after silence bones of the moon black cocktail a child across the sky outside the dog museum the panic hand kissing the beehive the land of laughs from the teeth of angels sleeping in flame voice of our shadow

Shoes At War screenplay by Jonathan Carroll [ download a printable word file ] FADE IN: INT. BRIAN & SULLIVAN'S APARTMENT Looking at an apartment through a giant fish aquarium. It's a delightfully eccentric place, full of color and personality: On a wooden sideboard is a collection of various sized old cameras arranged like sculpture. On the walls are masks, puppets, wood carvings ... Looks very much like a curio shop. The furniture is tasteful and eclectic--Mission style mixed with Memphis. Pressed to the aquarium glass on the other side of the tank are two people's faces. Now and then an enormous fish (BIG MIKE) floats by, periodically blocking our view of BRIAN CHUTE ('SHOES')--a thirty'ish man, happy with his life, his surroundings, but most especially with his lover SULLIVAN MITCHELL-also in her thirties, smart, perhaps a bit too sensitive and serious to Brian's sunny, but clearly happy sharing a life with him. SULLIVAN Call him Ishmael! BRIAN That's too cute. How about 'Fish Mail'! What'd they call him at the pet store? SULLIVAN Big Mike. Brian taps on the glass, then straightens up. BRIAN Big Mike. I like it. Letts call him that. It's the most amazing birthday present I ever got. Sullivan, her voice and expression all worry now. SULLIVAN Do you really like it, Shoes? Tell the truth. They said I could bring him back. He takes her in his arms and snuggles her. BRIAN A three foot long South American catfish named Big Mike? Sullivan, how could I NOT like it? It's a gift of genius. She undoes herself from his hug and walks back to the kitchen table where they've been preparing his birthday dinner. She starts to work again. SULLIVAN I've diced the garlic. What's next? He goes over and forces her to look at him. BRIAN I'm telling the truth. It's a wonderful present You always give me wonderful presents. I don't know how you think the things up, much less find them. SULLIVAN He was easy. I walked into that store, saw him, and knew there was one person who'd appreciate him completely. You. You're the only thing I know for sure these days, Brian. The rest is like my tricks--here and then gone. She holds out a clove of garlic, flicks her hand and it's gone in an instant. SULLIVAN Know what else I bought today? You're going to laugh. A shotput. I'm going to teach myself how to throw the shotput. It's so pure and simple: Pick the thing up and throw it from here to there. Nothing else. That's what I love about it-clear and to the point. Like you. BRIAN A shotput? On my birthday you call me a seven pound steel ball? SULLIVAN I'm calling you clear, direct, and to the point. Unlike just about everything else in life. That's why I love you: you like something, you show it. You want something, you go after it. Everything else is so confusing. I haven't been able to figure my life out for months. Now here it's your birthday and I'm spewing out my problems. I'm sorry. He looks at her, very concerned. BRIAN (adamant) I want you to tell me when something's wrong! Is there anything I can do to help? SULLIVAN (wistful) No, sweetie. I'm just kind of lost in my life these days. It'll pass. I have to figure things out myself. It'll be all right. He picks her up. She wraps her legs around him like a child. BRIAN I'd go to war for you! I'd hang glide, and you know how scared I am of heights. I'd stick my finger in an electric socket, or become a vegetarian, or ... have a sex change operation. We could be sisters! She laughs and hugs him tight. SULLIVAN Can we go to bed right now? I bought this obscene nightgown I was going to surprise you with tonight, but can we go now and I'll show you it later? I want to hold you. He carries her over to the stove where awkwardly reaching behind her, he turns off burners. Still holding on, he moves them together through the apartment towards their bedroom. CUT TO: INT. BATHROOM. AN HOUR LATER Brian and Sullivan lying together in the bathtub, her in front of him, his arms wrapped around her. Totally relaxed and comfortable (and wet) together. BRIAN I think this trip to South Africa will be great for you. They'll finally see how brilliant you you are and make you vice president; which should have happened long ago. You'll get out of here a while, see a whole new world, new people ... How long are you going to be there? SULLIVAN About a month. Depends on how fast we get things done. Everybody owns a camera. My job is convincing the whole country they should buy our new one. I'm not thrilled about it. I'd rather stay here with you. BRIAN No! You said once in your life you wanted to hear real lions roar. Here's your big chance. How many people get to go to South Africa? I think you should stay a while longer and go on a safari. Or take a weekend off and go out into the bush or the veldt, or whatever they call it. SULLIVAN (pulling his arms around her) You're right. I'll bring you back a baby rhino. We can put it in the aquarium with Big Mike. Have we ever made love in the bathtub before? Brian gets the point fast and sits up. BRIAN No, but the birthday boy is game. SULLIVAN Should we ask Big Mike to join us? BRIAN That's genuinely perverse! Perverse but interesting. What's that famous line-- 'I don't drink water because fish screw in it?' SULLIVAN You're the best man I know. If anything happens to me on this trip, like the plane crashed or something? I want you to know that living with you has been absolutely wonderful. BRIAN But you still won't marry me? SULLIVAN (big pause. Her face becomes very upset and animated. She begins to hum very loudly, which goes up and up like a hive of bees) Mmmmmmmm Her eyes roll to the ceiling, all frustration and confusion with herself. Then WHAM--she leans forward and dunks her head full into the tub. Holding it down, she begins to blow enormous bubbles. DISSOLVE TO:INT. SHOPPING MALL. DAY Brian and his best friend JOHN MCKINLEY are standing in front of chaos. The roof of a shopping center has collapsed and several cars from the parking area above have fallen through the enormous hole into the middle of the mall itself. One car is standing on its nose in a still-flowing fountain. Doctors, police, firemen are everywhere. Brian has a camera on his shoulder, filming John. Another man, GARY LUTENS the soundman, holds a microphone. JOHN (seriously and professionally to the camera) It is not yet known how many people died today at the Chester Mall. Investigators and structural engineers are already at work, trying to figure out just what happened to the roof of this structure. But whatever they find, it will be of little comfort to the families of the victims. This is John McKinley, for KBUN, FLASH NEWS. Brian moves to the side so he can film a child and his mother standing nearby, looking grimly along with other passersby at the car inside the fountain. Hold a beat, then he says BRIAN Cut! That's good. He starts to move all around the scene, filming. John looks on, annoyed and amused. JOHN Brian, we've got ten other places to go today. Do you think we could get out of here before the next solar eclipse? BRIAN (sheepishly) Come on, man. You know I've got to get my coverage. I want it to come across right. Not just show another bunch of dead people. CUT TO: INT. BAKERY. DAY Same film crew, only this time John is interviewing MR. HASENHUTTL, the hundred year old baker. JOHN (sweetly) Mr. Hasenhoodl HASENHUTTL (loud and grumpy) Hasenhuttl. It's Austrian. I'm a hundred years old and Austrian. Don't get the name wrong. JOHN Mr. Hasenhuttl, you're the oldest baker in the state of California and probably the entire United States. How do you feel today? HASENHUTTL(squinting) I'm a hundred. Not many hundred year old men can still bake bread! JOHN And do you have any secrets of longevity? HASENHUTTL Always fuck standing up- BRIAN CUT! Lowers his camera as all three men in the crew crack up. Hasenhuttl frowns. CUT TO: EXT. DAY. BACKYARD In a backyard behind a lower middle class house, the crew stand, peering down into a two foot-wide crack in the earth. Nearby are a bunch of FIREMEN, houseowner MRS. SCHIAVO and young son CHARLIE. From way down deep in the crevasse, we hear the pathetic yip and bark of a dog that's fallen in and is stuck there. The little boy is terribly upset and holds tight to his mother. MRS. SCHIAVO My husband wanted to fill it up after the earthquake, but it cost four hundred dollars. Who's got four hundred dollars to fill a hole? CHARLIE Ma, when're they going to get Pearl out of there? Is she going to die? FIREMAN(to John and Brian) We can't go in there. It's too damned deep. Fucking earthquakes. A year after they happen, they're still killing things. JOHN(quietly,to Brian) How do you want to do this? BRIAN Start with what he said-- a year later and it's still killing things. Then ask the boy about the dog. Ask him why it's his friend. John looks at Brian a moment, takes a deep breath, then starts towards the boy and his mother. CUT TO: INT:SULLIVAN'S OFFICE. DAY Inside her cluttered office, Sullivan and NORMAN DODGE are looking at a series of posters on a sideboard. They go from one to the other, sizing them up and making notes. SULLIVAN I still think we should go with the memory thing. A camera's the only tool we have to catch and hold memories. Show a bunch of kids at the beach taking pictures of each other, you could be selling anything. What we want in this campaign is for someone to look at our ads and think 'That's the best and easiest machine to fix MY memories forever.' Anywhere in the world people are going to understand and appreciate that. Say it right and they'll believe we make the best way to give them some immortality. NORMAN That makes sense, but kids on the beach are more I don't know sexy and immediate. Do we want to take a chance and go in a completely different direction? It's dangerous, Sullivan. SULLIVAN That's the whole point, Norman! Only part of life is sexy and immediate. The rest is remembering when it used to be that way. A camera helps us remember. What would you rather have when you're eighty, a leaky memory that can't be trusted, or pictures that show you exactly what it was like? Norman shrugs and nods his head. He's convinced. NORMAN You're right, as usual. CUT TO: INT:STORE. DAY Sullivan and her girlfriend RENEE are browsing in a beautiful women's store. RENEE How does Brian feel about your going? SULLIVAN He thinks it'll be good for me. Brian always supports anything I think is right. He's so amazing in that way. RENEE And how do you feel? SULLIVAN I'm scared to death, but Brian keeps telling me it's the right thing to do, so I guess it is. It's only for a month. Isn't it funny how he's so encouraging about it while I'm the one who's scared? RENEE Yeah! I always hate to take people to the airport. It's okay when you're going, but when they are and you have to go back to your house and your life and stuff without them. That's a drag. Brian really is something else, isn't he? SULLIVAN We wake up talking and go to bed talking. Renee looks at her and smiles. Lost in her thoughts of her man, Sullivan doesn't look at Renee for a moment and when she does, she's almost embarrassed. CUT TO: INT.L.A. AIRPORT. NIGHT. Sullivan and Brian stand at an airport baggage check-in. BRIAN I've never been able to figure out why you're always late when you fly. It gives me such ulcers. SULLIVAN Because I fly so much, I'm not going to get on a damned plane one second earlier than I have to. They steal enough of my life as it is. I hate anything airborne. And I hate leaving you, Shoes. Check-in completed, they walk to the departure gate. BRIAN Honey, you're taking the night flight to Africa. Half the world would love to be you. Go and see, and smell ... Then come back renewed. I'll be here. You know that. Do you have the lucky stone I gave you? She pulls something out of her pocket and shows him. SULLIVAN I always carry it. Holding each other, they walk till they reach her gate. The passengers waiting there are amazing-- all sorts of wildly exotic and fascinating-looking people waiting to board: Blacks in vividly colored dashikis talking loudly, sexy couples, mysterious characters. Sullivan stares at them, thoroughly intrigued. She realizes she's about to enter a whole new world. SULLIVAN This isn't your everyday crowd. I'm used to the afternoon flight to Cleveland. BRIAN What am I going to do without you? You've never been gone so long. She's touched, but it's clear from the look in her eye that the scene at the gate has turned her interest from Brian to what's coming. SULLIVAN I read somewhere you can live for a month without food, but not water. You're my food. We'll live on water for a month and when I get back we'll gorge ourselves. I'm going now, Shoes. You know how much I hate to say goodbye. They embrace. He speaks into her hair. BRIAN I'll have to teach the fish to call me Shoes. Have you got your passport, ticket, money? She nods and moves to break the embrace. BRIAN One more second. Let me breathe you a couple more seconds. CUT TO: INT:BRIAN & SULLIVAN'S APARTMENT Brian walks in the door and switches on the light. He stands in the middle of the room looking around. Goes to a sideboard and picks up one of the many cameras sitting there. Hefts it, puts it to his eye, then puts it down. Finally he sees Big Mike in his aquarium and lights up. Goes over to it. Takes some fish food and sprinkles it across the top of the water. BRIAN Hi Mike! It's kind of quiet around here without her, huh? But it'll only be a month. Then she's back and He sighs, looks dreamily into the fish tank. Close on a CLOSE-UP of the fish moving in its slow way. CUT TO: INT.CUTTING ROOM John and Brian are standing over a tape editing bay, reviewing footage. A bank of tv monitors is in front of them. John points to something on the screen. JOHN Now, cut it there. I want to see the smoke from the fire swirling up past those big houses. That's it, perfect. What's the matter with you, Brian, have you moved to the land of monosyllables? BRIAN (finishing with the film and turning to John) You know what's wrong. JOHN Come on! Just because Sullivan hasn't written, you think she's run off with a tribal chieftain? You're the happiest couple I know. Period. She's having a good time there. That's all. BRIAN (plaintively) But when she first got there she was in touch all the time, John. It's gotten less and less. It's not like her. JOHN (starts doing Tai Chi exercises) So what? Listen, I know a photographer who gets off by heating up forks and pressing them onto the backs of his hands. That's exactly what you're doing now and it's ridiculous. She's not been in touch because she's busy. YOU told her to go down there and recharge her batteries. BRIAN(disgusted with himself) I know. You're right. JOHN I'll tell you one more thing: that photographer? He doesn't work much now because his hands are always too swollen. Don't be like him. BRIAN (worriedly) But something's wrong in her life. She feels empty and worthless. People do weird things when they're confused like that. JOHN (points to the monitors) Look at our job. Look up at those pictures- kids shot when they're out trick or treating, cars falling through roofs, people setting fires ... A hundred times a day we're reminded life is as confusing as algebra backwards. But mostly it makes sense, Brian. Even with all the crap going on, look at all the Hasenhuttl's around- a hundred years old and still baking bread. Sullivan wouldn't get involved with anyone else. I introduced you two and have known her half my life. Anyway, when I play matchmaker, it lasts forever. I'm infallible. She may be confused, but she's notcrazy. Hey anyway, someone once said ambiguity is the most erotic thing of all. Worrying about her like this'll keep you on your toes! Brian gives him a deadly look and makes a face. JOHN (hands up, backing off) Okay, sorry. I didn't mean it. Did I ever tell you what she said to me after your first date? Delighted to hear a story about Sullivan he doesn't know, Brian brightens up and shakes his head. JOHN She said 'John, this guy's the one. I could breathe him for the rest of my life.' BRIAN Her favorite line-- breathing you. CUT TO: EXT.STREET. NIGHT our film crew watch as police march suspects out of a seedylooking ghetto house. There are police cars all around and many spectators. Red police lights spinning, things are very grim. Following the cops closely are two dirty, dazed looking children who must have been hostages or worse. JOHN (to whoever's listening) I hate this job. I go home at night and no one's there, so I sit alone thinking about this kind of stuff and talking to myself. He turns to Brian. His face is torment. JOHN I envy you so much, having Sullivan. CUT TO: INT: SOUTH AFRICAN CONFERENCE ROOM. DAY A long table full of well dressed men and women are looking up to the head where MARTIN SCHAEFER sits. Norman Dodge and Sullivan are sitting next to him, having just finished with their presentation. Schaefer has large photographs in each hand, looking carefully from one to the other. MARTIN What was your phrase, Sullivan? She looks at Norman, takes a deep breath, then says SULLIVAN 'We guarantee the memories.' Schaefer begins to nod more and more vigorously. MARTIN (facetiously) But can you guarantee it'll sell cameras? SULLIVAN (very sure of herself) That's what we're here for. MARTIN (warmly, looking at her) And I think I'm glad you are. Sullivan smiles, as do all those around her. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN BRIAN(v.o.) Sullivan? Hi, honey! How are you? I got so worried I just had to call. It's been so long since I heard from you. Is everything all right? Blackness. Then a door opens and a light is switched on. It's Brian, but he looks completely different: He looks like he is dying. All of the following dialogue is a voice-over of a conversation he's obviously just finished. While we listen, we watch him wander aimlessly then frantically from room to room of the apartment, picking up this, putting it down immediately. Looking at the many things (photographs, souvenirs..), the many memories of his woman and their relationship that are everywhere. Sullivan's voice throughout is dead and unresponsive. It's clear something bad is up and she doesn't want to reveal it until forced to. SULLIVAN (v.o.) Hi. No, I'm fine. I've just been busy. Sorry I haven't called. BRIAN (v.o.) Oh, it's all right. I just Look, is something wrong? Has something happened? Long pause SULLIVAN (v.o.) Brian, I'm going to stay here for now. I like it and I have friends. I've decided I want to stay here now. BRIAN (v.o., several long beats, then very hesitantly) Oh! Well, for how long? I mean weeks, months? SULLIVAN (v.o.) I don't know. I found a life. I'm doing things I never did before. I'm going out and meeting new people. It's just better. I've quit my job. Pause. BRIAN (v.o., slowly) But what about the life WE had? Pause. BRIAN (v.o.) Is there someone? Someone you're not telling me about? Long pause. SULLIVAN (v.o.) I've met someone I like talking to. But that's not it. He's completely different from you and I'm just going to stay here now, Brian. BRIAN (v.o., desperate) Can I come and talk to you? Can we talk about this? SULLIVAN (v.o., her voice high and tight) No. I don't want you to come. It wouldn't change anything. It would make it worse. Please don't! I can't see you. I love you, but I don't want to go back to that life. I'm going to stay here, Brian. BRIAN (v.o.,softly) It's all 'Brian' now. What happened to Shoes? He moves faster around the apartment opening drawers, touching objects, trying to make contact with Sullivan in whatever is left of her here. He is desperate, crushed, lost. The voice-overs end. Complete silence. Several beats before a telephone rings. He looks at it while it jangles again and again. Then he calls out in the saddest voice in the world BRIAN (pitifully) Sullivan, telephone! Can you get it, Honey? Would you get the phone? Please? CUT TO: INT. JEEP. SUNSET Sullivan is riding along in a Jeep across the African plains. The whole scene is hers-- we only see her or her POV out the windows. After a few moments the car stops and whoever is driving turns off the headlights. Sullivan, surprised, looks towards Martin Schaefer. MARTIN (O.S.) Look over there. His hand points out the front windshield to the left. A group of gazelle is standing stock still. Then they scatter gracefully in an instant when a lion's roar fills the air. Sullivan's happy face becomes very excited, then suddenly blank, then very sad. We know who she's thinking about. Reaching into her pocket, she takes out a beautiful shiny stone and looks at it a long time. She rubs it hard between her two palms. MARTIN (O.S.) What's that? SULLIVAN A lucky stone Brian gave me. If I rub hard, maybe I'll get enough magic out so he can hear that lion too. She does a trick with her hand and the stone suddenly disappears. We see Martin for the first time. MARTIN (pure admiration) I never knew a woman who did magic. SULLIVAN It's not magic, it's sleight of hand. Tricking the eyes. I have no magic. MARTIN (sighing) Look, you like me, right? And you know how much I care for you. And Brian sounds like a terrific man. Why would two good guys like us feel so strongly about you if you're so worthless? We think it's magic, you say it's a trick. You're not a trick, Sullivan, you're wonderful! SULLIVAN So wonderful that I couldn't tell Brian I wasn't coming back? I didn't have the courage or the decency to tell the man. He didn't deserve that. MARTIN No he didn't, but perhaps right now you can't find the words for what you're doing. SULLIVAN I'm confused, Martin. Very, very confused. DISSOLVE TO: INT.BRIAN'S APARTMENT. We're in Brian and Sullivan's apartment again, only it's a very different place now. Where before it was crowded, now it looks like a monk's room: white walls, no cameras or figures anywhere. It's almost completely, eerily empty. Except in the middle of the room is the giant fish tank with Big Mike in it. Brian's up on a ladder with a can of white paint finishing painting the room. His hair is longer and he's thinner. When he speaks it's obviously to Big Mike. BRIAN So, that's it! What do you think? Climbs down from the ladder and wiping his hands, surveys the room. BRIAN (falsely robust) Simple, white, no tzatkles. Very poetic. Looks towards fish. Rubs his mouth. BRIAN Very invisible. He goes to the tank and puts his forehead against it. His voice drops to the sad truth. BRIAN Very sad, Mike. Very fucking sad. I'm never going to be able to paint over this. What color takes your love away? CUT TO: EXT.MARTINIS GARDEN. DAY. Sullivan, barefoot and wearing a summery red dress, is bent over, hoeing and weeding in the middle of a pretty garden. She's sweaty and her face is flushed but she's obviously happy. A screen door slams somewhere. She straightens up and turns around, looking happy and expectant. Martin Schaefer appears in a suit and tie. He carries a briefcase and a big bouquet of flowers. He stops a few feet away and the two look at each other with total love. CUT TO: EXT. BALCONY. DAY Brian's sitting alone on a small balcony, drinking coffee and looking off into space. A television playing somewhere says ANNOUNCER (O.S.) The forest fires begun last night, whipped up by fierce Santa Ana winds, have spread at a horrifying pace. None are under control and the prognosis is not good. We have John McKinley with us to give us the latest update from chopper 2, in the air above the Iron Valley fire. The voice diminishes. Brian continues to stare. Then all at once, it starts snowing. Snowing in LA! Huge flakes start to fall and are momentarily whipped and swirled by gusts of wind. We hear the sound of trees full of dead leaves rattling. It takes a moment for this to register on Brian. Finally even he is startled into looking up. From his POV, we see flakes coming down everywhere. He puts out a hand and some land on his open palm. He touches them and they disintegrate- they're ash from the fires. BRIAN Ashes? They travel that far from the fire? Ashes for breakfast. Perfect! He looks into the sky and again from his POV, we watch this snow of ashes. CUT TO: EXT:MALIBU BEACH HOUSE. DAY Brian and John stand outside the door of an expensive beach house. Both men are dressed up. Loud music and party sounds from within. JOHN Stop fidgeting and complaining! You're going to this party and you're going to like it! You haven't been out of the house in two months. I think you're failing in love with that goddamned fish. I am now taking over your life and you will do everything I tell you to do. BRIAN I haven't been out because I lost the woman I love and I'm NOT INTERESTED, John! JOHN (scolding) And I'm not listening. I listened for two months but now you're boring. It's time to do the phoenix bit and rise out of the ashes. Besides, there are people concerned about you and want to see you. Anyway, I'll find you someone new and marvelous. Just watch. As a matchmaker BRIAN (giving him a big dirty look) - You're infallible. I know. Remember the last time you said that to me, dufus? The door opens. As one, the men see RICKY the hostess(black, in her thirties, very attractive) and greet her. BRIAN Hi Ricky! JOHN Hi Ricky! RICKY Hello Mutt and Jeff. It's about time you showed your face, Brian. There are at least twenty women here ready to leap on you. JOHN (naughty) And me? RICKY (amused) You be quiet. Come in. Wait till I tell you about this story I had to do yesterday CUT TO: INT. BEACH HOUSE. DAY The party is large and zippy. Brian moves around, making chitchat and greeting people. They're all glad to see him. JUDY stops him. JUDY Oh Brian, I just got back in the country and haven't seen anyone. How ARE you? Where's Sullivan? Smiling right through it, he says calmly. BRIAN She's in South Africa. CUT TO: INT. KITCHEN. DAY Brian walks into the kitchen to see what's happening there. CARLA sees him and walks right over. CARLA Brian! My God, you really did come. How are you? Are you okay? What a time you've had! BRIAN (amused) I'm okay. I just have to remind myself to get up in the morning sometimes. I'm kidding. John told me I have to be a phoenix and rise out of the ashes. CARLA (dismissively) Oh well, John! He's the worst person to go to. He has absolutely no sympathy for anyone. He's like a marine drill sergeant; no one's allowed to be depressed around here. Hup. Hup. But speaking of phoenixes, what do you think about the fires? They just don't ever stop! Everyone I know's house has burned down! It's like the end of the world! BRIAN Ashes were falling on my porch yesterday like snow. It was verystrange. The door opens and a man and woman enter. They're so obviously in love that they barely notice anything but each other. They touch and giggle and radiate desire. Brian and Carla watch-Carla's amused, Brian can't stand it. BRIAN Excuse me, Carla. I've got to go to the bathroom. He goes towards one door. CARLA (calling out) But Brian, the bathroom's on the other He's gone. She shrugs and picking up an hors d'oeuvre, goes back to watching the couple inhale each other. CUT TO: EXT.BEACH. DAY. Brian walks out of the house onto the deck overlooking the ocean. He goes to the railing. Few people are out there. A big friendly dog is lying nearby. Brian squats and rubs its belly. He stands quickly and walks down steps to the beach. The party beats on behind him. One person calls out to him, but he only waves at them and keeps walking. The dog is now his friend and follows him to the beach. Brian's glad for the company. He walks a ways, then stops and fists clenched, addresses the dog. BRIAN (furious) Her feet smell! She's got bad teeth! She's insecure and dumped me without even calling! Fuck her! Just get out of my head and let me breathe again, for Christ's sake! The dog's thrilled for the attention. Rolls over on its back, wiggles paws in the air. Brian snorts and starts off again, but almost immediately stumbles. Catching his balance, he strides past swimmers, castle builders, beach people, frisbee throwers. A plane is flying overhead trailing an advertising banner behind it. CUT TO: EXT. SKY. DAY Close in on plane as it slowly crosses the sky. Its banner reads SULLIVAN'S LOST! CUT TO: EXT. BEACH. DAY CLOSE UP of Brian's astonished expression. He shuts his eyes tightly. Opens them again and sees banner really reads SEA HORSE LOTS. He continues walking, dog behind. Down the way, an OLD MAN is surf casting with an enormous fishing rod, his back turned. Brian stops and watches. The dog is with him the whole way. BRIAN (angry) Everything reminds me of her! My whole brain is Sullivan. It's like those fires-- she jumps from here to here and everything is burning! What am I going to do? Shakes his head. ANOTHER LOVING COUPLE in swim suits walk between him and the fisherman. Like the pair at the party, these two are completely enthralled with each other. Brian stares. As if sensing their happiness, the dog bounces over. The couple fawn on it. Without a moment's hesitation, Fido follows when they leave, abandoning Brian. All this registers on his face. For a moment he goes back to watching the fisherman. When he speaks again, it is with the seriousness and weight of a person who, whether they know it or not, has made a momentous decision. BRIAN (with intense seriousness) I would do anything to get her back. I would do anything in the world to get Sullivan back. The fisherman put downs the rod and rummages in his tackle box. His back is still turned. BRIAN If that man turns around and waves, something good will happen. Something will change. The fisherman rummages. BRIAN Turn and wave. Just turn, see me and wave. Brian waves tentatively at the other's back. BRIAN (emotionally. This silly deal with himself has taken on crazy meaning) Just turn! Anything! I'll do anything to get her back. Turn around and wave at me. Make things change. Fisherman starts to rise slowly. He has what he wants and is about to go back to work. He stops. CLOSE-UP of his face. He hesitates, then turns around. Way up the beach behind him, Brian stands alone. As soon as he sees the fisherman, Brian raises an arm tentatively into the air and waves. The fisherman chuckles and gives a small wave in return. Then he turns back towards the ocean. The camera moves past him, back up the beach to Brian, where we see a sad, resigned smile on his face. He's gotten what he wanted but it's not much. He shrugs and smiles. CUT TO: EXT. BEACH. DAY Brian is walking back towards the party along the beach. He's smiling and shaking his head. He turns around and looks back the way he came. There's the fisherman with his back to us, still fishing. CUT TO: INT. BRIAN'S CAR. DAY Brian and John in the car again after the party. Brian starts the engine. He's smiling. John is amused by it. JOHN Why are you smiling? Did you meet someone, or did you have an epiphany? The last I saw, you were being devoured by Carla the vampire. BRIAN I don't know. I just feel okay. Don't ask me to analyze it. Let me have my moment. JOHN Look at your windshield! It's covered with ash. You can feel these damned fires everywhere. You should've been up in the helicopter yesterday! The windshield is filthy. Before they start, Brian presses the button for the washer to clean the glass. It shoots water up and completely over the windshield in a comically high geyser. Both men laugh. JOHN That's a very talented spritzer you have. Brian diddles with the wiper button but to no avail. The thing keeps arc'ing water onto the roof. After a while trying to get it to stop, he shrugs and starts off with it still going. As the car pulls away with water flying over it, we see down on the beach the fisherman still at his work. Camera pans further and far away we see very dark clouds of smoke. CUT TO: EXT. PACO'S TACO STAND. DAY MILTON ROBBIE, a tattered- looking bum, wearing a large cowboy hat, is at 'PACO'S TACO' stand with his equally mangy dog, Mr. Tracy. The place is as shabby and worn down as he is. He's being served by DONNA, obviously an old acquaintance. DONNA I keep telling you, Milton, if you go on feeding tacos to that old dog he's gonna die. An old stomach ain't got the lining to handle tacos. MILTON Mr. Tracy don't eat nothin' but tacos, Donna. He'd starve himself just for spite if I stopped feeding them to him. Costs me an arm and a leg too! I go down to the mission for my meals, but he gets take out! DONNA (unhappy with it) Well, I still feel criminal giving them to him. Feel like I'm putting a gun to the old dog's head. She passes a bag of tacos over. He slowly pays from a handful of rumpled change. The dog, sensing dinner's coming, gets up slowly and watches. Milton opens the bag and unwraps a taco. From his knapsack, he pulls out an old dinner plate and shoves the food on it. Bends over and puts it on the ground in front of the dog. All this under Donna's disapproving stare. Mr. Tracy sniffs the taco and begins to eat it. Out on the street a car full of tough-looking Hispanics pulls up. PASSENGER sticks his head out and yells PASSENGER (loud and mean) Hey, Old Man. What you giving that dog? MILTON (smiling) He's just eating lunch. The dog likes tacos. Passenger turns and says something in Spanish to the others. Lots of laughter. When he turns back towards Milton, he has a pistol in his hand. PASSENGER Well here's his fucking dessert! He shoots three times very fast and the dog is dead in an instant. Lots of laughter as the car tears away. Donna screams Milton falls to his knees and pulls the dog into his lap. MILTON (horrified) Oh my! Oh Mr. Tracy! Oh my God! CUT TO: INT.MARTIN SCHAEFER'S BEDROOM. NIGHT Sullivan, in bed with Martin Schaefer, sits up fast and shakes her head. The last scene was her dream and she's very disturbed by it. SULLIVAN (Very upset) God! Oh God, that place! I used to eat there! That dog! The blood! Schaefer, fully awake now, sits up and tries to comfort her. MARTIN Bad dream? Are you all right? SULLIVAN (very shaken) No! I don't know. It was so vivid! Schaefer tries to put his arms around her and pull her back down into bed. She resists. He tries harder and she pulls away angrily. SULLIVAN Don't, Martin! Just ... don't! Hurt, he pulls back. MARTIN (irked) What's the matter, Sullivan? Now it's nightmares. We don't make love anymore, you're in bad moods all the time ... Sullivan lies back down but wraps her arms tightly around herself. SULLIVAN Something's wrong. Something's wrong with me. I don't know WHAT it is! He slides over and tries to touch her. She sits up fast. SULLIVAN Don't! Do you understand? I don't want that. MARTIN (thoroughly annoyed) What DO you want? SULLIVAN (scared) I ... I don't know. She curls up even more into herself. Her position and the expression on her face is all frightened child. INT.BRIAN'S LIVING ROOM. CUT TO: Brian is making a meal for him and RICKY, the hostess from the beach party. He looks better, his movements are quick and sure. A television in the corner is tuned to a Russian language lesson and as he cooks, Brian and Ricky repeat what's said. TELEVISION TEACHER Tovarich. BRIAN Tovarich. RICKY Tovarich. TEACHER Dos-ve-don-ya BRIAN Dos-ve-don-ya RICKY Dos-ve-don-ya The telephone rings and as he looks up, a fax machine nearby whistles and a message starts to scroll out. Brian walks over. BRIAN I don't know, Ricky. I know you love these lessons, but I don't think I'll ever be Dr. Zhivago. She waves a hand at him to be quiet. RICKY Be quiet. I think this guy's accent is so cute! CUT TO: INT.BRIAN'S LIVING ROOM. CLOSE-UP of message coming out of the machine. As hand takes hold of it, we read 'ARRIVING THURSDAY THE 28TH, SOUTH AFRICAN AIRLINES, FLIGHT 809. COULD YOU PLEASE BE THERE?' BRIAN (o.s.,whooping) She's coming back! SHE'S COMING BAAACK! As soon as message finishes, there's a loud CLUNK, then a menacing THUNK from the machine. Paper starts to gush out of it and doesn't stop until Brian turns the machine off. BRIAN (O.S.) Jesus, what's that? Hand grabs for cord and unplugs the sick machine. BRIAN (O.S.) So it broke. So what? So what? She's coming back! RICKY (O.S.) Who's coming back? BRIAN (o.s. triumphant) Sullivan! Sullivan's coming back! RICKY (o.s., thrilled) What? She is? Really? Oh hurray, Brian! Hurray! The machine sits there, dead and ominous-looking with the long white tongue of paper gushed out of it. CUT TO: INT. L.A. AIRPORT. DAY. Tired and worried-looking, Sullivan comes through the arrival gate at the airport into a mob of people waiting for others off her flight. There's much kissing and hugging and greeting all around. She definitely sees it. But Brian's not there. She looks frantically around, quicker and quicker, but he's nowhere to be seen. She's devastated. SULLIVAN (to herself) I knew it. She tries to regain her composure but the disappointment is enormous. She looks ready to cry when suddenly Brian comes bursting up to the front of the crowd. SULLIVAN (excited, relieved) I didn't think you'd come. BRIAN There was a bad accident on the way over. Traffic was impossible. They stand at an awkward uncomfortable distance, wanting to touch but afraid. SULLIVAN I have to tell you I don't know why I'm here. I just had to come. They walk on together. At one point she starts to take his arm but stops and looks away. He doesn't notice because he's thinking about what she said. BRIAN I don't know how to answer that. Maybe just because you love me? I know I love you more than anything in the world. But now you're this other person too. SULLIVAN The one who betrayed you. BRIAN (intensely) Yes. They walk in unhappy silence. She stops and touches his arm. SULLIVAN I don't know anything right now except you came and I didn't deserve it. I'll try and tell you the truth and It's clear she's disturbed and scared in equal measure. SULLIVAN (nervous, distraught) I had to see you again. I had to see your face and talk to you. I don't know why-- Maybe I should just I don't know, sleep in the airport or something- BRIAN (impatient,interrupting) Don't be silly. She stares at him with thousand watt eyes. He runs a hand slowly across her cheek but that's all. BRIAN Let's eat and then we'll talk. We can talk as much as you like. They walk towards the baggage claim. Sullivan shifts her purse from one shoulder to the other so she can take Brian's hand. As soon as she does, the two begin to walk faster. DISSOLVE TO: INT. BRIAN'S BATHROOM. DAY. Sullivan is just finishing a bath. She looks around the room and realizes there are no towels with which to dry herself. Making a face, she calls out SULLIVAN Shoes, do you have any towels? There are none in here. BRIAN (O.S.) There are some in here. Hold on a sec The door opens and he walks in with a big towel. He's smiling. BRIAN 'Shoes', huh? That's nice to hear again. As he comes in, Sullivan reflexively squirms and covers up. Brian stops- His face tightens carefully laying the towel on the floor next to the tub, he starts out again. She unclenches, closes her eyes, and says SULLIVAN (ashamed) I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking BRIAN It's all right. Don't worry. He moves toward the door. She stands quickly to try and stop him. SULLIVAN No, Brian, don't go, Please! Stay. He turns and looks at her a long moment. BRIAN I want to touch You, but I'm afraid. SULLIVAN I know. But Please do! I want you to. He doesn't move. Shakes his head. BRIAN It's not that simple. Looks away, looks back. BRIAN I don't even know... Was there ... Did the guy have a test before you slept together? SULLIVAN (very low voice) Yes. I insisted. BRIAN (Grimacing. The truth is now out) Shit They don't know where to go with this. Sullivan steps out of the bath dripping wet and goes to him. She embraces him and they kiss hard. She moves into him but in so doing, loses her balance and stumbles. He holds her, then picks her up and awkwardly turns around and walks out of the room. CUT TO: INT. BRIAN'S BEDROOM. DAY They make love but it's so much rolling and tumbling... that it looks more like wrestling. Very passionate, very aggressive. At one point he stops, lifts his head and says to her BRIAN Welcome home. CUT TO: INT. MARTIN SCHAEFER'S BEDROOM. DAY CLOSE-UP of Sullivan sitting naked an top of someone, her face all burn and ecstasy. In contrast, this time she's moving oh-so slowly but is completely caught up in it. This shows in everything she does and says. After a while she's carefully rolled onto her back and from the shadows beneath emerges her partner--Martin Schaefer. He's a very good lover and the scene is erotic as hell. It goes on for a while. CUT TO: INT.BRIAN'S BEDROOM. DAY Brian jerks awake from this graphic, unwanted dream and immediately turns to Sullivan. He watches her for a long moment, then roughly pulls her into his arms. She's been sleeping and is disoriented by his action. He doesn't care; starts to take her with a vengeance. The scene closes with a close-up of her now very wide-awake face. CUT TO: EXT. GARDEN OF JOHN'S APARTMENT BUILDING. DAY John and Sullivan are standing in sweatsuits in John's backyard. She's been demonstrating how to throw a shotput. SULLIVAN You see, most of it's in the cradling JOHN Is this what you did in South Africa? Practiced shotputting? SULLIVAN Uh oh, here it comes. I knew sooner or later you'd start on this. JOHN (scolding) Wait a minute, wait a minute. Just hold it! Listen, Mud Snoot, I watched as your friend and mine died six times a day because you decided to go on permanent safari. It was horrible. And I had to watch it. You didn't. SULLIVAN All right. That's fair enough, but I gave up my life, John. I quit a terrific job and burned all my bridges. Every day I knew what a horrible thing I'd done to him. I don't deserve pity, but don't make it sound like it was all champagne and safaris. It wasn't. JOHN (softening) Were you in love? SULLIVAN (thoughtfully) Yes, for a while. Martin's a good man. If it weren't for Brian, I think we would have been very happy together. JOHN So then why DID you come back? SULLIVAN I told you-- I had to. It hit like a tidal wave. There was no choice, it was completely out of my control. It isn't only love, John; since I got back everything's been SO intense and powerful, it's scary. Life is all hundred megaton explosions these days. JOHN I envy you so much. I've never felt like that for anyone. It must be wonderful. I want to know why we don't live in an age of love. You two, odd as you are, are the only two people I know who really seem to love each other with all the old qualities of the word. It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight. There just seems to be a whole new ugly spin on the concept and I for one hate it a lot. Love is like fast food now; it comes in a plastic wrapper--you eat it as fast as you can, then go on with the rest of your day without ever thinking about what you ate or if it was good for you or not. Then you die twenty years too early because you ate too much of that poisonous junk. I should have lived in the fourteenth century. Then I would have been okay. Is it too much to ask for the real thing just once in my adult life? He takes the shotput from her and with all the skill of a real athlete, flings it in the air. It lands very far away. He turns to her and beams. JOHN I still have the old jock in me! You know, when I was playing sports in college, I really thought for a while about being a professional. But because I was gay, I thought sooner or later it would come out and I'd be ruined. I guess it's better in that way today, people are more open and everything about it. But I want some romance, you know? I want to be able to look at someone the way you two look at each other all the time. You really are so lucky. SULLIVAN Lucky, confused, scared... She picks up the shotput with both hands and flings it up with great success. Looks triumphantly at John, slaps her hands together to clean them and goes marching off for the shotput. CUT TO: INT.JOHN'S CAR. DAY John and Sullivan in his car, on their way to lunch. She's laughing hard at something he said. SULLIVAN Get outta here! JOHN I swear! This guy looked like a million bucks,cash. I took one look at him and felt like someone had opened my head and poured in a pitcher of warm milk. SULLIVAN (indignantly) You stole that line from me! I told it to youafter my first date with Brian. JOHN I know, but it's a classic so it's mine now too. Anyway, he looks great, he has something to say, I'm thanking the gods for putting me in that bar, and then he says why don't we go back to my place. Do you believe it? Dream come true time. So we do. SULLIVAN And? JOHN And being with this man was about as much fun as stamp collecting in the dark. He asked me if I was interested in electric trains. Electric trains, for God's sake! Have you ever heard anything more perverse? Laughing, Sullivan looks out the window and sees something. Her eyes go very wide. She grabs John's arm. SULLIVAN John, John, stop the car. Stop a minute! He looks at her, concerned. JOHN What? What's the matter? SULLIVAN Pull over! Please just pull the car over there. I have to see something. John does as he's told but doesn't understand why. When they've stopped, Sullivan jumps out. CUT TO: EXT.DAY.VERY BUSY STREET Sullivan weaves dangerously through traffic while crossing the street to a small fast food stand, 'PACO'S TACO'. We've seen it before. She stands in front, checking out the place with a mixture of wonder and distrust. It's exactly what she saw in her dream. PACO is behind the counter, looking appreciatively at her. Having looked long enough to be sure it's what she dreamt, She takes a deep breath and walks over. SULLIVAN Excuse me, but does a woman named Donna work here? PACO Donna? Yeah, used to. But she quit. SULLIVAN(her eyes widening) How long ago? PACO Couple weeks. They come by and shoot and the next day she quits. I couldn't find anyone to take her place for a long time. I had to work extra shifts! SULLIVAN You mean when they shot the dog? PACO (excited) Yeah, you see us on the news? We were on three channels and in all the papers. Funny-- a dog gets shot and suddenly you're famous! Sullivan's stunned but has to ask another question. John's come up by now and is watching from the side. SULLIVAN Can you tell me exactly when it happened? It's very important. Paco thinks, then bends down behind the counter and rummages around. JOHN (exasperated) Sullivan, what are you doing? You almost got killed crossing that street! She holds up a hand for him to wait. John looks at the menu. Paco straightens up with a newspaper in his hand. PACO Last month, on the 14th. Sullivan takes the newspaper from him, scans it, then starts to figure out the time in her head and on her hand. JOHN (resigned to the fact they'll be her a while) I'd like a chicken fajita, please, and a large Dr. Pepper. Paco turns to prepare it. SULLIVAN God, it could have been! She puts the paper down on the counter and reads. Paco returns with the food. JOHN That was the fastest fajita I ever saw. Did you cook it in your back pocket? Sullivan, do you want anything? He examines the fajita dubiously. She ignores him and continues reading. Finishing the article, she looks at John a long moment before speaking. SULLIVAN (slowly, waving paper at John) 1-dreamt-this-in-South-Africa! Exactly the way it happened. Exactly, according to this, John. I dreamt the whole thing. There is not one detail I didn't see! JOHN What did you dream? SULLIVAN (adamant) This! There was a bum with an old dog. The dog only ate tacos, so the guy brought him here every day for them. A waitress named Donna who served them. He was here when a bunch of kids drove up and shot the dog. I dreamt every bit of it! I saw it all-- just like here, just like it says in the paper. PACO (starts talking, but others pay no attention to him) Donna said she didn't wanna work no place where they shoot dogs, you know? I said, hey, that happens anywhere in this town. Where do you think you're living, huh? Sullivan and John look at each other a long time. SULLIVAN What does it mean, John? How could I possibly have that dream? JOHN I don't know. These things do happen some time. People do have prescient dreams. You read about it all the time, but you also read about the Yeti and the Loch Ness monster, so who the hell knows? She gives him a long look. JOHN (hands up, surrendering) I don't know! Maybe there is a Yeti. You say you had the dream, then you had the dream! SULLIVAN I did! I saw everything. Everything that's here. Sullivan looks down, sees something and stoops over. CLOSE-UP of her face as she realizes what it is: three bullet holes at ground level across the front of the taco stand. She touches them and at the same time hears the distant, ghostly sound of a burst of gunfire and a car screeching away. She looks up at John. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. ZOO. DAY Brian and Sullivan are spending a day at the zoo. They amble from here to there dreamily, eating peanuts and taking in the sights. Finally they stop at the hippopotamus den. SULLIVAN People think the lions and tigers are the most most dangerous animals, but in South Africa, more people are killed by charging hippos than any other animal. BRIAN Really? They look so friendly and goofy. They always remind me of characters in a Disney cartoon. SULLIVAN Me too, but they're mean as hell. You're never supposed to get between a hippo and its watering if you do, you're dead. They come right for you. She spots a toilet and starts towards it. SULLIVAN (points to where she's going) I'll be right back Do you know what John calls the toilet? The necessarium. She continues on to the toilet. Brian turns towards the hippos. Camera moves in on one hippo face. Hold. Cam ra then pulls back, further, further, until we realize we're looking at the beast through the glass of a car windshield. Sullivan and Martin are in a jeep on a game preserve in Africa. Oblivious to the creature outside staring at them, they're furiously making out. It goes on a while and it's very sexy. We hear the sound of an elephant roaring. Sullivan pulls back, laughs happily, and shakes her head because this is all so wild and wonderful. She goes back to kissing. Martin begins to unbutton her shirt and she helps. Underneath is a white t-shirt that says 'Traffic in Space' Restaurant// Topanga, California' BRIAN (O.S.) That's my t-shirt! He's taking my shirt off her! Camera moves out of the car again into a close-up of the eye of the hippo. Several beats. Pull back and we're once again at the zoo with Brian. Pull back further to see him staring at the animal and talking loudly to himself. BRIAN (getting a little crazy) I've been looking for that shirt for months! I don't believe it. My shirt! She's wearing my clothes while he's stripping them off her! Sullivan comes up behind him and touches his shoulder. She's holding a camera and smiling, but stops fast when she sees the expression on his face. SULLIVAN (gaily, then concerned) Picture time! Oh, what's the matter, Shoes? BRIAN (ominously) Do you have my 'Traffic in Space' t-shirt? SULLIVAN (confused) I don't know. I guess. Maybe. He takes her arm too hard and her eyes widen. BRIAN Did you take it to Africa with you? Now she knows something's up and it ain't nice. SULLIVAN I don't know. I don't remember. What's the matter? What's so important about a shirt? You should see your face! BRIAN (ignoring the statement) What does Martin look like? Tell me exactly what he looks like. Almost cringing, she says quietly SULLIVAN He's tall and dark. BRIAN What else? They're walking now. SULLIVAN (shyly) What else do you want to know? BRIAN (arguing with himself) Everything. Nothing. I don't know. Tell me more what he looks like. I want to know. Be more specific. SULLIVAN He's about 6'2", has short black hair and looks like he works outside. He's very tan and has a nice build. Brian stops and looks at her. BRIAN And he has a wonderful smile, doesn't he? And a big scar on his back from a car accident. You were always amazed that his breath never smelled, And he never made a sound when you made love, did he? Sullivan's face says yes, but how could Brian know that? BRIAN Where's my 'Traffic in Space' shirt? SULLIVAN Why? Why is it important? What are you saying, Brian? BRIAN Remember the day you drove with him out to see the animals, but ended up fucking in his car? Remember that herd of impala were just a few feet away? Remember all that? And then later, when it rained? They stop. She's horrified. SULLIVAN (appalled,scared) How do you know that? How do you know those things? I never said anything about any of that. How do you know? He starts away. BRIAN (pointing to his forehead) Because I see them here now! I see you two together there. I see everything and I don't want to see. I never wanted to know, but now here it is and I can't do anything to stop it! I started having dreams right after you came back. Now it's not only dreams, because they come in the day too; they come all the time. I see everything! I see you two there! I see stories, pictures, whole goddamned movies of everything you did! He shakes his hands next to his head. BRIAN And you know what? I don't want to see them. I swear to God, I don't want to, but I can't stop it. I cannot stop it! They come to an escalator that will lead them out of the zoo. Sullivan's too alarmed to speak. She stares at Brian, taking his revelation in. Standing in front of them a few steps down is a gaudily dressed WOMAN. She starts down the stairs but suddenly trips and falls head first down the steps to the bottom. The escalator continues to move. Horrifyingly, her hair slides into the bottom grate where the stairs disappear. CUT TO: EXT. DAY. ESCALATOR CLOSE-UP of Sullivan's astounded face. CUT TO: EXT. DAY. ESCALATOR BRIAN It's been happening for a while. I don't know when it began. Bewildered, Sullivan looks at Brian, then quickly at the woman in front of them. Woman starts to move down the stairs in the fatal way we just saw. But now as she begins to stumble, Sullivan grabs her shoulders with both hands and is able to keep her from falling. The woman steadies herself and turns to Sullivan. WOMAN (gratefully) Oh my God! Thank you! Thank you so much! It's these damned heels. Shocked by her vision, Sullivan nods and smiles but moves quickly down the steps past the woman. Brian's left staring, then follows. Sullivan runs off escalator and on towards zoo entrance. Brian right behind her. BRIAN Sullivan! Sull, wait! She ignores him and keeps going. Brian catches up and stops her. She stands unmoving, eyes closed. SULLIVAN (crying) I saw it! I saw it happen and then it did! What is this, Shoes? What's going on with us? You're seeing things too now, but it's so different. What's happening to us? CLOSE-UP of her face: scared, wet eyes. DISSOLVE TO: EXT.DAY.OUTDOOR CAFE AT THE ZOO Sullivan and Brian sitting at an outdoor restaurant at the zoo. Both have food in front of them but it is untouched. SULLIVAN (vehement) Why didn't you tell me this before? BRIAN Because it's loony tunes, Sullivan! Who knows why any of it's happening? What you're saying's just one very whacked-out possibility. You want it to be magic or something otherworldly, but maybe there's an explanation. Maybe there's a reason that's not... from another planet! SULLIVAN Tell me exactly what happened. BRIAN (exasperated)/ I was standing on the beach and saw a fisherman. I said to myself if he turns around and waves at me, something good will happen. It'll make her come back. It was crazy stuff, childish. SULLIVAN (ignoring his dismissive tone) But what did you say? Say the words exactly as you remember them. BRIAN (tossing it off-- it's unimportant) I said 'I would do anything to get her back. Anything in the world.' I WOULD'VE done anything! I was dying. But it was a wish, Sull. It was me being five years old and believing things like that really happened in the world. He takes her hand. BRIAN But they don't! They don't, honey. There are a million people a night who wish on stars and nothing ever happens, because wishes are just that, wishes. A magical, impossible way to make the world a perfect place. We wish because there's still some kind of child in us, but we've wished too much and nothing's ever happened, so we know it's just us being kids again for a little while! Sullivan pokes at her food. SULLIVAN And when was it? BRIAN (sighing, knows he hasn't reached her) Around the middle of last month. SULLIVAN (claps her hands, convinced) When I had my first dream. I was in South Africa, but dreamt about a shooting at a taco stand in L.A.! And it happened, Brian. Every last thing, every little detail that was in that dream came true. How do you explain that? I wasn't making a wish. I was having a nightmare that came true! Brian shakes his head: this is all crazy. She grabs his arm and speaks beseechingly SULLIVAN You saw what just happened! That woman would've had her head torn off if I hadn't grabbed her! BRIAN (angry) How do you know? How do you know any of it's true? She tripped and you grabbed her. Saved her from falling down. All right, fine. Great. But that doesn't mean SULLIVAN (just as angry, building in intensity) I saw it, Shoes! Shut up and think about what's happened! How do you know what Martin Schaefer looks like? I have no pictures, not one. But you described him perfectly. You know about the scar on his back, and what he's like in bed. How? And I knew nine thousand miles away that a dog was shot on Western Avenue. And now this woman was going to fall down-- We have to find that fisherman. We have to go back to that beach and find him! BRIAN That's nuts! Come on! What is he going to tell us? That he's Merlin? Or maybe he's the Grimm Brothers and they're just back from the grave, working up a whole new set of fairy tales! SULLIVAN It's not nuts! I believe somehow you did something... and got exactly what you wanted: Me. I came back. I was happy as a clam in South Africa. Then suddenly for no reason, everything changed. Everything went bad. I felt this terrible need to come back and see you. I dreamt about a dog being shot. I became absolutely frigid towards a man I-- Seeing Brian's face fall, she changes tack. SULLIVAN I'm sorry, but you've got to understand; I loved it there, Shoes. I wanted to stay! But suddenly I couldn't. You got your wish; I came back. But ever since then, everything's too much between us too! I think about you, and us, all day long. We think the same thoughts, say exactly the same thing at the same time. You'd do anything to get me back? Well, I'm back. And everything's good between us, but what's the payback, Brian? Will it be worth it? BRIAN I don't know. I guess we just have to play it out. In frustration, he stabs a fork into his salad and pulling out a hunk of lettuce, shaves it into his mouth. Sullivan reaches into her pocket and takes out the good luck stone he gave her. In her dexterous hands, the stone comes and goes, disappears for a second and then is back again. He watches. SULLIVAN We have to find that fisherman. That's where we start! BRIAN That's crazy! What good will he do, even if you're right? Gestures toward her hand. BRIAN You do that all the time now. SULLIVAN Because I'm nervous. She continues her play. BRIAN I'm nervous too. She nods. BRIAN (waving his fork in front of her face) Look at me! I'm nervous too. Believe me, I don't want to know what your sex life was like with Martin Schaefer! Her hands stop, then keep moving. The stone disappears again. This time, Sullivan stops. Confused, she opens both hands to show she isn't hiding it-- the stone really has disappeared. BRIAN What's the matter? SULLIVAN I- I don't know where the stone is! Brian smiles indulgently, knowing she's fooling around. But Sullivan's face is a 100% serious. BRIAN Uh huh! SULLIVAN (upset) Really! I had it, but I don't now. I'm not being funny. It's- gone. BRIAN You're serious? She nods and her expression says she's not kidding. BRIAN You didn't drop it or anything? She puts up a hand, Girl Scout-pledge style. Slumps in her chair. BRIAN I think we're in for some strange stuff. CUT TO: EXT.BEACH. DAY The two are walking down the beach where Brian saw the fisherman. They're both looking everywhere but Brian is shaking his head. BRIAN (exasperated) He's not here. This is crazy--this is the third time we've been here, Sullivan. Maybe he doesn't even live here. Maybe he was just visiting! Sullivan's face tightens and she marches forward, leaving Brian behind. SULLIVAN Maybe even if he is, he won't have anything to say. But we've still got to try and find him! That's all! We've got to! Brian watches her leave then shaking his head, slowly follows. CUT TO: INT:SERVICE STATION. DAY Brian is paying at the cashier at a service station. It's one of those multi-service places that sells all kinds of food and drink as well. Sullivan is roaming around in the back somewhere, with some potato chips and a bottle of Coke in her hand. Brian finished paying and steps away from the register to make way for the next person in line. WOMAN pays for a bag of Fritos. CASHIERAnything else? WOMAN (Southern accent) Yeah. Today I feel lucky. Give me one of those dollar scratchers. Cashier picks up a large fishbowl behind the counter and offers it to the woman. She selects one, pays, then steps away from the counter. She rummages in her pocket for her car keys, finds them, then starts to use the key to scratch on the card. BRIAN Sullivan, are you ready? She ambles up to him and holds up her bag of chips. SULLIVAN These are new. Hot and spicy nacho chips? You won't be able to kiss me for a week. She goes to the counter with her purchases. The woman scratcher is still there, scratching away, her tongue out of the corner of her mouth. As Sullivan's purchases are being rung up, she looks at what the woman is doing and smiles. Woman pays no attention. SULLIVAN Did you ever do that? Brian smiles, shakes his head no. Woman finishes scratching and her face transforms to absolute wonder. WOMAN Oh my God! Oh my God! Look at this! Look at this! I won a thousand dollars! I got a thousand dollars! I never won anything in my life. But I got it! Look! She pushes past Sullivan to the cashier, who looks at her card and shakes his head. CASHIER You did! You won! Sullivan's eyes go wide and she looks immediately at Brian, alarmed. BRIAN (knowing what's coming next) Come on, let's go. WOMAN Nothing! I never won a thing in my life. But I just got this feeling. I just knew I had to buy one of those things today. Sensing Sullivan's about to say something, Brian takes her by the arm and steers her toward the door. SULLIVAN Did you hear that? Brian? Did you hear what she said? She never won anything. But- BRIAN Yup. I heard. Come on, let's go. SULLIVAN (allowing herself to be led, but looking over her shoulder at the woman) But Brian BR