Scene 41 - The Ceremony

(Scene begins to the sound of a coyote in the distance. Other than that it's very quiet. The lighting is day for night, with a moonlit feel. Bruce and Mary are walking along an open canyon.)

Bruce: So we did the amusement park thing.

Mary: (Contemplating the sandy soil as she walks) The amusement park thing.

Bruce: Did the phone thing.

Mary: The phone thing.

Bruce: (Looks over) Did the deceive your mom thing.

Mary: The mom thing.

Bruce: What's up with the Carol thing?

Mary: The Carol thing.

(Pause as they walk for a while in silence)

Bruce: Did that ocean thing.

Mary: Ocean...

Bruce: Now we're here in New Mexico in the desert.

Mary: The desert thing.

Mary: (Stands still, closes her eyes, facing skyward) so if you stand still long enough and face a full moon, you can get moonburnt.

Bruce: I think that's already happened to you, lunar nymph.

(Mary gives Bruce a smile.)

Bruce: If we don't get back in an hour, someone's going to have a cow.

Mary: How many hours does a person live?

Bruce: You mean really live? (Pause) Hmmm. Dunno. I guess that depends.

Mary: You say that a lot.

Bruce: I say what a lot?

Mary: I guess that depends.

Bruce: How do you feel?

Mary: I feel a little chilly. I feel like I need a hug and a kiss.

(They embrace. Bruce kisses the top of Mary's head. She looks up and they kiss again. They look at each other a spell, then Mary hugs Bruce a little more closely. Another kiss.)

The following prose is in the voices of Mary and Bruce:

Bruce: Like two bodies forever falling, never touching.

Mary: Yes.

Bruce: Dreams of relativity.

Mary: I guess.

Bruce: How does gravity work?

Mary: I don't know.

Bruce: Something to do with time.

Mary: I've got time.

Bruce: Moonrise over sleepy earth.

Mary: Sounds nice.

Bruce: Night setting.

Mary: Huh...

Bruce: Speeding up, we're slowing down.

Mary: Same time?

Bruce: Waves rolling in.

Mary: Waves.

Bruce: Another echo.

Mary: (Laughs) Echo.

Bruce: The ocean steals

Mary: Steals...

Bruce: Our breath away.

(Prose dissolves to the subdued sound of ocean surf. Ocean sound continues for four to five cycles of waves.)

(The preceding dialogue is accompanied by various visuals: Clouds shot through a deep red filter, then a close up of the tips of mountains to a backdrop of black sky. this is interspersed with a slow motion blend of arms folding together to a black background. The lighting of the arms is strong, theatrical, overhead. The arms crossing, progressively becoming more intertwined, are preceded and followed by about one second of black leader to allow for an after image to appear on screen. Tips of mountains and black sky accompany the end of the prose and the ocean sound. This could all change, of course, when I actually shoot this segment.)

Voice of Bruce: (Whisper) I couldn't wait for you forever.

Voice of Mary: (Quiet voice) That's what we're here for, baby boy.

(The screen blanks, as does the sound. This is immediately followed by the click of a light switch. This sound is synchronized with a head-on shot of Carol sitting up in her hotel bed in Santa Fe, alone. Her eyes are opened wide, yet her expression is fairly blank. The suggestion here is that she is not really awake, but sitting up in her sleep.)

(Side shot of Carol sat up, looking around sleepily for what it was that pulled her from her sleep. then there is another head shot, full-on, of Carol relaxing in an unconscious, almost collapsing manner, lying back down in bed, resting her head on the pillow. She resumes her previous sleeping position.)

Fade out