The Further Days of John From Cincinnati Part 2

John From Cincinnati, His Visit, Episode 19

2010-06-02T23:33:00.001-07:00

DISCLAIMER: John From Cincinnati and its canon characters are the property of HBO and the show's producers; no copyright infringement is intended.

Written by Waxon, congadrumbum, svengali2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The early sun burns the asphalt in the courtyard of Snug Harbor. The shades are drawn on the windows and no one besides Ramon, who is sweeping the parking lot, sees a yellow taxi as it pulls up. With John in tow Kai, still wearing a red hat, opens the door to room F. The hat gets caught in the broken screen; Kai throws it in the yard and enters the dark room.

Ramon: (nods to himself) About time. (he picks the hat up, shakes the dust off and hangs it on the doorknob).

Sounds of Beach Boys, "Sloop John B" are filling the room, it’s a cell phone alarm on the night stand going apparently for a while. Butchie is in bed, he is mumbling something in his sleep. Kai turns the phone off, however we can hear the song until it ends. Kai looks around at the empty beer bottles, the Bob Marley banner draped over the chair, half opened cardboard boxes on the floor. She watches Butchie for a moment, goes to the kitchenette and fills a glass with water and ice cubes from the fridge. Drinking the water, Kai returns to the room, when finished, she walks over to Butchie’s bed, pulls open his shorts and drops the ice inside.

John: (smiling) Baptize this fucking pistol!

Butchie: (jumping up) Whaa…what the fuck! (he jumps off the bed, jumping up and down to get rid of the ice). Jesus fucking Christ…. it’s you, Kai? (Kai smiles, lifts the glass to drink last drops of water.) Shit, Kai, what the hell's wrong with you, you gonna freeze my balls off! (Butchie sees Kai's shaved and bandaged head) Oh, babe....you were hurt.... (his face turns somber) I thought you were dead… just now I saw…. everyone…. in the dark, then like a flash of lightning or fucking something…. I don’t know, fire….. everyone's dead…. It was like watching from fucking somewhere…. Mom, Dad…..Tina.... the whole fucking town….

Kai: Butchie….. I saw you......

Kai and Butchie stand still, then hug each other with desperate urgency, in search of comfort.
Butchie: (quickly regaining his composure) He wasn't there, Shaunie, with the dead, you know!

John walks out of the bathroom, in his widespread arms he's holding two wetsuits with the camouflage pattern. John walks up to Butchie and Kai , they’re still standing in the tight embrace.

John: The end is near!

Butchie: Wow, wow, hold your fucking horsies, John, what do you mean? Like THE end?

Kai: Butchie, you think he knows anything? Wait....

John: I don't know, Butchie, instead. (Kai and Butchie exchange understanding glances)

Butchie: What the fuck I know about this shit, Kai, is that he said to me yesterday (he imitates John's voice) "everyone died". Right, John? Where's Slim Jim, when you need him!

Kai: Who?

Butchie: Linc fucking Stark! Anyways, John, buddy, is there a war, 'cause I sure didn't fucking signed for any draft, and now that I think about it, I got a real thirst, brother, for the draft beer.... or bottled!

John: (making an encouraging grimace) You need to get wet, Butchie!

--svengali2

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Palaka is asleep in bed on his back. The room is dark with only a small shade of light seeping through the fully drawn curtains. As his image comes to forbearance, it appears that he has not shaven in days. He is dreaming and talking nonsense.

Palaka: No, no... no... yes! No. Yes! No. Yes! I’m OK, You OK? Whoa! Whoa Whoa Whoa! Wait!

He wakes suddenly and sits up in bed. Realizing he has been dreaming, he breathes a sigh of relief and falls back in place. Looking around the room he begins to realize he is in a strange place. Certain things are familiar but this is not his room. He sits up quickly and looks around . There is no sign of Freddie or his belongings. Beginning to panic, now he stands up – but his legs give way and he falls to the floor.

Palaka: Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Not again! Oh, shit!

Seeing the light from the peephole in the door, he begins to crawl – almost slithering to the door. Pulling himself up he opens the door and a wave of light floods his vision – temporarily blinding him. He staggers out of the room covering his eyes and as his vision clears, he sees that he is in the Snug Harbor parking lot. Ramon is across the lot sweeping.

Palaka: Hey! Hey…a….what…. ah….the big one?

Ramon points Palaka to his right.
As Palaka begins to walk we see that he is coming out of room 24. He is in his underwear. Palaka approaches Freddie’s room and reaches for the doorknob but it is locked. He begins knocking frantically on the door.

(Cut back to Ramon who has gone into the office and is dialing the phone. )

Ramon: He’s awake…….He looks…normal, I guess.

The door opens and Freddie stands in the doorway.

Palaka: (now trying to look calm) Hey, boss. Uh…how long….uh…I mean…what’s going on?

Freddie: Well, if it ain’t Abraham Lincoln. What’s goin' on is that you should put on some fucking clothes before you scare the slaves back into slavery.

Freddie steps aside and Palaka enters the room.

Palaka: I gotta pee!

--Waxon

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Cut to a scene of a young man who appears to be in his early 20’s with long black hair riding a bike along the street. It is the now-young again, Dr Smith. He turns into the Snug Harbor parking lot and pulls up to the office. Ramon is standing in the doorway.

Ramon: (pointing to Freddie’s room) He over there.

Michael: (standing his bike up along the side of the building) Thanks.

--Waxon

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Freddie's room.

Freddie sits back on his bed. Palaka returns from the bathroom showered and shaved.

Palaka: Hey, boss, you hungry? I could go get us some food….. and a paper perhaps. Maybe we should get a subscription.

Freddie: Three days.

Palaka: (Thinking) I give up…The resurrection?

Freddie: Your resurrection.

Palaka: Light equipment, remember?

There is a knock at the door.

Palaka: Are you expecting anyone?

Freddie: No. (Freddie reaches for the bedside table and puts his hand partially in the drawer)

Looking through the peep hole, Palaka sees the young Dr. Smith.

Palaka: It's just some kid.

Freddie: See what he wants.

Palaka: (cracks the door open and peers out) Hello!

Dr. Smith: How are you feeling, Palaka?

Palaka: And that would be what business of yours?

Dr. Smith: It's Michael Smith, Palaka. I heard you were awake. (Confused, Palaka looks at Freddie )

Freddie: Let him in.

Palaka: (Opening the door) Do I know you, kid?

Dr. Smith: (entering) Well, sort of. (Looking at Freddie for help) Hello, Freddie.

Palaka looks at Freddie now returning to his relaxed posture, arms folded.

Dr. Smith: I am a friend of the Yosts.

Palaka: You look familiar, but…

Dr. Smith: (motioning to Freddie) What has he told you?

Freddie: Nothing.

Dr. Smith: I see…..Well, um, why don’t we sit down and talk?

Palaka: Can’t – I was just on my way out.

Freddie: He’s hungry.

Dr. Smith: Oh, well, yes, I am sure you are - perhaps later, I guess. (again looking at Freddie)

Freddie: Yeah, later.

Dr. Smith: Hmm. Well, Ok – you have my phone number. I’ll wait to hear from you.

Palaka: (shrugging his shoulders) Yea, we’ll call you.

Dr. Smith: (pauses and turns to Palaka) You look well.

Palaka: OK. Don’t call us, we’ll call you, kid.! (he closes the door. To Freddie) Nice kid, but a little strange..... Anything I need to know before I go out?

Freddie: (looking away) No.

--Waxon

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(Cut to the coffee shop)
Dwayne is at the computer and Jerri is behind the counter.

Jerri: I have to go out – should I lock the door?

(Dwayne doesn’t resond)

Jerri: I take that as a “yes” (to herself) You can’t turn a mule into a thoroughbred.

Jerri leaves locking the door behind her.

As Dwayne stares at his computer screen, we see images of the Snug Harbor parking lot. Freddie is standing in the doorway looking out. In the background Ramon is sweeping. Into the picture comes a skateboarder into the parking lot. He jumps his board onto the shuffleboard court and it immediately slips right out from under his feet. The rider falls hard to the concrete and Ramon drops his broom and rushes to his aid.

At that moment, there is a loud crash outside the coffee shop. Startled, Dwayne looks out the window to see another boy flat on his back. The wheels of an upside down skateboard are still spinning. The boy is not moving and a small crowd is gathering. Dwayne opens the front door and kneels at the boy’s side. As the crowd grows, Dwayne shouts, “Call 911”. A man from the crowd bends to pick up the boy.

Dwayne: Don’t move him!

Dwayne bends down to feel breath on his cheek from the boy and then moves his ear to the chest to listen for a heartbeat.. A voice from the crowd speaks:

Michael (Smith): Are you a doctor?

Dwayne: No, but we need one fast.

Michael: I’m in pre-med.

Dwayne: Someone get me a blanket or a coat!

Michael takes his shirt off and hands it to Dwayne. Two other men in the crowd do the same, followed by Dwayne. Dwayne places the shirts on the boy - using them to keep him warm.

--Waxon

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In the clear light of the morning Cissy is stacking dirty dishes in the sink that is already overflowing. Two filled up trash bags sit next to her feet. When she turns her head, she sees Shawn and a girl with long blond hair walking through the corridor by the kitchen, trying not to get noticed. Their eyes meet.

Shaun: Hi, Grams…. It’s Christy…. (he doesn’t know what else to say)…. Christina….
Not answering, Cissy looks at him, then at the girl, appraisingly. She opens the top cabinet and takes out two bowls, puts them on the table and points at a box of cereal in the center of the table.

Cissy: Cereal.

Shawn and the girl look uncomfortable.

Shawn: Thanks, Grams, we’re gonna bounce. (The girl smiles and gives him a quick nudge.)

Cissy: You want a peanut butter sandwich?

Shaun:(takes the girl by the arm) No, Grams, we’re good.

Cissy hears them laughing outside. She moves the trash bags to the front door so they block the entrance and returns to the sink. Turning the faucet on she looks through the window, lost in thought. She puts her hands under the water and watches them as they scrub away.

Cissy: Fucking princess, ten inch nails! (She again walks over to the front door and moves the trash bags, placing them at the side entrance of the kitchen).

--svengali2

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At the Internet Cafe "Spinning Wheel" is playing on the radio.
Tina and Linc are sitting at a table. Tina is crumbling a muffin on her plate. She speaks without looking at Linc.

Tina: I can’t do it. I just can’t.

At the table near one of the windows Daphne is talking to Meyer, who is watching the street as the cars pass by. Daphne stabs the melon wedge with a spoon, and droplets of the juice spray all over her white blouse. She grabs a napkin, dropping her spoon on the floor.

Daphne: (irritated) What are we doing here, Meyer? I have to prepare for your mother’s visit, go to the cleaners and pick up your suit…. and a million other things! What is she (throwing an angry look to Jerry) serving here, yesterday’s pastries? Oh, I know…. You don’t like my cooking! Do you like my cooking, Meyer, be honest with me, is that what stands between us now? I barely slept last night, I was having nightmares, some dinosaur was chasing me through the cemetery, and, Meyer, he ate, no, he swallowed my beautiful Italian pumps whole! Meyer, are you even listening?

Meyer: Yes, my love, I am listening. The dinosaur, very interesting. (He continues to look out into the busy street)

A sudden noise outside attracts attention of all of the people in the café, and they look out through the windows. It’s a skateboarder who fell on the pavement. Dwayne runs out as the rest of the patrons stay inside.
The music is interrupted by sudden silence. Linc drags his chair close to Tina, the chair makes loud scratching noise on the tile floor. Tina doesn’t turn her head. Sitting down, Linc gently moves Tina’s long hair away from her face, folding a strand of it behind her ear.

Linc: I want to see your face.

Tina: Do not touch me! (She pulls her hair down, then noticing as Linc’s expression changes, she again folds it behind her ear) That… fucker would say: Move your hair, sugar, we want to see how you’re enjoying it…. Wouldn’t tell the cameraman to stop rolling…. Linc, I thought I…am... I....could

Linc: (flips open his cell and spends few moments pressing different buttons and looking at the screen. He closes the phone and waves to Jerri. Taking money out of his wallet he smiles to Jerri) Hundred for bringing it to our table.

Jerri: What fucking business would I have without my regulars!? All here, like flies on sticky tape!

Linc: (looks at Tina, thinking aloud) If you are the whore of Babylon, what does that make me? A moneychanger? That I can do! Seems to still be allowed…. You wouldn’t mind getting a haircut, would you, milady? (Taking Tina’s hand he makes her stand up) For a million? Three blocks down.

Tina raises her hand to slap Linc, he catches it and kisses Tina's hand.
Tina: You'll lose all your money, you sick fuck!

Jerri rolls her eyes. She walks over to Dwayne who returned and settled at his computer and gives him a wet willie. Dwayne shakes his head in protest.

Dwayne: Can't you leave me alone? (he is watching the screen that shows a skateboarder in Snug Harbor parking lot, laying flat on his back, Ramon is leaning over) I think I am missing something!

Daphne: (raising her voice over the noise in the café and the music) And he swallowed you, Meyer!

Meyer: (engrossed in his thoughts, still intensely watching the street ) What am I missing?

Daphne tries to fight back tears and blows her nose, the loud sound breaks Meyer's spell. Looking at Daphne he smiles a worried smile.
Jerry: (hugs and leans on Dwayne from behind with her breasts) We have to advertise!

Linc: (holding Tina's hand he leads her to the front door) What's mine is yours, baby.

At the door Tina and Linc bump into young Dr.Smith.

Young Dr.Smith: Ahem, hello....

Linc: Right on the nose! I'm wondering who else is missing the festivities!

In the dark corner of the cafe Erlemeyer is slowly sipping his coffee.

Erlemeyer: Voices, so many voices.

(Thanks to SpiritontheWater for the Song)

--svengali2
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At Bill Jacks home.
Commander Cody, Seeds and Stems Again Blues

Vietnam Joe: Bill, when’s the first time you actually saw pot?

Bill Jacks: The first time I busted one of you longhaired hippie bums when I was rookie.

Vietnam Joe: Oh man, you are so fucking square, you know that!

Bill: And proud of it!

Joe: Man, the first time I saw pot I was still in high school. This had to have been 1963, ’64. I couldn’t have been more than 14 or 15 years old at the time.

Bill: Jesus Christ Jesus Christ Jesus Christ! You were smoking pot at that young age? That explains a lot.

Joe: (laughing) No man! I was scared shitless actually.

Bill: Whaddya mean?

Joe: Well, back in those days the general belief was if you smoked marijuana, before long you’d be shooting heroin too. I didn’t want to turn into no junkie. Besides I’m deathly afraid of needles. Anyway I’m sitting shotgun in a souped up car with an older cat named Benny out in the high school parking lot waiting for some chicks, right?

Bill: Of course, what else?

Joe: I mean this is long before the hippie love and peace days. We’re still diddy bopping around with our duck tail haircuts trying to look tough, getting into fights, beer blasts down at the beach, that kind of thing.

Bill: So you weren’t the president of your class I take it.

Joe: Fuck you, Bill! Anyway, Benny pulls out the skinniest joint I’ve ever seen from his shirt pocket, lights it up and takes a really deep drag and blows the smoke in my direction. It kinda smelled like the herbs my mom used to put in the Thanksgiving stuffing.

Bill: Maybe it was.

Joe: I’ve often thought that myself. Anyway, Benny offers the joint to me and I just shook my head no thanks. He shrugged and laughed and finished it off himself.

Bill: Sounds like a fine example of a real upright standing citizen.

Joe: Kinda weird that I went from a scared shitless little kid afraid to take a hit off a skinny joint to a first class drug smuggler.

Bill: Smuggler?

Joe: Yeah, man, right after I got back from Nam. Fuck working for the man!

--congadrumbum

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Vietnam Joe closes his eyes and slumps uncomfortably on the couch, his body is leaning over the armrest. Shaking his head Bill Jacks turns and walks to the table with Zippy’s cage where Alejandro is still staring into space. Bill waves his hand in front of Alejandro’s glossy expressionless eyes.

Bill: Are you done screwing with him, Zip, monkey face, master magician as you are…. (to himself) Jesus Christ, I bet the boy is watching the movie of his life, back and forth!

Returning to Vietnam Joe, Bill lifts his legs up on the couch; without waking up, Joe sighs and stretches out.

Joe: Right, no atheists in foxholes, sergeant!

Bill sits down on the couch next to sleeping Joe. Slowly the orange glow is filling the whole house; everything in it taking on undefined, amorphous shapes.

As Bill begins to climb the spiral staircase, the light intensifies, falling down in a cascade of white fire. Upstairs, Bill, with Zippy on his shoulder, stands looking through the small window, the light dances in the room.

Bill: As we were, Lo, our young ourselves, still treading water….

John: Confirm the sight, trooper! (He looks at Bill through the binoculars he takes from his pocket)

Bill: (turning around and smiling) What you need is only an oar, my friend.

Bill takes a pillow from the bed and goes downstairs. He places the pillow under Joe’s head, then brings a chair and settles Alejandro in it.

Bill: What do I do with you? …. Zip, a chess rematch while we wait?

--svengali2

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Roll the credits!
Whitestarr, Thank You

John From Cincinnati, His Visit, Episode 18, Now and Then

2010-02-22T00:58:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: John From Cincinnati and its canon characters are the property of HBO and the show's producers; no copyright infringement is intended.

Written by: SpiritontheWater, backinthegame, Waxon, Myles17, Zippyfan, SaveJFC, congadrumbum, svengali2

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Sun breaks over the IB pier as Joe is fishing... He feels a bite, and we see him fight to reel the fish in. A sudden snap, and the fish is gone.

Joe: God damn it. Another one lost.

To his left, we see John, hands in pockets, collar raised.

John: They are not lost Joe, you are not lost.

Joe: (surprised) Jesus, frat boy, you're gone for six months and that's the best you can come up with?

John: That's the best I can come up with.

Joe: Well, if I've ever seen shit fucked up like this before, I don't remember when. Tell me you have a plan!

John: I have a plan.

Joe: Well a-fucking-men...

John: A fucking-men!

John looks up to the sky and as he does so Joe's fishing line tugs in his hands.

--backinthegame

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Butchie is sitting on the front step of Yost's house. Shaun comes out of the house skateboard in hand...and seeing Butchie, stops and sits beside him.

Neither one speaks for a while.

Shaun: Happy Birthday, Dad.

Butchie looks at him confused.

Butchie: What day is it?

Shaun: It's the 13th.

Butchie: You remembered my birthday? You know my birthday? Christ, I hardly know my own birthday. I don't even know y....

Butchie stops suddenly with a look of self disgust.

Shaun looks at the ground. Tipping his skateboard over he uses one end to draw a monad on the concrete walkway by his feet.

Shaun: I know, Dad.

Butchie (shaking off his self loathing): What a day, huh?

Shaun (looking up at Butchie with a smile): Helluva birthday present.

Butchie: You don't think....John....?

Shaun: I dunno.

There is a long moment of silence.

Butchie: Hey! Seeing how it's my birthday and all, how about we go for a hot dog?

Shaun: What about them?

Butchie and Shaun look up at the news vans and cars that have gathered on the street in front of the house. Mitch and Link are talking to a group of reporters.

Butchie: Yeah, you're right, we better go over the fence.

Butchie and Shaun disappear inside the house.

--Waxon

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Early morning at the Motel, Barry rises to a new day...

Barry: What a beautiful morning, would you agree, Teddy? Today is the day we start anew here. The renovations to the rooms are nearly complete. I see a grand reopening ceremony. Must remember to ask Ramon about... that one room though (eyes gazing downward).

John appears outside Barry's window.

John: Barry the fairy still fears Mr. Rollins, Barry should not be afraid, Barry is stronger than that now.

Barry: You are correct in that assumption, my dear sir. I have risen above that tawdry incident. I am in control now, you speak the truth.

John: I speak the truth.

(A knock on Barry's door).

Ramon: Barry? Barry, it's Ramon, breakfast is almost ready, hot coffee, eggs, sausages, come and get it.

Barry: Ah, entrée vous, Ramon, I was thinking of you. How are the preparations going.... I had a dream last night..

Ramon: Did you dream of numbers, Barry, numbers? Wait, I'll get a pen... mi número, mi número...

(Barry glances back at his window, John is gone)

Barry: (to himself) My, Teddy, Ramon and his numbers, whatever does he think I can do.... Yes, today is a new day, my past is behind me.... We will start with a light breakfast, then on to one last inspection of the rooms. Of course, it might seem odd that there is no longer a room 24. It was a good thing to eliminate that number, just darn bad luck to keep it. Right, Teddy?

Barry and Teddy head off to breakfast.

--Myles17

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Butchie stands at the edge of the ocean. Sand and pebbles wash over his bare feet as he gazes out into the surf. Five teenagers are paddling out on their surfboards to meet the formidable breakers some 100 yards out from the shore. One by one, they pop up onto their boards only to be tossed like rag dolls into the chaotic whitewater that crashes down onto the beach. The blond one grabs the biggest wave of all and rides it in like he was born on a surfboard. He cruises all the way into the beach and steps off the board right in front of Butchie. It is Shaun.

Shaun: Hey, dad...

Butchie: Hey handsome, nice ride.

Shaun: Yea, I guess.

Butchie and Shaun walk together down a quiet IB street. It is late afternoon.

Butchie: So, you cool with everything? Your gram and gramps seem at peace with the whole deal, how about you?

Shaun: I'm cool, gramps says things are gonna be different this time. I heard them talking the other night...he says he isn't gonna make the same mistakes he made with you. He's talking about a trust fund or something.... and having him and grams go out on the road with me.

Butchie: Yea, well, he's a wise old soul and grams would probably torture and kill anyone who would mess with you. You can trust their judgment, let them handle the little fucking details and you just concentrate on the surfing.

Shaun: I know, Dad.

They arrive at the Yost's house. The street is empty. The din of unwanted publicity has finally died down.

Butchie: Listen, man, I'm heading home. Grams is pissed at me again so I'm gonna give her a few days to cool down. I'll catch up with you tomorrow, stop by?

Shaun (smiling): I'll be there.

Shaun heads inside. No one is home. He makes himself a sandwich and goes to the back, where he sits in a lawn chair. He pulls a joint out of his shirt pocket and lights it. After a couple of hits he starts to eat the sandwich.
Twenty feet above him a baby bird tries to walk around its mother's nest. The baby wobbles around, walks to the edge and plummets head first into the rocks below, not far from Shaun's feet. It is dead. Shaun looks sadly at the little ball of feathers. He gets up and walks inside. Cicada music fills the air as the back door swings open and Shaun re-emerges with a shoe box and shovel in hand.
He walks over to the lifeless lump, gently picks up the carcass and places it in the box, then walks over to the far side of the yard and begins to dig a hole.
Shaun stops digging and looks at the box. He can hear chirping and see that the top of the box is moving ever so slightly.
He opens the shoe box and the baby bird flies out into the open air, landing on a tree branch at eye level with Shaun. The bird shakes its head several times, looks at Shaun and flies off into the night sky.

--Zippyfan

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A cloudy windy August day at Imperial Beach.
A young man sits alone, knees up to his chest, his long hair blowing in the breeze. He stares out at the pounding surf crashing on the beach. A lone figure silently approaches and stands behind him.

John: Michael , Michael Smith. Your new beginning is near. Young Dr.Smith raises his head slightly.

Michael: John, I thought I felt your presence here. Come, sit with me.

John sits, knees up to his chest, both men staring out at the horizon.

Michael: This extraordinary gift you have given me. I...... I am still trying to adjust.

John: My father has given you this gift. Michael will adjust.

Michael: But I am unsure, I have doubts.

John: Dr. Smith once had doubts. Dr. Smith knew what he wanted. Dr. Smith had a vision to make the world a better place. You are Dr Smith.

Michael: (looking up) I was, now I have to start all over again, I must take a different path this time.

John: Start all over again Michael. Take a different path.

A few moments of silence fall between them as a brilliant ray of sun shines down from a break in the clouds.

Michael: (sighs) I've been given this opportunity to rewind 20 yrs and change the course of my destiny. Was my life meant to touch so many others?

John: I don't know Butchie, instead.

Michael:(smiling) I've been accepted to UCSD, I start classes in September .

John:(smirking) Is UCSD in Cincinnati ?

Michael: (laughing, looking at John) I don't know Butchie, instead.

As the orange and red glow of the sun setting beneath the clouds on the horizon, the two wind swept figures sit together on the beach as seagulls circle about crying.

Myles17

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A big trailer is parked on the outskirts of Huntington. It's painted black, with the white Stinkweed logo and a Stickman emblem. Inside is a specialized bus/studio, with the full setup for a TV broadcast.

Link, with a bottle of beer in his hand, is in a swivel chair on wheels slowly moving along a line of TV monitors showing scenes of surfing.
Jake Ferris enters the bus.

Jake: You playing hard to get, amigo, checked out from the hotel.

Link: One of the pretenders.... (humming) My pretty countryside, la-la-la, like you give a flying fuck! Don't fucking bother to open your mouth, I know why you're here.

Jake: I.... am here as your friend.... I know you saw it coming. It's been finalized, Link. With the downturn the board had to sell Stinkweed. The offer like that, it makes perfect business sense.

Link: Yeah, like pissing against the wind. Those homegrown dickheads and their shitholders know exactly zilch about surfing or... curing malaria.... (lifting the empty bottle) Give them my fucking best!

Jake: Listen... that rainman.... there were expectations...

Link: What, for a giant mothership landing, to kick the shit out of everyone, or for a fucking freak show they could sell? Which one you leeches had the money riding on? Get the fuck outta here, Jake, get back to your trough, or you'll be late. Don't forget to wash your hands, asswipe.

Jake: Fuck you too, Link, you're on your own!

Link: (watching Jake leave) So you say, left all and followed.... Ha, not for long, brother. (he grabs another bottle, opens it and takes a long pull, looking at the monitors) Surf's up, ladies and gentlemen.

Suddenly all the TV screens turn black, then the face of John appears.

John: A leopard can't change his spots, Link. My father is shy doing his business.

Link: Halle... fucking... lujah! Didn't think I'd see you again.

John: No place like home! (smiling) Don't do heavy lifting with light equipment.

Link: I'll drink to that...

Joe Cocker / Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Cry Me A River, 1970
or the alternate
Joe Cocker/Mad Dogs and Englishmen, The Letter, 1970

svengali2

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Blurry shapes appear to move through a dark haze becoming brighter and more distinct. Then the understanding that the movement is a bird sitting on a driftwood railing on the other side of Barry's patio beyond the glass doors. Cass stands silent looking back as she and the bird share a moment of clarity. The sun is much lower than last she noticed. How long had she been gone this time? A couple hours at least.

She turns her attention on the computer monitor on the desk in front of her then takes a seat and checks for new files. Apparently the movie is going well today. There was a 130mb upload to Dwayne that started not two minutes ago. That new website he started, thespiritofjohn.com, has really helped keep our little enterprise financially afloat. Not that John needs help doing that, or that Barry isn't willing. But this way the IRS won't have any reason to ask questions...

"Questions" she mutters to herself, more a statement then, well, a question. She has become so used to not questioning. So unlike her... the old her. The old her would want to know exactly when her workroom had become Barry's living room. Just sort of happened. And Barry... Why does she enjoy having Barry as a roommate so much? He's not the sort of person she would have befriended... well, she mentally took that thought back. He is loaded and she, the old her... well...

For a moment the differences between what she was and who she is felt like a gapping abyss. How. Why. So many questions... with unknowable answers. She's become oddly comfortable living in the ambiguity of it all. The answers are not unknowable, she reminds herself; just not knowable yet.

"The end is near."
"Yes. John. The end is near." She wasn't startled as she knew he was there, behind her, for his silhouette had appeared moments earlier reflecting off the monitor screen. She doesn't turn but instead opens the file that just stopped uploading and starts it from the beginning to see what Dwayne will be posting today. As the images stream by, Cass feels her mind open. A minute, two mintues go by and then a feeling breaks through... a feeling that seems to tell her some of the answers are close. But what answers and to what questions. Maybe answers to the questions these video segments keep bringing up. "Like what to call it," this film, this chronicle, this act of faith...when it's finally ready for the big screen.

"Questions.. more questions without answers."

And as quickly as that...a startling relief passes through her. John's reflection has vanished. She opens the title sequence in the video editor and types the nine letter title. Yes. The movie is going well today indeed.

SaveJFC

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Bill Jack's house. Bill slices an apple into pieces while listening to Zippy's rhythmic chirping.

Bill: What now, bird, you'd request a golden crown? Oh, lest everyone forget who fed your hungry mouth.... Jesus Christ, Zip, you screwing with me again? I'm a laughingstock for speaking like a snake handler! What's next, you want me to put on a tutu like that fucking weasel Hoover, that dishonorable thieving meister?

Zippy: Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!

Bill: Forget that, pal, sing or don't sing, he's not coming back..... How do I know! Must've been sent to recharge his fucking batteries.... if anyone in the fucking world is interested in the opinion of a retired cop.

Bill feeds Zippy few pieces of the apple, goes to the couch, and begins to read from a book he picks up from the table, first silently, then aloud.

Bill: We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep......(he listens to Zippy) No, I didn't say I hate Shakespeare, pal...... Zip, you know I was fucking distrustful of that prestidigitator. Couldn't believe it was my Lo talking through him. What I'd give to hear her voice again!

Zippy dances on his perch nodding in agreement.

svengali2

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Little Feat, Willin'

Night is spreading its wings above Imperial Beach. The camera, like the night itself, is seeing everything and everyone as it sweeps down the dimly lit city streets.

The front door of the Internet Café is closed; Jerry drags out the trash to the container in the back, wipes her hands on the apron and goes inside.
In a room at Snug Harbor Ramon reads a worn old volume in bed, closes it and shuts the light.
The room where Barry stays is empty; the beach in the picture on the wall seems deserted, as if the sea lion and the whale departed a long time ago to some other island paradise.
In the next room Palaka is learning to play saxophone, slowly tapping his fingers on the keys.

On the pier, where anglers are waiting patiently for their catch, Vietnam Joe finishes his joint, flicks the roach in the water and starts collecting his fishing gear.

Vietnam Joe: Told him I'm not gonna give up herb.... Maybe I should've.... Bad sign, been seein' ghosts when sun's up, first the frat boy..... who the hell it's gonna be tomorrow?.... Mag, you good sweet woman, was it somethin' I said? Tomorrow is a long time, brother....

Vietnam Joe slowly walks down the pier talking to himself, looking smaller with every step, finally disappearing in the darkness.

Svengali2

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Windows in Mitch’s clubhouse are open to the night breeze. Cissy and Mitch are in bed. Bursts of laughter and sounds of music are heard from the Yosts house.

Mitch: Santa Anas are coming. It seems every year the fires start earlier and burn longer.

Cissy: Fuuuck! I knew it! Can you smell it ? Can you smell it, Mitch? I knew it, it’s pot! You fuckin’ allowed this whole farewell thing, they fuckin’ smoke pot and there’s this girl!

Mitch: Come on, Cissy, he is 16, you can’t pin him to your skirt. Besides he’ll be touring with the big boys now. When I was his age….. (he moves close to Cissy and puts his hand on her belly) you and me, remember?

Cissy: (with a short laugh) Couldn’t keep your dick out of me for an hour. All the places were we fucked… Remember that path, next to the chaparral…. What’s there now, eh?

Mitch: Overgrown and gone, Cissy.

Cissy: Are we fucking old? When did that happen, Mitch?

(Mitch doesn’t answer. They lay silent, embracing each other).

Cissy sits up in bed and lifting her arms starts tying her long hair in a knot.

Mitch: You are….. so….

Cissy: What, as big as some old fucking hag like Leona Helmsley? Am I too fat for you now?

Mitch: Cassiopeia! That hair….

Cissy: That skinny little blond still gives you an itch? Such an unforgettable pussy she had, eh?

Mitch: Good God, Cissy, for once, would you not swear like a drunken sailor! Cassiopeia is a constellation named after a beautiful Greek queen, she had long golden hair.

Cissy straddles Mitch in one fluid movement.

Cissy: You’re a fucking romantic, Mitch. A constellation! (She bends down, kissing him) Ride your magic carpet with me!

Mitch:(readily) Would be…. happy..... to oblige, but I…. think I’ve grown….. roots, Cissy. (They are not moving for a moment) How long couldn’t I levitate for? Since that jokester in the deck disappeared.

Cissy: Do you think we’ll see him again?

Mitch: Nah, probably not in our lifetime.

Cissy: Whatever…. fuck me.... or make love to me, your choice.

The breeze and the moonlight, love and sorrow blend into a tune heard from a distance.
Iron and Wine, Such Great Heights

In deep darkness we hear John’s voice.

John: I listen! …. Cepheus lies next to Cassiopeia in the sky, the only husband-and-wife couple among the constellations…. Meet the fucking Jetsons!

svengali2

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Shaun stands at the toilet relieving himself, he closes his eyes and tilts his head back.

Shaun: Man, I’m fucked up, what’s going on? (to himself he thinks “John, what’s going on"?)

John: (standing behind him) Got to put mustard on your hot dog Shaunie!

Shaun spins around startled, quickly zipping up his shorts but having difficulty.

Shaun: John! Dude you sacred the shit...

John: Scared the piss out of Shaun Yost.

Shaun: Yeah dude, you scared the fucking piss out of me! (Shaun weaves a bit and leans over looking into John's face and smiles a wide drunk grin) Dude, watch this! (Shaun steps back and losing his balance several times he traces a pattern on the floor with his foot, then he spins around and throws his arm out almost falling as he starts laughing) Line forms to the left! (Shaun reaches in his pocket and with some effort pulls out a condom and holds it up to John, Shaun grins widely)

John: Got rolled and the stupid beaners forgot to check his pockets.

Shaun: (laughing at what John said), Fucking right man, I rolled a fatty(slurring and hanging on to John’s shirt front) Dude, I’m so glad you’re here! I’m having a kick ass party man, everybody’s here...come on, come on I got to introduce you to my girlfriend! (Shaun fumbles with the door and eventually opens it. He pulls John out and into his room which is filled with people loudly talking and moving in a chaotic rhythm to the music blaring from the speakers in the corner) (Oblivious to the fact that no one is paying any attention) Hey everybody, this is John, he’s my friend... from Cincinnati! (only Adam hears Shaun and gets up off Shaun’s bed and stands in front of John)

John: (looks down in Adams face) The lighthouse is gone.

Shaun: Oh man, my Grams, Grams... and Gramps they’ve been takling about you.. But don’t tell them anything...not tonight...

John: Not in their lifetime Shaunie.

Shaun: Ohh oh but my dad... my dad.... is wondering where you been too... (Shaun steps away from John and smiling heads over to a girl standing in the corner who is smiling at him and holding up a joint for him)

Adam: (watching Shaun and smiling) Butchie gone wild.

John: Butchie Yost?

(In the clubhouse Cissy and Mitch stand at the window looking toward the sunset)

Cissy: (Drawing in a deep breath) It actually smells pretty good!

Mitch: I must really have a brain tumor, I could have sworn there was a naval radio complex on that bluff over there.

Cissy: Maybe I should go down and bum a joint, shit, he probably doesn’t even know how to roll one.

Mitch: That’s right Cissy, maybe you should crash Shunie's party and show him how to do it.

Cissy: (looks at Mitch dismissively) I think I forgot to put out mustard for the hot dogs. (Cissy walks out and stands briefly at the top of the stairs).

(Back in Shaun’s room Shaun walks over to John with his arm draped around a girl)

John: Cissy’s gonna show you how to do that.

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Butchie is sitting in his van looking out at the remaining pink clouds following the sunset, suddenly John is kneeling behind him in the space just between the seats, he is holding out a hot dog for Butchie.

Butchie: (surprised) Jesus John! Where the fuck did you come from!

John: I brought you a hot dog, Butchie.

Butchie: I see that buddy (Butchie takes the hot dog) Thanks... but where you been, pal? I was beginning to think you bit the dust at the contest.

John: Some things I know Butchie, (he points up in the air)

Butchie: Is that right? What do you know John?

John: Everybody died, Butchie.

Butchie: What’s that buddy?

John: Everybody dies Butchie.

Butchie turns in his seat and looks at John.

Butchie: Everybody dies... or died , John?

John: Everybody died.

Butchie takes the hot dog and looks at it.

Butchie: Is that right? (he peels the bun away from the hot dog and examines it more closely) Damn, John don’t you know a dog's gotta have mustard on it?

John: Some things I know Butchie.

Butchie: Yeah? Well you don’t know hot dogs for shit, what else do you know buddy?

John: Kai did not die, Butchie, Shaun was by her side.

Butchie: (drops the hot dog on his lap) What the fuck are you talking about John, did something happen, do I need to be going to Hawaii?

John: (reaches in his pocket, pulls out a packet of mustard and hands it to Butchie) Work here, Butchie. Kai showed you how to do that.

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Dwayne stands up and repositions the camera facing the shoreline, and then he holds up a photo. The land is now vacant, the land that the picture proves beyond doubt that the structure was there no less than six months ago. He reads the photographers inscription beneath the photo “Elephant Cage - May '09"

Dwayne: This is big! (he flips the page before his eyes and in front of the computer screen broadcasting the bare strip of headlands, then he sticks it out in front of the camera to record it) Now you see it now you don’t! This is huge! (he locks the box down over the camera and computer and heads back down the pier toward IB).

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Cass pulls the Porsche over to the curb at the entrance to the pier and holds her camera up to focus its lens down the length of the walkway leading out beyond the sand. There are only a few people walking there now and she immediately recognizes Dwayne as he sees her and walks quickly toward her.

Cass: Well, there’s Dwayne, that’s somebody at least.

Dwayne: (waving at Cass like he’s hailing a taxi) Excuse me miss... (he hurries awkwardly to the car)

Cass: It’s Cass, we met at the motel.

Dwayne: Yes, Cass, I’m sorry... Hello, may I impose on you to give me a ride to the Café, (he opens the door to get in) Something extraordinary has happened...

Cass: (Grabs her camera off the seat before he nearly sits on it) Sure, why not, you’re the only familiar face I’ve been able to find today, I could use the company. (She looks past him and stares down the pier again)

Dwayne: Are you looking for someone in particular?

Cass: Yes actually, I was looking for John, or Butchie, they seem to have just disappeared.

Dwayne: That’s not all that’s disappeared.

Cass: What do you mean?

Dwayne: You remember a navy radio station that was out on the headlands just up the coast there? (he motions over his shoulder with his thumb)

Cass: Uh yeah, I think so, the thing with the fence around it?

Dwayne: Yeah, then you’ve seen it, well, it’s not there anymore, it’s just gone, vanished!

Cass: (stares ahead blankly) You’re kidding, I think I have some footage of that place.

Dwayne: I’d like to review that if I could.

Cass: And get this, there’s another place I took some footage of, the old lifeguard tower down by the fire pits... it was a Historic Landmark, and I drove down there this afternoon and it wasn't there anymore. I filmed there the day before the contest, and it was definitely there then (She looks at Dwayne and he looks at her, then Cass starts the Porsche and they pull away from the curb)

SpiritontheWater

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Barry walks across the courtyard of the Snug Harbor heading toward the office but stops suddenly, he looks up at the evening sky and takes in a deep breath; he is clutching Teddy in his arms.

Barry: For every end there is a new beginning, twilight sounds approaching dawn. (he holds out Teddy and looks at him) Did you know that Teddy?

Barry looks at the ground where he is standing and then turns around in place and looks back and forth from one structure to the other and then back straight down the driveway as if to assess his exact location . He stops and stares out toward the street as a car drives by.

Barry: (quickly lifts a hand to touch his temple) Have I not seen my own end Teddy, has twilight come and dawn passed unnoticed for me? (he looks from side to side again) In this very spot I remember a brightness, laughter and song, all quieted now. (he looks around again, his eyes falling on a spot where there is a large pile of dirt surrounded by the broken asphalt) It’s darker now. ( he looks up at the second story balcony and notices the lights next to the doors glowing amber) Softer. Good choice Teddy, those fixtures.

With a loud scraping squeaking noise the door to the lounge suddenly opens and a patch of light cuts through a shadowed path from the door to Barry’s feet. Ramon is standing in the doorway.

Ramon: My cousin’s gonna fix this door tomorrow, hinges are gone, metal on metal where the weatherstripping used to be.

Barry: Ramon!

Ramon: (smiles at Barry and motions for him to come inside) I got a little surprise for you!

Barry: I am surprised Ramon, by each new moment it seems! (he walks over toward the steps leading up into the lounge and the two of them step inside, Ramon closes the squeaking door behind them cutting off the illuminated path, leaving the place where Barry was standing in the darker light)

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Barry steps inside the Lounge and immediately sees the linen covered , candle lit tables on which Ramon has spread out an assortment of dishes. He next notices the newly remodeled bar, complete with a very large mirror behind it which is etched with the image of a large blue whale spanning it’s full length.

Barry: Ramon! You have been working here! And you have preserved the memory of my dear friend!

Ramon: (he smiles at looks proudly at the deeply etched mirror) Cincinnatus.

Barry: But how did you...?

Ramon: I’m not really sure about that...

Barry: (lifting his hands and tracing the arc over the mirror) And the blue lights are exquisite! (he looks at Ramon and shakes his head in amazement, several cobalt blue pendant lights hang arched above the etched mirror to illuminate the back bar shelves which are full of colorful and neatly arranged bottles) A masterpiece!

Ramon: I was hoping you’d like it. My cousin’s sister, she done that acid etching, she does lots of stuff like that. And your lights, they worked out good, huh?

Barry: Wonderful, Ramon! I am speechless (he looks down toward the white linen tables and walks over touching a small flower filled vase) to the last touch.

Ramon: Not just me working everything around here (Ramon points up to the beam over the bar and Barry looks up to see it is fully covered with stickmen, fully stretching from one end to another and then he turns to see the same images continuing all around the walls of the restaurant, the line running continuously from corner to corner to corner and back again, seemingly endless. Finally his eyes come to rest on the far wall behind the large stage where the stickmen multiply into rows and rows covering the wall entirely.)

Ramon: Some things have gone a little crazy around here.

Barry stares at the stickmen covering the wall, then he looks up over his head and sees that he is standing directly under one of the stage lights, he is illuminated in its blue beam.

SpiritontheWater

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Butchie pulls the van in the parking lot at the Snug harbor and backs into the spot directly in front of the door to his room. He flips open his cell phone and dials, then puts it to his ear.

Butchie: Damn... yeah Kai, it’s Butchie again, message one fucking thousand, I got some weird shit from John just now and I really need to hear something from you like real fucking soon... ok, well call me when you get this. (he hits the end button) Fuck!, miss you, love you...miss you. (he rubs his hands over his face and through his hair then shakes his head as if trying to wake himself up, he takes a deep breath and then relaxes in his seat and looks out around the courtyard and motel. He notices the lights next to the room doors on the second balcony and several windows that are lit as well.)

Butchie: Looks like you’re back in business, Barry. (suddenly he sees a row of adjacent doors opening at once and in unison several people step out and close the doors behind them) What the fuck is this now? (He watches as all the people turn and walk in line toward the stairs and descend. He watches as the group, evenly spaced, walks slowly, with an almost precisioned unity, over to the door of the lounge and the lead person opens the door. Butchie can hear the loud scraping sound as the door opens) That’s some weird shit,“ table for eight fucking robot tourists”, “we’re from Cincinnati!” Oh yeah? No shit, could have fooled me! (he gets out of the van, goes around and opens up the back, next to two surfboards there are two large boxes with his name marked on the side, he pulls one out and carries it over to the door, he opens the door and drops it on the floor just inside then goes back to get the second one.)

Butchie: (he closes the back of the van and holding the other box looks over toward the Lounge as the last person enters, he looks back up at the row of rooms with lit windows and notices one room in the middle is dark, four lit on one side and four lit on the other) Friends of yours, John?

SpiritontheWater

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As the screeching door is closed behind them the eight guests move into the room and begin looking around. Barry and Ramon are both frozen in time and though unable to see the guests, in their their mind they hear everything that is said as in a dream which passes in mere seconds.

A tall thin man walks over to the bar and looking up at the row of stickmen reaches out and touches one, the figure glows white at his touch.

Guest One: Walter Waxman at your service!

The teenage boy among them walks over to where Barry is standing and examines his frozen form, he puts his hand out in front of Barry to see the blue light cast on his palm. He turns and watches as two others each take chairs and carry them over to a place a few feet apart from each other on the side wall to the right of the bar, each one climbs up on the chair and reaches up to touch stickmen along at the ceiling's edge.

Guest Two: Skippy Fandango!

Guest Three: Sherri Kay.

Both stickmen begin to glow, one yellow, one green. The figures remain lit as the two climb down and put the chairs back in place at the table by which Ramon stands frozen, lifting the lid on a tray of enchiladas, the steam now suspended cloud-like above them.

Sherri: (sniffing the air, she looks into Ramon’s smiling face) All the numbers we have could never amount to the value of this work, there is nothing better than a well made taco and cheese enchilada combination.

A man with brown hair and a medium length beard wearing a worn leather vest walks over to the pool table and grabs a cue stick, he turns and places its tip on a stickman that glows a deep purple.

Guest Four: Harley Miles.

Jumping up the step on the opposite end of the pool table, another man, slender in build and dressed in black head to toe, his hair black and slicked back, snatches up the cue sitting on the table and wielding it like a sword touches the tip in a thrusting motion to dead center of the circle on his stickman. With a flash it lights blue.

Guest Five: Seth Blackinsgame, (he turns to the table and grabs the rack)

Seth: Nine ball, Harley? (Harley turns toward the table and pulls a couple of balls out of the pockets rolling them toward Seth)

Harley: My break, call your pockets.

Stepping on stage a man in a scarf and hat stands upright and salutes Barry. The teenage boy rolls his eyes at the sight. The man turns with exaggeration and still saluting marches to the back wall, then with the toe of his shoe taps his place on the wall, turns around again and drops his salute. The light glows pink, the boy snickers.

Guest six: Kaplan Pierce, awaiting orders!

A loud crack is heard as Harley breaks and the balls scatter about the table. The boy walks around Barry and then over to Ramon, he dips his finger in the enchilada sauce, quickly pulls it out and sticks it in his mouth. A woman sitting at the bar between Sherri and Skippy Fandango slides off the barstool and with everyone turning to watch her, glides over to the jukebox, she looks at the selections for a moment and then reaches up and touches a stickman directly above the machine. She leaves her finger in place as the red glow seems to glow ever brighter, then gently lifts her finger above a place that could be the heart and turns back to the room leaning back against the colorfully lit jukebox.

Guest Seven: Anastasia... Strawberry Stevens. (she tosses her long auburn hair and lets it fall across her shoulder, the boy pulls his finger out of his mouth and looks up an down her red dress, his comment is unintelligible except for the word Strawberry).

With an exaggerated shake of his head ( as if to clear his head of the thoughts he's having) the boy turns and outstretches his arm pointing directly at the mirror behind the bar, the mirror is now outlined in neon and in the center of the now trimmed in blue undulating whale is a tiny white stickman oscillating back and forth. He turns his hand with palm out as in introduction.

Guest Eight: Jonah Walker, everyone! (the others immediately begin to chide him, and with a second flip of his wrist the neon goes out). Aw fer chrissake, give a lad a break, takin' yourselves much too seriously you all are, I was just havin’ a bit of fun and if he’d been here like he was supposed to be, then we’d be all a bit more lively now, wouldn’t we?! (he jumps up quickly and knocks his knuckle twice on a stickman above the bar and it glows in amber) Paddy Mclure then, if you must have the truth! Now let's get on with it. Barkeep! I’ll have a pint thank you please!

Walter: A bottle of Pacifico for me if you got it!

SpiritontheWater

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Butchie sits on a new sofa and tries to get comfortable, unable, he grabs a couple of the pillows and throws them on the floor, he reaches over and grabs one of the boxes and slides it over toward him next to the coffee table. He pulls it open and takes out the thing on top, a thick wad of colorful cloth, when he unfolds it, we see it is so large that he has to stand up to open it fully. It’s a banner with the face of Bob Marley overlaid with a large bright green marijuana leaf. Butchie looks back at the box and reaches in and pulls out a large multicolored glass bong.

Butchie: Well, thank you once again, my little chicken of the sea! But I hope you got some dope in that box ‘cause I got a prescription for a little medical relief! (He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a small square piece of paper and tosses it down on the coffee table. He lays the Bob Marley banner over the arm of the sofa and begins to rummage through the box, he doesn't find any weed) Damn!

Butchie takes the bong and carries it into the kitchen, he opens a cabinet and places it up on the top shelf. He walks back over to the sofa to pick up the Bob Marley Banner and his attention is taken as he notices the lighted window of the lounge. He sees the light from within flickering and hears the muffled music.

Butchie: Disco down, Barry. (he walks back into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator) That’s what I'm talking about, Ramon, uno Cerveza per favor! (He slides open a drawer and pulls out a bottle opener and then cracks the cap on the beer letting it fall rattling across the counter. Taking a drink he then turns and hits the play button on a small stereo system on top of a low bookcase, where a couple of books lay tossed on the center shelf, Kem Nunn’s Tapping the Source, and Tom Robbins’ Another Roadside Attraction. He takes a swig of beer and begins to move to the music just as his cell phone rings, but the music is too loud for him to hear it)

Is this Love

SpiritontheWater

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The sound of a helicopter is heard and all the guests look up toward the ceiling, Bill Jacks is behind the bar, Shaun and Vietnam Joe sit side by side looking at eachother. Paddy steps in between them reaching to take the beer Bill has drawn for him.

Paddy: Pardon me mates, part the seas, I got a thirst that needs a song you probably never heard of (Paddy turns and walks back over to the juke box and pushes a button)

Rhythm of My Heart

Shaun and Joe look over their shoulders watching him as he does so. The other guests all watch as Paddy takes a long swig of beer and closing his eyes begins a private dance in front of the jukebox as the music fills the room

as the lyrics start we see a montage of images around IB, a street view of the Snug Harbor Motel, outside the Cafe looking in, Meyer Dicksteins car pulling up at the head of the pier, the helicopter hovering over the beach, a large bonfire on the beach, then down the avenue to the front of the Yost house, toward the clubhouse and out Mitches window over and above the clubhouse to rise above the yard and Shauns friends out around the half pipe, Adam standing in the middle of it looking up toward the sky, then rising up high above IB looking down at the city lights

As the line "... Rhythm of my heart is beating like a drum" - Cut to Hawaii - Kai stands on the front porch of a beach bungalo, it is trimmed with perpetual Christmas lights, the place inside is crowded with surfers partying. She flips closed her cell phone and looks out to the horizon as the sun dips below it.

At the line"I got lightening in my veins" cut back to the Lounge- In the corner of the room Strawberry Stevens pulls the handle on the antique slot machine there. and Paddy watches her as she does so.

Cut back to Hawaii at next chorus- Kai looks toward a small bonfire out on the beach when she hears laughter, a boy is wrestling a girl to the sand. A young surfer girl comes out and steps next to Kai putting her arm around her shoulder, they watch the two frolicking around the fire together.

At final two chorus' cut to outside Butchie's room looking in through the window - he is taking items out of the box and setting them on the coffee table, he looks out the window again and then draws the curtains closed. A moment later, next to his door, the amber fixture alights.

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A loud banging on his door startles Butchie, he turns down the music and steps quickly and quietly over to the door and peers through the peephole seeing Freddy and Palaka. He opens the door and begins to speak but is cut off.

Freddy: What the hell are you doin'? Where the hell have you been?

Palaka: (over Freddy's shoulder) He's been lookin' for you!

Freddy: (turns and gives Palaka an icy stare) Any one who's made it past the sixth grade could tell from my question that I'd been lookin' for them, it's called inferring.

Palaka: (backs off a bit) Infer, confer, juniper, I know...

Freddy: (points across the parking lot) You stay out here, go talk to that horse over there (Palaka turns and sees a carousel horse over near Ramon's garden, Freddy steps inside as Butchie stands aside closing the door behind them)

Butchie: Was wondering the same thing about the two of you, thought maybe you caught a flight outta here (Butchie walks over to the refrigerator and pulls out a couple beers, as he does so Freddy looks down and sees the prescription slip on the coffee table and after reading it rolls his eyes and puts it in his pocket while Butchie is looking the other way. Butchie walks over and holds out a beer for Freddy, Freddy just looks at it but does not take it. Butchie sets it down on the coffee table)

Freddy: Where I been is why I been looking for you. I want to have a talk with that whack job friend of yours.

Butchie: John?

Freddy: No, your mother (he shakes his head) I'm talkin to another donkey! (Butchie looks embarrassed, but gets the sarcasm)

Butchie: Ok, Ok, don't get your blood pressure whistling, I've seen him, he just gave me a hot dog (Freddy looks incredulous), but he appears and disappears Freddy, I got no line on him anymore. Think he's moving on or up or whichever way the fuck he goes.

Outside in the parking lot Palaka stands next to the carousel horse with one hand on it's carved mane

Palaka: The boss is been seeing things that aren't there, well, not seeing things that were there, ah, I don't know, the kid's friend is who he's lookin' for. Maybe the doc is who he needs to see. He fixed up my hand pretty good I guess (he looks at his hand and flexes his fingers, then runs his hand down the mane again and down the back patting it on the hind quarters) what are you then, spruce?

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Noah sits down next to the small fire just back from the cliff edge on Walkara's bluff, he braces against the cold offshore breeze that bends the flames backwards. He rearranges several candles along side the blanket wrapped body of Moana to keep them from blowing out. The fire light illuminates Moana's frozen face. Noah reaches over and picks up his guitar, With tears in his eyes and his voice breaking he shouts a few words over the edge, down toward the highway as a couple of speeding cars pass below, then he leans back and begins to play, and sing

Redemption Song

Behind them, looking on from a distance in the dark, there are several horses standing and watching, the fire light flickers in their eyes as they bob their heads up and down and nervously rut the soft ground with their hooves

SpiritontheWater

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Moana: (opens his eyes and turns his head toward Noah) Whatcha cryin' for Bruddah, If you don't put some more wood on da fire I'm gonna freeze to death up here. You all got some cold ass offshore's around here. Brudduh need to bring the fire inside.

Noah: (looks down at Moana trying to tighten up his blanket and move closer to the fire. He see's him knock over one of the candles and grabs it to set it up again before it goes out) Did ya not hear te song man?

Moana: I heard the song, I heard the man himself sing it in the islands before he died. It brought a tear to my eye then but not anymore, The whole world can sing a song of freedom and as long as there a man in charge it'll just be a song. We're only free from this world when we die. (he reaches over Noah and grabs a few small pieces of wood from a small pile and throws them on the fire) Damn man, is this gonna take much longer... freezing my coconuts.

Naoh: Nah we done now me brudduh; bringin' da warm back to da frozen soul (Noah reaches over and grabs the rest of the scraps of wood and tosses them all on the fire, a column of sparks rises up above them, they both look up to watch it)

SpiritontheWater

----------------------------------------------------------

Bill Jacks: (standing behind the bar with a vacant look on his face) so, what can I get you boys, a shot of self loathing? (he pours a different shot for Shaun and Joe)

Joe: I've had more of it then I care to remember (he tosses back the shot and slams the glass back on the bar)

Shaun: (lifts his shot glass up and looks at it's pale greenish amber color through the lights) What is this?

Bill: You'll know it in the morning, Shaun.

Shaun drinks the drink and sets the glass down on the bar. He makes a face and shakes his head with a shiver of disgust.

SpiritontheWater

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't want to talk about it [thanks svengali]

One by one each of the eight guests take turns walking up to Barry and Ramon, each one whispering something to them the others cannot hear. As each of them speak to Ramon, they also take a plate and fill it with the food he has prepared and cover each plate with a bowl.

Anastasia walks over to Barry and after looking at him a moment, compassionately wraps her arms around his neck. She gently holds him for a moment more and before separating from him, plants a kiss on his cheek, her lipstick leaves the image of a perfect pair of lips

Montage of Anastasia holding Barry, Cissy hesitating at the bottom of the steps to the clubhouse, Shaun holding his girlfriend. Meyer at the pier, Dwayne talking to Jerry, and Kia and Butchie standing alone , Tina walking down a dark street. Adam across that street watching her.

Paddy: (seeing the kiss, walks over to Ramon’s table and taking a cut strawberry rubs it to his lips and then plants a kiss on Ramon’s cheek, he looks at the stain with satisfaction) Hardly fair to leave this poor man out now don’t you think Strawberry?

As if on cue the guests file out through the front door, they walk off together carrying their plates of food down the driveway of the Snug Harbor across the street and into the dark.

Final verses of song in the background fade...

As the front door softly closes behind the guests, Barry and Ramon continue as if no time has passed. They look at each other though, at the same time, Barry quickly wipes unexplained tears from his eyes. Ramon immediately notices that the tray of food he was just showing to Barry is now empty of its contents

Ramon: (still holding the lid to the tray) How’d that happen?

Barry: (walks over and looks down into the tray seeing only the scraped out remnants) Somebody’s been eating my porridge said the Mama bear. (he notices the stain on Ramon’s cheek) And it looks like Goldilocks has given papa bear a kiss!

Ramon: (seeing the kiss on Barry’s cheek, he points to it) Looks like Goldilock's been getting around.

Barry: (looking around the room) Strange things do seem to be happening here Ramon, (he laughs) is that an understatement? (he nods over toward the bar and sees two shot glasses and a bottle of Johnnie Walker sitting on the bar) (he then notices that there is a neon outline over the mirror, it is lit and the whale is undulating and the tiny stickman is oscillating back and forth in the center) And Jonah is in the belly of the whale!.

Ramon: (looks surprised) I got a cousin who does Neon, but he didn’t do that!

SpiritontheWater

------------------------------------------------------------------

Sad Lisa

Linc sits in his vehicle watching, he stares at the flashing street light and then continues watching Tina, he checks his side view mirror. Tina stops under a street light on the corner of the highway leading out of town, a neon sign in the window of the laundromat illuminates her in flashes of red, it reads "always open" but the laundromat is closed. Linc rolls his window down a bit.

Adam watches out of sight, tucked in an alcove between two buildings, he looks back and forth between Tina and Linc. Niether of them has noticed him

Tina: (looks back and forth down the highway in each direction, a car coming into town slows down suddenly as it reaches the corner where she is standing, she watches it for a moment and then looks away, the car speeds up again and continues on) Gimme a break.

Linc: Jesus Christ.

Tina looks back toward Linc and smiles weakly though she is too far away for him to really see it. He watches her as she stands on the edge of the curb and then turning to walk back up to the store front pausing to look in the windows. She turns again and walks to the curb, she stands again looking up the diminishing highway.

Headlights catch his attention in the mirror and he watches to see an approaching limousine. He tries to see inside when it passes but the windows are dark.

Linc: (sits up in his seat) Here we go, heads up honey.

Tina notices it too and paces impatiently as the Limousine glides up slowly and stops at the curb. A rear side window rolls down and a bald man's face is seen.

Tina: (pulls an envelope out from her leather jacket and hands it to the man, as she does so another window rolls down and a woman with long blond hair looks out at her and smiles, Tina shakes her head) Oh yeah, fucking Christ, you're just made for each other, honey, it makes me sad that you are too stupid to run. (Tina turns her attention back to the man who is looking in the envelope) You ever come near me your pathetic life is on the DA's desk. (Tina turns and walks away as the dark glass closes and the limousine pulls away. She walks quickly back across the road to where Linc is waiting.

The man in the limousine looks out the back window and sees her get in. He also sees Adam duck around a corner and disappear

Linc: (rolls his window back up) Everything Ok?

Tina: We'll see. (she looks at him and reaches over and takes his hand) Thank you.

Linc: Anything you need is yours.

Adam: (stops and leans his head back against the wall, he is breathing heavy and was obviously scared, he wipes tears from his eyes, he flashes back on the image of a girl with long straight black hair, she sits on a bed crying in a room down a long dimly lit corridor, a small boy stands at her door helplessly watching her, then another image of the boy being led back down the same corridor and pushed into another room; the door being locked behind him) I know it ain't right to kill Lord, but I can't let this go on anymore...

SpiritontheWater

--------------------------------------------------------------

Freddy, carrying a couple of shopping bags walks to the door of his and Palaka room and hearing slow, stuttering notes of the saxophone angrily hits the door with his foot.

Freddy: What the fuck you think you're doing, moron?

Inside, caught in the act, Palaka quickly tries to take the mouthpiece out of the instrument.

Freddy walks in and carefully puts the bags on the floor. He comes close to Palaka and rises his fist, Palaka, cowering in fear shields himself from Freddy with the saxophone.

Palaka: Ahmm, boss, just a lesson, admiring your ahhm art, like a friend, you know, with respect and such....

Freddy: (stops his fist in inch from Palaka's body) You fucking lowlife, want me to play the instrument with all your spit inside squirming with the fucking germs? (he grabs the sax from Palaka, and takes the mouthpiece off.)

Appeared in the room John looks attentively from Freddy to Palaka.

Freddy: notices John, to Palaka Lock the fucking door, you idiot! (to John) Speak of the devil!

Palaka: Ahmm, boss, he walked THROUGH the door....

John: A music lesson.

svengali2

-------------------------------------------------------------

Meyer Dickstein stands at the end of the pier looking out on the moonlit water. He looks back and forth between the moon and the sea.

Meyer: Law and order? I cannot say that I see it. I have honestly tried my best to do due diligence but I must say without reservation (he stops for a moment and shakes his head to compose himself) there is no order.

Car salesman: (startling Meyer, he stands leaning over the rail with a fishing pole in his hand about ten feet away from where Meyer is standing) Aw hell man, yer lettin' the men in black flash the damn bullshit thing in your eyes! Take another look at what you're looking at pal. (the car salesman waves his hand about and Meyers head follows it up and down like it is attached somehow) Yeah, that's right, down in the water or up in the air, whatever, it's all the same, order 'n anarchy side by side, you ain't gonna divide 'em!. So now you take those shiney shoes of yours and get back in your "car" and get outta the dark and go see that little woman of yours... Jesus Christ, if there's any body who's outta place on this pier it's you! (speechless, Meyer turns to leave, he stops for a second and turns back toward the car salesman)

Meyer: Thank you. I think I know what you mean.

Meyer walks back down the pier toward his car, as he exits the pier and steps onto the concrete he trips and stumbles forward

Meyer: ( looking back at the divide he stumbled over) I cannot tell if this is a lie... or the real world. Did I or did I not see the end of all of this? (Before getting in his car he bends down and examines the front fender, the paint is charred and almost totally black, he points to the fender as if presenting evidence) There again is further evidence for what I am saying (he takes a few steps back and opens the car door, he gets in behind the wheel) It was just after I left Barry, I thought I heard , but then I saw... (he closes the door and starts the car) There is just no way of explaining (pulling away from the curb he continues muttering to himself)

As he reaches the first stop light Meyer notices the car that pulls up beside him, he rolls down his side window and is assaulted with the sound of the revving motor. The occupant rolls down his window and smiles at Meyer, it is the car salesman in the El Camino.

Car Salesman: First one to the finish line build's a fire we all can warm our wet shorts and sandy feet by! Give it your best and John will ride shotgun if yer lucky! (as the the light turns green the El Camino peels out and leaves Meyer in a cloud of smoke. Meyer stalls at the stop light and sits watching as the El Camino races at full speed down the road ahead of him)

Car Salesman: (Reaches down and pushes a button on the radio, he shifts, less than flawlessly, and after a few near stalls himself, gets scratch in every gear and sails down the highway right through the center of town) Said it all so clean...

Eagles, James Dean

Montage of everybody.

SpiritontheWater

-------------------------------------------------------------

Beneath the pier several men sit and watch the moonlit waves swell and crash against the pilings. The sound echoes against the underside of the wooden cathedral above their heads. One man with a Rembrandt style moustache looks to the side as two figures approach.

Man with Moustache: Who goes there?

Sheri: Just a couple folks from Cincinnati! Bringing you a plate of food from the Snug Harbor.

Man With Moustache: (sits up and looks at the two people walking across the sand toward him, he struggles to get himself up and does so just enough to take the plates being offered. He hands the first plate to a friend standing nearby and then takes the second plate for himself, as he draws the bowl away from the plate to see what is beneath it a cloud of steam rises away. He watches it rise and disappear, then replaces the bowl over the food) A bounty! Thank you!

Skippy: It is our pleasure but not our handiwork I must say! It is Ramon who you would honestly give thanks to. These delectables emanate from his hand alone I must tell you!

The two men take the plates and remove the bowls covering them, They both sit next to each other and eagerly devour the tacos and enchiladas. Neither bother to concern themselves as to fork , knife or fingers.

SpiritontheWater

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Noah and Moana walk in to town and as they approach it’s edge they see a small figure sitting on the curb, as they get closer they see it is Adam and he is eating.

Noah: (startling Adam) Well it looks like you’re managin’ to git ta belly full as usual.

Adam: (half choking, stops from eating, his fingers dripping with enchilada sauce, smiles up at the two) Hey Noah! Yeah some dude walked up and handed it to me, said it came from the Snug Harbor and Ramon. It’s good! Want some? (he lifts the plate up but Noah waves it away, Moana however grabs one of the tacos)

Noah: (giving Moana a look) Naw boy, you eat dat food the good Lord has delivered to you, (looking at Moana again for emphasis) You little body needs da nutrition. (Moana hesitates only briefly before stuffing the Taco in his mouth)

Moana: What? I don’t get hungry too?

Adam continues to eat and clean the plate, Noah stoops down and picks up the bowl sitting beside him.

Noah: We better take dis plates back to Mr. Ramon den, he probably be wanting dem back.

SpiritontheWater

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. White stands listening on the phone in the hall outside his office, he is looking at the paintings, he hangs up the phone and dials another number.

Mr. White: The boy was seen in town... no he has obviously not run... there should be no excuse for you now. He was without protection... Watch the Yost house and the Motel... I want him brought to me!

He puts the phone in his jacket pocket and leans down to look more closely at the painting before him, in the midst of the crowd of the damned he sees the image of a group of small boys being dragged away struggling against long beaked creatures, naked but for their black wings. He laughs to himself

Mr. White: There you are my boy. You are coming with me one way or another, and you can bet your friend Shaun Yost will be accompanying you this time...

SpiritontheWater

------------------------------------------------------------------

The car Salesman looks in his rear view mirror and sees the flashing blue and red lights, he laughs and pulls over. Anderson gets out of the police vehicle and walks up to the El Camino

Anderson: (warily looking down into the face of the Car Salesman, before he can say anything he is interrupted)

Car Salesman: you know the first time I seen the red and blue light on that frequency was when they pulled me over at Roswell, course they were flying a saucer then, damn near out run ‘em too if it weren’t for the sand, they got you when you’re stuck on terra not so firma.

Anderson: Sir!

Car Salesman: But this isn’t new Mexico is it? And you haven’t been let in on the secret. I guess it’s only fair to tell you that I pulled you over because you’re driving under the influence of thinking you got the right to use that gun and a cage on a person who's hurtin' nothing and nobody. On top of that your lights are too bright and likely to scare the berjeebers out of a fella and ‘cause him to lose control and run in to something! When law isn’t bringing about a damn lick of order but a court order transfer of dollars from my account to theirs it’s time to take that uniform off and come throw some burgers on the grill with the rest of us. Before it’s too late is what I am meaning. (Anderson just stares at him and is interrupted again as he is about to speak) I’ll let you off with a warning this time but it might be the last one you get so don’t push your luck. (he puts the El Camino in gear and peels out, officer Anderson stands dumbfounded watching as the car speeds down the road in a white cloud)

John: (sitting in back seat of the police cruiser when Anderson gets in to radio the dispatcher) The El Camino is reverse engineered.

SpiritontheWater

-------------------------------------------------------
Eagles These Shoes

Cissy opens the door to Shaun’s room, she runs her fingers through her hair before stepping in, the music is blaring through speakers set up in windows directed outside. She cautiously looks around the room, seeing only a couple of kids sitting on his bed making out, and another pair doing the same over in the corner, she enters the room and sniffs the air

Cissy: (she walks over to Shaun’s night stand and looks in an ashtray) Did you smoke it all already? (the couple on the bed look at her) Party over? (the boy and girl both motion toward the backyard. She takes a step and trips over a pair of red high heeled shoes with ankle straps) what the fuck is this! ( She examines the shoes she has tripped over) Oh gimme a break, little sluts. (the girls both look at her) Oh just deny it, go back to your sucking on him...

Cissy walks out the back door and is prevented from proceeding further by a crowd of kids pressing up against each other. A haze of smoke hangs in the air and suddenly a wave of a cheer raises above the pulsing music. She sees Shaun rising up above the crowd as he floats in the air above the half pipe.

Cissy: That’s just fucking perfect, everybody here for the show. Let’s get high and watch the miracle boy break his neck again. (She watches as a large cloud of smoke rises in front of her and obscures her view of Shaun as he sails into the air again, the boy, exhaling, turns around and hands her a very large joint, he is about six feet tall, tan and well built, wearing only a pair of colorful trunks and thong sandals, he has blue eyes and a bushy head full of white blond hair)

Boy: Here ya go lady. Take a hit off this!

Cissy: (looking him up and down) Jesus Christ! (She hands him the mustard bottle she has been holding) I’ll trade ya! (She looks at the joint and eyes wide at it’s size, turns and steps back into Shaun’s room, she hesitates briefly before exiting and sees Shaun again through the high window as he appears again above the crowd, arching in mid air grabbing his board and stretching a leg out. She shakes her head and laughs) Checkered Vans, got ‘em drooling. Ten thousand in the bank.

SpiritontheWater

----------------------------------------------------------

Cissy walks into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator, she pulls out a couple of beers, then she picks up a blue bag of Doritos sitting next to a large bowl half full of chips on the table set out for the party.

Cissy: I’m gonna have to go to the store in the morning after these monkeys get the munchies. (she walks out and back up the steps of the club house, Mitch is standing at the window again, she puts the beer and chips down and holds out the joint) Look the fuck at this!

Mitch: (hesitates before turning to acknowledge her, then steps closer to see what it is) Jesus Cissy, is that a joint? Looks like a cigar. You aren’t smoking that in here.

Cissy: Yes Mitch, it’s a joint the size of a cigar, that’s how they smoke 'em nowadays, laws or no laws, guess they figure they might as well go big or go to bed, or whatever the fuck it is they say.

Mitch: (takes the blunt form Cissy and examines it) Well that’s pot alright but the dumb ass kids have it wrapped in tobacco, that’s stupid.

Cissy: Sound like a good idea to me.

Mitch: It would

Cissy: Well, break out some papers then and we can re- roll it, I’m sure you got some papers stashed around here somewhere, we can probably get four or five joints outta it.

Mitch: We?

Cissy: Common Mitch, they’re prescribing it for all sorts of things now, can’t ask for a better all natural remedy, hell, it might just help you keep your feet on the ground!

Mitch: (gives her a look, then walks over and reaches up on a high shelf next to a drooping vine. He tosses a pac of zigzags to Cissy) You were always better at it.

Cissy: Ha, I knew it! (she wipes a thick coat of dusty grime from the orange package) Shit.

Mitch: But we’re blowing it out the window! (he looks back at the window, and walks over to it again) There’s a helicopter hovering over the site, been there for the last half hour.

Cissy: Well if the feds spot us and turn to fly toward us we’ll have plenty of time to flush the evidence and warn the kids, Jesus Mitch, you haven’t even smoked yet and you’re already paranoid! (after deftly breaking up the blunt and rolling a portion of it in a small joint, she pulls her lighter out of her jeans and lights it up walking over to the window she takes a drag and hands it to Mitch, after a second she blows a large cloud of smoke out the window and watches it rise. She spots the helicopter hovering over the elephant cage site and sees its lights flickering) Wow, this is some killer shit! What the fuck are those assholes doing, are you sure that’s a helicopter?

SpiritontheWater

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Meet the Jetsons"

She packed my bags last night pre-flight
(Cissy exhales a plume of smoke and gazes out the window towards the Elephant cage and the flying object hovering above)

Zero hour nine a.m.And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then
(Slow motion of Shaun as he leaves the half pipe below rising to the peak of his jump. His motion is effortless and natural)

I miss the earth so much I miss my wife
(Mitch turns away from the window and begins straightening things on the shelf)

It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight
(Mitch picks up the rolling papers and places them back in their place)

And I think it's gonna be a long long time
(Butchie sits on his couch - lost and restless as though not sure what to do with his time)

Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
(He begins to straighten things on the coffee table)

Oh no no no I'm a rocket man
(Back at Cissy's, Mitch begins to levitate)

Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone (An expression of acceptance (of his fate) come over Mitch's face)

And I think it's gonna be a long long time (Flashback in time to a scene of Mitch surfing as a teenager)

Till touch down brings me round again to find (The young Cissy is sitting on the sand talking to a group of friends)

I'm not the man they think I am at home
(The young Mitch looks up to see if she is watching just before disappearing into a tunnel of water)

Oh no no no I'm a rocket man
(Inside the wave, Mitch is mesmerized)

Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone
(As he appears from the rolling water, Cissy is watching intently forgetting about the joint she is holding until it burns her fingers and she drops it)

Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
(Now we see Butchie as a young boy 8 or 9 years old - trying to surf and getting pounded by a wave)

In fact it's cold as hell
(Cissy, looking kind of strung out, shakers her head in disapointment and turns away)

And there's no one there to raise them if you did (Now a scene of Tina leaving the baby on the doorstep and turning away from the door)

And all this science I don't understand
(Now, Butchie as young adult is shooting up - apparently for the first time)

It's just my job five days a week
(He is already a star as evidenced by the posters on the wall behind him)

A rocket man, a rocket man
(Butchie passes out on the floor and camera pans above him - looking down)

And I think it's gonna be a long long time
(Now back in present time - Mitch's feet lowering back to the ground)

Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
(He walks to the window where Cissy is still gazing and looks along side her at the "Elephant Cage")

Oh no no no I'm a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone
(Now the scene cuts back to Shaun on the half pipe - still effortlessly sailing into the air and gentley touching down.

And I think it's gonna be a long long time ...
(Then rising again, Shaun's motion is as fluid as the waves rolling in the distance. Back and forth, back and forth - he continues. He is lost in the fluidity and repetition of his motions. He is at peace...)

Waxon

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Bill Jacks is looking at the chess board in deep concentration; Zippy is pacing back and forth on his perch.

Bill: The time delay was Bobby Fisher idea, pal, I’m sure, and you and your "poodle cut" friend got nothing on Bobby, of course he was as mad as anyone in the nuthouse…. dragging his sorry old ass all over to freeze it nowhere else but in Iceland….

Holding his hand above a figure on the board, Bill hesitates. Zippy, with a loud squeaks jumps, does a somersault and holding the perch in his claws hangs from it with his head down.

Bill: Quit your cheap tricks, I haven’t touched it, I said "I adjust"….. Now, how come you got free reign, with me being a hapless pawn? No, it’s not the endgame, pal, I got somethin' up my sleeve. (muttering to himself) You getting your shitbrain augmented from who the fuck knows where, I may not stand a chance…..

Bill gets up and walking around the room goes to the TV with the sound turned off. For a moment he watches the screen with the open disgust, shakes his head and returns to the table.

Bill: We’re goin’ to hell in a hand basket….or ridin’ to heaven in a convertible, and you know, Zip, what my un-fucking-informed opinion is on that subject!

svengali2

----------------------------------------------------------------

Jerri: (sets a large steaming cup down on the counter and walks away from it, as she passes a young man sitting at a table she motions toward it with her thumb) It’s on the counter. (the man looks at her and then back toward his drink)

Young Man: Would have been too much to ask for you to bring it with you?

Jerri: (freezes in her tracks before reaching the computer tables where Dwayne has come in and gone straight to work at. She turns back to the man) Did you pay for shipping? (she shakes her head and turns back toward Dwayne) No, you did not. ( to Dwayne) And where the fuck have you been? And don’t give me any big and huge shit.

Dwayne: (stifles his comment) Well, I have just come from the pier, where I have verified, on film, the phenomenon that I think will explain what has been going on around here lately.

Jerri: What’s been going on around here? Like where you have been for the last several days being the full meaning of the question I am still waiting to get fucking answered? (the man who is now at the counter holding his drink looks around the counter for something, he mutters incomprehensibly, Jerry sees him.) Maybe if you’d turn your head a little further and look around the room a bit, expanding your horizons, you might find what you’re looking for on the wall with the sign on it explaining everything you need to know! (the man turns around and sees the shelf with the stir sticks and napkins and creamers)

Dwayne: I will explain that too, just as soon as I bring up the rest of the cameras we are connected to... they should show the exact time and space... and what is now gone as a result... (Dwayne works intensely at the keyboard bringing up window after window to the screen)

Jerri: Jesus Christ Dwayne, how about this pair of tits, are they still here or have they just disappeared in to the fucking void you call a mind? Not big and huge enough for you? (Dwayne does not hear or respond to the comment, Jerri walks away angry, she goes over to the condiments counter and starts reorganizing the items) (to the man at the table) Don’t get up and leave without leaving a tip if I’ve got to clean up after you everywhere you go in here. I don’t forget a face.

SpiritontheWater

-------------------------------------------------------------

Meyer steps out of his car and walks around to open the passenger door for Daphne, they both look off toward the coastline and see the faint brightening of the approaching dawn, Daphne gets out and smooths her dress, tugging it down at her waist.

Daphne: I’m telling you Meyer, I am stretching the limits of what I can endure, I should have known this was no surprise sunrise breakfast. Instead I don’t hear from you forever and in my sleep you hush me like a little girl, and without a single word to acknowledge my worry, and I was worried non stop you know , do you know that?

Meyer: I called, and we spoke.

Daphne: You called but we did not speak, we never speak. I am trying to tell you this... and now I am here with you, without complaint I am here and where are we? A cemetery?!, miles from our lovely home! I was actually going to try the recipe your mother has been pushing on me, her Latkes, your favorite she said, with fresh bagels from the deli, they are opening now. And seasoned lamb does not keep forever, perhaps if we had your mother's sub-zero.. It is seasoned Meyer, not marinated like your friends do. (Meyer closes the car door and turns to walk down the grassy slope) and in these shoes, did you consider these shoes? Meyer Dickstein you are a neglectful man. Concern yourself with me, would you if I were giving birth? (Meyer reaches the bottom of the slope and turns back toward her) Are you listening? (she steps over the curb and on to the grass) the ground is too soft for these shoes, Meyer. Is there an open grave waiting? Is that why you have brought me here (she starts to tear up)

Meyer: You will be fine, I brought you here so you may be with me. Just be careful, it is a small slope, take your time. (He reaches out his hand to reassure her, she awkwardly takes the five or so long steps downward and falls in his arms feigning difficulty) There, you see? It is nothing for you. You are a strong woman, we should hike the Sierras at Tahoe this summer, you would enjoy that.

Daphne: You could have told me I’d need hiking boots, do you see what I am wearing? Do you notice anything but my breasts, Meyer?

Meyer: I do notice them my love. They are lovely. May we proceed?

Daphne: I did not ask you that. (Meyer walks away toward the tombstones, Daphne follows trying not to twist her ankles on the uneven grass)

As the two of them draw near, a large twisted pole is seen out of place amongst the white headstones, Meyer kneels down upon reaching it and begins pulling mud and grass away from the end of it. As it is revealed, he mutters acknowledgment to Daphne

Meyer: Exactly as I knew it. I couldn’t be sure at the rate it was traveling but it was so familiar, I thought it could be nothing else. The lighthouse from the Snug Harbor. It was thrown like a missile as I was coming down the hill from losing Barry to those men in black. It was the last thing I saw before the car was stopped in its tracks and then the heat. Invisible heat. I passed out. I couldn’t breath.

Daphne: Oh my God, you were here? (she looks around and then quickly turns around to look behind her, Meyer stands up beside her and they both look across the hillside as they begin to detect the debris line, even with the location of the twisted light pole they see several other scattered objects along the same elevation running the entire length of the hillside and off into the distance)

Meyer: I saw the whole town from here, everything swept away. In a moment I knew I’d lost you. (Meyer steps over to Daphne and wraps his arms around her)

Daphne: What are you talking about? What has happened?

Meyer: I don’t know... but I was sure nobody could have survived.

Daphne: Oh my poor man, (she wraps her arms around his neck and caresses his head) Let’s go home now, a graveyard is no place for us. Just look at you, I will roast the lamb tonight.

Meyer pulls away from the curb, Daphne has taken off her shoes and is rubbing her feet

Meyer: We'll stop by the deli for some lox.

Daphne: You've finished your mother's mustard dill sauce.

Meyer: Let's not mention that to Moshe, I will be satisfied with his kosher.

Daphne: I can't wait to tell your mother!

SpiritontheWater

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the emergency room of a hospital Kai is being propped up on a bed with the help of a heavyset nurse.

Nurse: The doctor will be back shortly to sign your discharge papers, if you're so dead set on leaving, honey. Are you sure you're not feeling dizzy?

Kai: (she is disoriented and is fighting it) Shit, no, I'm not staying here! (She touches her bandaged head, it is freshly shaved) Where's that jerk that knocked me out? Who the fuck shaved my head? Jesus, I must look like a freak!

Nurse: Well, you were brought in unconscious, the doctor had to put in seventeen stitches, staples actually, to close the wound.

Kai: (she suddenly laughs, and the surprised nurse looks at her with suspicion) I got implants! (She lies her head down and closes her eyes. When the nurse leaves the room, and Kai comes to, John is standing next to the bed).

Kai: John, why are you here?.....I think I saw Butchie dead in the water, and he is not answering his cell!

John: 15 years.... a nice round number. You surfed with Shaunie every day he wanted to. You kept Butchie's boards... every day.

Kai: Yeah.... I'm his fuck buddy, John, heard of a pay off? You know, my Mom split when I was three....So..... to sum it up, I look like a fuckin' skinhead, my contract has a two year non-compete clause, I got no money for the plane ticket..... you got a hat, John? (she giggles at the sight of a gigantic red hat that John produces from his pocket, then she carefully puts it on her head so as not to disturb the dressing. John is watching her with the quizzical smile)
Kai: Let's go, John. I'll fly in the cargo hold with you. (when she turns around her hospital gown opens.) Shit, you got a pair of shorts and a tee?

Dar Williams, Mercy of the Fallen

svengali2

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Fidelity

Just before dawn Mitch awakens and looks over at Cissy laying on the bed on the floor.

As quietly as he can he gets up and pulls on his shirt and shorts.

He walks out the club house door and down the steps to the car, his surfboard is sticking out of the rear window, he stops for a moment and puts his hand on the board, he caresses its rail for a second and then walks over and opens the car door and gets in. He sits and looks though the rear view mirror for a moment, the first few steps of the club house are reflected in it. He starts the car and pulls out of the driveway.

Cass wakes up in time to see Mitch closing the car door, she slides back down in the seat and watches as he drives away.

Cissy awakens and looks over to see that Mitch is gone, she stares at the ceiling. She reaches over for her cigarettes. She lights one up and lays back again to stare at the ceiling. She blows a cloud of smoke up into the air above her.

Cass starts the Porsche and begins to follow Mitch at a distance.

They drive through the empty streets of IB and down the highway toward the border. When they reach the coast line, both alternately watch the waves and each other; Mitch through his rear view mirror and Cass through the half open tailgate glass past his surfboard.

Butchie awakens and sees images of Kai on the ceiling, she is putting on a red hat to cover up a row of stitches across her half shaved head. John is staring at her with a smile on his face., he is pulling a wad of money out of his pocket and handing it to her.

Kai sits in the airline terminal, she is watching a young couple, both tanned from their island vacation, they are kissing each other and gently caressing.

A young Mexican woman watches as Doctor Smith locks his bicycle to the railing and then follows him as he walks out to the end of the pier.

Beneath the pier, several men sleep, several plates and bowls lay half buried in the sand around them.

Barry walks over to the jukebox and presses the buttons to play a song. Ramon turns the knob on the range top and ignites the burner's flame.

Freddy stands at the window looking out at the parking lot, behind him Palaka attempts to play the scale on the saxophone. Freddy cringes at the missed notes but does not turn .

Cass parks the Porsche next to Mitch's station wagon, he is already dropping his board in the surf ready to paddle out. He looks back and sees Cass standing in the parking lot watching. Cass tears up as the sun breaks the horizon.

Kai's plane takes off and rises into the sky.

Shaun awakens and smiles seeing the young girl beside him. He closes his eyes again, still smiling.

SpiritontheWater

-----------------------------------------------------

Bill is talking on the phone while the deafening sounds of "I Love my Dog" blare from the old fashioned boom box on the coffee table. He is covering his ear with his free hand so that he can hear better.

Bill: How's graduating first in your fuckin' class from the police academy made you a worldwide specialist on helicopters?... No, I'm not pulling my rank, Anderson, you're still wet behind the ears rookie, whether I'm retired or not! I'm a trained observer... in fact my prime directive was "observe and report" and if necessary fire a warning shot!...... I am telling you..... What? What? Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Hang on a minute, Anderson!

(Bill takes a few steps to the boom box stretching the phone cord, when he takes one more step, the phone falls from the table precariously hanging in the air suspended by the wires. Bill raises his voice) What I listen to in my free time is not of any fuckin' concern to anybody besides my-fuckin'-self and my bird, Anderson!....No, I didn't get a dog, would you listen to me, something's going on at the Elephant Cage, there's no time to waste going through the fuckin' chain of command, especially through that fat asshole, who's gonna lose his post in the next election the way he runs his sinking ship! The minimum the police could do.... Anderson!

(Bill slams the receiver on its cradle, walks to the boom box and turns the sound off.) That's all I'm gonna take of this bullshit, Zip! You have lost your single remaining marble! Who in their right mind would ever consider listening to a song about a dog written by a guy named Cat, for Christ sake!.....Yeah, right, and I would've converted into a goat worshiping pagan were I given such a name, may God forgive his egotistical bastard parents for that offense to human dignity.....

(As soon as Bill settles on the couch with a sigh, there's knock at the door. Bill opens it to Vietnam Joe and a man whose head is covered with a black bandanna, Alejandro)

Bill: Look, who the cat dragged in! And who are you?

Alejandro: You have a talking bird?

Bill: I am at the end of my rope!

Thanks to congadrambum for the quote.

svengali2

-------------------------------------------------------------

Butchie shuts off the engine to the VW bus and checks the waves. The rising sun is flashing amber off every surface around him and glaring the windshield.

Linc and Tina sit staring out at the horizon as well, they are parked on a small sandy rise about half way between Butchie and Mitch.

Butchie takes a swig of beer and picks up a large manila envelope off the passenger seat, on the front is written "Shaunie" He reaches in the envelope and pulls out a stack of photographs.

If I Laugh

There are several pictures of a young Shaun taken on the same day, close ups from a day on the beach, his long blond hair matted from the water, in each photograph Shaun is making a different goofy face and silly pose. Butchie laughs and his eyes tear up as he looks at the pictures - Butchie standing on a stage with his tongue out holding a trophy in the air, next to him Linc Stark holding up a sponsor banner - He and Kai, Butchie thin and strung out looking, nine year old Shaun standing in front of Kia sticking his tongue out and flipping the bird at the camera. Butchie shakes his head and looks out to the surf again.

Tina is holding a folded piece of paper, on the front is the word Mom, she looks out at the sunrise and sees images of her walking away from the Yost house with Cissy standing in the doorway pushing a toddler Shaun behind her legs and angrily shouting insults at her younger self crying and walking away. Young Shaun is watching as she drives away.

Tina smiles as she sees Shaun at the contest smiling up at her in his wetsuit, waving to him when he stops and looks back while jogging down the sand to paddle out for his heat. Then as he rides the wave gracefully, cutting back effortlessly over and over again and then finally as he catches air on his best wave of the day. She lets out a tearful laugh. Linc looks over at her but does not speak.

Cass stands on the shore filming as Mitch walks up and down the board.

Mitch glides along a small wave, he sees before him the image of a young Butchie standing on the same longboard in front of him; little Butchie with his arms outstretched, knees bent in his small red board shorts, looking back up at Mitch, smiling and laughing, and the wave is forming endlessly inches away from the boy s small feet.

Cass zooms in as close as she can and laughs as she sees an image that looks as if Mitch is no longer on a board but is instead walking on the wave.

Mitch closes his eyes and rides the wave blind, he laughs as he steps, eyes closed, back and forth to the end of his board and back again. Cass pulls back to look not through the camera, but to see with her own eye.

SpiritontheWater

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

John stands over Shaun, watching him sleep in bed with the girl. On the night stand next to the bed is an unopened condom.

John: Don't you know a dog's gotta have mustard on it? You don't know hot dogs for shit! (picks up the condom and puts it in his pocket) Get down with the beast!

Cissy: (peeks around the corner in to Shaun's room and when she sees the girl in his bed she steps in an walks over to the bed, she looks at the two of them for a few seconds, she looks as if she is about to speak but appears to change her mind. Instead she picks up the girl's purse off the floor next to her shoes and carries it into the kitchen) Let's see who the fuck they sent in to wet his wick. (she find the girls wallet and pulls out an I.d. card) Christina Conner. (she thinks for a second) Conner? Oh shit, don't tell me this is Marilyn's fucking granddaughter, oh that wouldn't surprise me a bit! (she puts everything back in the girl's purse and quietly returns it to the place it was and then walks back out of the room and out of the house)

Cissy: Shit! Forgot to look for a condom wrapper, that boy better have used one, I stuck enough of them in that night stand drawer. After all the talks we've had about it; that little bitch better not have wrapped her bun around it with out one! (she hesitates for a moment but then walks back up the stairs and into the clubhouse, she walks over to the ashtray on the floor next to the bed and pulls out the roach from last night) Goddamn Mitch, hope you're ready to be great granddaddy on fucking direct Tv!, another life in your hands while you're off walking on fucking water! (she walks over to the window and lights it up blowing a large cloud of smoke out the window, she scoffs,) You're not sticking a god damned reality tv camera in his face, I don't care how much money you got!

SpiritontheWater

---------------------------------------------------------------

Jerri puts a glass with a whitish colored drink next to Dwayne's computer; she is holding another glass in her hand. Dwayne finishes it in one gulp, and Jerri, shaking her head, takes the empty glass and replaces it with the full one.

Dwayne: The connection should work, not sure if the camera covers that area, if not.... I will have to find the roundabout, and I.... (typing feverishly, with one hand, he grabs the glass and takes a few sips.) I think.... I .....can! What is that? It's not my Simply Green.....

Jerri: It's what you fucking deserve, Dwayne, rat poison! Finish it!

Dwayne is focused on the streaming images on the computer screen, without any argument he obeys and, without looking at her, gives Jerri the empty glass, returning to work on the computer.

Jerri: You couldn't find your own dick in the morning! Wheat grass, my ass! Thirty fucking bucks for that protein powder.... it tastes like shit!

Young Man: So this guy gets preferential treatment, eh? On what grounds?

Jerri: On the grounds of him becoming a beach bum pretty soon. Oh, and you are welcome to file a complaint with the Health Department, maybe they can shut this fucking place down, I wouldn't give a shit!

svengali2

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barry: (standing at the juke box as a song ends) I've got an idea!

Ramon: (stops before opening the door to the kitchen lifting the large, heavy lidded serving tray he is pushing the door open with from his hips) Should I call my cousin?

Barry: Call your cousins Ramon! The Snug Harbor Lounge is having an event! We will not remain nothing but a Sad Cafe, Ramon! We will have our light!

SpiritontheWater

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shaunie awakens and sees John standing in the corner of his room

Shaun: What's up John?

John: Get down with the beast Shaunie!

Shaun: (gets out of bed leaving his new girlfriend still sleeping, he walks over to John) What do you mean John?

John: Open mike night at the Snug Harbor Shaunie! Flying saucers pulled over the El Camino.

Shaun: (laughs at John and puts his hand on his shoulder) I'm with you Johnny.

SpiritontheWater

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barry: (picks up Teddy and a small gift bag that was sitting on the pool table) I'll be back tomorrow Ramon, I have forgotten that I have a date with a blue light.

Ramon: A blue light?

Barry: A blue light Ramon, somewhere between Hollywood and Redondo beach...

Ramon: Allright then, I'll get some fliers stapled up around the street.

Barry: Thank you Ramon. And if Noah stops by, tell him please that I will need his assistance.

Ramon: I'll try to find the doctor too.

Barry: (as he closes the screeching door behind him) And your cousin Ramon, for the door...

Ramon: He's on his way this morning.

SpiritontheWater

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kai and John are sitting on the beach cross legged in the dawn sun rising behind them on the far side of the mountains. No shadows on the sand yet, just a gray twilight only brilliant enough to cast everything that is the beach into a blue air. The surf is flat, glass. Just the tiniest ripple at shore?s edge and in the silence, a rustling of ocean, sand, shell and rock rubbing one another smooth in a whisper.

Kai: Yeah my crazy hippy trippy parents were real surfers from back in the day. My mom, she surfed pregnant with me up to six or seven months. She wanted to give birth in the ocean on her board like a dolphin, but my dad said, no - that was too far out even for him. and once I was born, dad had me on his board with him when I wasn't more than six months old, cradling me in his arms, riding little three footers, that's how good he was, kept his balance, took the wave and never dropped me. Until the day came when he dropped me on purpose.

John: Purpose.

Kai: Yeah, on purpose. I was only a year old maybe. C'mon Kai baby, he said, swim baby. No lessons, no instructions, not even a warning. He just dropped me into the water, just like that.

John: Just like that.

Kai: Yep. But I was fearless.... no fear whatsoever of this great big ocean.

Kai spreads her arms wide as if to embrace the entire Pacific into her own bosom.

Kai: As a matter of fact, I laughed and giggled the whole time. I thought it was a game.

John: A game.

--congadrumbum

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the door of Bill Jacks house.

The Heavy, Short Change Hero

Alejandro: Mia madre! Quatro… four….. four years, I need to….(he pushes astonished Bill aside) por favore! (Alejandro walks straight to Zippy’s cage where he looks in Zippy’s eyes and freezes up).

Bill: Yeah, don’t let me wring your neck, barge the fuck in! I am not the one to ask, that damn crap machine better start making sense or pay the mortgage….. drags here every fucking delinquent degenerate within hundred mile radius!

Vietnam Joe: Found him wanderin’ near my plants, Bill!

Bill: (sniffing the air) Are you stoned out of your fucking mind, Joe?

Vietnam Joe: (happily chuckling) Best harvest, Bill, gold seal of approval. Wanna spliff?

Bill: I should confiscate what you got, right here and now!

Dismissing the threat with a nod, Vietnam Joe steps inside the house. Zippy’s loud “squawk” turns their heads in the direction of Alejandro. His face is pale, he is leaning on the table for support.

Vietnam Joe: Hey, lookee there…. What do you think your parrot said to that man, Bill?

Bill: Nothing I want to know about…. must’ve been clearing his sinuses!

Vietnam Joe finds a half full bottle of beer on the coffee table and finishes it off. He makes himself comfortable on the couch and pats the place next to himself, inviting Bill to join him.

Vietnam Joe: You think, Bill, is that maybe, you know, possible for a man to unfuck what's been really fucked up?

--svengali2

----------------------------------------------------------------------

John From Cincinnati, His Visit, As After, So Before

2010-01-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: John From Cincinnati and its canon characters are the property of HBO and the show's producers; no copyright infringement is intended.

Written by: congadrumbum, Waxon, Myles17, svengali2,

__________________________________________________

And through this rabble, two men and a woman clad in black wetsuits walk unmolested to water’s edge virtually unseen, invisible.

Butchie: Fucking huge!

Kai: Monsters!

Butchie: Ready John?

John: Ready already!

Butchie: (reaches down and unhooks the leash from his short board) No leashes today!

Kai and John follow his example. They paddle out letting the waves wash over them, sometimes sucking them back just as far as they’ve come.

Butchie: I’m glad they got the beach closed or we’d have to deal with those bedwetting tow-ins. The only thing they know how to do in a real wave is piss in it!

John: Piss in it.

Kai: Don’t piss John. It’ll draw the sharks.

Once they’re on the outside, it’s almost peaceful. The great humps of ocean swell push them up high. It’s on the downside that gets scary. Now they are surrounded by two great walls of water. It’s only on the upside that they speak.

Butchie: How many is that babe?

Kai: Seven!

Butchie: Two more! We take the ninth wave. It’s always the biggest.

John: The ninth wave.

Kai: Eight!

Butchie: Fucking-a! Look at it!

The wave has blocked out the sun, cursed the air into stillness, a vacuum of waiting. The trio get into position. Butchie and Kai extend their arms, clasping hands, interlocking fingers.

Kai: John! Come closer!

John paddles over to Kai’s other side and they grab each other’s hands. Prone on their boards, each connected to the other, silent in an eternity of brief seconds.

Butchie: (glancing over his shoulder, calmly states a pure fact:) It's here.

They release one another and jockey into position so they won’t collide. They pop up and the wave lifts them like the hand of a god. But it has outsmarted them. It’s too big, too strong. Like a wild horse it cannot be broken, it refuses to be ridden.

Butchie:( screaming over the roar) Too far out! Too far out!

The noses of their boards pearl almost simultaneously, balance and footing evaporate and they bail trying to get as far away as they can from their boards. The wave slaps them down like a dealer slapping a card. It buries them deep into the boil with murderous intent, angry like a girlfriend that’s just found you in bed with her sister.

Kai: So this is what it's like to die. Damn! I hope they do my hair right!

congadrumbum

P.S. John's reply "Ready already" is Walkara quote, from one of the earlier episodes, it did not appear in the original text.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the Snug Harbor Motel, a door opens on the second floor and the shadowed figure of a man stands in the doorway looking out. It is Walter Waxman. Sirens race down the boulevard. He sees Bill, Freddy, Palaka, Ramon, Barry, Dickstein and Link discussing something in the parking lot below. Leaning his ear towards them he can hear that they are frantically looking for Butchie and Shaun.

Bill: (To Freddy) …and you, you degenerate! You and the village idiot here couldn’t keep watch of a palm tree! First the antenna array and now this! Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ. I should never have listened to that bird. Oh this is it! We have surpassed precipice and landed right in the middle of full blown clusterfuck.

Freddy‘s face becomes red with anger and he begins to strike at Bill.

Link: Stop it! You two can compare asses later! Right now we have to think. Where would they go to get wet at a time like this?

Palaka: Always looking out for his investments.

Ramon: It would have to be where the authorities are not patrolling.

Bill: And I suppose you being the surfing expert would know where that is…

Dickstein: (excitedly) I know where they would go!

Walter Waxman: (under his breath) Oh, you gentlemen won’t be able to find each other in a couple of days, much less those two.

Back in the parking lot…

Bill: (trying to collect himself) Does anyone know the whereabouts of the poodle-cut freak boy?

A car speeds into the Snug and peels right up to the group before screeching to a halt. Jerri is driving. Dwayne climbs out the passenger side window.

Jerri: (as Dwayne struggles through the window while holding his open laptop) Just open the fucking door, moron!

Dwayne: (Rushes to Link) Mr Stark, you have to see this!

Dwayne holds his laptop up as the group looks on (shading their faces and squinting to see the monitor in the glare of the sun) . On the monitor is video of Butchie, John and Kai struggling in the waves – some scenes are partially under water.

Link: Kai?

They are all confused. Palaka whispers something into Freddy’s ear and Freddy’s eyebrows raise.

Bill: The boy! Young Shaun – have you seen him on this video?

Dwayne: (curiously) No.

The video continues and the three surfers fight to stay alive in the torrent surf.

Link: (to himself) Cass! (Reaching in his pockets for his phone, he realizes he left it in his car. He runs to his car, and begins dialing.)

We see Barry is now starring blankly into space (holding Teddy).

Barry: Young Shaun is OK.

Bill: How do you know that?

Ramon: He has visions.

Bill: Well, so does my bird but look where that’s got us.

Dickstein: (pauses a moment confused by Bill’s remark) I think I know where they may be. (He turns and runs towards his black Lexus. Motioning to Barry and Ramon to get in, he yells out to the others) Follow us!

They all scamper to their cars.

From the balcony, the dark figure of Walter Waxman remains in the doorway. The other doors open simultaneously and each of the 8 guests stand in their doorways as the parade of cars speed out of the motel and turn south on the Boulevard. We hear the voice of one of the female guests.

Woman: Remind you of anything, Walt?

Walter Waxman: Indeed, it does.

-Waxon

------------------------------------------------------------------
My Morning Jacket, I Am Amazed

Cissy walks around the house. She lights a cigarette and stares in space. She is restless, moving from place to place. She walks to the window and begins tearing off yellow wilted leaves on the hanging plant. The hot cigarette ashes fall on her foot.

Cissy: Fuck that shit! Jesus, Mitch, not again......

She pushes the cigarette into the pot, and the plant falls from its hook, the pot cracks and the soil spills on the floor. Cissy kicks the pot, goes to the table to light another cigarette. She is sitting at the table. Her eyes are closed, the unlit cigarette in her hand.

svengali2

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

After weeks of pounding storms that have battered the West Coast, another storm rolls in .
A gathering at the Yost house.

Butchie: Christ, what the hell is going on here man, it hasn't stopped raining for two goddamn weeks!

Cissy: Didn't ya hear? It never fucking rains in southern California.

Shaun: Grams, I heard that mudslides are wiping out whole
neighborhoods, are we safe here?

Butchie: Now don't go thinking that shit. We'll surf our way outta here if we have to.

Kai: Well at least we got the gear here, I'm up for it.

Cissy: Fucking right, good thing that bastard Mitch left his here when he went to 'find himself'.. again.

Kai: I'm sure he's OK, Cissy

Cissy: Do I look fucking worried?

Butchie looks out at the driving rain and windswept yard, John is standing there, arms outstreched

Butchie: What the fu... what is he doing? (He comes to the front door) Get you ass in here John !

Kai: It's not like the rain is gonna bother him dude, maybe he's like, talking to his 'father' or some shit.

Cissy: Great, my house is about to be swept away and all he is doing is a rain dance in the yard.

Slowly, John walks to the front door and enters the house.

John: My ass is in here, Butchie.

Shaun: Look Kai, he's wet but his hair, it look the same, like he wasn't outside. That's cool.

Kai:(looking at John) : Seriously dude, that just isn't right, I want your hairdresser!

John: My father....

Butchie: Yeah, yeah we know, already.

A low rumble starts to grow louder

Cissy: Oh... FUCK ... NO !

Butchie: What ?... shit, is this an earthquake?

John: Earth not moving Butchie.

Kai: (looking out the front door) Holy shit, there's a wall of mud, it's like a wave coming down the street.

Shaunie: Grams !!

Butchie: Don't panic, but we're fucked here.. Ma, Shaunie, Kai, let's just.. quick, get in Shaunie's room, huddle together, get down, hold on.

John exits the house and goes back into the yard where he stood before, raising his arms.

Butchie: Hold tight together guys, we can ride this out.

The rumbling grows louder, a window smashes in the living room, mud oozes across the floor
... and then silence

Cissy: Shaunie, you ok? Kai , Butchie?

Butchie: Shit yeah, we're kneeling in mud but fucking breathing, that's a good sign.

Shaun gets up and heads to the front door, he struggles to try to open it through the mud.

Shaun:Dad, look!

John is standing waist deep in mud, arms raised, looking back at the Yost house

John : No rain dance, Cissy Yost . This is mud dance.

Myles17

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Days of John From Cincinnati, Write Your Own Scenes

2010-01-08T11:07:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: John From Cincinnati and its canon characters are the property of HBO and the show's producers; no copyright infringement is intended.

Written by Ecclesfan, Myles17, Skordamou, Sonra43, Zippyfan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celia, a box of wine in one hand and a phone in the other, stands in the back porch of the Botwin home in Ren Mar.

Celia: Nothing available today? Well, I suppose tomorrow will have to work then. Two double beds will be fine. It is a suite, though, right? Good. Pets? No. I have a daughter, does that count? Yes, put the room on the card and I'll use my FEMA vouchers when we settle up. Right. Thank you. Goodbye.

Celia hangs up and bursts into tears.

Celia: Homeless. I'm homeless. (Drinks some wine from the box.) And even if I could go home, they all hate me. I'm glad it burned. I wish I'd have burned with it. (Sobbing)

Voice: Celia Hodes.

Celia looks around, then realizes the voice has come from outside. Looking out of the open porch window, she sees a young man in a white wind breaker.

Celia: The estate sale is over. How do you know my name? Are you with Captain Till?

Young Man: Captain Till doesn't ring a bell.

Celia: Well, we don't want any ... whatever you're selling. Go away.

Young Man: Celia Hodes, are you standing in your friend Nancy's porch off of Orange wondering how your life got to be so screwed up? Are you angry because just when you thought you might be free to start fresh, your old life won't leave you alone? And now, your daughter who you think hates you, is living with you because your asshole husband isn't enough of an adult to be a father. Are you worried, Celia, that you won't have a place to live after two weeks at the hotel and the other two weeks it takes to evict you? Do you wonder, Celia, how come you're fresh out of whatever it was that enabled you to survive your controlling, manipulating, emotionally abusive mother who always made you feel like a big, fat, disappointment? Do you wonder what happened to that little girl who wrote promises in her diary about the things she would accomplish when she grew up, and how you managed in your life to break every single promise?

Celia: Yes.

Young Man: Well, Celia, we'd like to make you an offer. Keep going. Stay at the hotel, find a place to live while you're there. Work for Nancy, and forget all about that hole leading to Mexico. El agujero no esta para usted, Celia.

Celia: How do you know about ...

Young Man: Keep going, Celia. Be the sort of mother to Isabelle you wished your mother had been to you. You can do it, Celia. Tomorrow is another day. Do it for Isabelle. Do it for you, Celia. Keep going. Do it for your daughter, and for the little girl who wrote in her diary all those years ago, and in the bargain, you'll receive their love. Act now, Celia.

Celia: I will. I will. Celia walks to the porch door and opens it. The young man is gone.

Isabelle: (Walking in to the porch.) Who are you talking to?

Celia: There was a man in a wind breaker ... poodle cut ... he's gone. No one. I wasn't talking to anyone.

Isabelle: Whatever.

Celia: Isabelle, we move tomorrow to a suite at a hotel I've booked thanks to FEMA.

Isabelle: I hear they do a heck of a job.

Celia: It'll be just the two of us. Sort of an adventure, but we'll be okay. We'll be okay. We'll make a fresh start, just the two of us.

Isabelle: How are you feeling? You don't sound like ... you.

Celia: I'm fine. We're fine. Tomorrow is another day. (Celia takes a long, long pull of wine out of the box.) Another day.

-Ecclesfan

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Andy Botwin is buying a few things at the liquor store. He walks around picking up bottled water and Sun Chips before placing his order. The shop door opens and a large man with a muscular build walks in and goes straight to the counter.

Andy: "Officer Jacks? Is that you?"

Bill: "Who might you be?"

Andy: "I'm Andy ... Andrew Botwin. You arrested me once, me and my brother Judah, for smoking weed."

Bill: "Bubbie's grandsons? I remember, and if memory serves, I detained you. You weren't arrested."

Andy: "You did us a solid. You read us the riot act, confiscated our pot, and let us go. How are you?"

Bill: "How am I? I don't know whether I'm on foot or horseback most days. Retired now, I spend most of my time caring for my birds and looking after various misfits."

Andy: "Not much has changed, then."

Bill: "I read in the paper that your grandmother passed on. Please accept my condolences. Is your brother here also?"

Andy: "Judah died a few years ago. Heart attack. No one saw it coming."

Bill: "Well, I'm sorry about that, too. You're still too young to have to deal with such loss. Trust me, though. You learn to live with it."

Andy: "I guess time heals all wounds."

Bill: "Not really. But you learn to live apart."

Andy: "Well, we're back in Ren Mar. I'm back, I mean, with my Sister-in-Law, her kids, a friend of mine, Satan's mistress, and her daughter also joining us."

Bill turns to the man behind the counter who has placed a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label by the register. He hands him two twenties and the man makes change.

Bill: "Thank you, Marco." (Turning back to Andy.) "Marco knows what I drink."

Andy: "Cool. So, is everything quiet in Ren Mar."

Bill: "That depends on what you mean by quiet. There's a lot going on, but you have to have eyes to see and ears to hear."

Andy: "Your years on the force teach you that?"

Bill: "My bird taught me that. Zippy."

Andy: "Well, Officer Jacks, my man. Good for you. Glad to hear you're getting some. Zippy. That's cute. I call mine the little engine that could."

Bill: "I'm referencing my parrot. Zippy."

Andy: "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were referring to your ... you know ..."

Bill: "Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ ..."

Bill leaves the store. Andy calls after him.

Andy: "Good to see you, Officer Jacks, retired. Serve and protect."

-Ecclesfan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Palin: I'm so glad to be here in this small town with all of you patriots, you real Americans, I am, as a maverick trying so hard to reform, I'm not one of those insiders, and you here are not Hollywood elitists here you are the real California the, the reason I work so hard for job creation and you real Americans don't want that socialism, that spread the wealth around you want to keep what you earn and here we are in real California the real America, and I know all of you Americans....

John appears by the side of the speaker.

John: (Looking at the speaker) I've got my eyes on you.

Palin: (winks at John) You betcha! From where I am standing, I can see Mexico, and I can learn a lot from that. You all can see Mexico, you know a thing or two and we are here to help you and all Americans. Like Joe the Plumber.

John: Justice must be served, Joe.

Palin: (turning to John) And what is your name?

John: John

Palin: Tell me John, where are you from?

John: Cincinnati.

Palin: Well look at that, all the way from our great state of Ohio. Cincinnati, a town with real American values, where the good people know that marriage is meant to be between a man and a woman. Doggone it, John you are what I call a real American. I am here to help you, to help us all, reclaim America, for real Americans.

She looks out over a crowd that is at least half Hispanic. Their eyes are on her, but the crowd does not respond to her words.

John: I'd better have a good health plan.

Palin: When I am in the White House you will have that Joe..er?John.

John: Let me show you how to do that! (makes jerking off motions).

Flustered, Palin walks away, towards where Cissy is standing, she shoves the microphone in Cissy's face.

Palin: And what is your name?

Cissy glares at her.

Shaun: (skating over) That 's my gram, Cissy. She has a surf shop.

Palin: Well, Cissy the surfboard seller, I think that you will be happy to know....

Cissy: (cutting her off ) I'll be happy to see you curl up and die, dragon lady.

Shaun: (to Palin): I think you should meet my friend, John. (he gestures towards John)

Palin looks at John and shudders.

Palin: I see your friend. But now let me tell you about my friend John, the patriot.

Cissy: Let's get the hell out of here Shaunie, she'll contaminate you worse than surfin' after a big storm.

-Skordamou

------------------------------------------------------------------

In the waning days of the reign of 'W' at an undisclosed secret bunker,
we find out what the ever so elusive VP is up to...

Cheney: ( sneering ) Alrighty surferboy John , or whatever your real name is, we finally caught up with you. It wasn't exactly difficult finding you. Jeezus, you stood outside the NRRF elephant cage every day. That goddamn place makes my pacemaker go haywire.

John: ( looking skyward ) My father speaks to me from there.

Cheney: ( still sneering) Now let's talk surferboy. I want answers, you will tell me what I want to know.

John: ( staring straight ahead) John is here now to talk to the Dick.

Cheney: That's Mr. Vice President to you, surferboy.

John: Mr.Vice President Dick

Cheney: ( leaning in to John's ear) I need to know your secret powers suferboy, and we have ways of making you talk. So, how do you do it ? How are you brainwashing the people of this country with this wave of enthusiasm for change ( he mocks with air quotes). What happened to their minds ? Why, we've had hold of these people for years with simple
fear mongering tactics ( he stands upright, fist in the air), it was so simple, no flag pin ,you're un american, gay marriage will destroy families, if we don't fight the terrorist in the streets of Baghdad, we'll have to fight them in the streets of our towns! heh, heh, That one was from me, it's my favorite.
So what have you done to change that mindset? I WANT THAT POWER OVER PEOPLE TO BE MINE ! TELL ME HOW YOU DID IT !

John: ( standing up, face to face with Cheney) The Dick asks many questions.
The Dick wants many answers.
The Dick is angry.
The Dick and the W could never hear my father's words.
The Dick and the W will soon be gone.
The People hear my father's words now. I have come here in 2007 to show them how to hear my father's words. They learned to hear my father's words in just 10 hours. My father works very fast.

11.04.08 Will soon be here. The people will speak my father's words with Votes.
01.20.09 The Dick and the W will be eradicated
01.21.09 My father will be pleased

-Myles17

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ghosthunters meets John From Cincinnati

A phone rings over and over. Dr. Smith rolls over onto his side and answers. It is dawn and the voice on the other end comes through in snippets.

Dr Smith: Yes, this is him. Yes, Imperial Beach, that's right. No, sorry, never heard of him. Nope, never watched the show....he what? Knows my name? Well it is pretty common and these days, you know, the internet and all. What? How many years? Mute? And he said Imperial Beach? Ok,ok...I can be there today. Yes I know where you are, I had an aunt stay with you once. I'll see you in two hours. Bye.

Dr. Smith's car rolls across the gravel driveway at the front of the Otay Valley Psychiatric Center. He parks and makes his way across the grounds to the front desk.
Drs. Smith and Fante casually walk down a massive hallway, their voices echoing through the empty air.

Dr. Fante: So, he's been with us exactly three years. Hasn't spoken a word of anything from the time he got here till yesterday. You're sure you never heard of him? His show was quite the rage 5 years ago, one of the original reality shows.

Dr. Smith: Naa, I don't watch much TV, mostly just the news.

Dr. Fante: Well this guy, Boogenhagen, he was all over the news. The paranormal researcher who got a little too close to his subject matter. He walked in our front door three years ago yesterday. Just so happens that the check he wrote us was for exactly three years of treatment. Yesterday, I tried to talk to him for about the millionth time and surprise! He actually responded! I was trying to get him to give me a name, you know, next of kin and he gave me you...Dr. Michael Smith of Imperial Beach.

Dr. Smith: I've never met or heard of this guy in my life.

Dr. Fante: Well, he sure as hell knows you!

The doctors round a corner and pass through two giant steel doors into the main hallway of the asylum. It is bedlam. Inmates swing from the steel bars that cover the doorways to their cells. Feathers from torn up pillows float through the air. Several of the patients are speaking in tongues while others moan incessantly.

Dr Fante: I've always had a soft spot for Boogenhagen. I watched every one of his shows. I've always had a thing for the paranormal. Do you believe?

Dr. Smith: I've come to believe a lot of things lately. I've seen a thing or two that I can't explain, so yes, I guess you could call me a believer.

The doctors round yet another corner and come to a dead end. There is a cell on the right, barely lit in the darkness. As Dr. Smith's eyes adjust he notices that the walls are completely covered in chalk outlines of Monad symbols. He looks deep into the shadows at the far end of the cell and sees Boogenhagen cowering in the corner biting his nails down to the quick. The flapping of wings draws his attention up to the lone window in the cell. Three birds are walking around on the sill, passing in and out of the bars between the cell and the world outside.

Boogenhagen: SMITH!! We must find the guru!! SMITH!!

Dr. Smith takes a step backward. Fante steps forward and opens the cell door. A tape recorder sits on a wooden table, play and record are pressed down, the red light indicates that Boogenhagen is recording. Smith runs his fingers across a shelf full of audio cassettes.

Dr. Fante: One of his stipulations when he signed himself in was that he was to always have access to a tape recorder and fresh tape stock. On his show, he used to communicate with the dead this way, you ever hear of EVPs?

Dr. Smith: Can't say that I have.

Dr. Fante: If you leave a recorder on for a while, well, you start to hear voices, voices that are only on the tape, in the static.

Boogenhagen stands up quickly. Even Fante is startled. He clumsily lunges at the wooden table, fumbling to eject the running tape. He goes to the shelf and picks an audio cassette out of the middle of one of the rows, crams it into the tape machine and pushes PLAY.
A wild smile crosses Boogenhagen's face as the noises on the tape fill the room. There is growling, breathing and finally a voice, faint at first but most definitely a voice.

Tape Recorder: Shaunieeee

Like a nursery rhyme.

Tape Recorder: Shaunieeeee.....

Fante and Smith are strolling through the grounds outside the main building. Screams are heard in the distance.

Fante: We can't keep him. He has no history of violence, he checked himself in and he only paid up until yesterday. If he wants us to transfer him to a state facility, I can arrange that. But....

Smith: What?

Fante: He seems to think that you are going to take him someplace.

Smith: And what place would that be, exactly?

Fante: Well, he was pretty specific, he says that you are going to help him get to Cincinnati.

Smith looks at Fante, puzzled, then resigned. He sighs...

Smith: So you guys will at least clean him up, give him some good clothes to wear.

Fante: Of course! He actually checked in with a suitcase full of suits. You'll be taking him today?

Smith: My lucky day.

-Zippyfan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What if ...

Sookie: Mister, I know you're tellin' the truth about bein' a retired police officer, and I know you mean well, but you have no idea what we're up against here.

Stranger: If you'd just listen to me, you'd know there is absolutely nothing to fear.

Sookie: This may sound strange, but did your bird send you here?

Stranger: How the hell could you know that?

Sookie: Zippy?

Stranger: What are you?

Sookie: A Maenad is a powerful, terrible, creature.

Stranger: And I'm telling you a Monad is nothing to fear.

Sookie: It's Maenad.

Stranger: What's that now?

Sookie: Maenad ... M. A. E. N. A. D.

Stranger: Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ!

-Ecclesfan

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stranger: It's not Maenad it's Monad and Zippy brings miracles.

Sookie: Miracles! No bird got no miracles. They have no use unless it's a chicken. Now them there you can eat.

Stranger: Zippy eats bird seed.

Sookie: Yeah... Well, chickens eat there own shit. But I 'd have a chicken over a bird named zippy anytime....

Stranger: Monads are not to fear. Zippy is not to eat.
Chicken shit!.......... Jesus Christ!!!!!!

Sookie: Maenad. Now I've had about all of you I'm gonna take.

Stranger: It's.... M..O..N..A..D.. Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ......

-Sonra43

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sookie and Bill are sitting on the beach. A steady breeze is blowing through the high grass. The moon hovers just above the water casting a long, jagged reflection.

Sookie: It's just that I always want to be with you, as we are now. I'm ready for it, I embrace it. I can't imagine things being any other way. You will take me Bill Compton! It just has to be.

Bill turns away, ashamed. He stares out at the ocean.

Bill: Sookie, I can't do this. I can't unleash this curse upon your soul. It is not something that I ever wanted. It was forced on me, and nothing good can ever come from it. It is a curse, Sookie.

Sookie: I know a thing or two about curses! I am cursed by these voices in my head. You and I are one and the same. Please take me now! I am ready!

Bill looks long into Sookie's eyes. His own eyes turn red as a carnivorous sneer spreads across his waxen face. He gently grasps Sookie by the hair exposing her perfect neck. His fangs engage and as he is about to plunge in, he spots a silhouette standing on the tip of a nearby jetty, staring at the two of them. He drops Sookie onto the sand and takes off at lightning speed to the dark figure on the rocks.

Bill: Can I help you suh?

Stranger: Only my father can help me now, suh.

Bill: Do you mock me? Have I wronged you in some way?

Stranger: There is no right or wrong, only my father, suh.

Bill: Do you know what I am? What I could do to you at this very minute?

Stranger: Bill Compton needs to get back in the game.

Bill: What?

Stranger: Bill Compton and Sookie Stackhouse need to get back in the game.

Bill: What are you?

In the blink of an eye, the silhouette has vanished. Bill is mystified. Back on the shore, Sookie has been gathering herself. She looks out at the jetty.

Sookie: BILL COMPTONNNNNN........

She senses a presence behind her and whirls around to confront the stranger. In a flash, Bill is back by Sookie's side, standing as a shield between her and the silhouette.

Bill: Easy now Sook, I'm not quite sure what it is we are dealing with here.

Stranger: What it is we are dealing with here.

Bill: Stop that!

Stranger: Stop that!

Bill lashes out in frustration but the stranger ducks his blow and ends up behind them. Bill spins around to counter but the stranger is gone.

-Zippyfan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John arrives in Mayberry, North Carolina

Barney: Andy, I found this fellow down by the river.
He says he is John Monad. Then he repeats darn near everything I say. I don't trust him, Andy.

John: I don't trust him Andy. Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ.

Andy: Now, Mr. Monad, what brings you to Mayberry?

John: I am going to be with my father today. My father has more big and huge for me.

In the background Otis, the town drunk, is starting to levitate to the ceiling of the jail cell. Nobody's aware of that. Otis lands back on the floor, stumbles over to his cot and passes out.

Andy: Could we help you find your father?

At that moment Opey enters the courthouse.

Opey: Pa! Pa! Aunt Bee has been hurt. She was cooking a pie and fell into the oven.

Andy (stands up): Barney, get in the car.
Barney: Ok, Monad you go too, I got my eye on you.

They arrive at the house, Aunt Bee is sitting at the kitchen table.

Andy: Aunt Bee, are you OK?

Aunt Bee: I must have lost my balance and fell in the oven, and then fell unconscious. When I came to, this beautiful bird was on my hand.

Andy: Well, it looks like you got lucky. Not a scratch or burn anywhere.

John: The birds name is Zippy. Miracles happen when Zippy is around.

Barney: Here we go with this jumble again. And of all things a bird brings miracles!

John: Barney is a doubting Thomas. Barney may need to dump out.

Barney: (furious, reaching for the gun in his holster): That's it Andy! This guy needs to leave.

Andy: Hold on , Barn. Mr. Monad is there anywhere I can take you?

John: Barney needs to get back in the game.

Andy: Well, son, I will take you to the county line. Just get in my squad car.

Barney: Get back in the...

When Andy and John come to the county line, Andy tells John it was nice meeting him. As Andy drives slowly off, he looks in the rear view mirror. He no longer sees John.
Then he looks down at the seat. There lies a bird feather.

-Sonra43

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a sunny late afternoon in IB/Ren Mar and lots of people are out, milling about on the pier. Doug Wilson wanders over to a bench near the pier's entrance, where two down and out old men are sitting watching the people go by. He fits himself between the two men, lifts his leg and farts loudly. The men give him dirty looks and he makes a "watch out I'm crazy" face at them, they get up and walk away. Doug stretches out on the bench, takes a half smoked joint out of his pocket, lights it up and takes a big hit.

Doug: (murmuring to himself) I never thought I'd see this day, down to my last half a' doobie. Gotta get it goin'. Gotta get back in my game.

He sits smoking, watching the girls as they walk by. Two young women walking out on the pier catch his eye. He jumps up and runs down onto the pier, but he has lost sight of them. Frantically, he makes his way to the end of the pier, but the women have disappeared. The crowds have dissipated and only one man remains at the end of the pier. He is fishing.

Doug: Hey buddy! Did' ya see that girl? The mermex? That's my mermex!

Vietnam Joe: Is it live or is it memorex?

Doug: Mermex! My beautiful mermex, my Mexican mermaid, I followed her down here, you musta seen her, she's just- Poof! Disappeared.

Vietnam Joe: Lots of beautiful girls around today, none here now. Just me and the fish, and not many a' them. Just the flyin' kind and they kinda creep me out. Lately it seems like they're flyin' more'n they're swimmin'....

Doug: Shit, shit, asshole, shit. Fuck me, how'd I lose her?

Vietnam Joe puts down his fishing pole and rolls a fatty.

Doug: It's kinda like she's holdin' all the answers in that tight little piñata of hers and all I gotta do is crack it open. Shit, shit. My Mexican key to a beautiful fuckin' life. El disappearoed.

Vietnam Joe: Sometimes things we want just disappear. Here, have a bit of doobie, take the edge off.

Doug and Vietnam Joe share the joint, looking out over the water.

Vietnam Joe: They never used to fly quite like that.

Doug: That's some weird shit all right. They look more like swimmin' birds than fish.

They watch as three fish jump out of the water and start flapping their fins, heading higher and higher.

Vietnam Joe: Holy fuck, we got us some exiles from the sea.

They watch until the fish are out of sight.
Suddenly a shadow falls upon them and Maria the mermex is standing there. She is alone. She stands directly in front of Doug, looks into his eyes, and pointing a finger at his chest, she fires off a few lines in rapid Spanish. Then she turns and runs back down the pier so quickly she appears to be flying away.

Doug, stunned, hesitates, starts to follow her, but then stops. She is gone.

Doug: I must be really fucked up, she was gone before I could get my feet movin'. That doesn't happen to me. I must be losin' my touch.

Murmuring something that sounds like "frat boy", Vietnam Joe relights the fatty and hands it to Doug.

Doug (taking a hit): So what's my mamcita say to me? I couldn't quite catch that rapido espanol. This is good, this is good. The little tease. She's gotta run off to get ready, right? She wants to meet me later? WOOOOHA! It's party time! Fiesta tonight! Do some down dancin' in her sweet cuntina!

Vietnam Joe: No party, tonight, friend. There's some heavy shit goin' down. What she said was that you gotta wake up. She said, and this is verbatim, " the end is near". (under his breath) Why am I not surprised?

Doug: What the fuck? You sure you understood that Spanish? She was talkin' awfully fast. Couldn't she have been talking about this end? (He smacks his butt).

Vietnam Joe: (Packing up his pole and then starting to walk down the pier): Sorry, buddy. I got some further inquiries to make. Looks like this is bigger than we thought.

Doug, totally confused, looks around, walks back and forth a bit, then pulls out his cell phone.

Doug: Hello? Rosetta Stone? I'm calling about that free offer I heard on the radio. Yeah, yeah, basic Spanish...

-Skordamou

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Further Days Of John From Cincinnati Soundtrack

2009-02-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: John From Cincinnati and its canon characters are the property of HBO and the show's producers; no copyright infringement is intended.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Episode 11

1. The Grateful Dead, American Beauty album

2. Sublime, What I Got

3. The Amboy Dukes' Journey to the Center of the Mind.

4. Sublime, Bad Fish

5. Sigur Ros, Saeglopur

6. The Beatles, A day In The Life

----------------------------------------------------------

Episode 12

1. TV on the Radio, Wolf Like Me

2. Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute, The Sky Is Crying

-----------------------------------------------------------

Episode 13

1. The Beach Boys, Wouldn't It Be Nice

2. Queen, Radio Ga Ga

3. Rilo Kiley, Close Call

4. Daniel Lanois, The Maker

5. Explosions In The Sky, Your Hand In Mine

------------------------------------------------------------

Episode 14

1. The Cranberries, Dreams

2. Jimi Hendrix, Voodoo Chile

3. Slash Solo, God Father Theme Song

4. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Voodoo Child, Slight Return

5. Eagles, The Last Resort

6. Eagles, Hotel California

7. Bob Marley, Could You Be Loved

8. Santa Lucia, ( sung by Robertino Loretti)

9. James Taylor, Close Your Eyes

10. Israel Kamakawiwo'le, Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Episode 15

1. Clash, Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

2. Loudon Wainwright, One Man Guy

3. The Beach Boys, Catch The Wave

4. Donovan, Catch The Wind

5. The Doors, Break On Through

6. The Beatles, I Want You (She Is So Heavy)

7. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, There's A Light

8. The Guess Who, No Sugar Tonight (New Mother Nature)

9. No Doubt, Do Not Speak

10. Three Dog Night, Never Been To Spain

11. Talking Heads, Once In A Lifetime

----------------------------------------------------------------

Episode 16

1. Paolo Nutini, Trouble So Hard

2. John Mayer, Gravity

3. Warren Zevon, Desperados Under The Eaves

4. The Chemical Brothers, Where Do I Begin

5. Jet, Look What You've Done

6. Bach, Prelude No. 1 in C Major

7. The Blue Danube, Children's Choir

8. Frank Sinatra, Something Stupid

9. Enya, Lazy Days

10. Manu Chao, Mister Bobby

11. Johny Cash, Sunday Morning Coming Down (Trisha Yearwood)

12. Bob Dylan, If You See Her, Say Hello (Jeff Buckley)

13. The Eurythmics, Would I Lie To You?

14. The Tea Party, Heaven Coming Down

----------------------------------------------------------

Episode 17

1. Rufus Thomas, Walking A Dog

2. Bob Dylan, Ring Them Bells

3. Coldplay, Swallowed In The Sea

4. Los Lobos, Volver, Volver

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Episode 18

1.Joe Cocker/Mad Dogs and Englishmen, The Letter, 1970

2. Little Feat, Willin'

3. Iron and Wine, Such Great Heights

4.Bob Marley, Is This Love

5. Rod Stewart, Rhythm Of My Heart

6. Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros, Redemption Song

7. Rod Stewart, I Don't Want To Talk About It

8. Cat Stevens, Sad Lisa

9. Eagles, James Dean

10. Eagles, Those Shoes

11.Elton John, Rocket Man

12. Dar Williams, Mercy of the Fallen

13. Regina Spektor, Fidelity

14. Cat Stevens, I Love My Dog

15.Cat Stevens, If I Laugh

16. The Heavy, Short Change Hero

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Episode 19.

1. The Beach Boys, Sloop John B

2. My Morning Jacket, I Am Amazed

3.Sweat, Blood And Tears, Spinning Wheel

4.Glen Frey, Smugglers Blues

5.Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Seeds and Stems Again Blues

6. Whitestarr, Thank You

John From Cincinnati, Episode 17, His Visit, Day 16

2008-12-29T16:27:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: John From Cincinnati and its canon characters are the property of HBO and the show's producers; no copyright infringement is intended.

The Further Days of John From Cincinnati continues - Arrivals and Departures

Written by: SpiritontheWater, backinthegame, Waxon, Skordamou, anonymous, svengali2

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We see a bowl of dog food set down alongside a small bowl of water. Bitzy is groggy and slowly eases toward the food without standing. Dr. Smith turns to notice the dog still lying on her stomach taking small bites of food from the bowl.

Dr. Smith: Well, hello there.

Bitzy looks up at the doctor.

Dr. Smith: It's OK, girl. You need to eat.

The doctor gently places his hand on Bitzy's head and glides his hand along her back. After a second pass Bitzy begins to eat again - this time more heartily.

Dr. Smith: That's the way.

Bitzy stands and begins to drink the water. After a long drink, she takes a few steps back, lays down and closes her eyes.

Dr. Smith returns to his work.

A few minutes later Bitzy stands, stretches and shakes. Dr. Smith again turns to her but this time she is attentively staring directly at him. Letting out a single bark she begins to walk with a slight limp to the door.

Dr. Smith: Oh....uh... yea, of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWdl-D0PxhM&feature=related

As he opens the door, Bitzy steps outside and looks around. She raises her nose to the air and sniffs intently. Turning to the Doctor, now standing in the doorway, she lets out another single bark.

Dr. Smith: What?

Two more barks and Bitzy turns and heads along the sidewalk. Dr. Smith closes the door and rushes after her. She stops at the corner long enough to let a car pass and then crosses the street. Once across, she raises her nose to air. Looking back at the doctor, she turns and continues down the sidewalk. The doctor follows - now curious about her sudden sense of direction and purpose. Soon they leave the clinic behind and begin walking on the side of the road .

Dr. Smith: Uh, where are we going?

Now they are walking in front of houses - one after another. Dr. Smith is following, seemingly mesmerized . He continues to follow Bitzy for sometime - until she stops and, again turns to him. Looking up, he realizes they are in front of the Yost house. Bitzy walks straight to the front door.

Dr. Smith: You know the Yosts? .......It doesn't look like anyone is home.

Just then, Butchie's van rolls up and parks on the street in front of he house. Butchie and Mitch meet at the side of the van and help Cissy out. Dr. Smith approach's them leaning over Mitch's shoulder.

Dr. Smith: What happened?

Butchie: She passed out, Doc.

Cissy: I'm fine, I'm telling you!

Dr. Smith: Let's get her inside.

Cissy: How about you get me a fucking smoke! (Cissy shakes off Butchie and Mitch and walks towards the door).

Butchie: (to the doctor) Who called you?

Dr. Smith: No one, I just.... uhh...(looks at Bitzy)

Butchie: He yours, Doc?

Dr. Smith: She. (pause) ... I don't know...I mean, I don't think so.

Butchie: (looking at the doctor) You OK, Doc?

Dr. Smith: Me. (pause) I don't know... I mean, I think so.

Butchie raises an eybrow out of confusion, shakes his head, shrugging it off, and they all enter the house as the music fades.

--Waxon

----------------------------------------

We see the chaos the monster wave left on the beach - fallen tents, vendors, trying to collect remnants of their fare off the sand - soaked t-shirts, plastic bags full of paper cups, a few posters washed up in the tide.
We see faces of people who are just starting to recover from the shock as they are still streaming toward the parking lot, slower and more orderly now.

A woman with glossy eyes is standing next to the pier flailing her arms up in the air and screaming.

Woman: The end is here! God's wrath is upon us!

A man holding a surfboard walks by, shaking his head.

Man: Jesus fucking Christ, what a vindictive jerk you're praying to!

Two children and a woman catch up with him.

Boy: Dad, that wave was humongous!

Man: It sure was, man!

--svengali2

------------------------------------------

As the agent turns Barry around an enormous gust of wind hits them at their back knocking everyone from their feet to the ground. The guards and the agent quickly get to their feet and lead Barry to and through the doors of the large black van. The windows are all blacked out. Barry is smiling as the agent lifts him hurriedly up and into the single plush seat in the back. The doors are slammed behind him. A narrow beam of blue light is all that illuminates his smiling face. A set of headphones are placed on his head.

Meyer is panicked as he picks himself up and climbs back in and starts the car. Making a u- turn he spins the car around toward Imperial Beach.

Meyer: What in the world is happening... something has just happened!... I'm so sorry Barry, but I didn't know what to do... I had no power to stop them. (he swerves the car and barely maintains control as he becomes aware of John who suddenly appears in the passenger seat next to him. The car lurches as it comes to a stop crossing the lanes in the middle of the road)

John: Ooh bubula! You know what to do! Drive me home baby!

Meyer: (dumbfounded) What...where did you come from? This is not possible!

John: Go my little man, drive, drive, drive, drive me wild you beautiful man of mine! (Loudly as he pounds his hands on the dashboard) Oh GOD Meyer! GO!

Meyer: (steps on the gas and the tires squeal as the car lurches forward down the road, he screams above the sound) How can you know those words?!!!

John: (smiling, and screaming back) I don't know Butchie instead!

Inside the black van Barry jerks from side to side as the agent turns the vehicle around and speeds toward Sea World. He cannot hear the sounds from the drivers compartment as voices begin screaming over the radio.

Tears fill Barry's eyes as another sound fills his ears.

Barry: Cincinnatus!... I am coming!

Cincinnatus: I have been waiting for you. They are near and the time is close.

John: (looking over at Meyer who is speeding down the highway) You are close, and I am near. The first wave has come, but do not fear! My father is driving the El Camino.

--SpiritontheWater

-----------------------------------------

Officer Anderson struggles to hear the voice over his walkie talkie, panicked he throws the radio in the front seat of his squad car and runs across the street to the police station, bursting through the doors he jumps the counter and hits a large red button sounding the public emergency alarm. Bells and sirens begin to sound throughout IB.

Ring them Bells

--SpiiritontheWater

------------------------------------------

Bill Jacks stands on the bluff behind the elephant cage, looking out to sea, across the shore, he sees the tide receding.

Bill: (laughs to himself) Well here we go Lo, another recession. I'll never forgive myself for buying that cheap bird seed... I know you told me honey...

Zippy: Cheep!

Bill: Thanks for that! I do remember quite well enough...

Zippy: Cheep!

Bill: Oh, then it was you who cleaned that accumulation?

Zippy: Cheep! Cheep!

Bill: Are you even looking at the water (he cocks his head and looks at the bird on his shoulder questioningly) crap machine?

Zippy: Cheep!

--SpiritontheWater

---------------------------------------

Kai reaches up and turns the nozzle releasing the fresh air supply above her window seat. She looks to the passenger sitting next to her.

Kai: I'm so glad you decided to come. I'm really going to need a friend.

--SpiritontheWater

--------------------------------------

Noah bends down and picks up a piece of paper off the sand, he turns it over and reads the message "The last happy hour of the year". It"s written across a large yellow smiley faced head atop a surfer's body riding a wave.

Noah: Ya mean the last hour of the last happy year. I'll be there man, I'll be there.

--SpiritontheWater

----------------------------------------

Inside the hotel in Huntington.

Linc walks up to his room, then turns around and follows down the corridor. He enters another room without knocking, as the door is slightly ajar.

Tina, the towel wrapped around her waist, walks out of the shower and seeing Linc covers herself crossing her arms.

Linc: I thought.... I'd see if you are still here.

Tina: (awkwardly) I am.

Linc: You drove away in Meyer's car. He might've called the police. You're a firecracker! What'd I say?

Tina: You know what....

Linc: Tina, this thing is bigger than you and me! Did you see that? That wave.... it stopped as if on command, fuck all the laws of physics!

Tina: I was at the beach, I saw it. I saw Shaunie and Butchie, they were so.... beautiful out there, like weightless.... on the water.

Linc comes close to Tina, slowly pulls her arms down and kisses her on the lips.

Linc: I'm not used to being the last one.

Tina: I'm sorry you couldn't be the first....

--svengali2

----------------------------------------

In Yost's house, Butchie is sitting on the bed in Shaun's room. He is holding his cell, listening to its ringing. Finally he flips the phone closed, drops it on the bed and sits there looking at the poster of a surfer on the wall.

Swallowed In The Sea

--svengali2

-----------------------------------------

Bill walks back to his car parked on the road. As he approaches the car door he sees another car coming down the road. He stands by his car to let it pass but it slows as it approaches. Bill sees that it is Freddy and Palaka. Bill and Freddy look at each other as they slowly pass. Bill raises his arm to motion to them but as he does Zippy flies off his shoulder - distracting Bill. Not intending to stop, Freddy turns his eyes back to the road but is startled to see that Zippy is sitting on the hood of his car looking directly at him. He slams on the brakes sending Palaka head first into the dash board. Zippy flies back to Bill. Bill and Zippy approach the car. Palaka is holding his forehead with both hands.

Bill: What are you trying to do, kill my bird?

Freddy: That birds trying to kill us!

Bill: If that was his wish I'd be the last to stop him.

Freddy looks away.

Zippy: Cheep!

Bill: (to Zippy) Alright, alright. (to Freddy) Uh, funny you should happen by.....uh....my bird wants me to ask you something.

Freddy: I can't wait to hear this.

Bill: I've been given an order by a fish, a whale to be exact.

Freddy: Are there any animals who don't boss you around? (under his breath) Bottom of the fuckin food chain.

Bill: Well, they know how to get results.

Freddy: If they ordered you to look like a fucking idiot, you're passing with flying colors.

Zippy: Cheep!

Bill: (to Zippy) You're pushing it now, you crap machine. With that Zippy dumps out on Bills shoulder.

Bill: Jesus Christ!

Freddy: What does any of this have to do with me?

Palaka: Yea, what does any of this have to do with us? (Palaka looks at Freddy) I mean, with him.

Bill: (to himself) What could possibly be the point of this?

Freddy: Well, we'll just be on our way.

Bill: Wait! ..... the orders ... are to go to ... Sea World. And the bird thinks I should ask you degenerates to accompany me.

Freddy: (sarcastically) You sure you don't want to go to fucking Disneyland?

Palaka laughs and begins to sing: M-I-C, K-E-Y, Y because...

Bill: Because we like you. (now getting frustrated) How the hell should I know why! It was his idea (motioning to Zippy)

Bill and Freddy catch eyes.

Bill: ... and I have a pretty bad gut feeling about it.

Freddy: Seaworld. A whale.

Palaka: Hey Boss, you were sayin that we should go to S...

Freddy: (to Palaka) Shut up. (to Bill) Who the fuck am I to argue with a bird.

Bill: OK, then.

Freddy: Tomorrow.

Bill: Around 10 - if you can get up that early.

Freddy shrugs his shoulders and begins to drive off leaving Bill standing on the side of the road.

Bill: Rendezvous at the Snug Harbor Motel! .... I hope you know what you're doing, Zip.

Bill looks back at the elephant cage for a moment and then shakes his head before getting in his car.

--Waxon

-----------------------------------------

Kass slowly walks on the beach checking the camera lens. She steps on an empty bottle left in the sand, tries to regain her balance and falls.

Kass: Shit! Shit! That's it. I am not moving. I am not! Oh, a kingdom for a horse! I am tired, thirsty, and have no idea why, oh fucking why, you just come and go John, and who are you after all, with your sweet baby innocence and.... most of all, why I so want to be around you....

She sits up, brushes sand off her legs and seeing a sea shell picks it up and plays with it as children do, holding it to her ear as a cell phone.

Kass: Do you like green eggs and ham? Would you like them here or there? Would you like them anywhere?

John (appears sitting next to Kass, he copies her pose, holding his palm as a sea shell) Yes, I will eat them here or there! I will eat them anywhere!

Kass: I know, you can be.... anywhere, Cheshire Cat. When you leave, only the smile stays.... then the smile will vanish too....

John: You will not cry because it's over. You will smile because it happened.

Cass: Thanks for the consolation prize, Dr. Seuss!

John: (smiling) Sam I am!

--svengali2

----------------------------------------

A rooftop of an old building. Below are narrow streets of an ancient Middle Eastern city.
An old man in a long robe of a monk is dosing off in a wooden chair.

John: What do you want?

The man opens his eyes, startled.

Car Salesman: (appearing next to John) Hush, country! You are not ready to go global! Thinks he is the little engine that could.... Too many dealerships, I am telling you!

--svengali2

-----------------------------------------

Flor and Erlemeyer close the door of Flor's house and step into courtyard. Suddenly the air is filled with flapping, cheeping and chattering sounds as hundreds of birds fly in from the surrounding trees. They fly in circles above Erlemeyer and Flor, some perch on the table, chairs and walls of the courtyard. Flor and Erlemeyer stop. Erlemeyer has an amused expression on his face. Flor throws her hands up over her head.

Flor: Mis amigos de aves. No entiendo. Not all at once!

Erlemeyer: Looks like your friends are happy to see you, Flor.

Flor: That's not it, Chuck. They want something. What has gotten them so excited?

Flor puts here head back and makes loud bird sounds. The other birds immediately become still, Dodi flies forward and perches on the edge of the fountain. He bobs his head a few times then looks directly at Flor, his head cocked to one side.
Dodi chirps excitedly, not taking his eyes from Flor, who is nodding her head.

Flor: Hmmm. It is not for me to say if your work is done here, Chuck. But it is time for you to go back now. That is the message.

Erlemeyer: Changing plans is inevitable these days, Flor. I will go. I'll arrange for Julio to stop by and check in with you. This city is just too dangerous now.

Flor: Me? Stay here? (She gives Erlemeyer a big grin) No such luck, Chuck. I'm going with you.

Erlemeyer: (begins to protest, but changes his mind) What about-uh- them? (gesturing to Dodi and the other birds)

Flor: They'll be just fine, Chuck. They're birds! They fly! See how free they are? They go where they want. Give me five minutes. I want to grab some clothes and my paints.

Erlemeyer: (murmuring as he watches Flor walking away into the house) And may we not encounter difficulty. Just a couple of tourists, off to I.B.

--Skordamou

-----------------------------------------

Erlemeyer walks up the driveway to the Yost house. Mitch comes out to meet him.

Erlemeyer: I'm here on orders from her bird. (gesturing towards Flor)

Mitch: Stranger things have happened, Chuck. It's been a fuckin' 3 ring circus here. I don't know what the hell is goin' on. It's all just getting loonier by the minute . What the fuck?

Mitch is looking over to where Erlemeyer's camper is parked. The entire area is covered with birds.

Erlemeyer: Yes, an interesting phenomenon. They followed us here. High in the sky, and relentless.

Mitch: It appears, old friend, you're now part of this crazy fucked up story. Whether you want to be or not.

Erlemeyer: Yes, Mitch. I've known for a long time that change was coming. I made a point of not seeking it out. And then you showed up. What choice does one have, really, Mitch? We do what we must. Even you, the surfer king, must realize that now.

He turns to Flor and with a flourish, gestures towards Mitch

Erlemeyer: Flor, meet Mitch. Mitch, this is my friend Flor. She is also, as you so eloquently stated, a part of the story.

Cissy comes out of the house.

Cissy: Chemist! What the fuck're you doing? here? You're supposed to be findin' out if I'm gonna die or turn into a fuckin' zombie or somethin'. (she points to her foot) Not that I needed your help. The weirdo fixed me up. Good as new, no thanks to you.

Cissy looks Flor up and down. Flor is smiling, nervously twisting her long hair around her fingers.

Cissy: And who's "Miss I'm still livin' in 1968" here? Where the fuck did she come from?

Erlemeyer: (smiles and gives Flor an apologetic smile as he addresses Cissy) Cissy, meet my friend Flor.

Flor steps toward Cissy and begins to extend her hand. Cissy gives her a withering look. Flor drops her hand and steps back, but continues to smile at Cissy)

Erlemeyer: I wouldn't worry about that foot anymore, Cissy. It is unlikely that there will be any long term effects. (murmuring) I must consider the possibility that I read the signs wrong.

Cissy: What the fuck you sayin', o mystical one?

Erlemeyer: I'm not certain, but I think the break-in may have merely been a distraction.

Cissy: And what the fuck does that mean, Wizard?

Erlemeyer: What we learn from Tijuana will be just one piece of this cosmic puzzle. The center is here in I.B. I'm beginning to understand. What was important was for me to find Flor. And to bring her here with me. We all have parts to play now. May God help us to understand.

Flor crosses herself. The birds, as if assured that Flor and Erlemeyer have now safely reached their destination, rise up and fly in a large circle around Cissy and Mitch, Flor and Erlemeyer. Then they flock into formation, with Dodi at the lead, and head south, flying back towards Mexico.

--Skordamou

----------------------------------------

SETTING: THE BAR

Sitting barside are Vietnam Joe, Bandanna Buddy,
Bill Jacks, the bartender and John From Cincinnati

Joe: Man I had a really weird dream last night.

Bandanna: What? Another one of those war dreams,
Joe?

Joe: Well yes and no, sort of.

Bill: How much dope did you smoke before you went to
bed?

Joe: Fuck man, I haven t smoke in three days! Maybe that s the problem.

Bill: Yeah, that s the problem (sarcastically).

Bandanna: Well, are you gonna tell us the dream or not?

Joe: OK. Well back in boot camp before my unit even got to the Nam there was this kid named Bobby North, Jesus he musta been damn near 7 foot tall, no shit, bright red hair and really really white skin, you know the kinda guy that just burns up in the sun, ya know?

John: Just burns up in the sun.

Bandanna: Yeah, I seen guys like that.

Joe: Yeah, he was a big fucker alright, but he was a real gentle guy. On liberty night he wouldn't go to the whorehouse with the rest of us or go down to the bar to fuck up the locals, uh-uh, not Bobby. He'd rather go to see some foreign movie or to the library to read a book or something for chrissakes. He shouldn't been in no fucking army that's for damn sure.

John: He shouldn't been in no fucking army that's for damn sure.

Bill: Did he enlist or what?

Joe: Fuck no! Got drafted just like the rest of us dumb motherfuckers. But he was a good guy, always had his shit together, always passed inspection, could blow the balls offa an ant at fifty yards, but the fucker just wasn't a fighter and just cause he was so big with that bright red hair and freckled face he just made an easy target for the other littler guys. Man, they gave him some hard shit too. I saw one of the little Puerto Rican guys, Morales, literally jump up off the ground to punch Bobby in the nose. Popped him a good one.

John: Popped him a good one.

Bandanna: No shit?

Joe: No shit. And that little PR fucker stood back in a boxer's stance ready to throw, but Bobby just stood there rubbing his nose with both his hands, he just couldn't understand what the fuck he'd done to deserve that, but then it started....

Bill: What?

Joe: His nose started bleeding, I mean just gushing red, ya know, all down his GI t-shirt, down his fatigues onto his jungle boots. He tilted his head back to make it stop, but no fucking way, he just kept bleeding and bleeding, fucking blood all over the place and then 'cause he got hit so hard, his eyes started tearing up, so here's this big Paul Bunyan of a guy standing in the middle of the barracks bleeding and crying. It was awful.

John: Awful.

Bandanna: So then what happened?

Joe: Well, Bobby just turned around and walked away. I saw him later laying out on his bunk with a wet towel wrapped around his face. I went up to him and asked him if he was okay, he said yeah, he was used to this shit, used to happen to him all the time in school, littler guys beating up on him. Turns out his old man was some sort of minister or something, never taught him how to fight, but told him always to turn the other cheek, love your enemies, all that kinda shit. Fuck, man!

John: Love your enemies.

Bill: Well, what the hell was he doing in the army then? He coulda went CO or something.

Joe: (laughs): No, not old Bobby. He wanted to do his duty and all of that patriotic crap they fill your head with out there in fucking Iowa or some damn place.

Bill: Nothing wrong with being a patriot.

John: Being a patriot.

Joe: True. But I asked him, man, if you can't even defend yourself in a fist fight how you're
gonna be able to shoot the goddam enemy who by the way will be doing everything humanly possible to shoot you?."That's different", he says. "One is where I'm fighting for myself and the other is in defense of god and country".

John: God and country.

Part II: The same setting, the Bar

Joe: Well they shipped our asses over to Nam and man, we came in hot. The airfield where we was supposed to land at was under mortar attack, VC, NVA the whole fucking nine yards, a real fucking horror show. We had to circle around for about an hour before we could land, and as soon as we did we were taking fire.

John: Taking fire.

Bill: Tough place.

Joe: Hell yeah. But Bobby, man, he was a smart fucker. While all the other guys were shitting their pants and praying and crying, old Bobby was looking out port and spotting all the places were those little fucking dwarfs were firing from and when that troop plane belly landed and the back hatch opened up, Bobby was the first one out, hit the ground running, firing his weapon like crazy directly at those spots he'd seen. He looked like a one man cavalry! (laughs shaking his head) He gave the hand sign for the rest of the guys to spread out and follow him and I'll be damned if they didn't. All the guys picked up on what Bobby was doing, pointing to the places where those little fucks were firing from. Bobby alone took out an entire mortar launching crew and the rest of those fuckers just hightailed it outta there!

Bandanna: Wow!

Joe: Fucking-a man! We only had one KIA that day - Morales the kid that bloodied Bobby's nose. When he heard about it he double timed over to the body screaming at the death detail to stay the fuck away from him. First time I ever really heard Bobby curse, ya know? He took Morales tags and jungle boots, picked him up like a baby and laid him down in the body bag so gentle like, ya know? Zipped him up and let the death detail load him up on the same damn plane that brought him in. Fucking sad, man.

Bill: I hear ya, bro.

John: Fucking sad.

Joe: Well, a big change came over Bobby. He still wouldn't go whoring with us, or get drunk, gamble and fight, I think I saw him take a beer once, didn't even curse, but fuck, man, he was a first rate killer. He had 13 confirmed kills, including an NVA officer, a lieutenant I think, one water buffalo, two dogs and a nine year old girl. The animals couldn't be helped and the girl was an accident. The water buffalo was in his line of fire so he had to take it out to get a clear shot, and then we were on this search and destroy mission in this village and the dogs attacked him, just doing their job I guess, but Bobby he had this phobia about germs and getting diseases, you know, like rabies and shit, so he took the dogs one round a piece.

John: One round a piece.

Joe: Yeah. So we were rounding the villagers up outta their huts, trying to figure out who were the real civilians and who the VC were and that s when it happened. Outta the corner of his eye Bobby saw something move in one of the huts that shouldn t-a been there, and Bobby man he just wheeled around slicker n snot and let loose a burst of fire with that Thompson and busted through the door of that hut alone and then it got real quiet and then we heard Bobby give out a long loud wail, like a howling wolf. We all thought he was celebrating a kill. But then it come to us Bobby was crying, wailing man, and he come outta that hut carrying that dead girl in his arms howling and crying. The medics relieved him of the girl and Bobby went off by himself and we just let him be, til we was done cleaning up the vill.

Bill: But what about the dream, Joe?

Joe: Yeah well I m getting to that. After that Bobby really went kinda fucking crazy. After a really brutal fire fight the VC tried to surrender, threw their weapons down, hands up screaming, "Dong hai, dong hai" and old Bobby, he just spit on the ground and said, "Dong hai my ass!" And blew the fuckers away. He went and cut the guys dicks off, stringed em up and wore them around his neck like love beads, man!

John: Like love beads.

Joe: The stink was unbearable. All the guys respected Bobby, followed him without question, but man sitting down to eat with him was whole nother story. Bobby understood, didn t take any offense. Usually we let the FNGs take point when we were out on patrol, but Bobby d always volunteer. He liked being in the shit.

John: Liked being in the shit.

Joe: And then it happened.

Bill: What?

Joe: Well we were walking the trail, Bobby a few meters ahead of me. He'd let his hair grow down past his shoulders and grew this great big bushy red beard, he'd lost weight like we all did, but he put on some muscle too. He looked like one of those
Viking Beserkers, crazy to die, man!

John: Crazy to die, man!

Joe: It was just getting dawn, the sun rising behind us and that s when I heard it, a soft pop sound. I thought one of the guys behind us had cracked open a beer. Bobby just stopped, we all stopped, frozen, waiting for his hand signal either spread out or thumbs up for OK, but he just stood there and then I saw a little hole right in the back of his neck, just below the helmet line, a little trickle of blood. Bobby turned round and man his face looked like fucking hamburger, man, his jaw flapping loose, his tongue hanging like a thirsty dog, his teeth hanging like pearls and I swear to god, it looked like he was smiling and he just went down like a big red tree face first in the mud. It took about a second for it to register on us but Bobby was dead.Fuckingsniper!Always some littler guy trying to take Bobby down, ya know?

Bill: Jesus Christ Jesus Christ Jesus Christ!

John: Bobby was dead.

Joe: So I pointed up into the trees and the guys just let loose everything they had into the tree tops until finally this little VC fucker come flopping outta the palms like a drunken monkey, deader'n hell.

John: Deader 'n hell.

Bartender: At least ya got the bastard Joe. But what about the dream?

Joe: Well Bobby come to me, long red hair flowing, his big bushy red beard, his face all put back together like normal, and Bobby s laughing, still in his jungle camo, weapon at the ready and this what he says:
Joe, there is death in all your ecstasies, that is the nature of the dimension you live in, but you
don t have to deny yourself any pleasures. Own what you desire and all that exquisite energy will be released as waves of joy on earth as it is in heaven. Stop judging what you are doing. Own it or stop doing it and decide to be alive.

Bill: (getting off his barstool) I gotta go home and tell my bird about this!

Bartender: I never heard anything like that before, especially not in a dream.

John: Some things I know and some things I don t, but this man knows a lot. He is with my Father and Mother now. He sees God the Mother of God. He is not dead, Joe. He will be born again. Not farewell, oh warrior, but fare forward.

Joe: Fucking-a!

Bartender: That calls for a round of beer on the house!

--anonymous

------------------------------------------

Volver, Volver

As the song is playing, the camera follows a truck on the highway 75. Ramon is at the wheel, softly singing to the music on the radio. Driving by vast lowlands spread along the road, he passes a slim woman with a bright red backpack slowly running in the breakdown lane. She moves in long strides with the easy grace of a born athlete.

Ramon: (turning his head back) Nobody walks.... or runs.... Not here. Just cars, no people....

--svengali2

----------------------------------------

The same song is still playing.

In a small bedroom, sunlight filtering through broken blinds falls on a rumpled bed.
A naked woman is sitting atop a man, lying in bed. His eyes are bloodshot and vacant.

Alejandro: (pushing the woman off) Get out! ¡Grasa sucia puta, tu eres inútil!

Woman: No es culpa mia. You drink too much, Alejandro.

Alejandro: Vete de aquí. ¡Si usted dice que una vez más yo le mataré! I will cut your heart out! Get out, bitch!

The woman grabs her clothes and runs out.

Alejandro: ¡Yo no puedo dormir ya! No sleep, no fuck, no drink. Estoy maldecido... It?s that gringo, el diablo. Vi sus ojos muertos... He was dead... Estoy maldecido.

He gets off the bed and hits the wall to the adjacent room with his fist.

Alejandro: ¡Apaga la maldita musica, ahora!

Voice: ¡Si, si, jefe!

Translate here

--svengali2

-----------------------------------------

Turning off the road into Snug Harbor, Ramon drives up to the office. As he gets out of the car he stops in disbelief seeing a woman standing at the closed door of the office, the bright red backpack at her feet.

Ramon: I saw you... When did you get here? How....

Woman: (flashing a quick and easy smile) In time, Ramon. All in good time.

--svengali2

-----------------------------------------