Dream of Writing
ON WHITE
INSERT – QUOTE
“Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.” ––Miss Quoted
DISSOLVE TO:
DREAM OF WRITING
EXT. RURAL HIGHWAY, LOUISIANA – NIGHT (A DREAM)
An ANTIQUE TRUCK cruises up an empty two-way highway through SUGAR CANE fields.
Appears to be a BODY in the TRUCK BED.
INT./EXT. ANTIQUE TRUCK – NIGHT
“Heebie Jeebies,” by Louis Armstrong plays softly on the radio.
The truck is being driven by JUDAS: a walking, talking nightmare of CREOLE descent, 40ish. He shrouds his towering physique with a BLOOD-RED, HOODED ROBE.
SKULL RING
On one of his thick fingers gripping the top of the steering wheel.
PASSENGER SEAT
His MASK, formerly an ALLIGATOR’S HEAD.
Also on the seat, a WOODEN BOX the size of a shoebox. The box contains the EVIL SPIRIT OF OBSESSION. The spirit causes the box to GLOW RED like a lamp. The red light shines through cutouts like a jack-o’-lantern on the box.
The cutouts are in the shape of VOODOO EMBLEMS: a HEART PIERCED BY A DAGGER, an ALLIGATOR, and other veve-style lines and shapes.
ALLIGATOR-SKIN BOOT
Presses the brake pedal.
DIRT ROAD
The truck veers off the highway onto a dirt road and reaches a
STEEL GATE. It’s locked.
FROM INSIDE THE LOCK
Judas inserts the KEY.
He drives ahead, not worried about locking the gate behind him.
JUDAS’S POV
As he drives on the dirt road toward a FOREST.
JUDAS
(deeply; solo)
I have something to give you, mistress.
The truck reaches the forest and stops. Looks like a TRAILHEAD.
EXT. TRAILHEAD/TRAILWAY – NIGHT
Judas steps out of the truck, wearing the alligator mask.
He opens the TRUCK BED to reveal a lifeless BODY wrapped in a bloody, white linen sheet. The sheet is tied by rope at the ankles and neck.
THUD, as the wrapped body hits the ground.
JUDAS’S POV THROUGH THE MASK
Trudging down the trail with the glowing box under one arm, and dragging the body by the rope that’s wrapped around its neck.
SOUNDS of fallen leaves and sticks cracking as they go.
SNAKE – ON THE TRAIL
A beat as it slithers out of the way.
EXT. WORSHIP SITE, FOREST – NIGHT
Judas reaches a clearing in the forest: trees bearing VOODOO-STYLE SYMBOLS; an ALTAR as the centerpiece, decorated with a variety of BONES, CANDLES, a half-drank BOTTLE of rum, PIG and CHICKEN parts, and since Judas bears traits of an alligator, ALLIGATOR parts.
THE BOX
Resting in front of the altar, glows redder.
CANDLES
LIGHT UP without any human assistance in sync with the glow of the box.
ANIMAL PARTS
With FLIES swarming.
He picks up the body and plops it on the altar.
He uses a DAGGER to cut the ropes and the sheet, revealing the handsome face of a MALE: freshly dead, 19-year-old RANDALL STEVENS, who wears a FOOTBALL JERSEY and was once a quarterback.
Randall’s bludgeoned HEAD suggests the story of his murder.
Next, Judas cuts Randall’s THROAT and catches some dark BLOOD in his hand, and DRINKS.
He kneels before the altar as LIGHTNING strikes.
RAIN starts to fall, and the Alligator Man laughs, menacingly.
In another streak of lightning, he rises, gazes over the body, and feasts on it, ending the dream.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. RAMEN’S BEDROOM – DAWN
RAMEN NOODLE (pronounced rā-men, often goes by “Ray”), 22, handsome, ATHLETIC BUILD, pops up suddenly in his DOUBLE BED from a nightmare.
He shudders and sighs.
A bright streak of LIGHTNING through the window and a loud burst of THUNDER makes him jump.
A fly buzzes around his head. He swats at it a couple of times before giving up angrily.
RAMEN
(quietly)
Damn it!
INSERT – DIGITAL CLOCK
Reads 6:00am.
He doesn’t want to get up yet and sighs again.
INSERT – DATE
Friday, April 13, 2007 (in courier font)
He reaches for a stereo REMOTE somewhere in the bed.
A MONTAGE begins as he turns on a CD MIXTAPE to get this day started: JAZZ, “Gloria’s Step” by the Bill Evans Trio.
He flips on a LAMP next to his bed.
Welcome to Ramen’s studio apartment, comprised of a BEDROOM, a BATHROOM, and a KITCHEN. The FRONT DOOR is in the bedroom next to a long WINDOW, and a short HALLWAY doubling as a closet connects the kitchen.
He has HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TROPHIES, WRITING AWARDS, POSTERS of JACK KEROUAC, THE WHITE STRIPES, BOBBY HEBERT, and NINA SIMONE on the walls.
He digs for a leftover JOINT in an ashtray.
(to himself)
What is in this weed?
He lights the joint, takes a drag, and coughs.
He stands up to stretch, wearing boxer shorts.
INT. RAMEN’S BATHROOM
Standing in the little bathroom, Ramen stares at himself blankly, if not bewildered, in the mirror.
He starts the FAUCET and runs water over his stubbly face and through his dark hair.
INT. RAMEN’S KITCHEN – DAY
The sun is up through a WINDOW over the sink. He enters the kitchen shaven and showered, wearing a BLOOD RED bath towel at the waist.
KEURIG
A cup of coffee brews.
HIS POV
Mixing two EGGS with a splash of water, butter, pouring them into a CAST-IRON SKILLET, and adding some diced HAM for an OMELETTE.
He walks away.
BEDROOM
The song changes to the UPBEAT drum snares of “A Night in Tunisia,” by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers.
Ramen dresses in new cargo shorts and a T-shirt bearing a graphic for the movie E.T. from a laundry pile on the floor.
A beat as the SMOKE ALARM goes off.
He peeks his head down the short hall to see the skillet on FIRE.
RAMEN
Oh no!
KITCHEN
Ramen extinguishes the fire with a big cup of WATER from the sink.
He removes the hot skillet from the burner, burning his hand.
RAMEN
Shit!
He shakes off the pain with a handful of ICE from the freezer.
He fans the smoke alarm with a towel until it stops.
BURNT OMELETTE
Voilà! The watery mass lands on a plate via SPATULA.
He takes an unsatisfying bite and dumps the rest in a nearby trashcan.
BEDROOM
He puts on socks and shoes.
He picks up his SCHOOLBAG, and he powers off the CD Player.
As “A Night in Tunisia” ends, so does the montage.
