INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT A swift breeze emanates as a car briskly passes the lawn of an average suburban home. Inside, a family is celebrating the 40th birthday of JOHN, the father of 12 year old son HARRIS, and husband of 38 year old JANE. Darkly lit, the room shines with excitement as Jane prepares to give John a gift. JANE Open it! JOHN Alright alright! (Furiously tearing paper from a small wrapped box) Oh wow! Jane! JANE It's the one we saw, remember? JOHN (Holding a shiny GOLDEN WATCH in his hands) I can't believe it. This is it! JANE So you like it? JOHN I don't know what to say! I mean, I love it! But, I thought the pawn shop said it was sold? JANE I guess I changed his mind! JOHN Jane! People would kill for a chance to own a watch like this. How did you persuade him? JANE I just told him that you really really wanted it. He seemed sympathetic. They even delivered it right to our house. I gave him our address and it came this morning after they cleaned it and put in a new battery. JOHN They delivered it? To here? It's like a 30 minute drive! JANE Actually they were pretty adamant about delivering it themselves. They were really helpful. JOHN I'm in shock. I love it. I really, really do, But, Jane... JANE Yes? John takes his eyes from his beautiful gift and looks directly into Jane's eyes. Something is wrong. JOHN (Sighs) ...Jane. JANE John. No. JOHN I know. It's my birthday. I shouldn't be upset. I'm sorry. I just wished you had told me before you bought it. JANE That would have ruined the surprise! JOHN I know, it's just, with work being slow... JANE John, stop worrying about it. We'll make it work. This is the first good day we've had in a long time and I want to remember it as being a good day, for the rest of my life. JOHN You're right. I'm sorry. I know this hasn't been easy on you either Jane, but, yes. This is the perfect ending to a very good day, and It's all thanks to you. Hey, where's Harris? JANE He's in his room. I'll be right back. (Walking toward the hallway) Harris! Come out here. (Walking back towards John) I don't know what he's doing in there! From the hallway a loud crash of glass breaking erupts into the living room. JOHN What the hell? JANE Harris?! John and Jane dash towards the bedroom. As they turn the corner they are ambushed by a large man dressed in black. Jane screams. The man bashes John in the face with the blunt side of a gun and pushes Jane to the floor. JANE Please! Don't hurt us! Take anything you want! The man, tall and slender with deep blackened eyes doesn't relent. He kicks John's unconscious body in the gut as he approaches Jane who is backpedaling away from him. The strong scent of Alcohol from his breath burns her nostrils as he closes in on her. JANE (Screaming) Oh please god! Don't touch me! Please! Don't hurt me! THE MAN Sit still! It won't hurt if you don't fight it! JANE Please! No! Take anything! Just please don't hurt me! It's easy to realize this mans intentions. However, on the other side of the room John begins to come to. THE MAN Shit! The man panics. He grabs the box containing the watch and tucks it into his coat pocket. He lifts his gun and points the barrel at Jane's head. The gun goes off. The man hurries out the front door. JOHN Jane! Jane!! John pulls himself on top of Jane's lifeless body. He knows there is nothing he can do, but still he attempts to wake her. As he lays his head down on her chest sobbing, he notices 12 year old Harris standing in the hallway. He has seen everything. INT. THERAPIST OFFICE - DAY White. White walls, white carpet, the doctor is even wearing a white coat. He sits behind a desk as young Harris is slouched in what seems like a giant chair tucked neatly in front of a giant white desk with tons of white paper strewn across it's surface as he scratches out a childish but creepy drawing. John observes from the corner. DOCTOR Harris? HARRIS I'm busy. DOCTOR Harris what are you drawing? Is it another picture of Mommy? HARRIS I said, I'm busy! DOCTOR I think that's enough for today. Harris continues to draw as the adults speak. JOHN Well? DOCTOR He's making progress. I'd like to start seeing him a couple of days each week to get an idea of how to better the process. JOHN Ill see what I can do. DOCTOR I think it's important for him to understand that how he feels is very normal and he shouldn't be afraid to express himself. These drawings, however gruesome, do show some signs of growth. JOHN They're so... DOCTOR I know. Maybe you could try to talk to him. Get him to express his feelings verbally with you or maybe even with his friends at school. It's important for him to open up, anyway he can, but, John, let me ask you a question. How are you? JOHN What do you mean? DOCTOR Well, Harris isn't the only one who lost a loved one. It's been a year since your wife and I'm just wondering how you're coming along. JOHN I've, I've forgiven myself. DOCTOR For Jane? John you know that... JOHN I know. I know that now. It wasn't my fault. But at first, I didn't think that. I just felt powerless. I felt like I had every chance to help her, and I failed. I felt like if I could have just been stronger... DOCTOR And you don't feel this way anymore? You don't blame yourself? JOHN No. I've thought about it a lot. I'm positive that there is nothing I could have done to stop what happened. I'm not that person. I can't do those things. DOCTOR You mean that, as in, you don't think you could ever hurt someone? JOHN For a long time I wanted to. I've dreamed about it. A lot. I've dreamed about finding this person, and just...just... watching as his life was slowly sucked from his body, just like Jane's was. I've seen it in my mind a million times. I was obsessed with it. But, I'm past that now. I understand how wrong that is, to wish that on anyone. I don't blame myself anymore. I'm fine. DOCTOR That's very good John. You've got a good head on your shoulders. I'm happy that you've been able to handle this the way that you have. You're a lot stronger than you think. JOHN (awkwardly) ...I uh, I should... DOCTOR Yeah. I'll see Harris, um, Thursday? JOHN Yeah. Thanks. Let's go Harris. We've got a long drive back home. DOCTOR Goodbye. Be careful. INT. CAR - DAY Driving home from the days therapy session. John decides to take the Doctors advice and try to get something out of Harris. JOHN The Doctor says he wants to start seeing you more. He thinks you're doing really great. Harris is silent. His head is slouched. He has no interest in anything his father has to say. JOHN You know Harris, you don't have to talk to me, or the doctors, but you can talk to someone. I mean you should talk to someone. Hey, are you still friends with Danny, from school? How is he? I remember you guys were inseparable. Me and your mother used to say that Danny was your brother and we were his adopted parents. Do you ever see Danny anymore? Harris? HARRIS What does it feel like to kill someone? JOHN Harris. Why are you asking me that? HARRIS I want to know. How it feels. JOHN Son. You shouldn't think about things like that. HARRIS It's all I think about. JOHN (Confused) Why are you just now telling me this? HARRIS Don't you want to know dad? Don't you want to kill someone? JOHN No Harris. I don't. No matter what happens in this world, no matter how bad you feel about what someone has done to you, that is never the answer. Never. HARRIS I'm sorry. I just think about it. A lot. I would never do it. I just think about it. I think about Mom. I think about what it felt like to kill her. JOHN Harris you shouldn't be thinking things like that. You're 13 years old. I know how you feel about mom, but she wouldn't want you to think those things. It's hard to deal with what happened. I know. I've felt those same feelings. Anger. Regret. But I've learned from them. I've learned that what happened was nobody's fault. I wanted to kill someone too, just like you. But now I know better. You know better. A loud "ding" chimes in from the dashboard. JOHN Shit, I need gas. We'll talk about this later. INT. GAS STATION - DAY Outside the gas station, John pumps his gas as Harris waits quietly in the passenger seat. JOHN I'm going to go pay. Do you want anything? HARRIS ... JOHN Okay. I'll be right back. John enters the store. The clerk, a small framed Chinese man sits sleepily behind the counter. John sees the coffee pot. JOHN Is this fresh? CLERK Fresh enough. JOHN Thanks. John pours a cup of coffee and quickly takes a sip. No cream, no sugar. It's the best thing he has ever tasted. The bell front the entrance rings out as another customer enters the store. John is hidden from view and decides to keep enjoying his fresh enough coffee. CLERK (Shouting) Hey man! What the fuck!? Hey! Hey man! Hey! Assuming this to be directed at him, John peeks around the shelf of snacks that has hidden him from reality. He begins to ask the clerk what his problem is when he finally sees whats happening. CLERK Dude! Please! Don't hurt me. Put the gun down! Please! The newly arrived customer is wearing a Ski-Mask and is pointing a gun at the clerk. John is in the middle of an old school Gas Station robbery. Instinctively he thinks of Harris. He reaches for his phone. JOHN (Whispers angrily) Shit! My phone. Shit! His phone, like his son, is waiting for him in the car. The only thing for john to do is to lay low, and try not to draw any attention to himself. He is shaking. The dopey clerk reacts excitedly towards the robber, flailing his hands in the air. CLERK Please! Just take the money from the register! Please! Take anything! ROBBER I want what's in the safe! Now! CLERK I swear I can't open it! I would if I could dude, I don't know the combination! ROBBER You're lying! CLERK No! No! I'm not! ROBBER You're fucking toast if you don't get that safe open! John, trembling with fear remains silent in his hidden paradise. He wonders how long it will be before the robber notices him. This thought makes him shake even more. He can't control it. It's too much for him. The coffee cup in his hand slips from his grasp and hits the floor. Splash. ROBBER What the... The robber turns his head towards the back of the store. In that moment the clerk reaches for a gun under the counter, holds it up to the chest of the criminal and pulls the trigger. As the robber falls backwards he lifts his weapon and shoots the clerk square in the head. The clerk slams forward into the counter top. Dead. Silence. Finally, John gets the courage to peak around the corner. He sees the clerk laying face down on the counter with his gun still locked firmly in his hand. The robber is lying on his back, coughing and moaning. He is alive. John slowly makes his way around the shelves and towards the door. There is blood everywhere. He takes a couple steps and looks down at the dying robber. He sees something that catches his eye... His wrist. His watch. A very familiar GOLDEN WATCH. The man coughs. John is elated. At first he doesn't understand, but it quickly comes to him. The man reaches out to him. ROBBER (coughing) ...please...help... John grabs the gun from clerk and shoots the robber between the eyes. John is stunned. Suddenly, the automatic doors slide open in front of him. John looks up. 12 year old Harris is standing on the other side. He has seen everything.