUBURBAN SIDEWALK DAY DARREN shuffling along. Cigarette dangling from his mouth. White plastic bag with milk and paper in one hand, voice recorder in the other. He awkwardly takes the cigarette out of his mouth with the hand holding the bag- DARREN (into recorder): As a result of their highly developed social organization, the ants have dominated the solitary insect -- He is crushed into a hedge by an excursion of school children holding hands - They pass, and Darren emerge from the shrubbery, twig and leaves in his hair. He continues. DARREN (into recorder): While we have enjoyed this kind of social organization for 500,000 years, ants have been socially organized and living in complex colonies for over 50 million years-- A young, smartly dressed businesswoman talking loudly into her phone bumps him - Darren readjusts his shirt and continues. DARREN (into recorder): But what counts is not the individual ant, nor the total population of the colony - He passes a teenage couple necking heavily and dry humping against a wall. DARREN (cont'd): - but the number of virgin queens and males released into nuptial flights that succeed at starting new colonies -- A troupe of singing and dancing Hare-Krishna's circle around Darren. Self-consciously he tries to find an opening, but must relent until they move on - He gathers his thoughts, finds his line. DARREN (into recorder): But this social organization will only work if all the minions are programmed to act, and to think, in concert. A phone starts RINGING. The ring tone is 'The Ants Go Marching' - Darren fumbles around in his pocket. DARREN (into recorder first then phone): Hello? What- Hello! John, Johnnyjohnjohn. You do? Fan-bloody-tastic mate. Can you pick me up...Would I need you to pick me up if my car had been fixed? I know, I know...I...Well- can you pick me up or not...Yes!

SCENE 8 INT. RESTAURANT – NIGHT KYA (22), dressed in her server attire, is pouring tequila for a table of six Saudi Arabian men, including the PRINCE (26). They're having a ball. KYA (V.O.): This is the prince. He's a real Saudi prince. Apparently there are a lot of them, but on this shitty-don't-know-if-I-can-make-rent kind of night, he's the only one who matters. Patrick said, PATRICK (V.O): He tips at least 20% plus four hundred dollars. If he orders tea, you're guaranteed $401. No joke. KYA (V.O.): The prince is my best friend. (Humming “Tequila”) Da dun da da da da dun dun. I don't care how cliché this song is now. Da dun da da da da dun... The prince gives her a flirtatious look as she pours. KYA (V.O.): Tequila! PRINCE: So, where are you from? KYA (V.O.): (Singing over dialogue) Na na na naaaaaa na! KYA: Here. LA native! KYA (V.O.): Na na na naaaaaa na! Na na na na na na na PRINCE: No. Where you from? What are you? KYA: Israeli! PRINCE: (beat) Can you get more water? KYA: Of course. Sure. KYA puts the tequila bottle down. She starts to walk away. PRINCE: (Looking across the table) Omar, you pay tonight. OMAR: Uh... yeah, sure. (To KYA) Hey! I'll grab the check. KYA: Ok. KYA (V.O.): It's a dangerous, but lucrative game when people ask where you're from… particularly with my background. I play it well, though. With Jews, "I'm Israeli." Middle Easterners, "I'm Yemeni." White people, "Yeah, I have some Irish in there." I once got an extra $100 after telling a Russian man I was learning to sing "Ochi Chernye." I never fuck this up. Kya slams a water pitcher against the faucet. KYA: Fuck. Kya prints out the check from the computer while the water fills up. XAVIER (25), her busser, walks by. XAVIER: Looking forward to that tip out! KYA: Yeeeeah! Gonna be huge! Kya brings the check and water to the table. Omar hands her a hundred dollar bill. OMAR: Bring back the change. KYA (V.O.): Na na na na na na na. CUT TO BLACK.

SCENE #3 INT. BATHROOM SINK Clean, sanitized. STRONG HAND Well manicured. Carefully places a white wash cloth near the basin. Turns on the water. Hot. NARRATOR (VO): It's a process. MAGNIFYING MIRROR A distorted EYEBALL darts back and forth, examining. A FINGER prods and pokes the skin below the eye. Pores stretch closed, bounce back upon release. NARRATOR (VO): I never should have got one of these mirrors. Everything shows. I don't care if you can see it when you pass me on the street... Well, you wouldn't anyway. You wouldn't even look. The mirror goes blurry as he backs away. Something RINSES in the rushing water. NARRATOR (VO): But, if I know it's there... The Eyeball returns. Blinks. NARRATOR (VO): There. The Eye steadies, stares - fixated just below the eyelid. A DOT... A freckle perhaps. The manicured finger appears again, presses close to the speck. Scratches it. The lone blemish in view still remains. VANITY MIRROR REFLECTION - THE NARRATOR (30's) leans close to the magnifying mirror, half-naked, hands on his face. His body smooth shaven, pocked with fresh scars, scabs and a patch of bloody gauze on his shoulder. NARRATOR (VO): Perfection takes work, you know. MAGNIFYING MIRROR He presses a scalpel into the suspect spot. NARRATOR (VO): You probably don't. THE SINK Clean. Sanitized... Tainted.

SCENE 8_____________________________________ Soothing sound of the waves is heard over black. Birds are heard along with the joy of people, a little girl's voice enter. LITTLE GIRL: Daddy… can we please go on that cruise someday?… pleaassssssse… SLOW FADE IN EXT.GATE.NIGHT A man(47) is leaning over a stick while sitting on a chair woth his eyes closed, just outside a gate, dressed as a WATCHMAN. The sound of sea still overlaps. And slowly as he opens his eyes, the sound fades along with it and the silence of night resumes. He sighs and a light smile appears on his face. Man in a hood walks past him on the street. EXTREME CLOSE UP on the WATCHMAN as he drifts off in thoughts. Off screen we hear a car approaching, it brakes. BANG----BANG----BANG HE jolts. We hear his frightened heartbeat. He hesitantly moves to the source, a road turn. In the nihht as quiet as space, the sound of his footsteps breaks through. WATCHMAN'S POV: He peers over the turn to find a little girl(6) lying dead and blood rushing off her chest. He panics, He can hardly breath. He screams in disbelief. Over his scream, WATCHMAN(V.O): THAT was my little angel…(croaks) my daughter… He takes his head in his hands, as if to change what he sees. He covers his ears. LITTLE GIRL(V.O): DADDY? (Frightened) why is the ship so shaky. WATCHMAN(V.O): DARLING! You have to open the door, the ship is sinking! We have to go! The man in the hood, looks at him in surprise MAN: Is everything alright, pal? LITTLE GIRL(V.O): WAIT! I need my doll! WATCHMAN(V.O): NO EVE! Right now! LITTLE GIRL(V.O): WHERE IS MY DOLL? WATCHMAN(to the man): NO I'M NOT OK! The man sneaks off, leaving him to himself. The CAMERA PANS to where the girl lied dead, but the place is EMPTY V.O: Waves splash, hard, the little girl screams The watchmam screams on screen! WATCHMAN: AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Eveeeeee…! The rain pours… a melancholy piano tune play. WATCHMAN(V.O): since then…(sobbing) I see her everywhere… SLOW FADE TO BLACK

INT. MARCY's BEDROOM - DAY MARCY, 28, a hot twisted mess of sweaty sheets and empty Tums bottles. Mouth-breathing, drool, birdnest hair, the works. MARCY (V.O.): Oh myyy. A vision of beauty right there. God's gift to the planet. She groans and rolls over the side of the bed and heaves. MARCY (VO): Lovely. She then attempts a slow rise from death, but the maze of absolutely nothing between her and the bathroom seems daunting. MARCY (VO): You did this to yourself, ya know. No one forced you to go to Europe. FLASHBACK: INT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT Strobe lights. Loud music. Marcy and pals dancing in debaucherous delight. INT. MARCY's BEDROOM - DAY Her attempt to make the bathroom has her slinking along the wall and winking out of one eye. Her world is warbled. MARCY (VO): Go to Europe, they said. It'll be fun, they said. Find a hot Italian sausage and live it up, they said. FLASHBACK: EXT. MEDITERRANEAN BEACH - DAY Marcy and some Italian stud swooning on the beach and rolling in the waves. INT. MARCY's BATHROOM - DAY Marcy hugs the toilet and heaves. MARCY (VO): Fucking dry heaves, man. Fucking PUKE already. Fuck! A bleary-eyed Marcy rises from the pot and braces herself on the sink. The reflection staring back at her is shocking. MARCY (VO): How much longer is this going to last? I haven't brushed my teeth in a week. A failed tooth-grin and she runs her tongue across her teeth. Disgusting. MARCY (VO): Christ almighty. FLASHBACK: INT. ITALIAN STUD's BEDROOM - NIGHT Hanky panky. Good ol' fashion rug burns in the making. Get it, girl! INT. MARCY's BATHROOM - DAY Marcy grabs her toothbrush and automatically heaves a little. After a BIG breath, she goes for the toothpaste right next to a positive pregnancy test. Another big breath in preparation for the task at hand and the toothbrush goes up and in. Instant gag upon insertion. FREEZE FRAME. MARCY (VO): Congratulations. You're a slut.

Nice. Sounds like my kind of story/character. I want to read more!

Very descrptive. Easy to follow, too.

Totally made me laugh.

This is my first crack at voiceover just so you know;) SCENE 8 FADE IN: Montage of scenes where you see an attractive Afro American woman at home, at work , at school, and going home to an empty apartment. This woman introduces herself off camera while these various scenes flash by. AMELIA (V.O.) Hello there. My name is Amelia Williams and what you are seeing are various scenes of my life. My somewhat boring life. Okay, let’s be honest. It is boring. Being a single Black woman in Atlanta GA is not exactly glamorous unless you are one of countless gold diggers at the club every weekend trying to land a baller. (cut to a line of scantily clad, weaved out women standing in line at the club) Me? I’m just trying to get out of grad school unscathed and land a better paying job than the one I have at He Is Risen Baptist Church as the pastor’s executive assistant (cut to Amelia taking dictation in her pastor’s office). What do I want to do with my life you ask? I really don’t know honestly. I just know it’s not what I’m doing right now. As far as my social life goes, it’s as dry as the Sahara. Most of my girlfriends are in relationships so I don’t get to see them often and my BFF/favorite cousin Ramona lives in Chicago so I only get to see her when she flies down to check on the investment properties she owns which is once a month. (cut to a scene of Ramona and Amelia out on the town) Lately though I have been feeling so burned out that a vacay with Ramona sounds divine right about now. Not just any vacation, but the ultimate vacation. (cut to shots of Italy) Rome Italy has been on my bucket list for years and that’s where I want to go. That dream trip is just a reservation away and all I need is for Ramona to agree and off to Italy we go. If she can’t go, then the trip is out. I could and never would travel alone. Plus being alone is dangerous. If Ramona went with me, at least we could look out for one another. CUT TO: Amelia getting her phone to call Ramona.

Scene 8: JACOB strides into the conference room. GUS and MANUEL patiently wait at the table. Everyone proverbially handshakes and talks small. Gus drones on about the company for 20 minutes. Jacob cares less. JACOB (VO): Ramble on, dude. Less time for me. The Led Zeppelin song blasts in his head. He wants to stand up and do some air guitar and scream to the rafters. GUS: So, Jacob, enough about us. Tell us about your experience. Jacob presents 5 minutes of his relevant 18 years of experience. MANUEL (VO): I hate it when they ramble on. Let’s see. What else did I prepare here? GUS (VO): Will this guy ever shut up? JACOB (VO): I hope they got lost in the overly detailed description of my extensive technical prowess. They did. MANUEL: Ok, so Jacob. Let’s back up. Could you go a little deeper on your specific experience with technology? JACOB (VO): OK. Here we go. Please not the whole self-eval nightmare. Please, please, please? GUS: Yes. Could you rate yourself from one to ten in a few areas? JACOB (V.O.): Shit! At least he’s not asking me to program a spreadsheet email connection with hand gestures. MANUEL: Yes let’s say one means you know nothing, and ten means you could write a book about it. JACOB (VO): A book? Excellent, I like that. Let’s play. MANUEL: So how about Microsoft Project? JACOB: Ten. Gus and Manuel are impressed. Manuel: Really? OK, how about Team Foundation Server? JACOB: Ten. Gus: No kidding? Visual Basic? Email-spreadsheet connections? JACOB: 10, 10, 10. They go on through 8 or 9 more technologies. Jacob answers 10 to each one with supreme confidence. Gus: Really? You could author books on those? JACOB: Absolutely. JACOB (VO): Anyone can research any of that for a year and spit out a book. You think book authors actually do that stuff? GUS: Wow. OK, can you tell me what inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation are? JACOB (VO): Had that one last week, yesterday... What is it with these guys? Do they all get the same interview questions? JACOB: Yes I could. They are the basic elements of Greek tragedy. Jacob smirks. Gus and Manuel are not amused. Jacob goes on to list the textbook answers. JACOB: ....It’s the 40-year-old programming language structure that programmers mimic to appear knowledgeable. GUS: Did you say mimic? MANUEL: Appear? GUS: 40 years? JACOB: Did I? Yeah, I guess so. JACOB (VO): Gottcha. Any more questions relevant to the last decade? GUS (VO): Everything I do is structured like that. Better let it go. Gus shoots a look at Manuel. They are brain clones. GUS: OK. Well, Manuel, you have any more questions? MANUEL: Ah, no. I don’t think so. GUS: OK. Well thanks for coming in…. JACOB (VO): Blah, blah, blah, thank you, goodbye, don’t hold your breath. Next? Jacob leaves. Manuel and Gus sit silently reviewing their documents. GUS (VO): No way I’m hiring that guy. MANUEL (VO): No way I’ll hire that guy. Brain clones. GUS: Smart guy. Manuel: Yeah. GUS: Book smart. MANUEL: Right. But can he do the job? MANUEL (VO): Probably would make me look bad. Gus too. Probably would take my job. GUS: Yeah. Good question. Let’s see who else we have.

Scene #8: EXT – BAYOU SEPT TO PETRALIA ROAD – DAY A black 1938 Buick motors along a narrow macadam road through low, forested hills still brushed by morning fog. HUGH (VO): I don't remember my first five years. My doctor says that's not unusual, given what happened to my parents. I've blocked the memory of how they died so completely, I can't even remember their faces. The road narrows and curves among thickets of old growth oaks. HUGH (VO): It was in the papers, I'm told, papers I couldn't read until recently and doubt I ever will. I remember none of it and that's good by me. The fog gets thicker, and the car slows. HUGH (VO): My memories are scant between the time I was five and the time I was reborn in the care of Joshua Poovey. The car enters Petralia Woods. Here the trees cluster tightly and overhang the road in places, their branches touching. An owl hoots. HUGH (VO): I moved from family to family. I recall a few places and faces, but no names at all. I remember planting potatoes and digging for them in hard soil, and eating one raw right from the row, with dirt on it, once. The car emerges from the woods and rain begins to fall. Wind whips the willow trees along the road. HUGH (VO): I remember being whipped with a willow switch more than once. My expectations of humanity became smaller with every new place. The driver, the WELFARE LADY, peers through the windshield as rain pelts the car. She looks in the back seat, where HUGH huddles, ill-clad, cold and afraid. WELFARE LADY: We'll be there in a trice, Hugh. You’ll like Mr. Poovey. He’s a fine Christian man. He goes to my church. EXT. – POOVEY HOUSE – DAY The Buick pulls off the road along a gravel path and SCRITCHES to a halt. The house is a small, decrepit one-story frame house, with a few remaining flakes of paint. A loose shutter BANGS in the wind against the grey clapboards. HUGH (VO): By the time I arrived at Poovey's, my highest expectation was death. Welfare Lady gets out of the Buick and SLAMs the door. JOSH POOVEY appears on the front porch, hands in his overall pockets. She runs onto the porch, out of the rain. WELFARE LADY: He’s a runaway, Mr. Poovey. You’ll have to watch him close-like to make sure he don’t take off. No telling what might happen to him. POOVEY: I’ll see to it, even if’n I has to whup him. WELFARE LADY: Spare the rod and spoil the child... POOVEY: Proverbs 13:24. WELFARE LADY: Amen. POOVEY: When do I get paid? WELFARE LADY: First of every month. Ten dollars. EXT. – POOVEY HOUSE – DAY Poovey and the boy stand by the road. Poovey grips Hugh by a shoulder, fingers digging into his flesh, making him squirm. Poovey points to the west. POOVEY: Town is thataway, ‘bout 25 miles. T'other way, ain’t nothin’ but Petralia woods. Them is where The Axeman took his victims, year ago come August. Kilt four of ‘em. Leastaways, that’s how many they think they was. He chopped ‘em up so bad, coroner over to Bayou Sept said he couldn’t rightly count ‘em. Turrible thing. (leaning close) I’d stay outa them woods, if'n I was you, boy. HUGH (VO): Death was the first thing that Josh Poovey ever mentioned that day, and death was never far from my thoughts from then on. I felt doomed. CLOSE ON Hugh, tears running down his cheeks.

SCENE 6 Write a scene using voice-over narration. INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT ERIC, twelve years old, lies on his bed with his eyes close trying to fall asleep. He tosses and turns a few times before he settles in again. ERIC (V.O.) I can’t open my eyes. I just won’t. I know something’s hiding in my closet staring at me. Eric squishes his eyelids together. He turns around so that he lays on his belly. ERIC (V.O.) I don’t want to see you. Please, just let me fall asleep. Eric once again turns around so that now he is laying on his back. ERIC (V.O.) Maybe if I finally see it I won’t be so scared anymore. He glances at his closet. Nothing is there. Eric quickly shuts his eyes again. ERIC (V.O.) Okay. I checked. Nothing is there. A beat. ERIC (V.O.) But I only glanced. What if I missed it? I need to take a longer look. Eric takes a deep breath. ERIC (V.O.) Okay. One... Two... Eric opens his eyes and stares at his closet. There’s nothing there. ERIC (V.O.) See? Nothing’s there. I can sleep now. Eric returns to lying on his back. He opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling. Other than the sliver of light that illuminates part of his ceiling, the ceiling is drenched with darkness. Eric continues to stare. His squinches his eyes. He thinks he sees something. He does. A long figure with long and uncut fingernails crawls along his ceiling. Eric automatically gets out of bed and runs to his mom’s room. ERIC Mom!

Scene 5 (Voice-Over) INT. WAREHOUSE-NIGHT Black. Total darkness As we pull out we discover this is actually a black sack. Further out, we see it's a black sack over someone's head. FEMALE (V.O.): I moved to Miami seeking fame and fortune. I was seduced by the effortless luxury and the sun and the sexy. The figure slumps on his knees with his hands bound behind his back on the dusty floor. There are drag marks in the dust. He didn't walk here. His dusty clothes are spotted with sweat. The warehouse is dim save for a few overhead lights. Shadows crowd the deep corners. The walls are rusted and dirty from disuse. A metal door bangs open across the room. Footsteps echo in the cavernous space. The figure turns slightly in the direction of the footsteps. FEMALE (V.O.): I see now I should have been more specific. Future note: avoid men or women, for that matter, offering candy for free. It's never free. Three people stop in front of the kneeling man. Two men and a woman. A tall Latino with a body built for creating pain. The other man is stocky in a custom made suit with a mustache that makes him look like a short, thick, Latino version of Burt Reynolds circa 1977. The woman is Sophia Vergara-hot in a red, tight fitting dress. Not the right attire for this venue, but she pulls it off. FEMALE (V.O.): That's me. Bianca del Mago de Vera, second in command of the biggest drug runners in Miami....the Begito Cartel. Unseen by the three, the kneeling man is quietly working the knotted rope. His wrists bleed from the rope burn. BIANCA (V.O.): And I'm about the help this man take them down.

SCENE 8 INT. BAR – AFTER MIDNIGHT MAN (V.O.): Poor Matt (35), he thinks that drinking himself to death will solve his problem. If he were honest to himself he would have caught the first sign and know that the woman he was about to marry was going to be trouble. Matt sits at the bar. It’s obvious he has had many drinks and is drunk. He signs the bartender to give him one more beer. Matt looks lost, depressed, at the lowest point of his life. He hopes that drinking will give him some release. EXT. BEACH – DAY Guests have gathered for the wedding of Matt and his beloved fiancé Bianca (25). Everyone is waiting for Bianca. Matt looks around and stares at the house in the distance. He glances at his watch. He has been waiting for an hour. Rumors starts. MAN (V.O.) Guests were seeing things Matt denied to acknowledge. The bride didn’t show up on time. LATER Two voluptuous boobs move towards the aisle. Big boobs, that what’s first to notice on Bianca, young, sexy and perky. Matt beams. His waiting was worth it. Jaws dropped as Bianca looked like an expensive first hooker in a revealing wedding dress. Guests gossip quietly. MAN (V.O.) I don’t think Matt wanted to see the truth. He was way beyond joy that he had found Bianca. Well, actually, she had him. She had staged their first meeting. Reverent says his speech. Matt smiles. He holds the hands of his bride to be. SOUND OF TELEPHON. Matt looks around who disturbs this holy meeting. His bride wrangles her arm loose. She digs her hand into her boobs and takes out a mobile phone. MAN (V.O.) Poor Matt. Still to ignorant to see what’s going on. He willingly waits and settles his own black destiny. Matt looks surprised at his fiancé who texts a message. Rumors starts. People grin. This looks like trouble. Bianca doesn’t care what’s going on around her. She finishes her text, puts the phone in between her boobs and looks at the reverent who stopped, his eyes wandering what she’s doing. Matt pinches Bianca, they are ready to get married. He’s happy. She’s all attention. MAN (V.O.) Matt should have stopped right there. He didn’t and this has become of him. INT. BAR – AFTER MIDNIGHT Matt drinks till he passes out at the bar. MAN (V.O.) The woman took his money and run away. I wonder how he’s going to pay for his drinks.

A BLACK SCREEN. ED (V.O.): I am a worthless sack of shit. INT. BAR - NIGHT A busy dive-ish bar. Pool tables galore. Jukebox is blaring 90's hip-hop. TV's playing basketball games. ED, an early-twenties white guy, awkwardly sits alone at the bar while groups of people seated at the bar on each side of him are deep in conversation. ED (V.O.): What kind of fucking moron comes to a bar alone? He scans the bar, which is filled of groups full of friends. At the very end, he sees an old, bedraggled looking man sitting alone. ED (V.O.): Fuck! You're him, you fucker, you're him! He begins looking incredibly anxious, and begins to panic. ED (V.O.): And everyone can see how fucking nervous you look. Leave before you embarrass yourself even more! Leave! Looking around for an exit, Ed begins to get off of his stool. Just then, a large glass of Guinness is placed in front of him. Shocked, Ed looks up, seeing the person who gifted him this drink is none other than a gorgeous, perfect-10 of a blonde bartender. Ed, mouth agape, stares at her, and she smiles back. She walks away. He looks at the drink, then, confused, looks back at her. He raises his hand to get her attention. But she doesn't see him, as she's too focused on the other men's orders. ED (V.O.): Say something motherfucker!!!! ED: Excuse me? She turns and looks at him. ED: I didn't order this. Bartender: (smiling) I know. It's on the house. The bartender walks away, leaving Ed speechless. ED (V.O.): Drink the whole thing so that you can calm your ass down. Ed chugs the beer down. ED (V.O.): There you go, you stupid fuck. Now order another so you can talk to her again. He pulls out his wallet, but finds only two dollar bills. ED (V.O.): Fuck! Order...order a water! Ed squints his eyes, finding the advice odd. ED (V.O.): Do you have any better plans? Do it! Ed raises his hand, calling the girl over. ED: Water, please. The bartender says nothing, just smiles at him, taking his beer glass away. As she grabs the water, she leans over. Ed gawks her all the while. ED (V.O.): Good Christ, you could bounce a quarter off that fucking thing. I bet that ass is as indestructible as a fucking boulder. Probably feels as hard as a boulder too. God, now I'm fucking hard. Ed has an enormous bulge protruding from his pants. The bartender brings his glass of water. Bartender: What's your name, honey? Ed: (clears throat) Ed...ward. Edward. She smiles, then walks away. Bartender: Edward...Edward... ED (V.O.): Edward?!!?! That's what you tell her?!?!? That's a pedophile's name. ED: Eddie! She turns around confused. Bartender: What? ED (V.O.): You fucker... ED: It's Eddie. Bartender: (confused) Oh.

SCENE 8 INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT A dark, drab, and messy studio apartment. A dim lamp flickers. MAN (V.O.): I tried to control it. A smashed phone sits on the ground. MAN (V.O): I got rid of any obstacles. A flat screen TV lays on the floor, plug raveled around. MAN (V.O.): Why. Why? An open fridge – empty, spilled food everywhere. MAN (V.O.): There was no other solution. It had to come to this. A knife with a red substance sits on the counter. MAN (V.O.): I have no excuses, but no apologies either. I could have stopped each step of the way... The front door is open a crack. It creaks as it moves slightly. MAN (V.O.): ...but I didn't want to. We see the back of MAN, slightly overweight. He sits calmly at a table. MAN (V.O.): It's too... The MAN breathes heavily. MAN (V.O.) ...too... The MAN slurps loudly. MAN (V.O.): delicious. We see the front of the man now. He has red sauce all over his face. He lifts up a giant piece of pizza, hot and fresh. He takes a huge bite. MAN (V.O.): My diet will start next week. The MAN happily takes another big bite of pizza. The rest of the pizza sits directly in front of him.

SCENE 8 INT. HOUSE - NIGHT. A little black girl, (7), peeks through the door of her bedroom, seeing the usual mess of the living room. Shouting is heard deeper in the house, muffled by a few thin walls. The voice of a mature woman, VERONICA (35), speaks. VERONICA (V.O.): I think that we all end up in cycles. The girl tiptoes through her living room and peeks through into the kitchen. Through the front door two figures are now seen, a man and a woman. VERONICA (V.O.): At different points in our lives we are different people, and we recognize who we are because we have simply been them before. The girl sidles to a door away from the fighting, and creeps into a bedroom. An older girl is already awake, sitting up. This is Veronica’s older sister, MAZIE (11). Veronica runs to her and curls up in her arms. Mazie strokes her hair. VERONICA (V.O.): If you try to pull away, life grabs you by the hair and forces your feet to the line. A crash is heard, and Veronica huddles closer. VERONICA (V.O.): Around and around and around. Mazie pulls a cozy blanket over her sister and herself. VERONICA (V.O.): I never meant to come full circle. But aren’t we all set on not repeating the mistakes of our parents? Perhaps we never realize that what we thought were mistakes…. The sisters are now completely enveloped in a cocoon of blanket. The yelling is muffled. Mazie wipes a tear off of Veronica’s face. VERONICA (V.O.): Were just decisions made for us.

[Scene 8 || AN: Fountain.io formatting tags may appear.] TITLE: TURF WAR, PART I INT. AMY's HOUSE — MID-DAY .CLOSE IN on a late twenty-something woman, AMY, drowsing yet in bed, apparently sleeping in as room is well-lit with daylight though curtains are drawn. FELIX (V. O.) She's my bitch. I don't like that word, it's not the word my people use. But I'll use it as shorthand for those who speak that language. .CUT TO early thirty-something man, MIKE, lying next to AMY, nestling in closer. He appears to be waking up more rapidly than AMY. FELIX (V. O.) And this asshole is cutting into my turf. Yeah, I said asshole. That's not shorthand. We all know what that universal word means, don't we? Just look at what he does around her. MONTAGE – VARIOUS A) MIKE sits on a chair at the counter in the kitchen. AMY smiles as she prepares him a sandwich, feeding him a bite of fruit as he waits. B) MIKE sits on the couch in front of the TV, watching a game. AMY squeezed his shoulder; he smiles at her, which encourages her to massage his shoulders. C) AMY folds MIKE's laundry at the table as MIKE approaches from behind. He embraces and kisses her passionately. FELIX (V. O.) You see what I mean? It's like he thinks he owns her, like he can just show up and take over this territory. END OF MONTAGE INT. AMY's HOUSE — MID-DAY .CLOSE IN on MIKE, still macking on AMY's shoulder in her bed. FELIX (V. O.) Hah. It's on, dude. I'm going to show you who's turf this is. MIKE screams in pain, sitting up suddenly in bed, terrifying AMY. MIKE Goddamn it, Felix! Knock it off! FELIX (V. O.) Heh-heh-heh. > FADE TO BLACK.

SCENE 8 INT. HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY Three kids lounge around their living room in front of a TV that’s turned off. ALEXIS, 13, her sister HALEIGH, 11, and their brother RYAN, 9. Ryan lays on the floor in front of the TV while Alexis and Haleigh are laying feet to feet across a large couch. MAN (V.O.): It'd been three days since we’d last seen Mom. ALEXIS: He’s crawling through the vent, and he looks through this grating and sees one off the terrorists RIGHT THERE. He’s got a big machine gun and a walkie talkie that John needs, so he has to figure out a way to take this guy out. RYAN: I bet he karate chops him! Snaps his neck then grabs the gun- HALEIGH: That’s stupid! Why would he know karate? Does he trick him by like throwing something down the end of the hall? RYAN: That’s stupid. ALEXIS: Don’t call each other stupid. You’re both right. He throws something down the hall which distracts the terrorist, then jumps out of the grate and snaps the guys neck. RYAN: Told you! The kids continue to stare at the blank TV as Alexis describes the movie to them. MAN (V.O.): Alexis had essentially been raising us over the past few months, but it was still weird to not have our mother around. INT. HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY - LATER Alexis sits on the floor of the kitchen pulling canned food out of a drawer, passing it to Haleigh who’s sorting the meager stack of cans by type on a table. Ryan sits at the table coloring with the nub of a crayon on a piece of paper completely covered in layer upon layer of kid’s drawings. MAN (V.O.): Mom had left on a food run, but also told us she was following up on a lead on Dad. That someone had spotted someone who knew something about the day he left. INT. HOUSE - FRONT ROOM - NIGHT Ryan sits at the front window of the house, looking through a curtain out into the street. Alexis comes up behind him, rubbing her eyes from sleep, pleading with him to go back to sleep. Ryan shakes his head no, looking out into the night. MAN (V.O.): She was supposed to be back that same day. There was a food caravan in the area and we still had batteries for trade. INT. HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY The kids sit around the blank TV, Alexis talking them through another show or movie, the kids looking less engaged than before. MAN (V.O.): But it was almost a week now, and we were almost out of food. INT. HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY - LATER Alexis pulls out a small can of SPAM, passing it to Haleigh, only a handful of cans left in the cabinet. Ryan absentmindedly scribbling across his overused coloring page. MAN (V.O.): Our parents had gone over with us our emergency plan a million times, in case anything ever happened to them. INT. HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY The kids sit around the blank TV, no one saying anything. MAN (V.O.): But we were afraid to leave the house. We knew Mom was coming back and didn’t want to scare her. INT. HOUSE - KITCHEN The kitchen cabinet lies open and empty. INT. HOUSE - LIVING ROOM The kids lay around, looking hungry and tired and scared. MAN (V.O.): Then one day, the emergency plan just happened. DING DONG. The kids jump, staring toward the front of the house. Alexis pulls a small backpack from next to the couch, tossing it to Haleigh. Ryan grabs a MACHETE from under a couch cushion while HALEIGH takes a RIFLE down from off the wall. Alexis quietly tip toes out of the living room, the other kids looking scared beyond belief. MAN (V.O.): Mom wouldn’t ring the doorbell and my siblings knew it. Alexis comes back carrying a BUNDLED BABY. Ryan pulls open a trapdoor under a rug in the floor and the kids go down one by one. Alexis pulls the trapdoor closed. MAN (V.O.): I’m still looking for my parents, twenty years later I was too young to remember that house or my parents faces, but I still remember that door bell.

Scene 4 Lionel lying on the living room sofa at his best friend’s house under a Seahawks blanket Lionel VO, fucking 30 year old couch surfer, just what I wanted to be when I grew up, damn knee injury cost me my scholarship and my life It starts in the kitchen, Lionel hears sounds of dishes breaking, and a male and female shouting at each other Female voice, I saw the text message on your phone!!!… A selfie of that bitch in her bathroom… big booty in a thong…saggy boobs and nasty weave!!! Who is she?? another one of your side-hoes??!! Male voice, calm down Veronica, I don’t know her, or how that message got on my phone. She is probably Lionels friend, he borrowed my phone the other day. Lionel VO, yeah great blame me why don’t you… again.. I am so celibate these days I do not even touch myself… Male voice, Come on baby quit freaking out okay? Let me take you to the bedroom and show you who I love. Lionel VO, this is the umpteenth time, just this month. If I could be half as lucky as him, damn even a throwback would be nice. Fucking player… I cant even get em drunk enough to say yes but they all over him like white on rice Female voice, I hate you Mr. Marcus L. Williams, L for LIAR!! More dishes break Male voice, C’mon baby I don’t know her, but I love you. This isn’t the past… We good right? Lets just get to bed. Lionel VO Here we go weekly fightin and fuckin ritual. Off to get like two fools fuckin in the dark Male and female giggle and kissing sounds… shuffle off and bedroom door slams shut Lionel VO Ok time to bust out the earplugs

Scene Eight INT. PENTHOUSE BEDROOM - DAY Swanky room in a devil-may-care state of disorder. Two figures writhe under the bedspread of a massive California King bed. NARRATOR (V.O.): Meanwhile, our intrepid hero-- INTREPID HERO (30s, square jaw, immaculate brill cream hair) sits up in the bed and looks directly at the camera in a heroic way. HOT YOUNG STUD (20s, muscled, tattooed) sits up next to him and notices the camera with adorable confusion. NARRATOR (V.O.): Oh. Caught you at a bad time? We'll come back later.

SCENE 8 EXT. SANDY COVE BEACH SURROUNDED BY CAVES - NIGHT Party of people sing around a camp fire. People play with a beautiful black cat. DUKE: No one needed anything but life now. We had clung on to each other as if we had known each other our whole lives. In reality, none of us knew each other. But then I suppose no one ever did. I learned that with my thoughts. One thing was certain, we needed and depended on each other. The cat had become a symbol of our well-being. I could not speak. I could barely think but I knew instantly when we crossed through the Cave. I felt it. Surely that was a sign. The trickle of the Cave’s pools and the splashing of human feet in the water forged order in my head and soothed my coarse nerves. Mia fell on her knees as if praying. A trickle of blood flew through the water. Mia tripped and hurt herself but she had to laugh. She had prayed for this. I laughed but I wanted to cry. I did every time I saw blood. Mia was indifferent. No dwelling, mourning or talking about our lives before now. We had to survive. I’d survived but all survivors must feel it’s wrong. I had left home so long ago to come here. Doubt shrouded every thought and I ushered it away at sunset. I touched so many stones in the Cave hoping each was the one. I had been warned, trust no one. How would I find the one stone in the Cave? I would have to talk myself round like when I found Morgan, recall how once upon a time, life found me. Now life had thrown me a strangest line. I had to hook this one stone. But it was never that simple. Nothing escaped anyone here. I had to leave this party without being seen or questioned. Everything and everyone talked. All movements were followed particularly by our cat. I had to do this without being killed. After I had saved them, they could kill me.

On screen, a news report is in progress. TOM WRIGHT, 46, a handsome news anchor in a blue suit. TOM: New details have emerged tonight regarding the tragic incident of the death of the vigilante previously known only as Captain Conqurion. We can now say that the Captain has been posthumously identified as retired US Army Captain Jake Edwards. CUT TO: A soundless shot of the CAPTAIN, a large, heavily muscled man wearing a blue combat suit with golden armor emblazoned with eagles and a heavy golden helmet masking his face standing beside a podium while the MAYOR OF PHILADELPHIA is finishing a long-winded speech. The mayor turns from the podium and reaches as high as he can while Conqurion bows a bit to let the mayor place a medal around his neck. TOM (V.O.): Edwards, known most famously for his integral role in aiding law enforcement during the 2015 terrorist attack on Independence Hall in Philadelphia, is seen here receiving the Philadelphia Liberty Medal from Mayor Andrew Wiacek. CUT TO: A helicopter shot of the Boston Suspension Bridge. There can be police lights seen at either edge. A few of the suspension wires have become untethered. There are multiple fires on the span of the bridge. TOM (V.O.): Yesterday, a still-unidentified group of terrorists launched an attack on the Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge in Boston with disastrous consequences. For our viewers: please be warned that the following footage is extremely graphic and disturbing. CUT TO: Shots of people being wheeled away in gurneys, firefighters, paramedics and S.W.A.T. rushing around. Stills of wounded, dismembered people. TOM: 12 people were killed in the attack, with 26 people injured with 7 still in critical condition. The authorities are still reticent to provide details about both the motive and perpetrators of the attack, but it was clear that the violence ceased once Edwards, seen here, flying to the top of the bridge with using his now world-recognized golden wings- CUT TO: A closer helicopter shot of a pale figure standing at the top of one of the pillars of the bridge when a barely visible shining golden blur rockets up from the ground and tackles him off the bridge. Both figures plummet into the river below. TOM (V.O.): -sacrificed his own life to stop one of the men who had apparently been detonating explosives from the top of the bridge. Authorities recovered the body of Mr. Edwards late this morning. The body of the perpetrator from the bridge has not yet been recovered.

Scene eight continues from yesterday's seven: INT. I.C.E. OFFICE - NIGHT A large sign that reads "I.C.E. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Los Angeles" Peter behind a desk, he drinks coffee, reads a file. George storms in. GEORGE This better be really, really important. Peter, very serious signals him to sit, hands him the folder. PETER Coffee? George nods, opens the folder and reads. SIMON (V.O.) My cousin told me I could earn a lot of dough. EXT. WAREHOUSE - DAY Simon and a though looking guy walk into an old abandoned warehouse, the paint is peeled, the windows broken. Doors are rusty. SIMON (V.O.) He said it was an easy job for my gang. INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY A white plastic tent in the middle of the otherwise empty warehouse. Lights inside the tent prevent us from seeing what's inside. BUTCHER (30), a tall, strong man with his face, arms and neck covered with tatoos approaches, greets Simon and his cousin. SIMON (V.O.) He introduced me to Butcher. INT. ICE OFFICE - NIGHT George stands up, surprised. GEORGE The Butcher? Armando Soria? Head of Los Toltecas cartel? Peter nods, signals with his head to keep reading. EXT. DESERT - DAY Ten young children, ages 10 and up, the oldest no more than 16 walk through the desert. SIMON (V.O.) He's always been involved in human trafficking, but there has been a surge in the number of children that want to cross to the U.S. A van approaches the children, parks in front of them, they get in. INT. HOUSE - DAY The walls covered with posters of Mexican and American wrestlers. The children sit on the floor, eat potato chips and soda. The Butcher enters, followed by a doctor. SIMON (V.O.) He tells them he'll help them get a job, but first they have to go through a medical exam. The doctor takes a blood sample from one of the kids. EXT. LETTUCE CROP - DAY A large lettuce crop, the same children we saw earlier pick up lettuces. An obese foreman talks on a mobile. SIMON (V.O.) He helps them get a job where he can easily find them until he needs them for his true business. The foreman signals the kid to follow him. INT. WAREHOUSE - TENT - DAY Simon enters the tent, inside there's a complete operating room, the kid we saw is on one operating table, on the other an upper class blonde teenager. SIMON (V.O.) The sale of organs. INT. I.C.E. OFFICE - NIGHT George closes the folder, Peter sits over the desk. GEORGE So, The Butcher brings illegal kids, takes blood samples to have a database where he can sell organs that could be compatible with his buyers requirements. It's worse than I thought. PETER He can give us more info if we give him protection. GEORGE What are the odds this is just a tall tale? Picks up the folder, opens it. GEORGE (reads) If the illegal kid dies he gives the remains to his tiger. Closes the folder, puts it over the desk. GEORGE Come on, do you believe that? PETER We'll need to go in the belly of the beast, so to speak. To be continued...

@heathenistic SCENE 8 BLACKNESS Blackness. A voice, late thirties, hardened. JIM (V/O): As far back as I remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. FADE UP to reveal JIM's rough hand - Gold bracelet and pinky ring - cradling a baseball bat. We can't see anything but hands and the bat. JIM (off-camera): A man stands alone at the plate. What is it? Now is the time for individual achievement. He smacks the bat a few times into his other hand menacingly. JIM (off-camera): Say hello to my little friend! He whips the bat up, wielding it as if it were a Tommy-Gun. Shoots it and makes machine-gun noises with his mouth. JIM(off-camera): pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft JIM (V.O) - Unfortunately, I work here. A plastic nametag. WHIFFY-MART on the top, JIM in crappy label-maker font below. JIM is alone, behind counter in a crappy variety store - he's late-thirties, balding, coke-bottle glasses, soft-faced, soft tummied - uniform short-sleeve button-down shirt stretched to it's max. He shoots his pretend bat-gun at no-one.

SCENE #2 INT. DUNGEON LAIR – NIGHT FOLLOW Theo down a crooked set of stone stairs into the dark dungeon. A snarling dragon's mouth envelopes us. We duck to enter - The Lair. Modernized and completely transformed by luxury and gadgets, it's a teenaged boy's dream. Three walls sport wrap-around, floor to ceiling LCD screens. The fourth wall is crammed with a hodgepodge of MEMORABILIA: chains, shields, movie posters, trophies, and a stuffed wolf's head with arrows in its neck. The new pledges wander about the room in awe, poking and bumping into every imaginable prop. Theo and Adam has their hands full rounding them up into the center of the room as they await the Dragon Elder. JACKS (V.O.) How many are left? GALE (V.O.) Thirteen. JACKS (V.O.) How unlucky. Who are they? GALE (V.O.) They won’t trouble you, sir. A few are decent, good marks, sizable net worth. Their parents are loyal and depend on the Priors for business. ANGLE ON Theo and Adam, confiscating phones from everyone. GALE (V.O.) The others are... rejects, really. Troublemakers. Failing grades, suspensions, drugs, even suicide attempts. ANGLE ON Taylor, who's tapping and examining if he can make the knight statue move like a marionette, until Theo swats him away. ANGLE ON Remy, who's activated a ROBOT and now can't control it, desperately trying to stop it from banging into random people. GALE (V.O.) And of course, the girl who shouldn't be there. ANGLE ON Casy, who's taken the arrows out of the stuffed wolf's neck to try to shoot them back in - until Theo wrestles them away from her. GALE (V.O.) This isn’t even going to be fair. JACKS (V.O.) Who said anything about fair?

Scene 8 EXT. SHERMER HIGH SCHOOL - DAY ANDY WILSON (16, cool, athletic, handsome) strolls casually in the general direction of the entrance. ANDY (V.O.): You would think that I didn't have any reason to worry about girls. I was finally actually attractive. Good-looking girls check Andy out. Heads turn as he passes. ANDY (V.O.): And I was the new kid in town, which means -- one: girls had an excuse to introduce themselves... One not-so-cool girl starts to approach Andy but one of her friends restrains her. ANDY (V.O.): And, two: they didn't know that just one year ago, I was a scrawny geek. But by summer camp... INT. SUMMER CAMP CABIN - DAY Andy comes out of the shower and reaches for a towel. All his BUNKMATES are staring. ANDY (V.O.): ...puberty had hit. With a vengeance. BUNKMATE #1: Fuck. What happened to you? BUNKMATE #2: Awesome, man. EXT. SUMMER CAMP REC HALL - NIGHT The two bunkmates are talking to SAMANTHA (16, flaunting a well-developed body). ANDY (V.O.): My reputation quickly reached Samantha, who was well known for her interest in big game hunting. EXT. WOODS - NIGHT Amidst the trees, we can make out that Andy and Samantha are fucking -- quite well, actually, from Samantha's reaction. SAMANTHA: Oh, yeah. Right there. Wow. I thought you were a virgin. ANDY (V.O.): I was, actually. But Internet-based training really works. EXT. SHERMER HIGH SCHOOL - DAY As before, but now a really hot girl, JENNIFER (17) strides purposefully toward Andy, but she hasn't registered on his radar yet. ANDY (V.O.): So, you'd think I had it made. Only one thing. I still didn't know... JENNIFER: New here? ANDY (V.O.): ...how to actually talk to a girl.

Int. Hospital Room – Evening We slowly enter a hospital room and PAN across until we come to rest on the face of a young woman. Her name is Kirsten (30s, cachectic, but not always that way). KIRSTEN (VO) It’s tough to die. We hear indistinct sounds of physicians in the background. The MUCH LOUDER noises of machines beeping and ventilators pumping their artificial breaths overtake the doctors’ voices. PHYSICIAN #1 The lymphoma has spread much more rapidly than we thought- PHYSICIAN #2 Chemotherapy now will mainly be palliative KIRSTEN (VO) It’s even tougher to die in front of your family There is a TIME LAPSE. We now see Kirsten’s family trickling in and out. Time seems to be speeding up and Kirsten looks more and more gaunt. KIRSTEN (VO) The toughest is saying goodbye to your soul mate, your best friend. We see the back of a male standing next to Kirsten’s bed, he is tall, broad shoulders, tough. But he falls to his knees, overcome with grief. He cries as if he were a child. KIRSTEN (VO) Because the only thing you ask for, really when you’ve been stripped of the time you’ve got, is for more time. The beeping of the machine slows. KIRSTEN (VO) And you’re always given less than you bargained for. The beeping suddenly stops.

DAY EIGHT: Write a scene using voice-over narration. EXT. SIDEWALK - AFTERNOON ALEXIS is in the midst of a fierce boxing match with a canvasser. She is hitting the man with his clipboard, a small crowd gathering around them as she yells obscenities. ALEXIS: I will feed your fucking children to you! Do you hear me?! I will destroy you! CANVASSER (panicked): Dude, I'm just a recent college graduate, trying to make a living! I don't care about cats being abused! I don't even have children! The shot goes into slow-motion, complete with dramatic music. Freeze frame on Alexis's crazed face. ALEXIS (V.O): Wait a minute. This seems way out of order. Like, that's clearly not how I start my day. I mean, it's the middle of the afternoon. That's not when days start. Clearly. This is how my day usually starts... INT. ALEXIS AND DYLAN'S BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING "33.5 hours prior to the incident..." flashes across the bottom of the screen. Alexis wakes up slowly to the sound of her phone alarm going off. She reads the phone and sees "530AM." Her partner, DYLAN is already up, looking out of the window. ALEXIS: I hate you. DYLAN: Loooove youuuu. Good morning. ALEXIS: Your face. DYLAN: So, looking forward to work, are we? ALEXIS: Yep. I live for this moment. Alexis rolls out of bed, one limb at a time. Since it is directly on the floor, for a time, she is practically kissing the floor. She finally gets to her feet, pulls out a wedgie, then slowly shuffles her way to the bathroom. ALEXIS (CONT'D): Hey! Do you ever wonder if the action plan for life was supposed to be like this?! DYLAN: What do you mean? ALEXIS: I mean, did you think that you would be waking up at crack-ass in the morning to go to your icky job and stuff? DYLAN: I think it's just a phase right now. ALEXIS: What if it never gets better than this? I mean, I've been more entertained at work pulling spare bits of toilet paper out of my ass. That's a problem, right? DYLAN: Who said that you were supposed to enjoy your first job? ALEXIS: I know you're not supposed to like it. But, like, actively hating it doesn't seem...healthy. DYLAN: What do you mean? ALEXIS: Like...I mean...I don't know. I just woke up. It's the morning ennuis. DYLAN: All right. Well, I'm taking a shower. ALEXIS: Yeah. Alexis starts brushing her teeth while Dylan undresses and gets into the shower. Freeze frame. ALEXIS (V.O): See? Just a regular ray of sunshine in the mornings. Alexis looks directly into the camera with a "seriously?" expression on her face.

Scene Eight.

Scene 8 (16th entry) INT. BANK JEREMY (22), bank teller, sweater vest, geeky glasses calls JEREMY Next customer. CANDICE (25), girl next door, walks up to his booth. CANDICE Hello. I need to make a deposit. Candice digs in her purse. JEREMY Sure I certainly help you with that. CANDICE You have a pen? JEREMY Here you go. CANDICE I love this bank. You guys are so nice. JEREMY Well thank you. We really care about our customers. CANDICE I noticed that this the only bank in town that doesn’t have all that bullet proof glass and stuff. JEREMY We like to interact with our customers on a personal level. CANDICE But I guess that makes it easier for you to get robbed? JEREMY Our security system is state of the art. Don’t worry your money is safe. CANDICE That’s reassuring. Her phone rings. CANDICE (CONT’D) Hello? Okay, I’m at the bank now. Yes, he’s standing right in front of me. Jeremy is taken aback. Candice leans in. CANDICE (CONT’D) Actually, instead of a deposit, I need to make a withdrawal. JEREMY Okay, I just need your account number and ID. CANDICE No. I need to withdraw you. JEREMY Excuse me? CANDICE Unless you want the eggs and bacon your wife Heather Dorothy Madison social security number 604-508-4174 made this morning to be her last, you will tell your manager Frank that you need to go on break and meet me in the back alley. JEREMY Is this a robbery? CANDICE I would never walk into a bank and rob it. Not when I can make one of the tellers do it for me. Candice holds up her phone and shows him a picture of his wife bounded and gagged. CANDICE (CONT’D) I hope your excellent customer stays intact.

Oops, this is actually Scene 10 (something gets stole)

Scene 8 (18th entry) INT. GROCERY STORE - DAY OFFICE The MANAGER shows KENNY (17) to a desk and mic. MANAGER Kenny, I need you to do these in store announcements. It’s easy, just reads the cards. KENNY No problem, sir. Manager exits. Kenny gets on the PA. KENNY (V.O.) (CONT’D) Save on plums today. Two for one delicious and juicy red plums. Get them now in the produce department. BAKING AISLE A FAT WOMAN in yellow dress pushes a cart. KENNY (V.O.) Betty Crocker frosting is on sale now through Monday. So if you’re fat and alone and dressed like a obese banana, your weekend just picked up. The Fat Woman is offended. CEREAL AISLE A BLACK MOM and her KIDS debate cereals. KENNY (V.O.) If your kids are picky about their cereal, try new Kellog’s Kids Krunch. The tasty was to start the day is K-K-K. The Black Mom is offended FROZEN FOODS AISLE An OLD MAN checks the frozen dinners. KENNY (V.O.) No wife? No Kids? No problem. Dinner is whatever you want it to be. Damn the consequences or sodium content. Dying alone never tasted so good. Th Old Man is offended OFFICE MANAGER Kenny, what are you doing? KENNY Just the announcements, like you said. MANAGER You’re offending the customers. KENNY I’m just reading what’s on the cards. The Manager checks the cards, surprised. MANAGER Oh that’s what they say. They came from corporate so, I guess, continue on. Manager exits. Kenny gets back on the mic. KENNY Looking to cool down from the summer heat? Try Ned’s Icy Pops. Three for one all weekend. Ned’s Icy Pops. It’s like a frozen dick in your mouth. FROZEN DESSERT AISLE Two GAY GUYS share a basket. GAY GUY 1 Ooh, popsicles are on sale. GAY GUY 2 Let’s get a dickload.

Scene 9 Write a scene of someone talking to a gravestone EXT. GRAVEYARD – NIGHT A YOUNG WOMAN walks through a graveyard by herself. It's night out and dark except for the moon that's out. She strolls through like she's in a park. She stops in front of one gravestone in particular. YOUNG WOMAN (to the gravestone): I can't really sleep. She gets out a flask and drinks from it. She pockets it. YOUNG WOMAN (CONT'D): I'm actually not sure when the last time I slept was. FLASHBACK INT. BEDROOM - DAY The young woman is a bit younger and in bed with a YOUNG MAN beside her. They both stir awake and smile when their faces meet. YOUNG MAN: Did you sleep well? YOUNG WOMAN: Best sleep I've had in years. They kiss. PRESENT EXT. GRAVEYARD – NIGHT The young woman is sitting in front of the gravestone and looking at it like it's the most beautiful thing in the world. YOUNG WOMAN: I hope you're having a great sleep though.