FADE IN:
INT: ABANDONED PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT
Dark and musty abandoned parking garage. A cockroach scuttles about on the dirty concrete floor. Two empty tattered cardboard boxes rest on the floor and a CAT, lean and tortoiseshell, sits before them.
DREAM KIM (30s), a beautiful brunette in a small black dress, stands before the boxes. The cat licks a front paw and looks up at her.
VOICE:
You made up your mind yet?
DREAM KIM:
(breathlessly)
No…
The cat rubs against the edges of the boxes.
VOICE:
Hurry.
Dream Kim regards the boxes, panting a little. A strap of her dress slips down her shoulder, revealing a bloody hole in her shoulder.
DREAM KIM:
But I don’t…
A TELEPHONE RINGS somewhere. Dream Kim looks over her shoulder, searching for it.
VOICE:
You need to choose. They’re coming for you.
The telephone continues to ring. Dream Kim turns back to the boxes.
VOICE:
They’re coming. You need to choose -
The cat looks at Dream Kim. Its mouth moves. Its is the voice.
CAT:
-now!
Tires screech outside the parking garage. Dream Kim looks back, then at the boxes. The telephone is still ringing, now becoming almost constant. Louder and louder it rings. Headights flash onto Dream Kim’s body and tires screech again.
CAT:
Hurry!
The lights get closer. Dream Kim leaps for the boxes. The telephone ring becomes a single deafening tone.
INT. KIM’S HOUSE - KIM’S BEDROOM - DAY
KIM (30s), an ordinary brown-haired woman, still pretty but not drop-dead gorgeous, opens her eyes, bleary with sleep. The telephone ring has changed into the constant ringing of an ALARM CLOCK.
KIM:
That was weird.
She sleepily drops a hand onto the clock and stops the ringing.
ACT 1
INT. KIM’S HOUSE - KIM’S BEDROOM - DAY
Kim yawns and scratches at her head. She is dressed in her pajamas. A CAT, lean and tortoiseshell, sprawls on her BED. Kim walks over to it and presses her forehead to its head.
KIM:
No more snacks before bed, eh Bubby?
The cat yawns and stands to leap off the bed.
KIM:
Yup. Breakfast time!
INT. KIM’S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY
Kim, dressed in a tee-shirt and skirt, sits eating a grapefruit, while the cat eats from a bowl on the table. Kim stabs at the grapefruit with a spoon. Juice squirts up and hits her in the eye. She blinks and grunts and the cat looks up at her. She glares back.
KIM:
Oh shut up.
She wipes her eye, then shoves the grapefruit away.
KIM:
Okay, time to go to work. Be good. Keep the house safe, right?
She gathers her purse up from the counter and heads out.
INT. FLOWER SHOP - DAY
The BELL leading into the shop RINGS. MARY (20s), a short pretty girl with glasses, looks up. Kim enters.
MARY:
Hi there!
Mary yawns widely.
KIM:
Good morning, sleepyhead.
Kim slips behind the counter.
MARY:
I didn’t sleep very well last night. Had a bad dream.
KIM:
About what?
Kim takes a batch of LILIES and begins to separate them on the counter.
MARY:
I don’t remember. Ever had those?
Kim pauses, then continues her work.
KIM:
No, I don’t think so.
The shop PHONE RINGS. Mary answers it.
MARY:
Buds and Blossoms. This is Mary speaking. How may I help you?
KYLE (over phone):
Hi Mary, it’s Kyle. Could I talk to Kim, please?
Mary covers the mouthpiece of the phone with her hand.
MARY:
(silently mouthing the words)
It’s Kyle.
Kim grins and bounces a little as she takes the phone.
KIM:
Hello?
INT. KYLE’S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY
KYLE (30s), an average blond man, is sitting at his table, nervously tying and untying a shoe as he clutches the phone between his shoulder and ear.
KYLE:
Hi there! I was just, you know, calling to see how you were doing.
INT. FLOWER SHOP - DAY
Kim grins madly and makes an expressive face at Mary, then sobers as she speaks on the phone.
KIM:
I’m fine. How are you?
INT. KYLE’S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY
KYLE:
Fine. Uh, listen…
He takes hold of the phone firmly with one hand and scratches at his head nervously.
KYLE:
I was wondering… Are you free Friday night? I was thinking maybe we could catch dinner and a movie or something.
INT. FLOWER SHOP - DAY
KIM:
Yeah, I’m free. That sounds great!
KYLE (over phone):
Really? I mean, uh, that’s great! So I’ll pick you up at around seven? Is that good?
KIM:
Seven it is. I’ll see you then.
KYLE (over phone):
See you.
Kim hangs up the phone, then does a fist pump of excitement.
INT. KYLE’S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY
Kyle hangs up his phone and does an exuberant fist pump, only to stumble over his partially untied shoe and fall onto the floor.
INT. FLOWER SHOP - DAY
Kim and Mary hug one another.
MARY:
I told you he would finally come around. And about time. You two have only been crushing on each other for, what? Three years?
KIM:
We’ve only known each other for a year and a half, Mary. Do you know where the green plastic is?
MARY:
Uh, under the counter, I think. Still, it took him long enough to ask you out.
Kim looks under the counter, but doesn’t find the plastic.
KIM:
I don’t care. He finally asked.
She lifts her head from under the counter.
KIM:
I don’t see it anywhere.
MARY:
It was under there. I just bought some. That’s irritating.
She starts to look under the counter as well.
KIM:
No problem. I’ll just use the white. Where are we going for lunch today?
EXT. FLOWER SHOP - DAY
The women’s conversation continues. The camera pulls out and away from the shop as it to reveal something just off screen, but there is nothing.
INT. KIM’S HOUSE - FRONT HALLWAY - NIGHT
It is just dusk. Kim enters, kicking the door shut behind her as she flicks a lightswitch.
KIM:
I’m home, Bubby!
She does a little dance in the hallway. The cat comes to greet her, rubbing against her leg. Kim bends down and picks the cat up, nuzzling her nose against its ear.
KIM:
Hey there, big guy. You miss me? How about dinner for you and a shower for me?
INT. KIM’S HOUSE - KIM’S BEDROOM/MASTER BATHROOM - NIGHT
Kim has just gotten out of the shower and finished drying her hair. She is wearing blue pajamas with bright yellow cartoon DUCKS on them. She puts the HAIR DRYER down and opens the bathroom door. The light casts a yellow beam into the darker bedroom, illuminating a corner of her bed and a MAN (30s) leaning on it. He is tall and thin, slightly hunched, with dark hair and deep-set eyes. He has his legs outstretched and ankles crossed, and is leaning most of his weight on his arms at his sides. He looks up at Kim, who is frozen in shock. His eyes move over her clothing.
MAN:
Okay, that outfit completely kills the mood I was trying to go for. Are those ducks?
Kim screams and slams the door. Her hands shaking, she locks the knob.
MAN (through the door):
Aw, come on. Don’t be like this.
Kim reaches wildly for some kind of weapon and grabs her HAIRDRYER. She holds the handle in both hands and brandishes it like a baseball bat.
MAN (through the door):
I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to insult your ducks. I like ducks. It’s just… You know… I was kind of hoping we could do this Batman-style: I’d be threateningly broody, you’d be tantalizingly unfazed and all the while the air is crackling with sexual tension.
A beat of SILENCE. Kim grips the dryer more firmly.
MAN (through the door):
No?
He sighs, heartfelt and longsuffering.
MAN (through the door):
Please don’t make me come in there after you. It’s so unclassy and those ducks negate any dignity that might possibly be left.
KIM:
Who are you?
MAN (through the door):
You know, everyone’s got at least one dream that they carry around with them their whole life. They may not even know it, but there’s a dream they’re hanging onto.
KIM:
(screaming)
Who are you?
There is a loud THUMP at the door, as if he is slamming his fist against it.
MAN (through the door):
Will you shut up, woman? I’m trying to tell you. But if I do, you have to promise not to screech at me anymore. It’s very unattractive.
Another beat of SILENCE. Kim bites at her lip, her breath shuddering with fright.
MAN (through the door):
Are you still there?
Yet another short period of SILENCE. From the other side of the door, the man sighs again.
MAN (through the door):
This isn’t working.
The door abruptly bursts inward as the man kicks near the knob. Kim shrieks and swings the hairdryer. He catches it before it hits his head, and leans on one arm high on the doorjamb. He smiles and runs the side of his free hand across his lower lip.
MAN:
Hi there.
He pushes away from the doorjamb and catches Kim’s fist as she tries to hit him, then leans his face in close to hers.
MAN:
I’m your worst nightmare.
END OF ACT 1
ACT 2
INT. KIM’S HOUSE - MASTER BATHROOM/KIM’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
The man stands holding Kim’s wrist in one hand as she holds the hairdryer, as well as gripping her fist and keeping it away from his face. They stand, faces only a few inches apart. He is taller than her, looking down even while slightly hunched.
MAN:
You’re kind of sick, you know that? I, me, the worst nightmare you have ever had, am the dream you carry around all the time. What does that say about you?
Kim tries to jerk away, but he is stronger and will not let her go.
KIM:
What are you talking about? Who are you?
The man rolls his eyes.
MAN:
I know you’re not deaf, Kim. You know who I am. I’m your nightmare. The one with the refrigerator.
Kim blinks. FLASH of a REFRIGERATOR with water running down its sides and of the man’s face, mostly hidden by shadow.
KIM:
How-
MAN:
Of course I know about the refrigerator. And I’ve been meaning to ask about that. You’d think I knew this about myself, but: why a refrigerator? I mean… What’s up with that?
KIM:
Who-
The man slams her hand holding the hairdryer against the doorjamb. She cries out in pain and drops the dryer.
MAN:
Kim, I swear, if you ask me again who I am, I’ll kill you. And you don’t want me to do that. I don’t want me to do that.
He grips both of her wrists and slams her back against the wall.
MAN:
So here’s the deal. Last night, you had a dream. Do you remember what it was about?
KIM:
Why-
MAN:
Don’t ask why. Don’t ask any questions at all. Just answer my questions. I’m doing my best here, but you’re making being the good guy very difficult. So, do you remember your dream?
KIM:
(tearfully)
Uh… something… something to do with cardboard boxes. In a garage. A parking garage.
MAN:
And you had to choose one, right? Did you?
KIM:
Yes. No… I don’t remember. Please-
MAN:
Kimmy, if you start begging now, I’m going to lose whatever respect I still have for you after getting a load of those ducks, okay?
Kim sniffs, trying to keep from full-out crying, and looks around for a way to escape. He reslams her into the wall.
MAN:
Nu-uh, none of that. I’m trying to talk to you here. So, did you choose one or not?
KIM:
I-
MAN:
Yes, you did Know how I know? (shouting) I’m out of your friggin’ head!
KIM:
(crying)
Please…
MAN:
Begging bad, remember? Know what I’m-
VOICE (O.S.):
Leave her alone.
The man looks over his shoulder. Nothing. He looks down at his feet. Kim’s cat sits next to his leg.
MAN:
You.
He releases Kim and squats down in front of the cat. Kim drives her knee into the side of his head. He falls against the sink pedestal and passes out. Kim presses her hand to her mouth and starts to hyperventilate. The cat regards the man and speaks.
CAT/VOICE:
Nice.
Kim faints.
END OF ACT 2
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Part 2
Basically an experiment in a different writing style on my part. I had an idea, wanted to do Script Frenzy, but it was already over. So I did my own Script Frenzy in July/August! 39 days from start to finish, resulting in a five episode television script. Here is the result...
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