Deliverance

[drama]

Synopsis: In 9 minutes, that is three 3-minute episodes.

TITLE: “DELIVERANCE”, “PART ONE.”

INT. HEATH’S APARTMENT, EVENING. FADE UP FROM BLACK to CLOSE-UP of HEATH. He is young, but he looks horrible. Too skinny, as if starving.

HEATH VOICE OVER
I was never a good storyteller. So, here it is. My life.

HEATH looks to clock, QUICK shot of CLOCK and it reads, “5:51 PM.” CUT back to HEATH looking away from CLOCK.

HEATH VOICE OVER
In 9 minutes. (beat) No fluff, no filler. No excuses.

QUICK CUT.

EXT. LOCAL CAFÉ, NGHTIME. SKYE, a waitress, and dressed in uniform gets inside an old, rough looking car. CUT.

INT. SKYE’S CAR. CLOSE-UP.

HEATH VOICE OVER
At first, there was my mom. Her name was Skye, a product of hippies. But those hippies had loosened on their looseness and got strict.

SKYE is young, but looks horrible. She cries.

HEATH VOICE OVER
Mom thought she was in love with a guy who had a wife who thought he was in love with her.

SKYE pulls herself together, than steps out of the car. We follow her to the back of her car, she pulls her shoes and socks off. She rolls her socks together and stuffs them in the exhaust pipe. She goes back and gets in the car. She waits but a moment, then starts the car.

HEATH VOICE OVER
Turned out, the older man who she thought she was in love with and he with her was proud. He knocked her up and brushed her under the rug with empty threats. She didn’t want to fight. She never wanted to fight. She was a mouse.

SKYE sits back and closes her eyes.

HEATH VOICE OVER
Her once hippy parents disowned her and kicked her to the curb. Though they live in the city now, they come from a small town and they couldn’t escape their small-town down syndrome. (beat) So there it is. This is her life. This is her purpose.

SKYE is startled and opens her eyes when a hand touches hers. She looks and there is a man sitting in the passenger seat with her.

GUARDIAN
Not this way.

SKYE
Who are you?! Get out! I’ll scream.

GUARDIAN
There is a purpose, Skye.

SKYE
How do you know my name? Who are you?

GUARDIAN
It doesn’t matter.

SKYE
Scram, Creep.

GUARDIAN
I know you’re sad and I know you think you’re alone, but you aren’t. Don’t take it out on the kid. Go to your parents. Talk with them.

SKYE
Yeah, right.

GUARDIAN
They’ll help you. They harbor regret. Just talk to them. Be honest, sincere. And listen.

GUARDIAN gets out of car.

SKYE
Now what are you doing?

GUARDIAN
I’m getting your socks. What are you doing?

SKYE
(thinks for a moment, than half smiles) I’m going home.

GUARDIAN suddenly is standing outside her door and knocking on her window with her socks in hand. She opens door and takes socks. CLOSE-UP of SKYE, she turns away from CAMERA and places socks beside in passenger seat. She turns back to CAMERA.

SKYE
What’s your name—

She stops speaking abruptly and we cut to WIDE-SHOT of parking lot and GUADRIAN is nowhere in sight. CUT.

INT. HEATH’S APARTMENT. CLOSE-UP of HEATH. He looks down towards his lap, CAMERA pans with his glance and we see one hand gripping a paper back and another gripping a bear bottle. He sets the bottle down on the floor, than reaches into the bag and pulls out a pistol. CAMERA pans back up to HEATH’S face who has a look of contentment, resentment and determination.

HEATH VOICE OVER
She was so gullible.

FREEZE FRAME and letters appear on screen, they read, “TO BE CONTINUED…”

END EPISODE

Part Two

EXT. PARK, DAYTIME. GUARDIAN sits on park bench, DEATH walks up and joins him. CUT to CLOSE-UP of two.

DEATH
You look like Death. (beat) What is the deal with Skye Johnson and her boy Heath?

GUARDIAN
There is no deal.

DEATH
Oh, come on. Twenty-four years ago, you work overtime to keep Skye and her baby alive. Then, twenty-four years later you sit by and idly watch as cancer slowly eats Skye away. Seems almost sadistic, in my eyes. I enjoy a good sadist, just like the next guy. But you know me; I don’t like being one-step behind.

GUARDIAN
There’s nothing.

DEATH
I’m not an idiot. Let me guess, you knocked her up. It was your baby. You were just protecting your own, right? It’s selfish, I like it.

GUARDIAN
There’s nothing.

INT. HEATH’S APARTMENT. HEATH enters apartment with paper bag in one hand, he pulls envelope from being tacked on his door. He stumbles around some, like he’s already a bit tipsy. He is in a cheap, dirty suit. He closes the door, loosens his tie and crashes on the couch. He places the bag on the floor next to his feet, than opens the envelope and pulls out letter.

HEATH VOICE OVER
A reminder. A reminder that in two weeks I’m to be evicted. Yeah, right. As if I didn’t remember.

HEATH wads the LETTER up and throws it towards a table with a phone and answering machine on it. He notices there’s a message on the machine. He walks to the machine and plays the message.

KIRSTEN MESSAGE
Hey, Heath, it’s Kirsten. Whatever, like you don’t recognize my voice. Anyway, I filed for divorce. It’s in the drawer beneath your nose; it’s in the manila envelope.

HEATH opens door and pulls out manila envelope.

KIRSTEN MESSAGE
Don’t be a jerk and just sign the stupid thing. You’re a has-been. You’re all washed up. Oh, what am I saying—just sign the stupid thing. I’ll pick it up tomorrow. You can tack it to the door. I’d prefer not to see your face, so don’t get any stupid ideas, retard.

And with that KIRSTEN hangs up her phone and the message ends. HEATH tosses the manila envelope on top of the answering machine, than sits back down and pulls a beer from the paper bag. He opens it and swigs.

HEATH VOICE OVER
Touching. What do you expect, though? She married for money and then the money was no longer there, because we spent it all and then I lost my job and then I couldn’t get a job and then we got evicted and then she started looking to other beds with no eviction notices. A whore, like her mother before her and her mother’s mother before her.

EXT. PARK, DAYTIME. JORGE MATTISON is an older gentleman and he is out walking with his lawyer, FRENCH. They stop and sit down on the lawn, they begin to stretch.

HEATH VOICE OVER
I met my father once. Turned out he was a local politician.

HEATH walks up to FRENCH and MATTISON.

HEATH
Is one of you Jorge Mattison?

MATTISON
I am, who’s asking?

HEATH
Your son.

FRENCH
There’s one in every campaign.

FRENCH stands up and pulls HEATH back away from MATTISON.

FRENCH
Look, kid, if you don’t beat it now, I’ll slap a restraining order and maybe a lawsuit for slander on you.

HEATH
Skye Johnson! Does that name ring a bell?

MATTISON
Never heard of her.

HEATH
Just thought you might wanna know that the mother of your only son died as she lived… a poor wretch.

HEATH breaks away from FRENCH and spits in MATTISON’S face and walks away at a fast pace. CUT.

INT. HEATH’S APARTMENT. HEATH takes bullets from the paper bag and begins loading the gun with bullets.

HEATH VOICE OVER
When the jerk died, he left everything he had to me. And what did that get me? A lousy, good-paying job that dropped me at a moment’s notice. A miserably fake marriage, a divorce and an eviction notice. Thanks, Dad, I owe ya one. No, make that two.

HEATH finishes loading the gun with bullets, than smirks and empties it except for one. He cocks it and puts the barrel to the temple of his head.

FREEZE FRAME and letters appear on screen, they read, “TO BE CONCLUDED…”

END EPISODE

Part Three

INT. HEATH’S APARTMENT. HEATH smirks and empties the gun except for one bullet. He cocks it and puts the barrel to the temple of his head. CLOSE-UP on HEATH’S FACE, he looks straight ahead, and then suddenly his eyes shift to the left of his head.

HEATH
I hoped you’d come.

CUT to different angle that reveals GUARDIAN sitting in room, across from HEATH, on the corner of a desk.

GUARDIAN
Not like this.

HEATH
You’ll have to pry it from my hands, [Mystery Man].

GUARDIAN rises slowly from the desk and HEATH leaps from the couch, but never removes the gun from his temple.

HEATH
Back off! I’ve been dying to ask you this one—what’s with the whole “there’s a purpose” thing you told my mom, huh? What’s that suppose to mean? There’s nothing. It’s all random and it’s all pointless and it’s all bull.

GUARDIAN
I wish I could answer that, Heath, but I can’t.

HEATH
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Figures. Later..

GUARDIAN
Wait! (beat) Shoot me first.

HEATH
What? (pause) Whatever, can’t hurt.

HEATH quickly removes gun from temple and shoots GUARDIAN. GUARDIAN quickly and violently flops back and over the desk and onto the floor.

HEATH VOICE OVER
I was never a good storyteller. So, here it is. My life.

HEATH looks to clock, QUICK shot of CLOCK and it reads, “5:59 PM.” CUT back to HEATH.

HEATH VOICE OVER
In 9 minutes. (beat) No fluff, no filler. No excuses.

HEATH quickly moves to the couch and loads one more bullet into the gun; he turns away from the CAMERA and places the gun to his temple. He cocks the gun and starts to squeeze the trigger.

CUT to CLOCK, it reads, “6:00 PM.”

HEATH stops. A moment, than he slowly lowers the gun. The CAMERA pans around HEATH and we see his face. He looks at the gun and tosses it to the couch, than he looks around with his eyes like he’s never seen the room (or at least, not this way before). He takes his hands and feels his face, than rubs his hands through his hair. He than drops his hands and walks over to GUARDIAN’S BODY; he looks down at the body. CUT.

EXT. PARK, DAYTIME. HEATH (now GUARDIAN) sits on the bench, DEATH walks up and looks at HEATH/GUARDIAN disapprovingly. He joins him.

HEATH/GUARDIAN
You didn’t see it coming?

DEATH
I’m not talking to you.

HEATH/GUARDIAN
Wouldn’t be the first time.

CUT straight to END CREDITS.

THE END

This was a very well told story. I liked the wording and the description. Unfortunately, I don't get it. I don't understand it. Why did Heath turn into the Guardian? What's the thing with Death at the end? I'm not looking for an explaination, just letting you know.

In essence, Guardian did have a motive the whole time. He was preparing for his "new body." If Skye would have committed suicide, he would not have been able to get his "new body." He had to keep her long enough to get Heath into existence. That's why he could stand by and do nothing while she died miserably years later. It's not so much that he's evil or bad, it's just the way things work--in this story anyway. I don't actually believe any of the mythical nonsense behind the story. It's just the story I came up with.

I hope that made sense.

The last scene with Death is showing that he tricked Death--that he didn't see it coming.

Well, in that case, what an excellent story! I'm sorry I had to ask for an explanation. Sometimes I'm a little slow to understand things that other people have no problem with, and other times I can pick things up right away, before anyone else. I need to find that balance...

Nah, it isn't explained so therefore left open for the audience to interpret anyway.