Copyright 1993, 1994, 1998

Dorian Scott Cole

Contact Dorian Scott Cole.

This is a story that I wrote just for fun, and I haven't tried to market it or make it "visual." It's a bit cerebral, so it's long on dialogue. It developed out of some experimental writing I did to stretch my writing skills. The original story is set in a futuristic world where I could develop some themes with greater freedom. I then took the same characters and their problems and reset them in the world of today. It is Gina's spiritual quest, Travis's sexual struggle, and Mark's quest for fulfillment. Gina's sexual struggle is a symbol of her spiritual growth.

This screenplay is not an example of my writing and should not be used as a demonstration of concepts described on this web site. 

This story is not for everyone. It deals with mature sexual themes. It deals with spirituality in ways that some may not feel comfortable with. But the themes are fully developed and worth reading. If you enjoy it, please let me know. Primary Contact.

Note: Temporary ratings are in effect to prevent children from opening, pending formal rating. There is no pornography or X rated material in this story.

The poem recited in this story is remembered from my childhood. Through the Internet, I located the poem recently at the Detroit News Web site, Halloween article. The author is unknown. The poem in its entireity is much more unpleasant than the few lines quoted here, but if you want a jolt, follow this link. 

Drama

EXT. GRAVE YARD - NIGHT
 
 

GINA, a twenty nine year old very attractive woman in a wedding gown, is lying, eyes open, in an open casket over an open grave. KENRICK, the undertaker, wearing a black cape and a black stovepipe hat, and carrying a candle in a metal carrier, comes toward the grave. He stops and looks at her face in the candle light.

KENRICK

I'm so sorry, Gina, no one came to
mourn. I left the lid open as long
as I could, but it's past midnight
and no one is coming. It's too late.
It's too late, Gina. Too late.

KENRICK

Don't you laugh as the hearse goes by
for you may be the next to die.

KENRICK

The undertaker takes you in while
all your relatives sit and grin.

GINA

Please, don't leave me here alone.
I'm not really dead, I just look
dead.

KENRICK

It's your time. You can't come back 
to life, Gina, they won't let you.
(Continues singing)
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl
out, the worms play pinochle 
on your snout.

GINA

I'm not dead! Please don't make me die.

GINA

Please, God, don't destroy me like
you did my father.

ESTABLISH SHOT: BEAU MONDE OF NICHOLASVILLE

INT. MARK'S OFFICE, BEAU MONDE

Gina enters an atrium like area and signs in with theRECEPTIONIST near the entrance. Around the the atrium are arched entrances to various sections, each labeled: DIET, SALON,DANCERCIZE, MODELING, PHOTOGRAPHS. Gina walks toward theDancercize entrance.

INT. DANCERCIZE AREA - DAY

A class is in progress. MARK is watching an instructor, ARABELLA, through the view window.

GINA

Hello, love.

MARK

Hello, Gina. Why can't you just
call me Mark like everyone else.

GINA

Part of me still likes you. 
Part of me still wants to kill you. 
Which part would you rather see?

(Beat)

One of those ladies your new love?

MARK

No, just watching Arabella. Business
major. She also works sales. She 
loves it all. Give her six months
she'll have my job.

GINA

Great, with business declining, I 
need new blood.
We have a new beauty product 
promotion coming. Let's go and
I'll explain it to you.

ESTABLISH SHOT: BEAU MONDE ENTERPRISES

SIGN: WHERE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE ARE MADE

INT. MARGO'S EXAMINING ROOM - DAY

Gina is sitting on the examination table and MARGO is listening to her heartbeat.

MARGO

Your heart sounds OK, Gina. Have 
you talked to your own physician?

GINA

Oh, that takes too much time. I 
see you all the time.

MARGO

Thanks for your confidence, but I
do fitness and cosmetology 
consulting and an occasional 
physical. That's no substitute for
regular medical care.

GINA

What do you think is happening to 
me?

MARGO

Sometimes the heart skips beats.
It could have a lot of causes, some
serious, some not. How is your 
energy level?

GINA

I'm tired most of the time.

MARGO

Depressed?

GINA

No, I'm happy. I just can't sleep.

MARGO

Dating anyone?

GINA

No time for that.

MARGO

So you're still repressing your 
sexual desires?

GINA

Rechanneling sexual energy, Margo. 
They're not pent up.
I had a dream the other night. A
nightmare. I was dead, but not 
dead. It worries me.

MARGO

Honey, I don't interpret dreams. 
But when you start repressing your 
natural desires, your body thinks 
it is dead.

GINA

I never have time to figure my dreams 
out myself.

MARGO

If you won't take time for yourself,
your self will demand attention, 
even if it has to shut you down.
Have you had any more.... ecstatic
experiences? 

GINA

Last week. I fell into a trance,
in one of the club hot tubs. 
Scared three people half to death.
They thought I had cooked too long.

MARGO

I suspect your endorphin levels are
high and you get depressed when
they are normal. It fits your personality.
Your endorphins can change your 
heart rate, you know.

GINA

Oh, you blame everything on my
endorphins. Just give me a pill or 
something that will keep me from
killing myself like my father did.

MARGO

Is that what this is all about?

MARGO

Gina, you have to slow down.
Pills won't keep you beautiful, 
they'll make you old. Get more 
rest. Relax a little and.... take 
time to interpret your dreams.
Go in the other room and let Tracy
give you a facial.

GINA

(Laughs)

Margo, there is no time. This
organization is falling apart. I 
can't keep sales people because
they have to work double shifts to 
sell enough memberships to make a
living. I'm working twenty-six 
hours a day keeping the managers
motivated and doing special 
recruiting and membership drives
And now I can't sleep at night.
Now, really what can I do?

MARGO

Hire some good help and spend as 
much time as possible in a trance.
I hear they're very refreshing.

MARGO (Cont.)

Honey, I can't stand to see my 
people do this to themselves. You 
keep going like this and you're 
going to be a burned out hulk at 
thirty five. My best advice: fall 
in love.

GINA

I guess I'll keep on keeping on.
God won't have me and the devil
ain't no kind of friend.

INT. GINA'S HOUSE - NIGHT

Gina is sitting on the floor in a meditative position, in a walk-in closet size room with mirrors on the walls, ceiling, and floor. It gives the effect of being suspended in space. 

GINA

Please God, open my mind so I can
understand my dream.

GINA

(Whisper)

Don't you laugh as the hearse goes
by, for you may be the next to die.
It's too late, Gina, too late.

KENRICK (O.S.)

I'm sorry, no one came. We have to
put you in the ground now.

GINA

I'm not really dead, I just look
dead.

KENRICK

It's your time.
 
 

GINA

But I'm not dead!

KENRICK

(Voice fades)

You can't come back to life, 
they won't let you,
they won't let you,
they won't let you.

GINA

Who won't let me?
What does it mean?

(Angrily)

What does it mean?
Who won't let me?

GINA

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, 
who's the dumbest one of all. 
You are mirror!

INT. GINA'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Gina walks into the living room and turns on the T.V., then idly flicks to the religious channel. The clock above the TV says one o'clock.

A TELEVANGELIST on TV is dressed in shiny gold clothing and goldshoes, standing in front of the camera. A mural of a golden stairway winding upward to a golden throne fills the background. Circus atmosphere.
 
 

EVANGELIST

And I swear on His Holy Word, God
struck me dumb. I couldn't talk.
I couldn't say the first word. I
got down on my knees and prayed.
I said, God, how do you expect me
to preach your Holy Word if you've
struck me dumb? 

   Then I remembered, if it pleases
God, he can speak through the mouth
of an ass. So I said, you know, 
maybe I'm missing the point here.
Maybe God is trying to give me a
message.

So I looked around me - 

MODERATOR

Just what proof do you offer, Sir
Winston, that religion is a loaded
weapon in the hands of psychopaths?

SIR WINSTON

My good man, just a brief glance at
history is enough to convince the
most stalwart of believers. 

Take, for example, the Inquisition.
The Church in its glorious wisdom, 
and, oh, its infinite love, and we
must not forget, of course, 

forgiveness, burned its mystics, those
poor souls of deepest illumination, 
and its scientists, its very own
brilliant scientists, many who were
clerics, its theologians - anyone 
who dared to illuminate mankind -

branded them heretics and witches 
and summarily burned them at the
stake. These psychotic recluses,
paranoid little dictators, frightened
out of their wits that the rabble 
might actually know - 

MADAM

I feel.... feel this period of 
searching is coming to an end for 
you. Thanks so much you for calling,
Madam Destiny. Next caller, please. 
Hello. Seeking answers?

WOMAN CALLER (V.O.)

Oh, yes, and I do hope you have an
answer for me. I have a little 
dog, and he seems to be having
nightmares. 

MADAM

What is your dogs birthdate?

WOMAN CALLER (V.O.)

We're not sure. He was a stray.

MADAM

What is your dog's name?

WOMAN CALLER (V.O.)

Poochy.

MADAM

(Beat)

I'm not receiving any vibrations
with that name. Does he go by
any other name?

WOMAN CALLER (V.O.)

Well, yes, but I can't tell you
that name over the air.

(Giggles)

MADAM

What makes you think your dog is
having nightmares?

WOMAN CALLER (V.O.)

He is perfectly still and then he 
begins moving his legs and blinking
his closed eyes, and trembling, as 
if he is running, afraid for his 
life. 

MADAM

What is your name?

WOMAN CALLER (V.O.)

Clair.

MADAM

(Beat)

Have no fear. Little Poochy is
just chasing rabbits in his dreams.
Next caller - 

TELEVANGELIST

As I lay there prostrate on the 
floor, I began to see heaven open
and a golden stairway reach up to
it. God himself sat on a golden 
throne and He pointed to me and 
said, build My stairway. And when
the vision was gone, I could speak
again.

SIR WINSTON

During these Crusades, the Church
battled these heathen foreign 
cultures, conquered them, subjugated
them, inflicted misery after misery
on them. 

When the New World was
discovered, the Church continued
with its massacre, killing the so
called "heathen" natives, plundered
their gold, wiping out entire
civilizations in North and South
America and all the islands.

Today the plundering continues 
with televangelists lining their
pockets with millions in a circus
atmosphere, while millions starve,
and even the Church leaders visit
prostitutes and molest children 
while they single out prostitutes 
and gays for their sins. 

What proof do I have that religion is 
a loaded weapon in the hands of
psychopaths? I ask you, who are the
real heathen in history? 

MODERATOR

So, Sir Winston, if you don't 
believe in God, tell us where you 
stand on an issue like loving your 
enemies.

SIR WINSTON

An old serpent worshiping, pygmy
cannibal in East Africa that I met 
in 1930 had a decent perspective on
it. He said, as he popped a toe into 
his mouth, "Missionary meat is
a little stringy, but God always
provides."

TELEVANGELIST

God has called me to build a 
golden staircase to heaven, for
all who would be saved. I need
a mountain of gold. Friend, if 
you don't know if you've been 
saved, call me now. For just a 
few dollars, we can put you on 
that golden stairway and ensure
your place.

GINA

(Sighs)

Oh, what the Hell.

REV. EHLER

Rev. Ehler.

GINA

Reverend, this is Gina Lastrada.

REV.

Ready to put your name on the 
stairway to Heaven?

GINA

Actually I was wondering if you
could help me. You seem to know a
lot about dreams and visions. I 
had a dream and I would like you
to interpret it.

REV

Did God speak to you?

GINA

No.

REV.

Then I doubt I can help you. 

GINA

I dream this man is burying me, 
and I'm not dead. I plead with 
him, but he buries me anyway.

REV.

Are you afraid of death?

GINA

I.... I don't know.

REV.

Everyone has an emptiness inside of
them that can only be filled by
God. You can fill that emptiness
by giving - by helping to build 
God's golden stairway to Heaven.

GINA

Sure. What denomination are you?

REV.

I'm a Priest after the order of 
Melchizedek. Independent.

GINA

Uh......

REV.

I'm insulted, you act like you 
don't trust me. You have to trust
someone.

GINA

I think I'll.... just trust myself, 
you know, like you - a Priest after
the order of Melchizedek.

INT. GINA'S OFFICE - DAY

Gina's office is spacious, appropriate to a glamour profession, with several plants around the room and small statuettes, including a tree and a glass desk. Rock music plays softly in the background. Pictures on the wall include people exercising and a mystical picture of an obscure subject. Gina rushes in, late, puts her purse away and slips into her chair behind her desk.

JORDAN WELLS walks in holding pictures of an office complex.

JORDAN

Good morning, Gina. Traffic heavy?
 
 

GINA

Good morning, Jordan. I can't
sleep anymore and it's killing me.

JORDAN

Better look lively. Kenrick is on
the warpath. 

GINA

What's wrong now?

JORDAN

Sales are still falling.

(Jordan continues as if sales mean nothing.)

I got the drawings illustrating
our new corporate beauty concept.

JORDAN

This office complex is typical of
many in the area. Our Corporate
beauty station could fit nicely 
into any one of these buildings. 

GINA

Has Kenrick decided to call it a
Fitness or a Beauty Station?

JORDAN

Still undecided. I think he's 
waiting on our Sales Manager's input.

GINA

I'm too tired to think! Fitness?
Beauty? We need to get "beautiful
people" worked in there someway.
Now, what about these ten story 
goliaths around town? How would we 
fit in there?

JORDAN

We take a suite nearby. People
drop their kids off for baby sitting,
executives pop in for exercise and 
massage, office workers spend noon
there jogging. 

GINA

It sounds good on paper. But will
it sell? What do you think, Jordan?
Are corporations really going to
buy into this thing?

JORDAN

This is it, Gina, corporate beauty,
fitness, is the wave of the future. 
We can't coax men into the clubs so
we go where they are. We pick big
companies. All we need is people 
in place to sell it.

GINA

I'm recruiting sales people; all I 
need is authorization to hire?

JORDAN

Get your key players, you've got
the go sign. Kenrick is so hot on
this, he's talking like we already
have the organization in place.
But you know Kenrick, don't get
ahead of him - 

GINA

Get ahead of him! He's talking 
about opening night clubs next.
I'm so far behind God will never 
let me die. There I go, mentioning
God again. I've got to get this 
stuff off my mind.

KENRICK

Repent, sinner. It will all go 
away.

KENRICK 

Hire people from within the 
organization first. 

GINA

I think we should have a look at
Travis McPherson. He has the best
sales record in the company, and 
he's close - Petersburg.

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