FADE IN:

EXT. STREET - DAY

A sunny day, a quiet, peaceful neighborhood lined with
modest homes and apartment blocks. Two men, DARYL and FLOYD,
(30s), walk down the street. Floyd reads from the newspaper...

                         FLOYD
             Listen to this: "Arthur Golating,
             age 60, was struck and killed
             yesterday..."

EXT. ARTHUR'S STREET - DAY

A sunny late afternoon, a street in a wealthier part of town,
lined with upscale apartment blocks, condos, and office
buildings.

ARTHUR GOLATING, 60, slim, fit, silver gray hair walks down
the sidewalk, smiling, and whistling a happy tune.

WORKMEN remove a huge, gleaming concert grand piano from a
truck with a towering mobile CRANE.

                         FLOYD (V.O., CONT'D)
             "... walking home from his
             employment as a United States
             Postal worker. Mr. Golating,
             never-married, had been a mail
             sorter for thirty-four years
             until his official retirement,
             yesterday..."

INT. POST OFFICE - DAY

The large, sprawling sorting room. Arthur's COWORKERS, a
diverse group of men and women all dressed in the same drab,
postal worker's grays, gather round him, SING, shake his
hand, wish him fond farewells, and present him with a cake.

A heavy-set female SUPERVISOR enters.

                         SUPERVISOR
             All right, break time is over!
             Get back to work!

Instantly, the expression of all the well-wishers turns
uniformly DOUR. They trudge back to their posts and resume
mechanically tossing letters and packages into slots and bins.

Arthur turns, his meager cake under his arm and heads for
the door.

                                                            2.

                         ARTHUR
                  (emotional)
             I'm going to miss this place.

                         FLOYD (V.O.,CONT'D)
             "... when, soon after, he met his
             tragic end. Friends and colleagues
             said he was very happy to finally
             reach his last day and was
             looking forward to collecting his
             pension.

                         SUPERVISOR
                  (sarcastic)
             He used to say, "It'll be nice to
             finally get paid to sit around
             and do nothing."

                         FLOYD (V.O.,CONT'D)
             "Co-workers said he would fill in
             for them any time they asked, and
             did so on more than one occasion."

                         ARTHUR
             I've got nothing else to do ...
             really, nothing at all.

                         FLOYD (V.O.,CONT'D)
             "Yet Mr. Golating was remembered
             for his spotless employment
             record, conscientious attitude,
             and for not having missed a day
             at work in or over twelve years.
             At exactly twelve minutes after
             five p.m., on his normal walk
             home from work..."

EXT. ARTHUR'S STREET - DAY

The piano is hoisted, slowly, slowly, skyward. The STRAPS
strain under the massive weight. They begin to fail, strands
fraying, breaking one after one, until--

                         FLOYD (V.O.,CONT'D)
             "... he was struck and killed by
             a nine hundred pound piano that
             broke free from a sling as it was
             being hoisted to the thirteenth
             floor of a new condominium.

EXT. ARTHUR'S STREET - DAY

Arthur looks up just in time to see the huge BLACK FORM form
of the piano SQUASH him like a bug.

                                                            3.

EXT. STREET - DAY (CONT'D)

                         FLOYD
             "He died instantly."

EXT. ARTHUR'S STREET - DAY

Arthur lies dead on the sidewalk, eyes open, piano keys laid
decoratively across his chest. He's still smiling.

EXT. STREET - DAY (CONT'D)

                         FLOYD
             My God -- talk about the wrong
             place at the wrong time.

                         DARYL
             I don't think God had anything to
             do with it.

                         FLOYD
             How can you say that?

                         DARYL
             It's just one of those things.
             There is no big plan at work. No
             overseer.

                         FLOYD
             How do you live like that? "It's
             all emptiness, nothing matters?"
             Human beings need some reason to
             get out of bed in the morning,
             something more than, "I wonder
             what's in the fridge?"

                         DARYL
             "Or God, I got to take a wicked
             piss."

                         DARYL
             So, God controls bladders, does
             he? -- and I thought you didn't
             believe in God.

                         DARYL
             It's just an expression, like,
             "God save us, we're all going to
             die!"

                         FLOYD
             So what is it? What's it all about?

                                                            4.

                         DARYL
             There is definitely a higher
             power, but it has no connection
             to mere humans, and it's not
             named. I think that's what
             religion is, just a feeble
             attempt to give names and
             relations and a semblance of
             order to that which is inexplicable.

                         FLOYD
             Like?

                         DARYL
             Wars, famines, disasters, freak
             occurrences, random accidents,
             the wrath of nature, that sort of
             thing. In the end, that's all it
             is.  But the idea that there is
             some sort of giant paternalistic
             authority figure in the sky who
             sees all and creates all and is
             going to smote you in the
             afterlife if you don't adhere to
             the straight and narrow is
             preposterous. If there is
             anything, a force in the universe,
             whether it be good or bad or just
             pathetic and stupid, it's just a
             manifestation of nature biting
             you in the ass when you least
             expect it. Humans are not in
             charge. It's chaos, confusion,
             heartbreak and death. The end. We
             can't understand it. It's foolish
             to think it's even possible. It's
             just the vanity of mankind to
             think there's any order or
             destiny or force for good or ill
             whatsoever. It's all meaninglessness.

                         FLOYD
             Nihilist.

                         DARYL
             It's just everyone for himself.
             Watch out for number one. That is
             the ultimate truth. That's all.
             It's enough that I have to deal
             with my own life. I'm not going
             to worry about how I fit into
             someone else's plan for the universe.

                                                            5.

EXT. DARYL'S PLACE - DAY

He TOSSES a large box of his junk in the GARBAGE BIN.

                         DARYL (V.O.)
             Like, I spent my whole day
             yesterday cleaning out my place,
             all the assorted gifts and
             souvenirs and after-effects of
             Linda, and threw it all in the
             garbage bin behind my place.

EXT. STREET - DAY (CONT'D)

                         FLOYD
             And...

                         DARYL
             I looked at it, and it occurred
             to me how utterly meaningless
             that whole pile was. It's like,
             she's gone, and soon, after today,
             I may never see her again. She
             may never see me again. She never
             existed. I never existed. We're
             all alone in this big, empty
             world. There are no connections.

                         FLOYD
             You're sure about that?

                         DARYL
             Of course.

EXT. DARYL'S PLACE - DAY

A curious boy, ALLAN, 12, climbs in the garbage bin and
takes a VIDEO GAME cartridge from Daryl's box called 'Street
Avenger III'. The cover depicts the hero firing his gun at
pursuing police officers.

EXT. STREET - DAY (CONT'D)

                         FLOYD
             No, you're wrong, everything
             matters in some small way. That's
             the mystery of life, trying to
             figure out the connections, like
             when one thing happens, seemingly
             for no reason, and yet it all
             falls back to an earlier event,
             an earlier decision, something in
             your past, something you said or
             did or didn't say or didn't do.

                                                            6.

                         DARYL
             You can influence your world by
             not doing things?

                         FLOYD
             Absolutely.

                         DARYL
             Whoa, look at this.

Daryl picks up a SHINY OBJECT from the sidewalk, a new 9mm
BULLET.

He shows it to Floyd and then TOSSES it into the back seat
of a parked car.

INT.  CAR / RIDING ALONG - DAY

ALLAN, the same boy who found the video game in the bin,
finds the bullet on the floor of the car as his MOTHER, 40s,
drives. His older SISTER, 14, sits in front.

                         MOTHER
             IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP, I'M GOING
             TO COME BACK THERE AND SNAP YOUR
             DAMN NECK!

The boy holds the bullet in front of his eye, pointing it at
her head.

EXT. STREET - DAY (CONT'D)

                         FLOYD
             Man has tried to impose order, or
             some sort of control on the world
             from the very beginning. If you
             can't do it with things, then you
             have to do it with philosophy,
             formal or whatever. It's the only
             thing that separates us from the
             animals, trying to organize things
             and gain some small pitiful level of
             control over our environment.
             Otherwise it's just murder,
             mayhem, chaos. There has to be a
             bigger plan.  Otherwise, what's
             the point of it all? This, this
             attitude of yours, it isn't good
             for you, you know, your health.
             Have you ever wondered why you're
             sick all the time?

                         DARYL
             I went to the doctor the other day.

                                                            7.

                         FLOYD
             How'd that go?

                         DARYL
             Same old, same old.

INT. DOCTOR'S EXAMINING ROOM

A DOCTOR looks at a Daryl's chest x-ray, and then directly
at him...

                         DOCTOR
             You're going to die.

EXT. STREET - DAY (CONT'D)

                         DARYL
             What do they know? Bunch of
             charlatans. Medicine cannot tell
             the future.

                         FLOYD
             So, life, everything, it's all
             just arbitrary and nature's
             vengeance?

                         DARYL
             Yes.

                         FLOYD
             How does Linda's vengeance fit
             into that scenario? What did you
             do to that woman?

                         DARYL
             I don't know. She's disturbed.

                         FLOYD
             No, she's distressed, and bitter,
             and depressed, and very angry.

                         DARYL
             I didn't do anything.

INT. DARYL'S PLACE - NIGHT

Daryl, in the heat of passion with a voluptuous woman, 20s,
named LOLA.

Linda bursts into his apartment, wearing a skimpy outfit,
holding a birthday cake, and adorned with a ribbon tied
around HERSELF.

                                                            8.

                         LINDA
             Happy Birth... day.

                         DARYL
             What are you doing here? You're
             supposed to be out of town.

                         LINDA
                  (crying)
             I thought I would surprise you.

                         DARYL
             Well, it worked.

                         FLOYD (V.O.)
             How did she take it?

                         DARYL (V.O.)
             She adjusted.

Linda THROWS the cake in his face and leaves.

EXT. STREET - DAY (CONT'D)

                         FLOYD
             See -- consequences.

                         DARYL
             What consequences?

INT. LOLA'S PLACE - DAY

Lola's husband REX, 30s, 6'4", built like a linebacker,
knocks her purse off the kitchen table.

A CARD with Lola's handwriting on it falls out. It reads,
"DARYL  555-0210" and has an address beneath it.

                         REX
             Who the hell is Daryl?

                         LOLA
                  (nervous, obviously lying)
             What? Uh, nobody, nobody at all.
             Forget about it. That's a mistake.

Rex goes to the closet removes his coat, and confirms
something is in the pocket. He charges out the door.

                         REX
             Yeah? We'll see about that.

                                                            9.

EXT. STREET - DAY (CONT'D)

                         FLOYD
             Did you hear from Linda after that?

                         DARYL
             She left a message on my machine.

                         FLOYD
             What did she say?

INT. LINDA'S PLACE - NIGHT

Linda, very distraught, SCREAMS into the phone.

                         LINDA
             YOU ASSHOLE! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!

EXT. STREET - DAY (CONT'D)

                         DARYL
             I don't remember.

                         FLOYD
             See, that's exactly what I mean.
             You make these decisions and they
             have repercussions, effects,
             tolls that no one could even
             begin to fathom.

A older MINIVAN pulls into a handicapped spot. As they
approach, the driver, JOHN RUNION, age 90, slowly climbs out.

                         DARYL
             Handicapped parking? Is that the
             biggest scam of all time? Look at
             that guy. Old age is not a handicap.

John sees them.

                         JOHN
             One of the perks of being a veteran.

Daryl returns a SCOWL and continues on his way.

                         FLOYD
             So what? You don't even have a
             car. I've seen you take cabs to
             go one block.

                         DARYL
             It was raining out, and I didn't
             have my umbrella.

                                                           10.

                         FLOYD
             I'll put up with a little a
             little rain. It doesn't hurt.

                         DARYL
             See, there's the big issue. You
             spend your time, everyone does,
             or at least most humans on this
             planet, spend their time just
             trying to figure out what doesn't
             hurt, running from want, hunger,
             pain, just trying to figure out
             how to get the basics, food,
             clothing shelter, and they never
             realize what's really important
             in this world, much less, how to
             achieve it.

                         FLOYD
             Which is?

                         DARYL
             Happiness. That's the meaning of
             life. Happiness. That's all there
             is. Get the basics, yes, but then,
             but then, what else do you need?
             What do you really need to be
             happy? Not much. Not much at all.
             People don't see that.

EXT. FREEWAY - DAY

Early morning, Daryl stands alone on the freeway overpass.

                         DARYL (V.O.)
             Have you ever stood on a freeway
             overpass at eight o'clock in the
             morning and watched the traffic
             go by? It's insane! Hundreds of
             cars, bumper to bumper, everyone
             in this ridiculous, maddening
             rush to get to offices, factories,
             desks and filing cabinets. I
             wonder, the people in those cars,
             is that how they imagined their
             lives when they were children?
             It's crazy, the senseless rush to
             catch up to others who are
             rushing to catch up to -- what?

                                                           11.

EXT. STREET - DAY (CONT'D)

                         DARYL
             Their bills, their mortgage
             payments, car payments,
             everything-else payments. It's
             all about stuff, stuff that most
             people don't need and won't
             fulfill them. Most people never
             stop, never take the time to sit
             down and contemplate, to think
             "What really makes me happy?"
             They never get it, because they
             don't know what it is. And then
             they grow old and wonder where
             their lives went to.

                         FLOYD
             Or a piano falls on their heads.

                         DARYL
             Yep.

                         FLOYD
             So, where does happiness come
             from? Is it not from the
             connections, the meeting of minds,
             sharing, and being one with
             another, and all that?

                         DARYL
             Oh, perhaps, but that's only
             fleeting.

                         FLOYD
             Well, life is fleeting. Each of
             us has only a certain time in
             this realm, on terra-firma.

                         DARYL
             Before you're interred into it,
             or your ashes go fly with the clouds?

                         FLOYD
             Okay, fine, the corporate rat
             maze, possessions, materialism,
             free your mind or you'll never
             really be free. I get it. But you
             still have to interact with
             society on some level. You just
             can't tune in, take acid, and
             drop out.

                                                           12.

                         DARYL
             I don't do drugs.

                         FLOYD
             You know what I mean. The cult of
             me, myself, and nothing else
             matters. You can't go around
             disregarding others. So, you
             don't want to join the competition,
             but you're still part of the
             crowd, like it or not. If
             everything we know or touch or
             see is not a race, then it's
             certainly a collective. The
             things you do, the decisions you
             make have an effect on others.
             Whether it be psychic energy or
             tiny physical manifestations, the
             domino effect, with every little
             decision, you influence the fate
             of others by what you do or don't do.

                         DARYL
             Oh, yeah, what about the that guy
             walking home from the post office?
             How did he influence others?
             Squashed in a cacophony of piano
             notes. Talk about the final
             sonata -- is that what he deserved?

                         FLOYD
             Okay, that one's hard. He didn't
             deserve that, or maybe he did,
             who knows, but all I'm saying is,
             one way or another, it's the
             circle of life, your choices come
             back to revisit you in the most
             unexpected ways. It's all connected.

                         DARYL
             The karmic wheel, or the wrath of
             the big hand in the sky meting
             out your final justice in the end.

                         FLOYD
             You got it.

                         DARYL
             Nope. I don't buy it.

                         FLOYD
             You'll see

                                                           13.

                         DARYL
             But I'll have to wait until the
             end, the finality, the big sleep.

                         FLOYD
             Maybe.

                         DARYL
             I can live with that.

                         FLOYD
             But not happily. That's the final
             irony.

                         DARYL
             Okay, I'll see you later.

                         FLOYD
             Where are you going?

                         DARYL
             I'm going to get my stuff back
             from Linda.

                         FLOYD
             Oh God, I mean, oh The-Big-Hand-
             Of-Fate-In-The-Sky. Watch out.

                         DARYL
             Why?

                         FLOYD
             You dated her for over two years.
             You think that doesn't mean
             anything... the woman scorned,
             and all that? She's not going to
             take it well.

                         DARYL
             Give me a break.

                         FLOYD
             There are no breaks in life, you
             keep saying.

                         DARYL
             She saw this coming. She had to.
             If she didn't, she'll just have
             to deal with it.

                                                           14.

                         FLOYD
             No, you'll have to deal with it,
             if it goes badly. You'll be
             putting out a whole lot of
             negative feelings into the continuum.

                         DARYL
             So what?

                         FLOYD
             So just beware of falling pianos,
             that's all I'm saying.
                  (as he leaves)
             You are a product of the choices
             you make, the energy you put into
             the universe!

                         DARYL
             Hunger, cruelty, meaninglessness!

EXT.  LINDA'S PLACE - DAY

He steps inside a comfortable townhouse, walks up stairs.

                         DARYL (O.S.)
             Honey, I've got something to tell
             you.

                         LINDA (O.S.)
             WHAT? How can you do this to me?
             I gave up so much for you! You're
             ruining my life!

                         DARYL (O.S.)
             You're nuts, you know that?
             Certifiable. You need to see a
             doctor.

INT.  LINDA'S PLACE - DAY (CONT'D)

                         LINDA
             No, I have the cure, right here.

She pulls out her gun and FIRES NINE SHOTS, all narrowly
missing him. He grabs the gun and RUNS OUT.

EXT.  LINDA'S PLACE - DAY

A passing POLICE CAR stops in the street, one of its windows
smashed by Linda's bullets.

Daryl, holding the gun, RUNS into the street. They pursue him...

                                                           15.

                         1ST POLICE OFFICER
             Stop!

INT. JOHN RUNION'S PLACE - DAY

One of Linda's bullets passes through the window, landing in
the wall. It knocks a picture off the wall striking John in
the forehead. A little blood appears.

John, incensed, takes his WWII-era bolt-action rifle off
the wall and points it out the window.

INT. ALLAN'S HOUSE - DAY

Sneaking into his parent's bedroom, Allan takes a gun from
his father's nightstand. He loads the BULLET he found into
the chamber. He strikes a pose like the one seen on the
cover of the video game he found.

EXT. LINDA'S PLACE - DAY (CONT'D)

John Runion FIRES a shot that narrowly misses Daryl. It HITS
one of  the police officers in the shoulder. They fire back
at Daryl.

John Runion takes another SHOT.

Linda, with ANOTHER GUN, FIRES at Daryl from her window.

Allan, down the street, FIRES at the police officers, who
return more shots at Daryl.

Rex, arriving on the street, narrowly misses getting hit by
one of the bullets. He asks one of the police officers...

                         REX
             Who is that guy?

                         POLICE OFFICER
             Daryl ... Somebody.

Rex pulls out a gun and FIRES several shots at Daryl as he
runs away.

More police cars arrive.

Daryl DIVES into the back of a passing cab, which just
happens to be occupied by FLOYD.

                         DARYL
             WHY IS EVERYONE SHOOTING AT ME?

                         FLOYD
             Haven't we covered this?

                                            FADE OUT:

The End.