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Workingman Blues
A Screenplay
Andrey Danielovic
12/31 Draft
(Fade In.)
(CU, a man within a cubicle, typing at a computer screen.)
(Slow pan of the cubicle, which is notably bare. There isn't a
personalized object of any kind. The walls are bare of postings, and
everything looks drab and bare.)
(Cut to the man, a fairly young, tense looking guy with a nondescript
tie and non descript shirt and outfit.)
(Cut to an overhead shot of the whole cubicle maze. A number of people
are walking from place to place, holding sheets of paper. They all seem
to be on journeys, walking from point A to point B and never getting
there.)
(Cut to a shot of a pile of computer sheets on the man's desk. We
slowly zoom in on it and hear all matter of office ambient sounds
revolving around it. We get a tighter and tighter shot of the papers
and the noises get louder and louder.)
(We hear the noises get more musical. We can hear a rhythm to them.)
(Now we are panning across a row of cubicles. We see the walls of the
cubicles, then the feet rocking restlessly on the spinning chairs, then
the line of wastebaskets.)
(The sound of the office ambience begins to turn more monstrous.
Everything gets louder and more metallic. That printer that sounded
like some kind of drum now sounds inhuman, twisted, like something
roaring.)
(Cut to the officeworker again, writing on a form with a pen. We can
hear every scratch of the pen, and it falls into a rhythmic pattern of
pen scratching.)
(We know hear, very faintly, the Beatles' "Got to Get You Into My
Life")
(Cut back to the officeworker typing something on the computer. "Got to
Get You Into My Life" continues playing, and we hear the keys sort of
echoing the rhythm of the music.)
(We see the screen of the computer, where it seems the officeworker is
writing the alphabet multiple times, then writing numbers from 1 to 23.
"Got to Get You Into My Life" is still playing, although we notice
something wrong with the music.)
(We hear the refrain over and over as we see the officeworker
sweating.)
(The music gets louder and louder, as do more of the office ambience,
this time more overpowering than it has been, drilling into our hapless
hero's head, and the music fades out.)
(We see the computer clock turn to 5 pm. Everything goes silent.)
(All we hear is the man shuffling things into his briefcase. We see a
low-angle shot of him as he puts papers in.)
(Cut to MS of the man standing up, and we follow him as he walks out of
his cubicle, faintly crooked looking.)
(Cut to the front doors as they open. The officeworker walks through,
and the camera gets a tracking shot of him as he walks.)
(Cut to a greyish-white car, sitting under the shade of a tall tree. We
see the officeworker approach the front door from the side, open the
door, and get in the car.)
(Cut to a rear-shot of the car ahead of the officeworker's car in
traffic. We see the licence plate says "HOMER")
(Cut to the officeworker as he's crusing smoothly, then suddenly comes
to a halt.)
(Cut to an overhead shot of a long line of traffic. We pan the line and
go from mundane cars to bizarre psychedelic vans, hot rods, and
bizarrely painted luxury cars.)
(Cut to a shot of the cars ahead from the man's point of view. The
camera focuses on the license plates.)
(We cut to a series of shots of license plates. License plates from
different states and countries, license plates with words, license
plates with bizarre numbers, while dark classical music plays on the
soundtrack.)
(Cut to shots of the man's face. We see he keeps the same expression as
he turns his car to go another way.)
(Cut to the glove compartment. We see a driver's license with the man's
picture on it. The man looks remarkably different. We then pan the
glove compartment and see manuals and the officeworker's wife's
driver's license and a copy of Homer's The Odyssey.)
(Cut to a shot of the road ahead. The camera is dollying faster than
the car, and we see the road twist erratically, and the lane divider
similarly becoming more and more complicated, until it devolves into a
series of zig-zags and elliptical shapes.)
(Cut to a shot of the worker, as he looks at something on the side of
the road, and the car screeches to a halt.)
(Cut to the sight which has made him stop. It is a caravan of gypsies,
standing in front of a large wagon and dressed psychedelically. They
are staring at the car.)
(Cut to a rear-shot of the car coming to a stop. The old looking,
Bosnian-German looking gypsy leader stares at the car like he's never
seen anything like it before.)
(Cut to the face of the gypsy leader as he points at the officeworker
and motions him out of the car.)
(Cut to the officeworker getting out of the car. We rotate to behind
him as he looks at the tall, imposing gypsy leader.)
Gypsy Leader
What is your name.
Officeworker
Tom.....it's Tom.
Gypsy Leader
What are you doing on this road? No one drives on this road but the
Incredible Circus of Bacchus.
Officeworker
Incredible Circus of Bacchus?
(Cut to the gypsy leader.)
Gypsy Leader
We travel to the five corners of the world proclaiming the new age of
sexual liberalism and free living.
Tom
I'm not a hippie.
Gypsy Leader
Your kind of people have no respect for my kind of people.
(Cut to Tom.)
Tom
Look, I just want to get home from work, and maybe eat something, and
somewhere down the road maybe just relax. It's Friday, you know.
So can you just point me in the direction of an alternate road, and
I'll leave your little commune alone.
(The gypsy leader is now a combination of amused and annoyed.)
Gypsy Leader
Come on, have some fun. Forget your work habits, and come throw the
rules out the window with us, man.
(Cut to an LS of the caravan, with various hippie looking people
walking around and doing various jobs. The gypsy leader leads Tom into
the main wagon.)
(Int. Wagon. The wagon interior is bigger than the exterior.)
(There are several scantily clad women walking around. The gypsy leader
leads Tom to a large golden cabinet, and removes a bottle of a
carbonated substance from the cabinet.)
(Cut to two glasses as the leader pours the fizzy substance into them.)
(Cut to Tom as he takes a tentative sip from his glass.)
(Cut to the gypsy leader as he tosses back his head and drains the
whole glass in one gulp. He leans forward again and seems uneffected by
the drink.)
(Cut to Tom, who is twisting up his face and looking downright wierd.
The drink has obviously had a wierd effect on him. His face continues
moving as though he had a horrible nervous tic.)
(Cut back to the gypsy leader.)
Gypsy Leader
What's the matter with you?
(Tom looks nauseous, and then he takes a deep breath and seems to calm
down.)
(The gypsy leader looks at him and frowns.)
Gypsy Leader
You need to loosen up a bit. Never fear. Britannia is here.
(We see a lithe, tall, skinny blonde come up from behind Tom and put
her arms around him.)
(The gypsy leader looks at Tom squirming, with Britannia behind him.)
Gypsy Leader
Why don't you go with Britannia here, and just......unwind, as she
likes to say.
(We watch as Tom is led by Britannia through some hallways and into a
well furnished room, where she lays him down on the bed and looks at
his tense, gaunt face.)
(In a side shot, we see Britannia climb up on Tom and rub him
provocatively. In the background we hear odd bazouki music.)
(Cut to a shot of Tom, sweating profusely and looking up at Brittania.)
(All of a sudden, we hear an engineer's call. We see Britannia's face
fall, and she pushes herself of Tom with a sigh.)
(Cut to Tom, who gets up from the bed.)
Tom
What's happening
Britannia
The caravan has to move on. Hugo wants us to move. I must leave you.
Tom
Where am I supposed to go?
(Cut to Brittania walking through the door.)
Brittania
Don't ask me.
(We see Hugo, the gypsy leader, walk into the room after Brittania has
left.)
Hugo
Uh, Bert, you gotta go.
(We cut between the two in the dialogue.)
Tom
It's Tom.
Hugo
We're moving on. Casting off. Floating downstream. Moving on up to the
Yeast Side.
Tom
Well, where do I go?
Hugo
Home.
Tom
Yeah, good, 'cause I was wondering when.
Hugo
Tom, it's time to go.
(Tom rises and walks out of the door. He is led by Hugo out of the
caravan. We see that the caravan is expansive and big on the inside,
impossible considering the exteria.)
(Cut to Tom standing on the street. We pan the street, which is empty.
We are panning through Tom's POV.)
Tom
Hey, where's my ca-
(Tom turns around and sees that the caravan is gone. His car is also
gone, and he is standing alone on the street.)
(Cut to the face of Tom. He is perspiring, and he looks stunned.)
(He exhales exhaustidly, and then starts walking up the sidewalk.)
Tom
Car repossessed.....great...just great.......bump into some fruity
hippies, on the verge of pulling it off with a beautiful middle-eastern
girl, everythng'll be good, and your car gets repossessed. Why the hell
didn't I just wait through rush hour like everybody else. Wander down
some restricted road. And how did they even know my car was there, if
only those gypsie-hippie wierdos use the road? What was it, Timothy
Leary and his traveling band os Universals?
(We hear loud, obnoxious rap music from behind him. He turns around,
and we see a packed convertible drive up to wear he's standing. The
people in the car seem like rappers.)
Rapper in front
Hey, yo, Dilbert
Tom
It's Tom.
(Cut to the interior of the car, with drunk-looking black- and white-
rapper poser types drunkenly laughing at Tom.)
Rapper in front
Come on in, Gandalf, you look like you could use a beer.
(Tom flinches.)
Rapper in back
Hey, man, we wouldn't hurt a dayjob Milton like you.
Rapper
Yeah, man, come on. Let us give you a lift.
(Tom hesitates, then gets in the car.)
(Cut to Tom in the car. Although the car looked packed, Tom has enough
room.)
(We see a stupid looking rapper grin at Tom. He is missing several
teeth.)
(Cut to the outside of a bar. The soundtrack plays "Run's House" we see
the car unload, with a total of eight rapper and Tom.)
(Inside the bar, the rappers surround Tom as he sits down on the bar
stool.)
Rapper
Hey, homeby John, nine of the house special
(The bartender lines up nine glasses of beer along the bar.)
(Cut to Tom, watching as the rappers drink their beers.)
Tom
I'd like to go home now.
Rapper
Relax, Jim.
Tom
Tom.
Rapper
Tom. Have a drink, you look like the strongest thing you drink is
orange juice.
3rd Rapper
Take a sip.
(Tom looks at the beer, first with a quizzical, then with a "what the
hell?" kind of look, and takes a tentative sip.)
(The rappers cheer.)
(Cut to Tom, who takes another, slightly bigger sip.)
Rapper
Hey, guys, I don't believe we gave Tom here a fair introduction. I'm DJ
Lotus, and this is Doctor Pain,
(The rappers grin and raise their fists as their names are said.)
Rapper
Big CJ, Iceman, MC Donald D.
(We see Tom take another drink.)
Rapper
Combo, MC Apex, DJ G.O-Metry, and Silent Tony.
(Cut to Silent Tony, a really short guy.)
Rapper
We can never get him to shut up.
(Cut to Tom, who looks a bit looser as he takes another drink.)
Tom
I'm Tom Fielder
(Cut to the rappers, who snigger.)
Rapper
Fielder? Eh, that's not cool. You're MC Anvil, from now on.
(Cut to Tom, who is halfway through his drink.)
Tom
Yeah, I think I'll hang around. MC Anvil, I like that.
Rapper
He likes it!
(Cut to Tom, who tosses his head back as he takes another drink.)
Rapper
What's your rhymes, Anvil?
Tom
What rhymes?
Rapper
You know, blue, shoe, skiddoo? What's your rap?
Tom
Well, I was born to a family in Souther New Mexico
My mother was an LPN and my dad worked at Texaco.
Rapper
Nah, you need to get some new rhymes.
Tom
I'm not into the hip-hop stuff.
Rapper
Not into the hip-hops? Well, if you want to hang with us, you're gonna
have to be a real b-boy, you know? Down with the rhymes, ok?
Tom
What's a b-boy? You mean like a wordsmith?
Rapper
Yeah. A b-boy.
Tom
My favorite b-boy is Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Rapper
What, is he from the West Coast?
(Cut to the other rappers, who are drinking as much as Tom.)
Tom
You guys hang around here much?
Fat Rapper
We live here.
Tom
How?
Rapper
One day we decided to come in here for a drink on our way home. And,
well, after a while, we decided we didn't want to go home. Now we're a
posse and we live upstairs.
Tom
Its good beer
Fat Rapper
Its very good beer.
(Cut to the back of the room, where a man who looks stiff and empty
goes to a raised platform, and turns on a switch on the mike. His voice
sounds like Stephen Hawking's.)
Microphone Man
Listen up because I was born on the streets
I made my living performing the beats
I never give up
I never live up
To the expectations of big business
Hey white boys can u take thisss?
(Cut back to Tom and the rappers.)
Tom
Who's that?
Rapper
That's MC Nutshell
Tom
Why do they call him that
Fat Rapper
'Cause his hip-hops have the whole universe in a nutshell.
Tom
Oh.
(We cut back to MC Nutshell.)
MC Nutshell
3.......2..........1
You sucker MC's you better run
Because I have a jackhammer not afraid to use it
Once I get the mojo I never ever loose it.
(Cut to Tom and the other rappers.)
Tom
Man.....you guys got a great place.
Rapper
Stay the night
2nd Rapper
Have another drink!
Fat Rapper
Let it all hang out.
MC Nutshell (OS)
Because hip hop nights are the kind I like
I never stop pumping on my excercise bike
Fat Rapper
Why not stay with us for a while?
Rapper
Do you some good!
Fat Rapper
You'll never have to work.
Tom
I'm not against staying here. Give me another beer.
(He is handed another mug of beer.)
Tom
Man, this beer is enough to make me stay here my whoooooole life.
(Cut to the Fat Rapper, who grins.)
Fat Rapper
Hey, man, that's the idea.
(Cut back to Tom, who stops drinking and looks at the fat rapper.)
Tom
What?
Rapper
Just stay with us. Come on, drink a little more.
(Tom is now hesitant, and he gets up to leave. The 2nd rapper steps in
front of him.)
2nd Rapper
Hey, cat, where you going?
Tom
I'd rather go home.
Rapper
Oh no you wouldn't!
(The rappers force him back on the bar stool.)
Tom
I really need to get home.
Rapper
No, man! Come on, stay.
(Tom pushes past the rappers and walks quickly towards the door.)
Rapper
Hey, cats, after that guy!
(The rappers follow him. Tom sees this and runs faster, running out of
the bar.)
(The rappers run to the door, then stop suddenly, as though they're
afraid to venture out.)
(Cut to Tom, who's running slows to a leisurely pace.)
(He sits down on a bench in front of a bus stop.)
Tom
Never a dull moment.
(The bus rolls up, and Tom gets on. The bus driver is very old looking,
with a long beard and tired, haggard face.)
(Tom takes out some loose change and pays his fair.)
Bus Driver
Oh no. No fair. Just sit.
(He takes out coins and hands them back to Tom. Tom looks and sees odd
engraved coins, which he puts in his pocket.)
(We see him sit in a seat. Next to him is a teenage punk-looking guy
with multiple watches up and down his arms.)
Punk
Hello, Tom.
Tom
I would ask you how you know my name, but too many things have
happened, so I'm just going to take it.
Punk
That's wise of you. You've been very wise, Tom
Tom
I've needed it. I have a sham of a life at work, and now I have wierd
people approaching me to join there traveling circuses and bar clubs.
Why?
Punk
You're a man of chance. You always happen to be in the right place at
the right time. Today was an example of that. You're a man of influence
on the universe, Tom, even though you work as hard as you do for
nothing.
(We cut between them during their dialogue.)
Tom
Why me?
Punk
Why anyone? Da Vinci says on his deathbed "Why me?". Czar Nicholas'
family is lined up and shot, and he thinks "Why me?". Everyone asks
"why me" and the answer is always "why not".
Tom
Maybe I'm just unlucky
Punk
Maybe you're just unlucky. Maybe it's the gods.
Tom
I'm an atheist.
Punk
You don't have to believe in something for it to exist. Everything
everybody believes in exists.
Tom
Everything?
Punk
Zeus and Allah rub shoulders every day. Archimedes rests in heaven
while Cesar Chavez runs in the Elysian fields.
Tom
And that's where you go when you die?
Punk
At the gates of Death there is an all-knowing judge who asks you for
your choice. He is Father Time, and he'll let you decide where to go.
If you want to listen to Psychedelic Furs records for the rest of
eternity, you listen to Psychedelic Furs records for the rest of
eternity. Of course, I can't stand the Psychedelic Furs.
Tom
And who are you?
(The man points to his watches.)
Punk
Father Time.
Tom
I was starting to suspect.
Punk
Suspect the unexpected.
(Cut to Tom, who is looking at Father Time's watches.)
Tom
What are the watches for?
Punk
Every time zone in the world. I have to keep track. I am Father Time.
Now, and thanks to that rebellious Zeus, forever and two days.
Tom
Time waits for no man.
Punk
I could find it in my heart to sit patiently for a couple minutes for
you, Tom.
(The stands up and walks out of the bus, which seems to stop just for
him, although there is no busstop.)
(Tom looks out the window.)
(We fade to Tom, sleeping against the window.)
(He stirs, and looks around the deserted bus.)
Bus Driver (OS)
End of the line, fellow.
(Tom looks out his window, and sees that the bus is perched over a
valley. In the valley thousands, not hundreds, thousands of other buses
lines up in an odd circular shape around a central hut.)
(Tom walks down the aisle, and walks through the open doors. The bus
driver looks after him.)
Bus Driver
Don't lose your change.
(Tom walks off the bus and down into the valley. The hill is steep, but
Tom is able to negotiatie it.)
(He descends into the bus lot, and walks among row and row of buses.)
(We see that many of the buses are bizarrely painted with designs that
say "Wayfaring Strangers" in graffitti.)
(We hear a faint radio from one of the buses, playing Pink Floyd at
their most "Floydian")
(Tom looks around and sees that one of the bus's doors is open, and it
looks like the hinge is busted. He tentatively walks toward the bus.)
(He boards the bus, and we see a man with a thick brown beard and long
brown hair behind the wheel.)
Driver
I'm Angus. You're fair?
(Tom hands Angus the coins that Father Time gave him.)
Angus
Are you a man of dimension?
Tom
What do you mean?
Angus
Are you willing to explore the unknown and embark on eye opening
journeys?
Tom
I've been doing so all day.
Angus
What if you were told that you'd never go home?
Tom
The likelihood of me getting home tonight is getting slimmer by the
minute.
Angus
Then can I borrow some of your time?
Tom (smiles)
Time waits for no man.
(Angus turns the key in the ignition.)
Angus
I think we've kept Him impatient for too long.
(Angus backs up the bus, and begins to drive up a road we haven't
seen.)
Angus
I'm a Purveyor of Wonders, licensed by my own personal Gods. To your
right, the Chapel on the Wayside for Thu, Protector God of Atheists.
Tom
Must be a tough job.
(The chapel is merely a clearing in the forest.)
Angus
Yeah, doing a tireless job for no thanks when no one knows or believes
you exist. That clearing is his chapel, also called the Anti-Chapel.
Tom
What're you going to show me next, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny?
Angus
You kidding me? Everyone knows THEY don't exist.
(The bus continues to rock.)
Angus
We're going to my favorite city, Wide Open Spaces.
(Tom looks out the window at the trees, which are all of different
sizes, heights, and species.)
(Cut back to Angus, looking out his window as the terrain drops down.
We are now driving down a hill.)
(Cut to Tom, who looks out the window at what we see is a gigantic
city. This makes New York look like Mt. Laurel, New Jersey.)
(The city has tall, elongated skyscrapes, bustling, busy streets, and a
huge placard which reads "Wide Open Spaces")
Angus
Wide Open Spaces. Bigger than New York, Paris, London, and Tokyo rolled
into one. And only a select few know it exists. If you can make it
here, you can make it anywhere. We have more jobs here than anywhere
else, and this is your city, Tom.
(We see that, unlike NYC, the urgency has a light to it. Everything
seems to be in living color in Wide Open Spaces, even the gray metal
fingers of the skyscrapers attempting to poke wholes in the Roof of the
World.)
(The bus slides into a lot, and we see a sign over the lot which says
"The Lot Where There is Always One Space". Brian Eno's "Zawinul/Lava"
is playing on the soundtrack.)
Angus
This is what happens when the Free Market is allowed to grow. They say
that the business is so good in Wide Open Spaces, that you're free to
make your big mistakes.
Tom
Isn't that a song?
Angus
Yeah, by some country group.
(The windows of the skyscrapers reflect a perfect turqoise sky. We see
Angus and Tom get off the bus and walk over the sidewalk.)
(There are stores for every imaginable commodity, and there are people
of every discription walking around. Punks, businessmen, rappers,
everything.)
Angus
Feel free to take a look. I have other work to do. Remember,
everything's free and there are no laws.
Tom
So its an anarchist commune?
Angus
Throw all your misconceptions by the road, and stamp them into the
ferns.
(He boards the bus, which starts up and speeds off. down the road by
from whence it came.)
(Tom looks at the city, and hums to himself.)
Tom
Find myself a city to live in.......
(He walks down the hill and into the city. He walks across a strom-
drain, and the sound it makes sounds metallic yet somehow oddly
beautiful.)
(In the city, he is absorbed in its awesome magnitude. He looks up at
it, and we see from his face that he had no idea that such a city
existed.)
(We see two really tall skyscrapers, with big golden engraved
lettering. One says "Scylla Materials Inc." and the other says
"Charybdis Technological Corporation".)
(Tom looks at the street vendors, and sees a businessman buying a
sausage, which looks better than the average street sausage.)
(Tom is walking over to the vendor, and he finds that he is standing
between two businessmen with suitcases. These businessmen make Donald
Trump look like Barney.)
Businessman on Right
Hi, I'm Mike Scylla
Businessman on Left
I'm Alan Charybdis.
Tom
You guys Greek?
Charybdis
We're businessmen, from Macedonia. We moved to these Wide Open Spaces
in order to get more of our business done.
Scylla
You seem an entrepreneurial bombshell.
Charybdis
Savvy on the politics of big business.
Scylla
Because finance is a gun.
Charybdis
And politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.
(They continue walking, with Tom in between.)
Scylla
The corporations are ready for a merger.
Charybdis
And we need someone to head the new conglomerate
Scylla
Someone clever and sharp.
Charybdis
Meticulous and attentive.
Scylla
Its seven-figures the first year.
Charybdis
Doubles the second.
Scylla
And continues to grow after that.
Charybdis
And you seem like the kind of person to do it.
Scylla
We knew when we first saw.
(Charybdis opens his briefcase and pulls out some papers.)
Charybdis
The contract gives a thousand dollars-
Scylla
-in cash-
Charybdis
-up front.
Tom
Its certainly a good deal.
(They see a shop up ahead "Telemachus' House of Greek Cuisine".)
Scylla
Let's sit down to some lunch, and discuss.
Charybdis
Yes, discuss.
(They enter Telemachus', and we see a bunch of Greek and Macedonian
guys walking around with plates balanced on their arms. We see shots of
them talking from various angles during the dialogue.)
Scylla
Tom, you seem like the man that can take a big stick and poke it in the
Cyclopean eye of business.
Charybdis
A real Ulysses, willing to save the lives of your friends by
sacrificing your self.
Scylla
Your own two eyes are telling you that this is a great deal.
Charybdis
Think of all that money.
Scylla
Money.
Charybdis
Money.
(A Greek waiter comes by, and stands near the table.)
Scylla
Let us order for you.
Charybdis
I'll have the Argeiphontes.
Scylla
I'll take the Terpiades, and our friend here will have the Erechtheus.
Charybdis
You'll like the Erechtheus.
(The waiter walks away.)
Scylla
Let's take a look at the red tape, shall we?
Charybdis
Let us clear away the red tape for you.
(Charybdis slides a sheet of paper over to Tom.)
Tom
Listen, I really don't see.
Charybdis
Its an offer you can't refuse.
Tom
Yeah, I saw that one.
Charybdis
Hey, we're almost Italian.
(Tom is reading over the paper.)
Tom
Pardon me, gentlemen, but its all Greek to me.
Scylla
Let us illuminate.
Charybdis
Look here. You get a hefty retainer just for signing on to work for the
new major.
Scylla
And we can promote you faster than anyone else. You'll be head of the
company in a couple of weeks.
Charybdis
Tops.
Scylla
Then the money will roll in. You'll never have to worry about anything
Charybdis
Nothing.
Scylla
For the rest of your life.
Tom
This is too good to be true.
Charybdis
In business, there is no such thing as too good to be true.
(Tom is looking quietly over the contract. He looks up and sees Scylla
and Charybdis smiling at him eagerly. He then begins to suspect
something is wrong.)
(Tom takes the paper, balls it up in his fist, throws it on the floor,
and kicks it.)
Tom
I believe there is.
(Cut to speechless Scylla and Charybdis.)
Scylla
Look, man, you can't refuse this deal.
Charybdis
It'll throw a wrench in our operations.
(Cut to Tom.)
Tom
Scylla? Charybdis? I read alot, sirs. The gods can't fool me. With
money comes unhappiness.
Charybdis
Look, uh....
Tom
I want to go home. I don't want to meet crazy gypsies, be abducted by
rappers, be offered idyllic business deals, or travel to a city this
big. I'm happy where I am. Nothing will ever be challenging after
today.
Scylla
Look, we get it. Just don't tell Father Time. Besides, its a very good
dea-
(Tom is starting to get angry.)
Tom
Look, just get out. Get out, get me a cab or a bus. Get me out of here,
and get me home. I want to go home and heat up a pathetically soggy TV-
dinner, watch Comedy Central, relax, do whatever.
(Cut to Scylla and Charybdis.)
Charybdis
Tell you what I'm going to do.
(Cut to Tom.)
Tom
No fucking deals!
Scylla
Alright, alright. Go outside, go to the corner, and raise your hand. I
guarantee there will be a taxi to come along and get you.
Charybdis
In these Wide Open Spaces, there's a taxi at every corner.
(Tom gets up, pulls out his wallet, and takes out fifteen bucks, just
as the waiter is walking up.)
Tom
I'll take it to go.
(He takes the sandwich in his hand and walks out.)
(Cut to Tom in a taxi, resting his head against the window and looking
at the rain falling.)
Tom
It's been a tough day, you know? It happens.
Cab Driver
It happens all the time. Just a day where nothing is going right, when
the simplest thing turns complicated.
Tom
Going home from work.
Cab Driver
Getting something to eat.
Tom
And you find yourself far away from where you intended.
Cab Driver
You never end up where you intend. There's always a divergent path
leading to where you never dreamed you'd go.
Tom
That's why I work in an office.
Cab Driver
That's why I'm a cab driver.
Tom
What did you want to be?
Cab Driver
I wanted to write. I wanted to make my own hours, and write about black
life. I wanted people to know what its like for us.
Tom
I wanted to start my own clockmaking business, and pass it on to my
sons. I don't have any sons, and I never found an opening in the
clockmaking industry.
Cab Driver
Clockmaking? Interesting stuff.
Tom
I wanted to be fancy, perfect a craft, have my own business.
Cab Driver
And what happened?
Tom
I ended up majoring in Economics, and the Economics major led me to a
hotel-company, because no one would help me get started in clockmaking.
What happened to you?
Cab Driver
I couldn't afford to go to college, and my book didn't sell enough. Now
I write on the side. I have to drive to make a living.
Tom
It can't be too much of a forgiving job. Driving all day and all night.
How much does it pay?
Cab Driver
Enough to live by. But only just barely.
Tom
Have you had anything published?
Cab Driver
One book, The Man From 123rd Street, but its probably out of print. It
was never exactly a bestseller.
Tom
Are you working on anything now?
Cab Driver
Why would I? I don't see the point.
Tom
You never know when life might take a turn for something different.
(Tom is sitting back as the Cab Driver steers through the streets of
Wide Open Spaces. All of a sudden a bullet punctures the window of the
cab. Several more pierce the other windows.)
Tom
What the-
Cab Driver
Not again.
(Some bullets come from the other side of the taxi now too. Tom opens
the door and jumps out, as does the Cab Driver. The Cab Driver runs off
down the street, and the shots continue to ring out.)
(The cab is full of bullet holes, and the guns are still shooting. Tom
crawls along the road, trying frantically to get away from the
shooting.)
(The cab driver has been shot in the arm and is leaning against a fire
hydrant, bleeding freely. Tom makes his way over to him.)
(The bullets finally stop, and everything is silent.)
(Tom gets up, and looks at the taxi. The windows, tires, hubcaps, and
side of the car are riddled with bullets. He then looks around. A
newspaper stand has been hit by a bullet, and the class broken.)
(He looks at the fire hydrant, where the cab driver is lying on his
back on the sidewalk. He has been shot in the right arm and back, and
we see some blood on the streets.)
(He walks over to wear the cab driver is lying, and bends over him.)
Tom
Hey, are you okay?
Cab Driver
They finally got me.
Tom
Who got you?
Cab Driver
They're a gang. They're called the Harpies. They've been bothering me
forever, and they finally got me.
Tom
What gang has that much firepower?
Cab Driver
No time to explain. Just run, before they find you to.
Tom
You need help.
Cab Driver
You think they'll let me live? I exposed many of their secrets, and I
know the names of their leaders. They'll have me shot in the hospital.
Just let me be, and I'll find my way out.
(Cut to Tom. We hear police sirens in the background.)
Tom
What should I do?
Cab Driver
Run. Don't look back, just run.
(Tom gets up and begins walking, and gradually starts moving faster,
until he is running. He doesn't look back. The sirens are getting
louder.)
(The police cars are almost next to him. He continues running. He runs
around the corner, and sees another bus.)
Tom
Oh, shit. Well, its not like I have any other choice.
(He boards the bus, and sits down next to a woman in a long red dress.)
Woman
High Tom.
Tom
Who are you?
Woman
Mother Nature.
Tom
Ah, I see. I'm not suprised.
Woman
One of those days?
Tom
Hell yes.
Woman
Don't give up, Tom. Its almost over.
Tom
Oh, really? Well that'd be great if it could end sometime soon. I've
been picked up, chased, assaulted, chased again, had people
philosophize with me, met a God or two, etc.
Woman
You seem like you need a break.
Tom
Let's put it this way: if I don't get a little down time, and don't go
home, I'm probably not gonna be in one mental piece by tomorrow
morning.
Woman
Just have faith in your own personal gods.
Tom
Today I have reason to believe there's some outside source. Either that
or I've been a victim of some crazy luck.
Woman
You'll find that luck has little to do with your human lives. There is
no coincidence, only synchronicity.
Tom
Synchronicity?
Woman
Every event leads to another. Everything overlaps with everything else.
Tom
I've done enough philosophizing today.
Woman
It's ok, Tom. Just rest, this is one day, it was a test, and you're
doing very well.
Tom
Who would be sadistic enough to give me a test like this?
Woman
The gods. Father Time was behind it. He's such a punk.
Tom
I've......met him.
Woman
We were lobbying for thirty-hour days way back when, but he wants to
run Time his way. And after Kronos got into a nasty mess with his son,
we threw up our hands and sed what the hell, and that's how the whole
time system came to be. This time zone idea......stupid, just stupid.
But you've met him, you know how he is.
Tom
Yeah.........sort of.
Woman
You wanna just rest? Not talk?
Tom
That might be nice.
Woman
Just lean your head on my shoulder, and wait it out. Everything will
take care of itself.
(Tom does so, and we see him looking relaxed, finally. He closes his
eyes.)
(A few seconds later, the bus lurches to a stop.)
(We see, from Tom's point of view, policemen getting on and
interrogating the bus driver.)
(Tom starts, but Mother Nature puts a finger to his lips.)
(The policemen look over the bus, and one of them looks directly at
Tom, then his glance passes on to the other seats. They look back at
the busdriver, nod, and get off.)
(Tom, who is shaken, looks at Mother Nature.)
Mother Nature
They missed you. The truth is, they never got a good look at your face.
(Tom sits up.)
Tom
Why am I the center of all this?
Mother Nature
Because you're a man of synchronicity. The Universe is bringing good
things your way, Tom. Just have faith.
(The bus slows to a halt. Mother Nature looks at Tom.)
Mother Nature
I believe this is your stop.
Tom
Alright. Its been a long day. Thank you for helping me.
(Mother Nature kisses him on the cheek, and Tom stands up.)
(Tom walks towards the front of the bus, and gets off.
Tom (humming)
This is the end, my only friend, the end.
Of everything that stands...
(Tom walks up the street and continues humming.)
(We see Tom's house, a bland and normal house with a white picket
fence. Tom walks up the sidewalk, and he sees five gang-member looking
guys walking towards him.)
(Tom stiffens and walks more cautiously. We see the gang-members
getting closer.)
(Tom is a bundle of nerves now. But the gang-members walk right past
him without giving him a second glance.)
(Tom looks at the sky, and then looks around quickly as an ice-cream
truck rolls up to the sidewalk.)
(The window opens, and Father Time looks out, smiling at Tom.)
(We see Tom smiling back.)
(The ice-cream man points at the driveway.)
(Tom looks and sees his car parked there.)
(He turns back, but the ice-cream man is gone.)
(Tom walks up the steps of the house, unlocks the door, and goes
inside.)
(Tom sits down on his couch and turns on his TV.)
TV Voice
Has all the excitement gone out of your life?
(The TV voice continues talking as we fade out to:)
(The End. End Credits.)
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