<script>
  <scene>
    <scene_description>UPSTREAM COLOR Revision 1 By Shane Carruth</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. HATCHBACK - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>In the backseat lies TWO FULL TRASHBAGS open enough to see the contents: PAPER RINGS LINKED IN A LONG CHAIN. On each sheet of folded paper we can make out HANDWRITING. The wind jostles them as the car speeds down the road.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. ALLEY/ RECYCLING BIN - NEXT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>EVAN (30) carries the bags from his car to the bin. One goes in easy. The other TEARS so he has to scoop up the tangled paper chain by hand. It clumps like intestines. LUCAS and PETER, both 12, bike down the alley. Lucas heads toward Evan who's getting back in the car. Peter hesitates:</scene_description>
    <character>PETER</character>
    <dialogue>What are you doing? Lucas.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Peter listens from a distance. Lucas is at the car window:</scene_description>
    <character>LUCAS</character>
    <dialogue>When can we come over? You know. Come ove-</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, I get it. Couple weeks. We'll see.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Peter doesn't get it. The hatchback takes off.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. PLANT NURSERY - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Evan scans through the aisles, hunting for a certain flower. He rubs his fingers on the GREEN LEAF of one. Not it. Another shows more promise, an ORCHID. He scrapes a leaf with a PEN KNIFE, producing a TURQUOISE POWDER, fine like pollen. He grabs a handful of the plant's soil and sifts through it. Then another handful until he finds a TINY WHITE INCHWORM. CUT TO: He buys four of the potted orchids at the checkout.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. EVAN'S HOUSE/ BACK YARD - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He pulls the last of the plants from its pot, shakes the dirt off the roots, and throws it in a fire. He dumps the pot soil onto a SIFTER and starts shaking it, leaving behind rocks, twigs, and SEVERAL WHITE INCHWORMS.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. EVAN'S HOUSE/ BACK ROOM - NEXT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>TWO EMPTY GLASS JARS sit on the desk. One has a HAPPY FACE sticker, the other a FROWN with X's for eyes. Evan scans over the sifter, picking up worm after worm. One SQUIRMS in his palm. He throws it in the happy jar. Another lies STILL. Dead. It goes in the frown jar. Behind him, an OLD MAN, GILL plays ONLINE POKER.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. EVAN'S HOUSE/ BACK PORCH - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Peter cautiously bikes in to see Lucas amusing a group of TEENAGERS. He's positioning an older boy, MONTY, in the middle of the porch then gets him to down a shot of BLACK LIQUID. Lucas pours himself a shot from his TRAVEL MUG, downs it, shakes out his arms, and puts his hands over Monty's eyes:</scene_description>
    <character>LUCAS</character>
    <dialogue>Close 'em. Close ya eyes. Just trust.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Monty does. Lucas stands at his side and prepares. Lucas slowly raises his right hand, swirls his index finger. Monty's right hand MIMICS the motion in perfect unison. Lucas gets more creative, making hand gestures, using both arms. Monty, eyes closed, instantly matches move for move. He's a PUPPET. Lucas gestures to the others:</scene_description>
    <character>LUCAS</character>
    <dialogue>Go ahead. Throw it up. Throw it.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Someone throws a BALL at Monty who smacks it down, controlled by Lucas. Then a STICK, EMPTY CAN, etc. Lucas stands facing Monty so that their every move is a mirror opposite (not mirrored, get it?). They poke each other's shoulders, play-smack each other's face, like an extremely complex game of patty cake. Lucas stops when he sees Peter.</scene_description>
    <character>LUCAS</character>
    <dialogue>Wait, wait. Peter. Peter! Come here! Peter's left-handed. He's a lefty.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. EVAN'S HOUSE/ BACK ROOM - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Evan sits back, allowing Lucas to run the process at the desk and show off for Peter. He grabs a live inchworm from the DOZEN in the happy jar and references the 100 dead ones in the frown jar:</scene_description>
    <character>LUCAS</character>
    <dialogue>See how many you gotta go through to get a good one?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He puts it on a COCKTAIL STRAINER and pours PEPSI over the worm, letting it collect in a shot glass for Peter. Lucas moves the worm and strainer to his own mug while...</scene_description>
    <character>LUCAS</character>
    <dialogue>Pete's a bit of a germaphobe so let me get mine going and I'll show there's nothing-</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Peter's not going to be pushed so he just downs it fast. Lucas looks up, surprised. He doesn't see the worm fall THROUGH the strainer into his mug. Behind them, Gill does:</scene_description>
    <character>GILL</character>
    <dialogue>Hey, boy! Watch that.</dialogue>
    <character>LUCAS</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, I got it. I know. See, I know. Nobody wants that. Come here little guy.</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>No, no. Just throw-</dialogue>
    <character>LUCAS</character>
    <dialogue>No, I know. Throw this batch out. That's that. I know. See. Start over.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He pours out the mug, wipes it with a napkin.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. EVAN'S HOUSE/ BACK PORCH - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Lucas faces Peter. The others watch. Peter's nervous.</scene_description>
    <character>LUCAS</character>
    <dialogue>Ready?</dialogue>
    <character>PETER</character>
    <dialogue>No.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He looks around, embarrassed to be the center of attention. Lucas throws up a jab. Peter instantly mirrors him with a jab of his own. Their fists meet. He's shocked. It's involuntary. Lucas throws random jabs, slaps, and hooks, all met by Peter, moving in perfect unison. Now he's enjoying it, laughing. It doesn't stop even as they talk and the others CHEER.</scene_description>
    <character>PETER</character>
    <dialogue>How are you doing it?</dialogue>
    <character>LUCAS</character>
    <dialogue>I'm not. You are.</dialogue>
    <character>PETER</character>
    <dialogue>I'm not. You are.</dialogue>
    <character>LUCAS AND PETER</character>
    <dialogue>I'm not you are. You're doing it. You are.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. NEAR TRAIN BRIDGE - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Lucas applauds NOELA (11) as she does cartwheels in the grass. CUT TO: They hold each other, leaning against a boulder. She shares his mug. He whispers something in her ear and... Without hesitation she walks out on a NARROW WALL of concrete jutting from the hillside. The fall would be 30 feet. She doesn't seem to care. Nearby, Peter watches, getting worried. He panics, moving to help as she prepares for a cartwheel... But when she places the first hand down she suddenly wakes up to the danger, wobbles, steadies herself. She steps back... ...and comes right after Lucas, violently SLAPPING at him.</scene_description>
    <character>NOELA</character>
    <dialogue>The hell's...wrong...with you!</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>9A EXT. CITY MARATHON - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>1000 RACERS move through the suburbs. One racer, JEFF, passes by a man with a DOG on the roadside, BRENT.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Watch your dog.</dialogue>
    <character>BRENT</character>
    <dialogue>What?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Get your dog out of the road.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Jeff stops, comes back, dithers, before finally approaching:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Where you from? You from here?</dialogue>
    <character>BRENT</character>
    <dialogue>That's my house.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Jeff takes off, blowing off the odd feeling he seems to have. Brent calls after him:</scene_description>
    <character>BRENT</character>
    <dialogue>Where are you from?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Jeff waves it off, runs away:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Nothing. Nowhere. \*</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: KRIS (30, LONG DARK HAIR) runs in a stream of racers. She slows to a stop, answers her ear bud phone, turns the opposite way so the race flows around her. Something's wrong:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Say that again, what? You can see what? Whose? No, not til Monday. Whose is it?</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CONSTRUCTION YARD - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>AN OTHER-WORLDY CREATURE gallops across like a horse. After a few feet the movement REPEATS: it's a VIDEO CLIP playing...</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. VISUAL PRODUCTION BUILDING - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>...on a monitor in front of Kris, now in OFFICE DRESS. She's \* in one cubicle of many, on the phone:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS (ON PHONE)</character>
    <dialogue>You can see his foot. A grip, gaffer, I don't know, somebody's foot, a shadow. Right but if I can see it they're going to see it too. Ok I'm going to ask five people around me if they notice and if one-</dialogue>
    <character>CUT TO:</character>
    <dialogue>ROTH (40) leans against her cubicle wall.</dialogue>
    <character>ROTH</character>
    <dialogue>Cut them loose. Hire another team. You can't keep having the same conversation with them. What do you think?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She ponders.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I think they were the best of the lot and the rest aren't great...and I can't keep having the same conversation with them.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. DOWNTOWN/ RESTAURANT - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She finishes a salad at the bar, scanning 12 INDEX CARDS fanned out in front of her. Each card lists a different visual effects house, number of employees, etc. and is paper-clipped to ARTWORK depicting the creature we saw on her monitor. CUT TO:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS (ON PHONE)</character>
    <dialogue>It has been a while- I'm sorry \* about that, but you're work is just \* amazing. When we saw your take on \* it everyone knew instantly we found \* the right place. I do have a couple \* questions- \*</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. EVAN'S HOUSE/ BACK ROOM - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Evan sets aside TWO CAPSULES from a TYLENOL bottle... ...carefully opens one, empties the medicine... ...places an inchworm inside, recloses the halves... ...marks a TINY DOT on the capsule with a pen. He holds the tampered and untampered capsules up to the light, comparing them before they both go in a SMALL BAGGY.</scene_description>
    <character>WOMAN (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>What is it?</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. DOWNTOWN/ NIGHT CLUB - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Sitting in a back booth, he's showing her the baggy under the table discreetly. He's coy, flirting. She is too.</scene_description>
    <character>WOMAN</character>
    <dialogue>You have more?</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>One for me. One for you.</dialogue>
    <character>WOMAN</character>
    <dialogue>My friends though.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>This disappoints him, but he doesn't let her see. Recovering:</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>When are they coming?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She lazily points across the room. They're already there.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Let me check if I can get more.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He scoots out of the booth. She didn't hear him.</scene_description>
    <character>WOMAN</character>
    <dialogue>What? Where are you going?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He's done with her so why not...</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>You got wine breath. Go brush your teeth.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. DOWNTOWN/ SIDEWALK - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He walks through the crowd, scanning faces, hunting.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. DOWNTOWN/ MINI-MART - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Leaning against the wall, he hangs the baggy just outside his jean pocket, trying to get the attention of a man in a SUIT. Suit ignores him. Evan shakes it off, dismayed. He leaves.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. DOWNTOWN/ STREET - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He grabs a BROWN GROCERY SACK from his car, tests out a \* TASER, and walks off. \*</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. DOWNTOWN/ RESTAURANT - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>We follow Kris to a back hallway where the restrooms are. She tries the women's, but it's locked. She waits, checks her phone, flicks through messages. Beyond her... ...Evan waits outside the men's. He approaches with his phone out to show her:</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Are you getting a signal in here? Got a new phone and I can't tell if it's me or-</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She looks over, but it doesn't matter because now he's close enough to jam a TASER under her ribs. She seizes up and collapses against the wall. In one practiced move he puts the taser away and cradles her in one arm. She looks like any other drunk girl.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. DOWNTOWN/ ALLEYWAY BEHIND RESTAURANT - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The exit door BANGS OPEN. He lays her on the pavement. She's gasping for breath, not able to make a sound. He retrieves the GROCERY SACK from behind a dumpster and sits on her chest as he unpacks a RESUSCITATOR. He places it over her mouth and twists the valve. WATER starts to drip. He squeezes the resuscitator bag that we now see is full of liquid. It flows into her, forcing her to swallow. For an instant we see an INCHWORM in the tube before it disappears into her mouth. She swallows one last time. He takes the device away, allowing her to breathe. He stands up like he's just roped a calf. She gasps, crawling to her knees. She stumbles to her feet, trying to escape down the alley. He grabs her PURSE from the ground and slowly follows, keeping his distance, observing. A subtle transformation takes place: Her panic ebbs until she is walking casually, unsure of her own motivation. She suddenly veers off, but Evan corrects her:</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>No no. Come on. This way.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She obeys. By the time they reach the heavy foot traffic on the main street, she is more like a companion than victim.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Turn left here.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She does. They enter the thick congestion of people.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Hold onto my belt. Take your purse.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She does. He leads. They are just another couple on a date.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>19A INT. KRIS' CAR - NEXT - NIGHT \*</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Evan rides in the back seat, scanning Kris' house as they pull into the long driveway.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ OFFICE - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>At the desk Evan thumbs through bills, financial statements, etc. He sets aside blank "BALANCE TRANSFER CHECKS". He opens her checkbook to see the balance: "$5189.23". He checks his watch, thinks. He pulls a PAPERBACK copy of "WALDEN" from his back pocket, rests it on the desk. He taps the cover while scanning the room.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ HALLWAY CLOSET - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He pulls out various BOARD GAMES, looking for something. He finds a case of POKER CHIPS, tucks it under his arm.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ FOYER - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>KRIS' BARE FEET are within ONE WHITE TILE of the tiled floor. She stands, relaxed, almost nodding off against the wall. Evan SNAPS his fingers:</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>No no. Stay awake. You feel refreshed.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Is there food?</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>All the food is poisoned. You're throat is parched. Go to the kitchen. Make a pitcher of ice water. Bring a small glass.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She looks to the kitchen and then to her feet, confused.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>You can leave the tile. The rest of the floor will support your weight now.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ LIVING ROOM - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The PITCHER and GLASS rest on the table. Kris sits.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>I have to apologize. I was born with a disfigurement where my head is made of the same material as the sun. It makes it impossible for you to look directly at me. It has always been this way.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris is hit with a FLOOD OF LIGHT. She squints, turns away. Evan's head is a BRIGHT LIGHT, illuminating the room. He pours a tiny amount of water into the glass.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>The water before you is somehow special. When you drink it you feel revived and full of energy. It is better than anything you have ever tasted. Take a drink now.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She does, surprised at how good it is. He pours again.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>There are two approaching armies: hunger and fatigue. But a great wall keeps them at bay. The wall extends to the sky and will stay up until I say otherwise. Each drink is better than the last, leaving you with a desire to have one more. Take a drink now.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She does, immediately eyeing the pitcher, wanting more.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>The next drink must be earned and I'm going to tell you how. Focus closely on my instructions. I will ask you to repeat them from memory.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ BEDROOM - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Evan sleeps alone in Kris' bed. His phone alarm BEEPS. He wakes. CUT TO: He plays a few hands of POKER on his phone.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ KITCHEN - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He scans over a tray of MULTI-COLORED ESPRESSO CAPSULES, trying to pick one. He tries to figure out how to get a capsule into the machine. ESPRESSO pours into a cup. We hear Kris in the next room...</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She is organizing the poker chips in stacks of 10:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Ten chip. Ten chip. Eight, nine, ten chip. Three, four, and six, ten chip...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She does a quick count of the stacks with her finger. Satisfied, she grabs a nearby SHEET OF PAPER full of her HANDWRITING. She folds it over and adds it as another "link" in the CHAIN OF PAPER RINGS she has been constructing all night. She uses a glue stick and then counts while she holds it tight:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four and five and stick...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She lets go of the paper, watching to make sure it sticks. It does so she gets her treat, filling the glass precisely to a MARKER LINE drawn by hand. It's barely a sip. She downs the drink and takes a moment to enjoy it before realizing she wants another. She gets back to work. CUT TO: Evan enters with his coffee and a disconnected TELEPHONE. Kris finishes transcribing a page from "WALDEN" to a sheet of blank paper and immediately starts stacking chips. First a line of single chips, then two:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>One chip, one chip, one chip, one, one, one, one chip, one, one, one chip, two chip, two chip, two, one and two chip...</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>The water has lost its appeal. It doesn't seem as enticing as before. You have no craving for it.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She continues her work, but slowly the passion for it goes missing as if she is questioning it for the first time. He places the telephone RECEIVER to his ear as a prop:</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Kris, I've just got a call. It's your mother. She says she's been taken by several men.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Oh no.</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>She says they won't let her go unless you pay them.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>No. Oh no. Do you have money?</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>No, I don't. I'm sorry. Can you think of anything? She sounds brave, but I think they're hurting her.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Mom. I have the house.</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>You own the house?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Not all of it. But I have...I could-</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>What's the equity?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Thirty-six thousand. Would that be enough? And coins.</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Coins?</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ WALK-IN CLOSET - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She sits in front of a WALL PANEL, very upset, crying:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I just. Don't. Feel. Like I should.</dialogue>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Do you want me to look away? Would that make you feel better?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She hesitates. He's still directly behind her but...</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>I've stepped outside. You are comfortable and secure. You have taken control. Confident and empowered.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She opens the panel revealing a HANDGUN, PAPERS, and 3 VELVET CASES. Evan sees the gun and eyes Kris, but she's oblivious to it, only removing the cases before returning the panel.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ BATHROOM - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She's on the toilet after a night of drinking water. At the counter Evan counts the GOLD COINS in the first case and then opens the next two cases, also FULL.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ OFFICE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>PAPERS slide out of the PRINTER entitled: "APPLICATION FOR HOME EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT".</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ BEDROOM - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Evan picks out a WHITE DRESS from Kris' closet...</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ DINING ROOM - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris wears the dress, makeup done, beautiful. She finishes filling out the application at the table. Evan checks it and slides a BALANCE TRANSFER CHECK to her.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Five thousand.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She fills it out, writes "$5000.00", signs it.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Forty-five hundred.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He slides another check to her. She fills it out.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Three thousand.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He slides another.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' CAR - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She drives. He sits immediately behind her.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Weather is beautiful. You feel like walking a bit so you park a block away.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. BANK - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>From the car he watches her go in from a block away.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' CAR - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She drives while relaying a mental transcript:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>-I give you back your ID? There we are. Current balance is at the bottom. Please allow three to four business days for availability of funds. Is there anything else I can help you with? No, that's it. Then thank you very much for stopping in Miss Fischer and have a great-</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREDIT UNION - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris exits and walks toward the car.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' CAR - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Again, while she drives:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Yes ma'am, may I help you? Who can I speak to about a home equity line of credit? I can help you with that. My name is Marie. Please have a seat. I love your broche-</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ LIVING ROOM - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris is alone. She's lost weight. Her eyes are sunken in. Her busywork has become more elaborate. She CROCHETS with YARN that alternates between WHITE and RED after some length:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Over and under and through and back and over and under and through and around and over and under and through and back and now you are red.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She positions herself in front of the RED PIECES in a game of CHECKERS. After some thought, she plays, jumping a piece.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Crown me.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She adds another handwritten page from "Walden" to the chain and pours a sip of water. The chain is now 20 FEET LONG and winds throughout the room.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. KRIS' HOUSE/ BACK PORCH - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Evan listens to voicemail on Kris' phone while playing more poker on his.</scene_description>
    <character>MAN ON PHONE</character>
    <dialogue>Kris, Roth again. I assumed you've been sick and maybe called HR instead. Um, I don't know why you would do that, we need to hear-</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He hits "delete". Behind him Kris continues her work.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ KITCHEN - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Evan is making a SANDWICH, slathering CREAM CHEESE. He suddenly notices Kris is standing behind him holding the empty pitcher. Still shielding her eyes from him, she's staring at the sandwich, salivating.</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>The wall is a mile thick and made of rock. Nothing can or ever has gotten through.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She moves on to refill her pitcher, but her eyes linger. He thinks on this. CUT TO: He fills a LARGE POT with ICE.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ DINING ROOM - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She's enjoying a BOWL of ice, blowing over a spoonful, convinced it is hot. The large pot and ladle are on the table. On the wall SHADOWS of tree leaves dance. She laughs at them likes she's watching a sitcom. Which she is.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' CAR - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Evan waits in the backseat as Kris approaches from the bank. She gets behind the wheel, drops an ENVELOPE on the next seat. As they drive off he grabs the envelope, checks the CASH inside, and files it with other envelopes in a SHOEBOX.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ LIVING ROOM - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris does her busywork. Evan packs the coins in the shoebox... ...puts WALDEN back in his pocket... ...grabs the telephone and pitcher... ...dumps the ice water in the sink... ...watches Kris work for one last moment before...</scene_description>
    <character>EVAN</character>
    <dialogue>Kris, the wall has crumbled, fallen down.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Her works slows. She sits back. While Evan begins packing the LONG CHAIN OF PAPER RINGS into TRASH BAGS she stands, heading to the kitchen.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ KITCHEN - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She sits on the floor eating from the refrigerator with the doors wide open. She's too busy to notice Evan exit through the front door with the trash bags and shoebox. CUT TO: She's gone. The refrigerator contents have been ransacked and the doors left open.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ BEDROOM - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She's in deep sleep, JAM and BITS OF FOOD caked on her mouth.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. BLOODSTREAM</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>On a macro scale we see representations of chemistry, biology, branching, growth. SLENDER TUBULES glide past each other.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ BEDROOM - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Still asleep, Kris' arm UNFURLS and twists seemingly under its own control until it extends out to the edge of the bed. One at a time her legs reach out to full extension. On her left calf something that looks like a LARGE VEIN rises against the inside of the skin and ELONGATES toward her foot. The same happens on her left forearm. Her eyes open slowly. Unaware, she turns to her right arm... ...to see the LONG WORM rise against the skin.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ KITCHEN - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Sitting on the floor against the counter Kris frantically tries to push the worm along her ankle with her hand. With the other hand she reaches up to a drawer and withdraws a KNIFE. She summons bravery and then CUTS into her leg. She's able to pull out the end of the worm, but the more she pulls the more agonizing the pain. With 6 inches of worm in her grip she slices off its end. Immediately, we hear a HIGH-PITCHED TONE. She passes out.</scene_description>
    <character>DAY</character>
    <dialogue>She's still lying in the same spot. Unconscious.</dialogue>
    <character>NIGHT</character>
    <dialogue>She slowly comes to.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: She sits at the refrigerator, EATING fast, DRINKING water. She thinks to examine her ankle and sees... The wound is SCABBED OVER.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>47A EXT. TRUCK BED - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>10 SPEAKERS lay in the bed as the truck heads toward the CITY on a rural road.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. EMPTY FIELD/ OUTSKIRTS - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Against the far off CITYSCAPE we isolate a TRUCK. Extending up from the cab on a POLE is a GANG OF LIGHTS that suddenly flips on, lighting the surroundings like a bioluminescent lure. CUT TO: Alone, WESLEY (50) unloads 10 LARGE SPEAKERS from his truck. He lays them face down on the ground in a group. He hits "play" on a TAPE PLAYER next to preamps in the truck bed. GRUMBLING BASS like womb noise plays into the ground. He walks away from the setup, a FOLDING CHAIR under his arm.</scene_description>
    <character>NIGHT</character>
    <dialogue>EARTHWORMS writhe in the mud.</dialogue>
    <dialogue>Far away Wesley sits in his chair taking notes under a book light. A VIDEO on his phone shows a CELLIST auditioning in an empty rehearsal hall. After a few bars...</dialogue>
    <dialogue>He skips to another clip, an OBOIST:</dialogue>
    <character>OBOIST (IN VIDEO)</character>
    <dialogue>My name is Kevin Anderson. I'll be playing Ilaiyaraja's score from Dalapathi in G.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>3 seconds in, Wesley skips to a FRENCH HORN, TRUMPET, etc. HEADLIGHTS approach on the road. He leans to his telescope: The car stops. Kris steps out in a nightgown, moving into the field toward the speakers. Wesley packs up. Kris walks almost trancelike, stopping once before continuing. Nearby, more worms writhe on the ground. Dark everywhere. She gets to the speakers. The bass switches off suddenly. The SILENCE wakes her. Wesley hits the truck headlights and moves to her. She raises her arms, showing him CUTS on all her extremities.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>It won't come out.</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>No. Not like that.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. LIVESTOCK BUILDING/ EXAM ROOM - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris stands next to a STEEL PLATFORM, a scale for weighing livestock. Fluorescents hum while she looks around nervously. Wesley calibrates the scale then...</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>Ok, go ahead and step on.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She does. He marks her weight on a CLIPBOARD.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. LIVESTOCK BUILDING/ WHITE ROOM - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She sits on a COT downing a tall glass of a MILKY MIXTURE. She eyes Wesley who is marking up the clipboard.</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>What did you weigh...before the growth?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>One fifteen. Maybe. Why?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>All business, he puts another full glass of the mixture in front of her. She grabs it and prepares to drink.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Will you say why?</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>It's fine. This guy's 11 pounds.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Is that good?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Wesley silently continues writing.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>How long does it take?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He pours another glass to a precise level for her.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>This'll kill it?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He makes the mistake of looking at her and melts a bit:</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>I can answer all your questions after. Right now there's no point in telling you. You won't remember.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Where did it come from?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Nothing.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>This will kill it?</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>No. No that won't. That's going to make you very sick. We're making your body a place he doesn't want to be. Eleven pounds makes him thirty feet long so it'll take around three and a half days.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He closes his clipboard, set to leave. She's scared.</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>It doesn't come from anywhere. You people just show up. I'm sure you think you're awake. You're not awake.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. LIVESTOCK BUILDING/ EXAM ROOM - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley puts in EARPLUGS to muffle Kris' SCREAMS of agony coming from down the hall. He ties TWO RAW BEEF STEAKS together with GAUZE.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. LIVESTOCK BUILDING/ WHITE ROOM - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley searches Kris' extremities: left arm, left leg, right arm, right leg. That's where he finds the NUB of the worm's head peeking out. He wraps the layers of beef over it. He pulls the cot to the other side of the room for better access, nearly deaf to her screams.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. LIVESTOCK BUILDING/ EXAM ROOM - MORNING</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley has prepped an area on the belly of an unconscious PIG for surgery. He washes it with iodine. He begins to cut out a SQUARE SEGMENT with a scalpel.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. LIVESTOCK BUILDING/ WHITE ROOM - NEXT - MORNING</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He checks between the steaks to see the worm has traveled through the first and entered the second. He inserts a WOODEN DOWEL under the worm and manages to loop it a few times. He turns the dowel, pulling more of the worm from Kris. She screams. He wheels the pig into the room on a gurney, positioned next to Kris' leg. He affixes the second steak, worm still embedded, to the square wound on the pig.</scene_description>
    <character>NIGHT</character>
    <dialogue>Kris moans, passed out from exhaustion. Wesley pours more mixture, wakes her.</dialogue>
    <dialogue>She pushes it away, screaming:</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>NO! NO!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She looks toward the pig and goes quiet. After some thought she downs the poison. She has seen: The setup is orderly and running well. The worm goes from her leg, around the dowel (now supported on a stand) a few times, and then disappears into the pig.</scene_description>
    <character>DAY</character>
    <dialogue>Wesley turns the dowel for the last time, removing the last part of worm from Kris. He wheels the pig out of the room. 12 inches of worm still protrudes from its wound.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. LIVESTOCK BUILDING/ EXAM ROOM - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Reading from his notes he adds a line to a page of names and serial numbers: "KRIS FISCHER 20110802-Kris" On a SMALL TAG he copies the serial number: "20110802-Kris" He PIERCES the pig's ear with the tag. By now the worm has crawled further in with only a few inches now left outside.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The pig is released into the pen passing others with similar ear tags and first names: "Robert" "Luis" "Paula" etc. The pen holds 50 PIGS. Beyond it is Wesley's FARMHOUSE.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. KRIS' HOUSE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris calmly walks to the front entrance and opens the door.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>We follow as she passes through the living room, the kitchen, her bedroom. She doesn't seem to notice the TENS OF PEOPLE standing idle in every room. She begins to remove her nightgown when she stops, puzzled. She calmly steps back to the kitchen to see everyone, but before she can make sense of it...</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. RURAL ROAD NEAR REFINERY - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris wakes in her car. She has been placed behind the wheel. The car is parked just off the road. 4 STRIPED TOWERS of an oil refinery lie in the distance. For a moment she is frozen in terror, eyes wide. She suddenly takes a huge breath, waking to her surroundings. She nervously checks the backseat, the glove box, the floorboard, looking for any clue to how she got here. A moment of thought leads her to a greater fear: she lifts her nightgown and puts a hand in her underwear. She inspects her fingers but nothing is confirmed either way.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. POLICE STATION - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She drives into the parking lot... ...turns off the ignition, about to open the car door but... Her hand rests on the HANDLE. She scans people: COPS, VICTIMS, MEN IN HANDCUFFS. She's hesitating. She starts up the ignition and backs out.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. KRIS' HOUSE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She pulls into the driveway, looking for anything suspicious. CUT TO: She opens the front door and pushes it WIDE OPEN. After checking around corners she quickly takes a few steps in, grabs her CELLPHONE, and retreats back outside. She dials 911 then lets her thumb hover over the CALL button. She wields this as a weapon and enters the house.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She stands in each room, studying it. The OFFICE...</scene_description>
    <character>...LIVING ROOM...</character>
    <dialogue>...HALLWAY...</dialogue>
    <character>...BEDROOM...</character>
    <dialogue>...KITCHEN. She crouches near the DRIED BLOOD on the floor. The KNIFE lies next to it. She rubs her wrist.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: She MOPS and cleans the kitchen.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ BATHROOM - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris showers.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ LIVING ROOM - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>DRESSED for work, PURSE ready, COAT on. She sits on the couch gathering thoughts, contemplating.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. VISUAL PRODUCTION BUILDING - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She walks with determination through the parking lot toward the front entrance.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. VISUAL PRODUCTION BUILDING/ OFFICE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris sits before a female MANAGER.</scene_description>
    <character>MANAGER</character>
    <dialogue>And did you try anybody else? Because I spoke to Amy and she didn't remember talking to-</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I already said it was voicemail. I left a voice- where is Roth? Today. Why isn't he telling me himself?</dialogue>
    <character>MANAGER</character>
    <dialogue>Well he couldn't be here but that's not...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris notices a SECURITY GUARD enter and stand nearby.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I. Had. The flu. I had a hundred and six temperature!</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. VISUAL PRODUCTION BUILDING - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She walks to her car, crying and carrying PICTURE FRAMES, a MUG, etc. The guard stays behind her.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. GROCERY STORE - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris is checking out, running her CARD through the SCANNER. It's not working. The CASHIER tries to help but it's no use. Frustration mounts. We're too far away to hear dialogue.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. BANK/ INVESTIGATOR'S OFFICE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris waits alone. Her older sister MAGGIE stands just outside.</scene_description>
    <character>MAGGIE (ON CELLPHONE)</character>
    <dialogue>Richie, it's me. If you're already on the road I'm sorry, but we've got a problem. It's Kris. Everybody's safe but you need to call as soon as you can.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: Maggie has joined Kris, both seated, waiting.</scene_description>
    <character>MAGGIE</character>
    <dialogue>What time do you have to get back?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris stares forward, tense.</scene_description>
    <character>MAGGIE</character>
    <dialogue>Kris, what time?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I don't. I quit.</dialogue>
    <character>MAGGIE</character>
    <dialogue>You quit your job? When?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Few days ago- last week.</dialogue>
    <character>MAGGIE</character>
    <dialogue>Krissy, why?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Because. They're assholes.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>The bank INVESTIGATOR joins them at his desk with PAPERS.</scene_description>
    <character>CUT TO:</character>
    <dialogue>He's placed down a WITHDRAWAL SLIP COPY for them to inspect.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>...that's not even my- that's forged. That's not my signature. It's not.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Maggie scrutinizes the handwriting as another paper is slid next to it with an IDENTICAL SIGNATURE: "Kris Fischer".</scene_description>
    <character>INVESTIGATOR</character>
    <dialogue>And this is a deposit slip from September.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, that's my writing. This isn't though, see? It's forgery.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Maggie compares them: the same. She looks at Kris, perplexed.</scene_description>
    <character>CUT TO:</character>
    <dialogue>The Investigator tries to put together a thoughtful response.</dialogue>
    <character>INVESTIGATOR</character>
    <dialogue>Coerced. See the problem I'm having is first you say theft then you say your signature is forged. Now we're at coerced. I have no interest in</dialogue>
    <character>INVESTIGATOR</character>
    <dialogue>proving, disproving. Certainly you've experienced something. I just know that my ability to help is coming to an end. From the standpoint of the bank there has been no wrongdoing.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>The three are quiet, unsure how to move on.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. BANK/ BACK CORRIDOR - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The Investigator is about to open a door to let Maggie into a room but first prefaces:</scene_description>
    <character>INVESTIGATOR</character>
    <dialogue>I want you to understand this is not something I'm doing because I have to. The notary public remembers her, the tellers remember. But you've been very polite and seem genuinely bewildered by this so...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He opens the door to a room full of SECURITY CAMERA MONITORS.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ LIVING ROOM - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris stares at PRINTOUTS from the security footage: her at the teller window on separate days, alone. Maggie and their brother Rich (40) sit far away, discussing:</scene_description>
    <character>MAGGIE</character>
    <dialogue>And one more thing. Dad's coins are gone.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Rich, already in shock, takes this hard. He can only laugh. CUT TO:</scene_description>
    <character>RICH</character>
    <dialogue>I have a good idea where it went, Maggie! What are we intervening? Is this where we do the whole - because whatever she's on (to Kris) whatever you're on I'll write a check right now for the precise amount it would take you to OD. Give me a number!</dialogue>
    <character>MAGGIE</character>
    <dialogue>Okay, that's enough.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO:</scene_description>
    <character>MAGGIE</character>
    <dialogue>I know of someone she can talk to.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' HOUSE/ BATHROOM - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Maggie stares at the wall. Beyond her Kris removes her nightgown and waits to be inspected in her underwear. Maggie turns to Kris, sees the WOUNDS, and instantly has to look away. She melts down in a horrified crying grimace.</scene_description>
    <character>MAGGIE</character>
    <dialogue>Baby Krissy.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. COMMUTER TRAIN - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>JEFF (35) finds a seat in the front car, heading for work. He sits up. Something is off. He looks around. Did he forget something? He checks his bag, his wallet. Nothing. His head is drawn toward the rear of the train. He suddenly gets up and walks back with his belongings. He moves into the next car back, checking the passengers. Nothing. He has a seat there. Still not right. He gets up again and moves back a car, his hand tracing along the seats. He doesn't know what he's after. He enters the fourth car, sees Kris, thinks, sits across the aisle from her. Her head rests on the window, headphones on, eyes closed. Dressed CASUAL, her hair is SHORT BLONDE now. He studies her, then her bag, her hands, the floor, thinking. She opens her eyes, aware of something but not sure what. She sits up, removes headphones, searches the room, lands on Jeff.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. BREAKFAST STAND - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They finish coffee, exchanging business cards. She writes her number on the back. Awkward but full of promise.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>...address is there. You ever need signage of any kind, just call or come down-</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Never in a million years would I ever need that. Never. But I- this is you?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>That's me.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I'll call. Kris. I don't have any need for signage. I won't be calling for signage.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Okay. Jeff.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Okay. It was really good meeting you.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>They depart.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. TRAIN STATION - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Different day. Jeff waits for the train. It comes. As it slows to a stop he scans each passenger car, looking for someone. He gets on, looks around, exits. The train departs. He waits again.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. COMMUTER TRAIN - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris rides to work, her head in a catalog. SOMETHING quietly draws her attention forward. She lifts her eyes, then head, scanning outside.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. TRAIN STATION - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff gives up on another train as it departs. Now it's his turn to be drawn. He looks down the empty railway. CUT TO: A new train is coming to stop. He walks alongside, not even looking in the windows. He senses which car to enter. He boards and finds a seat across the aisle from Kris who turns back to him even before he arrives. Silence. Jeff catches his breath. Kris is stoic.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I called you.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She nods, not giving anything away.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>This makes me late for work- I can't do this everyday. You're four trains after me. So you're going to have to answer. If I call- I'm gonna call. Again.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. BAR - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They sit near the window. She's digging through her purse, half-listening to...</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>...I picked up an MBA in finance. That's what the firm does. There's a commercial side, other half's personal wealth.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Where is it? \[his job\]</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You can actually see- see that high-rise? Palomar building? C & L Crowne. That's us.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Why do you take the train?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>The purse-digging has become distracting. He goes quiet.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Everyone on there's homeless or had their license revoked or...you know.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You want to see my driver's license?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She finally retrieves a PRESCRIPTION PILL BOTTLE and puts it on the table between them. After a moment, she explains:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>That's a gift for us.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He doesn't know what to do with that.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>There's this path forward where I wait to tell you. Then maybe you use it as an excuse, maybe you don't- I don't know. Last year I was diagnosed bipolar. I take those...and these. And it's fine.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He stands a menu up to hide the bottle. He thinks.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>So that's here now. Saved us at least three to four weeks.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I'll just get the check and we can get-</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She's not amused at his deadpan. He smiles.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I'm sorry. That was stupid. I don't know what to say to that.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. SIDEWALK - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They walk leisurely. It's still a date of some kind.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I'll tell you...before we pass that trashcan. I'll have something.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>They walk in silence, nearing the TRASHCAN. They pass it. It's not as amusing as he thinks it is. Finally...</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I'm divorced. Is that bad? It is, right?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>It's not great.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. TRAIN STATION - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She's about to step onto an ESCALATOR. They are winding down.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>How's that work...in movies? We meet- we say we'll meet tomorrow at a place at noon. Say the taco place at mockingbird. We say we'll meet and then...</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>If we both show up we know we're good.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, but how does it work? I show up, you're not there, that means you don't want...to try- but how does that help me?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>And I wouldn't know if you showed or-</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, no that's what it is. That's what it is. I get to feel okay because I know you don't know...you don't know I showed up so I don't feel foolish. I like that.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I think...Jeff...I'm going to save you some time. Thank you for lunch but...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She moves away, gets on the escalator. He smirks, trying to be amused at the insult. Instead he gets awkward and a bit angry:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, I'll save you some time.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He starts down the stairs, walking alongside her.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I'll save you some time. I know what train you take. Red line. About 8:15, yeah? Save me a seat.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He heads back, trying to exit on his own terms.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>80A INT. SIGN STORE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris operates a LARGE INDUSTRIAL PRINTER. She waits for it to finish, getting lost in the drone of the machine, her thoughts.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>80B EXT. DOWNTOWN/ MAP RELIEF SCULPTURE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She eats a sandwich on break, watching people. Her hand \* rests behind her, lingering over the outline of TINY MODEL BUILDINGS, which are part of the sculpture. She stays on a particular one:</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>80C EXT. C & L FINANCIAL - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>PUSH IN to the 30th floor of the HIGH RISE.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. C & L CROWNE FINANCIAL/ BREAK ROOM - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff has his PAPERWORK laid out on a table. People use the VENDING MACHINES behind him. He wakes from a daze and looks across the office floor, his eyes landing on a far away NAME PLATE that reads "E. ALDERMAN". This means something to him. Coincidentally, ALDERMAN steps out and speaks to his secretary before heading away. Jeff watches him go. An INTERN passes Jeff, which reminds him:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Hey, these FLPs for the realty group, they'll be done by Thursday, yeah? Cause when we put this in front of them the first thing they'll ask for is-</dialogue>
    <character>INTERN 1</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, I'll try.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Jeff doesn't like that answer but is staying friendly:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Can you maybe firm that up?</dialogue>
    <character>INTERN 1</character>
    <dialogue>I'll really try.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>And that's the best he's going to get so he resigns:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>All right.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CONVENIENCE STORE - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He plays SCRATCH OFF LOTTERY TICKETS on a trash bin. No luck. He tosses them. He's about to leave when... ...instead he heads back inside...</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Give me two more. Three pick daily.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CHAIN HOTEL / CHECK-IN - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff walks past GUESTS checking in. He removes a FOLDER from his bag, enters a back office, seemingly belonging there.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CHAIN HOTEL/ BACK OFFICE - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He and the hotel owner, RAJ (50s), are poring over FINANCIALS. He digs into a bowl of M&Ms, separating out the BLUE ONES.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Raj, we have clients with ten times this revenue that don't have near tax liability you do. So we can have another talk about how screwed up the code is or you can take the charge against and solve it.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CLOSER on the M&Ms, his hand stabbing into them.</scene_description>
    <character>RAJ</character>
    <dialogue>But the downtown hotel is profitable.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>They all are. This is fiscal, just the quarter. You want to be right? Or rich?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CLOSER STILL on the M&Ms. He stabs again.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>84A INT. INDOOR POOL - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A HAND picks up STRAY CONCRETE BITS off the bottom of the pool. Kris is swimming, hovering, scanning, searching the pieces. Alone, quiet, small in the frame.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CHAIN HOTEL / CHECK-IN - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A CLERK is checking Jeff in. It's informal. Clerk is more interested in a COWORKER'S story...</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Can I. Jim. Jimmy. Is there a window room?</dialogue>
    <character>CLERK</character>
    <dialogue>They all have windows.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I mean not facing the alley.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Raj passes by, gives Jeff a goodbye pat on the shoulder.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CHAIN HOTEL/ SNACK STAND - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The place is dark and closed for the night. Jeff sneaks behind the counter and snatches a BOX OF STRAWS.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CHAIN HOTEL/ JEFF'S ROOM - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He opens the door, enters, unpacks. CUT TO: He dumps the straws in a pile on the desk and begins work. Our view is from behind him so we can't see what he's doing.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. WESLEY'S FARMHOUSE/ MUSIC ROOM - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley listens to a symphonic score on HEADPHONES. The room contains mics, synths, etc. He shakes his head, aggravated:</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>Incredible. What are you doing? What are you doing? Goddamn it, what are you doing?</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. WESLEY'S FARMHOUSE/ LIVING ROOM - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He studies SHEET MUSIC. Now a stereo BLARES the score.</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>I mean what is this? I don't ever want-</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He shuts the music off.</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>These eight, nine notes are poison. The refrain. I can't hear it again. Anathema.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>We realize he's speaking with someone on SPEAKERPHONE:</scene_description>
    <character>SPEAKERPHONE</character>
    <dialogue>Don't know what to say. To my ears there-</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>Okay, look. I'm going to clean this up, send a new version in the morning. For now, please, for my own sanity, take a giant black marker and redact bars...9-13...22-26...no 28...35-37.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He rifles through sheet music, circling the appropriate bars.</scene_description>
    <character>SPEAKERPHONE</character>
    <dialogue>Done. I'll toss the lot. What it's worth I think it's fine, but do what you need to.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Wesley is already moving away, ready to hang up.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He purposefully steps to the gate, waits. He scans the varying clusters of pigs intently. CUT TO: He slowly walks through the pen, looking from pig to pig. He passes one and lowers his hand like he's feeling a breeze.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. OFFICE CUBICLE - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A DESKWORKER sits at his desk alone, typing, reading, etc. WESLEY'S HAND passes by as if he's walking along the cubicles.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley moves on to the next pig, stands next to it.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. SEDAN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A COMMUTER drives in thick traffic, alone in his car.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley crouches next to the pig, studying its face and eyes.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. SEDAN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Now Wesley is in the passenger seat, watching the Commuter.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. RESTAURANT - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A WOMAN eats lunch at a table alone, watching people. NEW ANGLE: Wesley sits across from her. She doesn't notice. He gets up to leave, unsatisfied. She continues, unaware.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley stands from a seated position and crouches near another pig, pulling its collar to inspect its face.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. STOREFRONT - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He stands on the sidewalk. A SHOPPER turns to face a window near him, moving her head just like the pig did when pulled. He "releases" her and she moves down the sidewalk. He turns.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He turns. Something is drawing him in. He steps away. RED LIGHTS flash against his face as he approaches a pig.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. SUBURBAN STREET - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A HUSBAND worriedly watches EMTs push his WIFE on a gurney into an AMBULANCE, lights FLASHING. He's in shock. A PLASTIC SHOPPING BAG hangs from his fingers. Among the ONLOOKERS behind him, Wesley arrives. An EMT interviews a NEIGHBOR woman:</scene_description>
    <character>NEIGHBOR</character>
    <dialogue>I had seen her earlier from my kitchen- she was weeding her garden and when I looked back she's lying on the ground and I knew something was wrong. I ran to the fence and kept yelling "Jill! Jill!" but she just wouldn't...you know...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>EMT talks to Husband:</scene_description>
    <character>EMT</character>
    <dialogue>-taking any kind of medication? She have a health condition of any kind?</dialogue>
    <character>HUSBAND</character>
    <dialogue>No. I mean, asthma. But just asthma.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Neighbor gently takes the plastic bag from Husband:</scene_description>
    <character>NEIGHBOR</character>
    <dialogue>Let me take that. You'll go with them.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. AMBULANCE - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The ambulance speeds down the road. Husband watches the EMTs work on Wife. Wesley sits far in back, watching it all.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley has brought out his lawn chair, his notebook, and a small SYNTH PAD. He sits next to the pig, composing.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. HOSPITAL WAITING AREA - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Husband sits, wide-eyed, worried, staring, thinking. Wesley sits behind him on the opposite side of the row of chairs, back to back, keeping close. He begins to hear FAINT VOICES. He leans near Husband's head and the VOLUME increases:</scene_description>
    <character>WIFE (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>I wanted to say that I hope today is better and that I love you.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Closer still and he can see Husband's thoughts:</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Husband is trying to leave, his hand on the doorknob. Wife pleads with him. Their clothes tell us it's earlier today.</scene_description>
    <character>WIFE</character>
    <dialogue>And I made a list of the things I want to try harder at. I love you.</dialogue>
    <character>HUSBAND</character>
    <dialogue>Goddamn it, Jillian. That doesn't fix anything. Just words. I gotta go.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He opens the door and walks out. CUT TO: In the den, Husband unscrews a light fixture, checks the BULB.</scene_description>
    <character>HUSBAND</character>
    <dialogue>Shit.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He walks to the front door. Wife is in the kitchen.</scene_description>
    <character>HUSBAND</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, they're halogen. I got to run up and get a pack.</dialogue>
    <character>WIFE</character>
    <dialogue>Wait a second.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He pauses as she approaches, something on her mind:</scene_description>
    <character>HUSBAND</character>
    <dialogue>Oh, now you want to talk...I'm headed out the door?</dialogue>
    <character>WIFE</character>
    <dialogue>I just want to say that I hope today is better and that I do love you.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>We're back where we started. Except slightly different:</scene_description>
    <character>HUSBAND</character>
    <dialogue>Damn it, Jill. This is worthless. Doesn't fix anything. I'll be back.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He opens the door. Steps out. CUT TO: 10 seconds ago: He's at the door. She walks to him.</scene_description>
    <character>HUSBAND</character>
    <dialogue>Leave me alone, Jillian. Not now.</dialogue>
    <character>WIFE</character>
    <dialogue>I want this to be a good day. I love you.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He opens the door. It repeats again:</scene_description>
    <character>WIFE</character>
    <dialogue>I think you were right about a lot of things and I hope today is peaceful-</dialogue>
    <character>HUSBAND</character>
    <dialogue>It's just words. Doesn't fix anything.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He relives variations of this dialogue over and over.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. HOSPITAL WAITING AREA - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Husband is still piecing it together. Then one more...</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He walks out again. This time it plays out longer: He gets half way to the car, scanning the front lawn. He turns back to see her waiting in the doorway.</scene_description>
    <character>HUSBAND</character>
    <dialogue>I'll get some washers for that sprinkler head. All right?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She nods. He walks away.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A NURSE holds the door open, letting Husband into the room. There is no urgency. Wife is still. An INTEBATION TUBE has been removed. Husband stays at the foot of the bed. Against the wall Wesley is near tears, connected emotionally.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He's picking out notes on the synth. Chord structures loop and grow, heightening to a crescendo. Then he stops it all except for one SMALL REPEATING NOTE.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Husband has arrived back at his home. He sits upright on the couch alone, staring, in shock. The note stops.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley leans over in his chair, drained. Finished.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. SIGN STORE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff walks in, scans the counter. Kris isn't there.</scene_description>
    <character>BACK ROOM</character>
    <dialogue>She's on a break talking to a coworker. We can see Jeff way up front. Her head suddenly lifts a bit. Without looking she knows he's near. It's a pleasant thought. She dwells on it...</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I need to go up front.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. COMMUTER TRAIN - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris and Jeff sit at the rear of car, watching a WOMAN KNIT:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>She's a...former Senator. Nobel winner. But her category was mittens. And she just never found a way to monetize it so she takes the train. Continues her research.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>They play a game, guessing what's wrong with people. A MAN:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>He's divorced. Cause she cheated.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She checks Jeff's response. It's a subtle: No.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Or he did. He cheated.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>No.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>He has these anger issues, couldn't cope.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Hmmm. Interesting but no.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Alcoholic.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Wow, close.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>No, but a substance of some kind. An illegal kind.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He admits it with silence.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. TRAIN STATION - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They walk away from the station into the night.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I would think there are some marriages that could survive that. Maybe.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Maybe. But...</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Not yours.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Not ours. From her perspective everything flipped just like that. The guy she thought she married turned out to be somebody else, a junkie basically. The savings she thought we were building, the plans, reset to zero. Lights turn on. I'm on a bender holed up in a hotel in Reno.</dialogue>
    <character>BEAT</character>
    <dialogue>KRIS</dialogue>
    <scene_description>You do a program or something?</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>At ACS. See? Problem, solution. Done and done. And you thought you weren't into me.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. KRIS' RUNDOWN APARTMENT - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She's trying to say goodnight. He's not. They hover close.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I have to open the store.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Not that early. I bet...</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>No, I'm lucky to have that job.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>The sign store job. You're lucky?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>It's not my fault when it goes \* wrong. \*</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Yes it is. \*</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' RUNDOWN APARTMENT/ KITCHEN - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They kiss, getting aggressive.</scene_description>
    <character>BEDROOM</character>
    <dialogue>They're asleep in her bed.</dialogue>
    <dialogue>On Jeff's left and Kris' right ankle we see MATCHING SCARS: a circle with an odd "+" in the middle.</dialogue>
    <dialogue>We crane above Kris and Jeff until we see they are now not on the bed at all but instead on a bed sheet laid on the...</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - MORNING</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>...GROUND. They stay asleep, surrounded by pigs. PAN OVER to see Wesley pushing a WHEELBARROW to the pen. He pours several bags of feed into the TROUGH. As the pigs jockey for position, he tosses in some BROWN BANANAS, etc. The pigs FEAST greedily.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS' RUNDOWN APARTMENT/ KITCHEN - MORNING</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>SCRAMBLED EGGS SIZZLE in a pan. They make breakfast. Jeff butters toast, gets jam from the fridge. Kris' eyes follow him back and forth. When he gets close she lunges at him for a brief kiss, almost desperate. Then nervous.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CHAIN HOTEL/ JEFF'S ROOM - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They enter the room. Jeff shows her around.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>Why do you live in hotels?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>I do the books for a group that owns a few of them so...it's sort of a perk.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She's sitting on the bed, her jacket still on, not comfortable. He reads a room service menu.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Right but why do you choose to?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Are you hungry? You got to be.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CHAIN HOTEL/ RESTAURANT KITCHEN - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He leads her by the hand to the back entrance to the kitchen. CUT TO: The place is empty. They eat burgers they made themselves.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>They always remind me of family vacations. I think it's the smell, the chlorine or bleach on the sheets. Glasses in plastic.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>There was this place in Vermont we would go when we were kids. It was some sort of colonial historical site- museums and you know...but what stands out is the hotel we would stay at had an indoor pool and this was just the biggest deal in the world for us, for my brothers. I mean indoor...and you can swim. We would lose it.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She looks at him, almost troubled, scrutinizing.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>What? What are you thinking?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She waves it off. Nothing.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. WESLEY'S FARMHOUSE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley is bringing in GROCERIES from the car. He sees something in the pen that causes him to halt for a second. He watches before moving on.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He approaches with a BAG OF PEANUTS, eating a few. He stops at the fence, watching... In a corner of the pen TWO PIGS, K and J have isolated themselves from the others. K lies down and J looks like he's standing guard. Wesley moves to them while staying outside the fence. He throws a couple peanuts on the ground. J gobbles them up. Wesley throws some more, this time closer to the rest of the pigs. J moves in that direction but won't go past a certain point. Other pigs finally come for the peanuts. J gives them a LOW GRUNT, warding them off. Wesley's not happy with this.</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>No! No!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He throws the whole bag, trying to coax J away from K.</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>Go. Go! Get!</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CHAIN HOTEL/ JEFF'S ROOM - MORNING</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff's cell phone BUZZES on the desk, a message. From the bed Kris notices and looks to the bathroom where Jeff is showering. CUT TO: Out and dressed now, he's putting on a tie.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>You have a message.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Oh, thank you.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He checks it. She waits. He goes back to getting ready.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Are you going?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>For a second he pretends to not understand, but:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>To the banquet.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Oh, you know. It'll be like work. It's people from work. For three hours. Feels like...work.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He sees she was hoping for a different answer...</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I thought we could go though. If you want.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She tries to hide how happy this makes her.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Do you want to?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Yes, more than anything but she can only nod and smile.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. TAXI - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris, DRESSED for the party, enjoys the ride DOWNTOWN.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CERULEAN PLAZA HOTEL/ LOBBY - NEXT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff waits for her, keeping an eye on the front. A COWORKER approaches, introduces his DATE, heads inside. Jeff stays, waiting, thinking, worried.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CERULEAN PLAZA HOTEL - NEXT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The taxi arrives. Jeff opens the door for Kris and pays. She takes in the hotel, ready to walk in... ...but he needs to talk, points away from the hotel and... ...leads her by the hand across the street, dodging traffic...</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. COFFEE SHOP - NEXT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They're at a small table. Kris waits for him to speak as he nervously removes the PAPER WRAPPERS from straws.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I...I like you so much.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Shit. You kidding me? I bought a dress-</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He holds up a hand to keep her calm. She's got the wrong idea.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I have been very careful not to...lie. But through omission you may have gotten the wrong- I gave you a different impression than is...real. And if we walk into that hotel you're gonna know.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris looks to the door like she might bolt. She doesn't.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Okay...</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I'm not an advisor. I don't broker. I do...interdepartmental reports.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>That still sounds impressive-</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>It's not. I work with interns. Alongside interns. Craig pays me in cash to keep me off their books cause if there was an audit I'm a liability.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris almost smiles, relieved, but still wonders...</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I don't...what does that last part mean-</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I stole money, Kris. From a client. Shifted it from account to account until I could grab it.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Because of...Reno?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Lost my broker's license. And they covered for me but if I was anybody else, didn't have a relationship with Craig or his brother I'd be in prison. I'm lucky to have that job.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>License.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She stares at his hands. He has made a CHAIN with the straw wrappers like she made with Evan. But she doesn't remember.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>That was smart...waiting to tell me. Cause what am I gonna do now?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I'm sorry.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I think you might be using that wrong.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CHAIN HOTEL/ JEFF'S ROOM - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff sleeps. Kris pours a cup of room service coffee. CUT TO: She sits near his feet, drinking, looking at his ankle, the WORM SCAR. She's not alarmed. She's seen it before. She runs a finger over her own, grazes his. He stirs.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Morning.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She stays on his ankle, in a daze....</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I might be pregnant.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. WESLEY'S FARMHOUSE - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley holds headphones to one ear and a cellphone to the other, discussing the symphony with someone:</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>They're not following the composition, they're following what they played last season or a year before...right they ARE professional so they should be able to read the page without bringing their own- yes, I know. Tomorrow then. Good night.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He hangs up, continues playback, but then stops it, listening: LOUD PIG GRUNTS erupt from outside. WOOD BREAKING. He steps to the window, flips on the lights over the pen. He scans with binoculars.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He carries a few 8-foot lengths of wood to the fence. He inspects the damage: CRACKED FENCE POST and BOARDS. He looks into the pen: K and J still isolated from the rest. He starts repairs, pulling off the damaged wood. CUT TO: Wesley walks with a VET into the pen toward K and J.</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>...won't let anyone near them. They crowd back in the corner. Violent...</dialogue>
    <character>VET</character>
    <dialogue>If I had to guess...here get him, hold him back...if I had to guess...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: Vet is feeling K's belly. Wesley holds J back with rope.</scene_description>
    <character>VET</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, she has a litter on the way. They can get very protective. Might explain. But you've had litters here? Surely.</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, just never had them break my damn fence. Never seen the parents behave so...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Vet is scanning the pen, seems to have a question.</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>No, I don't keep them around.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Wesley wants this conversation over, starts heading back.</scene_description>
    <character>VET</character>
    <dialogue>Well, I was going to say if you ever-</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>There's a fellow down the way buys them off me.</dialogue>
    <character>VET</character>
    <dialogue>I see. If you do need another buyer I know a petting farm always needs piglets...</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>Oh, sure, sure. Thank you so much.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE/ EXAMINATION ROOM - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris sits in a gown across from a female OBGYN.</scene_description>
    <character>OBGYN</character>
    <dialogue>First off. You...are not pregnant.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>No, I took a test. I am.</dialogue>
    <character>OBGYN</character>
    <dialogue>Well, you can't always trust those. And the HCG in your blood tells us that you are not. So that's more definitive.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris isn't buying this. Pompous doctors...</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Uh-huh. Okay.</dialogue>
    <character>OBGYN</character>
    <dialogue>Now I want to make sure we have correct records. You didn't list it</dialogue>
    <character>OBGYN</character>
    <dialogue>in your questionnaire, but have you had any surgical procedures on your pelvic area?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>No. I would have put that down.</dialogue>
    <character>OBGYN</character>
    <dialogue>Maybe a cyst was removed? Biopsy?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris shakes her head no. Why is she asking?</scene_description>
    <character>OBGYN</character>
    <dialogue>Okay.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Obgyn exits politely, leaving Kris with questions. She can hear Obgyn in the hall telling a nurse:</scene_description>
    <character>OBGYN (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>Let's get her a pelvic CT and white cell count. Put...sonogram inconclusive.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CAT SCAN MONITOR ROOM - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Obgyn consults with a COLLEAGUE in front of MONITORS showing CT SCANS. They point to a DARK VOID on the screen:</scene_description>
    <character>COLLEAGUE</character>
    <dialogue>I'd say post cancer. This is where they removed the tumor, this cavity.</dialogue>
    <character>OBGYN</character>
    <dialogue>Mm-hmm. She says no.</dialogue>
    <character>COLLEAGUE</character>
    <dialogue>No what? Someone was in there. Trauma here...and here.</dialogue>
    <character>OBGYN</character>
    <dialogue>Mm-hmm. How are you supposed to help someone like that?</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. OPERATING ROOM - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris is on the table, unconscious, wearing an anesthesia mask. Obgyn makes an INCISION on her abdomen.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. WAITING AREA - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff paces. He stops, alert to something beyond a far wall.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. OPERATING ROOM - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A LAPARASCOPE is fed into the cut. A nearby MONITOR shows live video of the probe's progress.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. WAITING AREA - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Seated now, he's having a bad reaction, breathing heavily.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. STREET - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He hurries across the street to a...</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. BAR - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>TWO EMPTY SHOT GLASSES sit before him. He downs a third and orders a fourth. It's settling him.</scene_description>
    <character>OBGYN (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>By all appearances, and this is Doctor Pear's opinion as well, you are a survivor of stage three endometrial cancer.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris recovers in bed. Obgyn sits across from her:</scene_description>
    <character>OBGYN</character>
    <dialogue>The good news is there's no sign of any remaining carcinoma. Labs show you're in no immediate danger. But the trauma it left behind is significant.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: Alone, Kris changes out of the gown into clothes.</scene_description>
    <character>OBGYN (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>Well, I'm saying two things. It is highly unlikely given the state of the organs that you could ever become pregnant and...</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - NEXT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris wanders to the exit, trancelike, despondent.</scene_description>
    <character>OBGYN (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>...if by some miracle you were to conceive, the faculties are too damaged to carry a baby to term.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. TAXI - NEXT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff rides, scanning. He sees Kris walking, tells cabbie:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Here, here, pull over.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. TRAIN STATION - CONTINUOUS - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She turns a corner to start up the stairs to the platform. Jeff comes after her, desperate:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Krissy! Krissy!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He runs up. She falls into him, breaks down.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Why'd you go? I looked for you.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I'm broken. Something happened to me...</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I know. I don't care. I don't care.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>No, you don't know. I pretended to show you how bad it is that it couldn't be worse but it's so much</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>worse. I can't see my niece and nephew. I started off with promise and could do things and accomplish but it was all a trick-</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Why can't you see them? Why?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I'm not allowed, Jeff! I. flipped. over. My whole beginning was a fake out. This is who I've always been. How are you not seeing that?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I don't see it! I don't see it. I need to marry you. I'm marrying you. I want a house and- I'm married to you. Right now. There's only us.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I'm broken.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I don't care. I don't care. You're the only one who knows me. I'm going to be so much better for you. I'm going to get a ring, we're going to get all the things we're supposed to. And we're going to-</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Can we get a car?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He smiles. Right now he'd do anything.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Today?</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. RURAL ROAD NEAR REFINERY - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff and Kris sit in a BEAT-UP TERCEL with "FOR SALE" painted on the window. It's stopped at a FORK in the road near the 4 striped towers where Wesley left Kris.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. TERCEL - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff looks around, trying to form an answer to:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Do you know this place?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I want to say yes for you. I want to.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>It's okay. Let me...if you had to pick a direction, one of these roads here...is there one you feel more...drawn to?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Do you?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She wants his answer first. He looks again, really trying. He checks her face for clues and subtly gestures to the left. This makes her happy. He must have guessed correctly. The car takes off down the left road. CUT TO: They pull into the next fork in the road:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Which way do you think? I say right.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I say...right.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She looks at him. He looks back: what?</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Don't just say what I say and don't let my vote affect yours.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Okay. What about you? You can't let-</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>-and I won't let yours affect mine.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He smirks, not seeing how that's going to work. CUT TO: They pull into the next fork. They write down their choices on INDEX CARDS and compare: "left" and "left". They go left. CUT TO: Next fork. Index cards: "right" and "right". It's working. CUT TO: Kris's expectations are dashed. The cards: "right" and "left". She gets out, looking for clues on the horizon. From the car:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Maybe you feel stronger than me. So we should just...</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. C & L CROWNE FINANCIAL/ LIBRARY - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff sits at a computer, browsing Craigslist for houses. On screen is an AD with pictures of a SUBURBAN HOUSE. He flicks the mouse and 12 ADS FAN OUT. The ICON travels over them until another is selected. On the next page we see the text: "2221 Point Merit" and "Call Danny". Jeff searches "2221 point merit danny", clicks on a link. A page of home owner records comes up. Next to "2221 Point Merit" we see the name "Daniel Goudelin". He searches "danny goudelin", finds an article on a local restaurant with a picture of a MAN standing proudly in front of "Goudelin's Eatery". The caption below reads: "Owner/ Proprietor Danny Goudelin". Jeff thinks, begins muttering to himself. We barely hear:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I had a failed business. I had a business collapse. Well, thanks. It was a restaurant. Um, there was a zoning issue.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. 2221 POINT MERIT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff talks quietly with DANNY who is showing the EMPTY HOUSE.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>...thing is my personal credit is mixed up with my business which failed last year. It was leveraged pretty heavily and now there's no way to separate my social from the restaurant's tax id. So I thought if you're open to it we could-</dialogue>
    <character>DANNY</character>
    <dialogue>I actually run a restaurant myself.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You're kidding. Then you know what I'm talking about.</dialogue>
    <character>DANNY</character>
    <dialogue>Oh, sure. Let's do this though. We can run your wife's credit, do it in her name.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris inspects the kitchen, faucet, lights, the TILED FLOOR.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>Same situation. But if you're willing I can pay cash for three months in advance plus last month of the lease...</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>NEWBORN PIGLETS nurse from K. J stands nearby. The weather is clear here, but far off on the horizon is a DARK CLOUD FRONT. Wesley watches from afar.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. SIGN STORE/ ALLEYWAY - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris takes out the trash. It's RAINING. A Coworker passes her:</scene_description>
    <character>COWORKER</character>
    <dialogue>Take your lunch yet?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Go ahead. I'll go when you're back.</dialogue>
    <character>COWORKER</character>
    <dialogue>You're a true friend, Krissy.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Almost the only friend of human progress.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>NOTE TO READER: Yeah, that's weird. We'll get to it later.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. C & L CROWNE FINANCIAL/ CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff lays out REPORTS at each seat around an empty conference table. Intern 1 and 2 should be helping but talk instead.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. LIVESTOCK BUILDING - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley pulls a POLE COLLAR off the wall.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The collar goes around J's head and CINCHES tight. J GRUNTS and SQUEALS as Wesley pulls him to a remote pen.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. C & L CROWNE FINANCIAL - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff carries a BOX of reports down an aisle. The Interns follow. Jeff is agitated, suspicious of them. He turns:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>What are you doing?</dialogue>
    <character>INTERN 1</character>
    <dialogue>We're not...what do you mean?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He stares at them, sure they're up to something. Angry.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You guys are unbelievable.</dialogue>
    <character>INTERN 1</character>
    <dialogue>Jeff, we're really not...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Jeff turns, resumes walking. They drop back. He stops. Suddenly he throws the box to the ground and charges back.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>They're stunned, speechless.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He grabs Intern 1, trips him, throws him on his back, gets in his face, menacing. Intern 2 moves to fend him off so Jeff swipes at him, missing. Jeff tries to stand on Intern 1's throat, hoping to grab a piece of Intern 2. He gets his shirtsleeve and some hair.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! HUH?!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Things come to an awkward pause. No one knows what to do. Jeff releases them both and staggers away, getting scared now. He heads for the elevator, loosening his collar and tie.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley closes the gate on J who RAMS the post angrily.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. C & L CROWNE FINANCIAL - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff is in the elevator. The DOORS are closing when he blocks them with his arm, holding them open, not ready to let go. He's getting worked up, thinking. Angrier. He exits, storming down the row of offices to...</scene_description>
    <character>ALDERMAN'S OFFICE</character>
    <dialogue>At his desk Alderman hangs up the phone. Jeff stands just inside the doorway. The office is abuzz behind him.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>This won't work anymore. You're out.</dialogue>
    <character>ALDERMAN</character>
    <dialogue>What's going on here, Jeff?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I just talked to Craig. Things are going back the way they were and I'm in here now. You need to pack and leave. Come on.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Alderman stands, wanting to reason with him.</scene_description>
    <character>ALDERMAN</character>
    <dialogue>Jeff...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Jeff VIOLENTLY STRIKES his palms together, posturing:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>COME ON!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Alderman calmly moves to the door, passing him.</scene_description>
    <character>ALDERMAN</character>
    <dialogue>Jeff, whatever you think is going on, people here aren't against you. We always-</dialogue>
    <scene_description>In a flash, Jeff grabs him and SLAMS him into a cabinet.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I didn't say talk to me! Leave!</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. SIGN STORE/ ALLEYWAY - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The door BANGS open and out comes Kris, frantically dialing her phone. She hurries down the alley. The call won't work. She crouches next to a dumpster to concentrate on the phone, shielding it from the rain. It fails again.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>GODDAMN IT! Piece of shit!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She PUNCHES a discarded PLATE GLASS, shattering it.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley loops the collar around K and fastens the pole to the nearest fence post. She fights it. She KICKS and SQUEALS furiously as Wesley pulls each piglet from her teats and places them in a SACK.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. C & L CROWNE FINANCIAL - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff surveys his reclaimed office, not sure what he's won. In his confusion something nags at him... He pulls his phone from his pocket, holds it out like he's waiting for it to do something. Nothing. He places it down on the desk and focuses on it:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Ring. Ring.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He snaps out of it as a POLICE RADIO SQUAWKS far off. He bolts towards the stairs.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. C & L CROWNE FINANCIAL/ PARKING GARAGE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff exits the stairway and hurries to his car.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. TERCEL - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He drives through downtown. His phone RINGS. He's ready:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Where are you?</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CONCRETE CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS - DAY</stage_direction>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I don't know. I need you to help me.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Panicking, she looks down both ends of a blank corridor with intersecting halls. Her hand is now WRAPPED in BLOODY CLOTH. INTERCUT He pulls over. Thinks. Then, like he's reading a map:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Go down.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Which way?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Straight. Past the chairs. Then left.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He resumes driving, making a U-turn. She moves down the hall, passes a row of CHAIRS, turns left.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>101B on the right. Brown door.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She opens it, but...</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>No, it's just a room.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You're cutting through it. Go on.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She moves to a door on the other side of the room, which leads to another hall and finally an exit outdoors. She opens it: The Tercel comes screeching to halt in front of her.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Let's go!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>They drive away from what we now see is his office building.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Why are you at my office?!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She looks back at the building:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I didn't know it was.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Where are we going? Home? Home!?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Home.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The Tercel POPS the curb, careening into the driveway. They rush through the front door, slamming it behind them. We hear them frantically rummaging for things they need.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They rush from the kitchen to the garage to a hall closet. We're always too late to see exactly what they're doing:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>No, no, I've got it, I've got it. Get that! Come on!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>They end up in the BATHROOM. The DOOR slams. Then SILENCE.</scene_description>
    <character>BATHROOM</character>
    <dialogue>Jugs of water are stashed on the floor next to a loaf of bread and some fruit. Kris' HANDGUN lies on a towel at the ready as well as an AXE. Furniture barricades the door. Kris and Jeff nest in the tub, now lined with BLANKETS. They watch the door fearfully, holding each other, waiting.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK BRIDGE - INTERCUT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley's truck pulls to the middle of the bridge, 30 feet above the water. He grabs the sack from the truck bed and TOSSES it over... ...where it PLUNGES UNDERWATER. The piglets SQUIRM VIOLENTLY in the sack as it rises to the surface, floating downstream.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Further downstream the sack floats over tiny falls then calm water until it gets snagged on a TREE BRANCH. It rests there on the water. Lifeless.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>All is quiet and dark. The bathroom door opens. They exit. CUT TO: Kris WEEPS inconsolably on the couch. Jeff sits, seething. He gets up, grabs the AXE.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE/ BACK YARD - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff chops down a medium-sized TREE. After a few final WHACKS, he pushes it over, wearily watching it fall. Beyond him we see the previous 4 TREES he has CUT DOWN.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The branch is tearing a HOLE in the sack as it jostles. Eventually, the piglet CARCASSES float out and downstream.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK/ ROCKY BANK - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>CARCASS #1 gets caught up in a small bank of rocks.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK/ DRAINAGE DITCH - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>CARCASS #2 gets stuck in eddies, rests against a LARGE DRAIN.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE/ BATHROOM - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>WATER SWIRLS down the bathtub drain. Kris places a STOPPER over it. She's drawing a bath. CUT TO: Immersed in the now-full tub, she stares off, miserable.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK/ ROCKY BANK - INTERCUT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Carcass #1, waterlogged, sinks below the surface until it comes to rest on the creek bed surrounded by rocks.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE/ BATHROOM - INTERCUT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris sinks underwater, almost unaware that she's doing it. Her EYES stay transfixed at some point miles away.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK/ DRAINAGE DITCH - INTERCUT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Carcass #2 also sinks, also rests at the bottom.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE/ BATHROOM - INTERCUT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris lies completely still, staring underwater. Seconds go by. Suddenly, she emerges, remembering to breathe, GASPING.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE/ LIVING ROOM - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris is curled up on the floor, not watching the TV that lights her. Despondent. Jeff watches her from the next room:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>We should go on a trip. Get somewhere.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: He's lying next to her on the floor now. They whisper:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Where would we go?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Somewhere...bright.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Maybe to Vermont. To that place you know.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, maybe.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>How do you get there?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He's confused and suspects she's toying with him.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>How do you get to the place your family used to go? In Vermont. The vacation.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Now he's sure of it:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You drive, Kris.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>What road?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I'd have to get a map.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>You don't remember?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Some...country road. I was six.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She pauses, giving him every chance before she unloads:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I was six. You go through three covered bridges made of red-painted wood and after the second one we stop for samples at the old taffy factory and that's how you know you're halfway there.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I don't...I don't know. I was a kid.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I was a kid. It was me. You took it.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I don't know what- doesn't prove anything.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>It proves you may be in my head, but you're still too stupid to understand me. Or anything.</dialogue>
    <character>CUT TO:</character>
    <dialogue>They're standing now. He's walking away. Louder.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>And what about the trampoline...and Mick?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>That's you. That's yours.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Oh, thank you. And Renny? Renny. Almost drowned me? Then lied to his mom about it?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Me. That's mine. That happened to me.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Kris...Mick and Renny were best friends! Explain that! How would I know one and-</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>They weren't friends. They never met. You pushed them together.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He gets quiet, shakes his head: This is idiotic.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Where would you get...cocaine?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I'm sorry, where would I what?!</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>If you wanted it. I know you don't because you're recovering. But if you did...where would you?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You're a prize, Kris. A real treasure.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Shouldn't be that hard. You're an addict. Had a huge addiction. Blew your savings, your marriage. Ruined your life. Some story about running off to Reno to hit bottom. You must crave it all the time. Where would you get it? Or is it possible that you don't know the first thing about-</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>There's guys at ACS. They come to group. But they're not done. They don't engage. Everybody knows. They still sell. So...</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>So you'd get it from them?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>So the best place you can think of to get a fix for you're horrible addiction is the same place you started going to get over the supposed addiction?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I don't think I like that word 'supposed'.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He walks away again, searching DRAWERS as he goes.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, you got bigger problems than vocabulary. How do you use? You snort it? How much? Inject it? With what exactly? Use one of those spoons? You have a kit? Where do you get it? And don't say the goddamn meetings!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He's found a FOLDER he was looking for. He lays it out for her, showing RECEIPTS one by one:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Seven Wonders Hotel and Casino, Reno, Nevada. Eight nights. Boat rental, Lake Tahoe. Guess I felt nautical, don't remember. Buffet for one, Cairo Lounge. Rental car. Splurged for the SUV. Here, you want some stationary. A pen?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She looks them over, her premise dissolving.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>I used to buy from a guy called Henry Lincoln, Craig's brother-in-law. He always had it, was around enough. Pretty easy. This is the most fun I've had in a while.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK/ ROCKY BANK - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Carcass #1 has decayed. Only a SMALL HOOF is recognizable in the mass of rotting flesh. EMBEDDED in what was once the abdomen is a golf ball-sized SPORE.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK/ DRAINAGE DITCH - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Another spore lies near Carcass #2. Suddenly, it SHOOTS out a TURQUOISE POWDER in all directions. The powder clouds the water as it RISES to the surface. It clumps on the water, accumulating against the grassy bank. Growing on the bank is a patch of 30 WHITE ORCHIDS. \*</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. WOODS - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Elise (70) and her granddaughter Phoebe (15) search among the trees for something, wearing BACKPACKS and SMALL GARDEN TOOLS.</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Gram. Gram, what about this?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She's found a patch of WILD YELLOW FLOWERS. Elise crouches next to her, inspecting:</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Oh, yes. These are lovely.</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Should I take some?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Elise is looking elsewhere, not able to hide her disinterest.</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Certainly. Put them in with yours. I'll go ahead to the bankside.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Phoebe smiles, appreciating the false politeness. They depart.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK/ DRAINAGE DITCH - NEXT - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They look down the embankment to a PATCH OF WHITE ORCHIDS. Elise smiles, having found it:</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Do you see? In the middle?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She walks down, followed by Phoebe. CUT TO: They kneel, digging up several TURQUOISE ORCHIDS that grow amidst the white ones and packing them in soil and burlap.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CABIN/ FRONT PORCH - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Phoebe plays a GAME on her phone, stopping when Elise sits down next to her to enjoy the air.</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Don't stop for me. Do you worry you'll miss a call?</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>You mean...because I'm playing a game?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Phoebe finds her ignorance sweet but doesn't let on:</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>No, I'm not worried.</dialogue>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Did you write today?</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>I opened it. But...nothing really happened today.</dialogue>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Of course it did. We scouted. Had a great breakfast. Saw mayflies- a storm of them.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Phoebe smiles, not really inspired, but...</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CABIN/ DINING ROOM - NEXT - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Phoebe sits at the table in front of an open JOURNAL. The page is blank. She flips a pencil over and over. Beyond her Elise prepares dinner in the kitchen.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CABIN - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Phoebe is working on an ELABORATE FLORAL ARRANGEMENT. RIBBONS, SOIL, many different kinds of PLANTS and FLOWERS lay on the table in front of her. She references a HAND-DRAWN PLAN, a SKETCH, and a PHOTOGRAPH of an arrangement taken years ago. She unwraps two turquoise orchids from burlap, cuts the stems. CUT TO: She takes a picture of the FINISHED ARRANGEMENT with a phone. CUT TO: She disassembles the arrangement. Each flower is packed in WET NEWSPAPER, rolled in CLEAR FILM, and placed in a separate BOX. Then the boxes go in a RED COOLER. Phoebe stops, seeing: An INCHWORM is on an orchid, chewing into the blue pigment. She checks the soil still in the burlap: SEVERAL WORMS.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. GREENHOUSE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She holds one out for Elise to see. She's not surprised:</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>I see. And they're all like that?</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>I've only opened two and they're infested.</dialogue>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Spray them down. Salvage the best...three.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She finds a BOTTLE of homemade bug spray for Phoebe.</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Throw the rest out?</dialogue>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>No.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PLANT NURSERY - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The leftover turquoise orchids, now in plastic pots, are mixed among other wildflowers on one of 4 PALETTES in the back of Elise's station wagon. Each pot has an "E + P \* EXOTICS" STICKER. Phoebe and a nursery employee unload them, \* stacking the palettes at the rear of the building. Elise waits in the passenger seat, the red cooler behind her. CUT TO: Finished, Phoebe gets into the driver's seat.</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Receipt?</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>They didn't give me one.</dialogue>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>You'll always have to ask.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. HIGHWAY - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Phoebe drives. Elise has nodded off against the window. CUT TO:</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Why not...if the other girls like him?</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>So I should go along with whatever random girls say?</dialogue>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>No, I'm asking why. The boy doesn't matter. You will have to pare down a wide selection to get one that does. I'm asking for the reason.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Phoebe shakes her head, unsure.</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Is he ugly? Is he an ugly boy, dear?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>This cracks Phoebe up. Crazy grandma.</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>He's not pretty.</dialogue>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Then write that down.</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>I can't. I left it. I'm sorry.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. GAS STATION - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Phoebe pours more BAGS OF ICE into the cooler, letting WATER drain from its spout. Gas is pumping. Elise returns to the car from the store with a SHOPPING BAG. She drops it on the front seat: A NEW JOURNAL and PENS.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CERULEAN PLAZA HOTEL - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They wait as a PORTER transfers their LUGGAGE and the red cooler to a roller. He follows them inside.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The refrigerator is DRIPPING WATER onto the tiled floor. Kris crouches down, inspecting. The water pools, slowly spreading throughout the channels of grout in the tile. She moves to the outer edge of the spread where a single STREAM is creeping towards a 4-way split. She's captivated by it, which says more about her mood than anything. She sets down a HALF-FINISHED GLASS OF WINE on the floor, waiting. The water finally meets the junction and does what we expect, following each of the 3 new channels. She studies them.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CERULEAN PLAZA HOTEL/ GUEST ROOM - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Phoebe refills TWO GLASSES from a WINE BOX. She turns to Elise who has tried on a new dress, waiting for a critique.</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Love it. Very you. Perfect. I have a pair of hose for you instead of those socks.</dialogue>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>No. I like socks.</dialogue>
    <character>BALCONY</character>
    <dialogue>They enjoy the air, the wine, city sounds. Phoebe has the new journal open on her lap, pen in hand.</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Gram, I don't think you could explain any of these things either. Like, you quit smoking and my mom can't. Why? I mean why, uh, why'd you pick that car when all you do is complain about the color? Why'd you marry grandpa? Why anything.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>That last one resonates with Elise.</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>It's impossible to know for most things.</dialogue>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>No, not impossible. But it will be, looking back. That's why you keep a record.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris is tipsy now. She's balancing herself like a tightrope walker, arms out at her side, wine glass in one hand.</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>If not you'll say oh I must have been thinking this or that or maybe I'm just that kind of person. It'll be a blank white page and you'll mark it up with best guesses. And after that...</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She moves from one floor tile to the next in the row, one foot per tile, keeping straight. Then another and another.</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>...after that happens I don't know if you can ever change it. The words become you.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>On the next step her foot hovers over the tile, not ready to land. Slowly it MOVES OVER to an adjacent tile on the right. Again it hovers there like she's not sure if it will support her. She TOUCHES DOWN and slowly rests more weight on it, then moves the other foot over. A tiny change has occurred.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. H & R BLOCK - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wearing an EMPLOYEE SHIRT, Jeff helps a couple with taxes.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff arrives home, drops his bag, walks to the kitchen, sees: Kris waits for him, her hair changed back to DARK BROWN. She wears her former OFFICE CLOTHES. He's surprised, suspicious.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Goodness.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>You like it? The color?</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah, it's...beautiful. Goodness. What are you wearing?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>This is how I dress.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>No, it isn't.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She sits him down with something to say:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I'm not sick. My mind is healthy. There is no imbalance chemically.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Dr. Weitz said that?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>No. I haven't seen him in five months.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Who then? You seeing a new- who told you that?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She stares at him until he gets it.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You stopped taking your meds?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She doesn't say no. She's staying calm, knowing he won't.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>How long?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Eight months. Eight months and I've been fine. No highs and lows. Just...normal.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah. Was it normal when you locked us in the bathroom with a handgun?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>We did that. We locked ourselves in. We-</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Now I'm realizing. Now it makes some kind of sense. You show up at my work. You're manic. I feed off it. It's delusional. No wonder-</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>It was us.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>It was you!</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>You're rewriting it.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Oh. Oh.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>He suddenly stands up violently, kicking the chair over.</scene_description>
    <character>CUT TO:</character>
    <dialogue>He rummages through her medicine cabinet, drawers, her purse, until he finds the PILL BOTTLE.</dialogue>
    <character>CUT TO:</character>
    <dialogue>She's still in her seat as he steps back into the dining room. He calmly returns the chair to its place, sits, puts the bottle in front of her. He maintains his composure:</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You. Will. Take- I am not doing this shit. You will take these...as prescribed. Or. You will never...see me...again.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: He storms out the front door. She flushes the pills down the toilet.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CERULEAN PLAZA HOTEL/ BANQUET HALL - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A GARDEN SHOW AND FLOWER COMPETITION is being held. Tables are lined with horticulture products, publications, and flowers. Along a wall are the FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS in competition. 3 JUDGES are inspecting them, taking notes, discussing. They arrive at Phoebe's creation. They seem to like it, paying close attention to the orchids at the center. From a ways back, Phoebe and Elise watch, squeezing hands. CUT TO: It's won a BLUE RIBBON. Phoebe chats with a Judge.</scene_description>
    <character>JUDGE</character>
    <dialogue>What is this beautiful orchid? The turquoise? What is it called? Tremendous.</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>I don't think it has a name. We have them up on a bit of land my family has.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Elise watches from a distance. She shares a smile with Phoebe.</scene_description>
    <character>JUDGE</character>
    <dialogue>It's so easy, just a little paperwork. In fact I'll put you in touch with a flora taxonomist I've used that can walk you through it,</dialogue>
    <character>JUDGE</character>
    <dialogue>but hey if it is a new species they let you name it after whoever found it. You could have your very own flower.</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>It'd be my Granddad Walter's then. We'd name it after him. He used to give them to my grandma when they were courting.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Elise looks worried at this.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CERULEAN PLAZA HOTEL/ LOBBY - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Phoebe enters with the ribbon, looks for Elise, and finds her sitting at a table with a drink, solemn. We focus on Elise's ANKLES which are crossed tight. We stay on them, the SOCKS. CUT TO: Phoebe takes a seat across from her trying to understand a newfound tension between them. A WAITER stands nearby:</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>She'll have an iced tea.</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Diet coke.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Phoebe doesn't get Elise's stoic demeanor. She thinks it's the ribbon and slides it over.</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Take it. I don't even...take it if that's what's wron-</dialogue>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>We're not going to name anything after him.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Phoebe looks past her, trying to solve this.</scene_description>
    <character>ELISE</character>
    <dialogue>Name it for yourself. Your mother. Don't name it. Doesn't matter, not him.</dialogue>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Why, Gram?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Elise just stares back. There's not going to be an answer.</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Gram.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Seconds pass.</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Gram.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>And again. Brutal, quiet, haunting.</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Why?</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. SIGN STORE/ BACK OFFICE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris speaks to her BOSS.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I just don't want to be, um, sneaking around or saying I'm at lunch when-</dialogue>
    <character>BOSS</character>
    <dialogue>No, I think it's great. It's good for you.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Yeah?</dialogue>
    <character>BOSS</character>
    <dialogue>Of course. Who are you interviewing with?</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I'm so glad. One does print design and the other, which I think is a better fit, is in post production.</dialogue>
    <character>FRONT AREA</character>
    <dialogue>Kris helps a CUSTOMER, retrieves an order from the counter:</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>No, no I have them. Let me, here they are. You put down 50 folders but only 5 cover sheets and I couldn't reach you so...</dialogue>
    <character>CUSTOMER</character>
    <dialogue>Oh, thank you. You saved my life. I don't know what I- you're a true friend.</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Friend of human progress. You're welcome.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Customer doesn't know what that means but gets out politely. Kris is left embarrassed. What did I just say? CUT TO: She searches the phrase "friend of human progress" on her phone. Up pops a listing for "WALDEN by Henry David Thoreau". She reads the full quote aloud:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>A true friend of man; almost the only friend of human progress.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. BOOKSTORE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>She searches the shelves, pulls out a copy of Walden. CUT TO: Seated, she holds the copy open, looking off, having read something that scares her a bit. She's unsure what to do.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CERULEAN PLAZA HOTEL/ ELEVATOR AREA - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>ELEVATOR DOORS open, revealing Wesley inside. He studies a NOTEBOOK, unaware of the open doors until they almost close. He puts up an arm to keep them open and exits.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CERULEAN PLAZA HOTEL/ LOBBY - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>He sits in a chair, still in his notebook. A young man, VOLUNTEER, approaches:</scene_description>
    <character>VOLUNTEER</character>
    <dialogue>Mr. Van Kraus?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Wesley looks up.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. SUV - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Volunteer drives. Wesley eyes the downtown high-rises.</scene_description>
    <character>VOLUNTEER</character>
    <dialogue>How do you like it?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Wesley isn't sure what that means.</scene_description>
    <character>VOLUNTEER</character>
    <dialogue>I know you work, or you write I mean, out of town. How do you find the city?</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>It has its place.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. MUSIC HALL - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They enter on an upper level, looking out over the hall. Wesley scans from the floor seats to the balconies.</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>They've refinished the second tier there...at the exit.</dialogue>
    <character>VOLUNTEER</character>
    <dialogue>Yes sir. That was done end of last year.</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>They use the same materials? Same timber?</dialogue>
    <character>VOLUNTEER</character>
    <dialogue>Uh, great question. I'll look into that.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: Wesley sets up a GREY BOX on stage and steps away. He hits a button on a REMOTE. A LOUD TONE emits from the grey box, echoing against the back of the hall, dying down after a few seconds. He turns his head and tests again. CUT TO: Again he tests the acoustics, this time from a floor seat. CUT TO: One more test from the very back seat in the highest balcony.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. REHEARSAL ROOM - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley directs a small group of Violinists rehearsing PRECISE STACCATO BLASTS. He listens. CUT TO: He's in a conversation with the most vocal one, LEAH (30):</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>This is- that's exactly right...</dialogue>
    <character>LEAH</character>
    <dialogue>...but it leaves no room for expression-</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>That's exactly right. Your complaint is exactly the right thing to be complaining about. Perfect. Strings have to be that. Every. Loop. Perfect. No not perfect, identical. However you start has to be repeated forever, good or bad. Because over here with choral and timber we're organic and we need a gauge, something to contrast or it's all just a moving mess.</dialogue>
    <character>LEAH</character>
    <dialogue>Then use a metronome. Get a synthesizer.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>The other players are quiet. Leah might have crossed a line. The room is tense. Wesley stays calm, even amused.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. MUSIC HALL STEPS - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The two sit alone, intimate. She takes a sip of his COFFEE:</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>We could do it artificially, throw it to percussion et cetera. That would be easy. The challenge is to reproduce it in the analog. Remove passion from where it shows up naturally.</dialogue>
    <character>LEAH</character>
    <dialogue>You can't say it's worth doing just because it's difficult. That's confusing two separate ideas. Were you born into money? Rich people always use the word challenge when they want everyone else to do something hard.</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>No, we weren't rich.</dialogue>
    <character>LEAH</character>
    <dialogue>Poor?</dialogue>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>Uh...it rose and fell with the price of pork. My dad was a pig farmer.</dialogue>
    <character>LEAH</character>
    <dialogue>No shit. Now it's coming together.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. MUSIC HALL - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley conducts a FULL ORCHESTRA rehearsal on stage. Among the violinists Leah plays with intense concentration. A few seconds of CONTINUOUSLY HEIGHTENING NOTES before Wesley stops the whole thing. He stares at the floor, the room quiet. He looks to Leah, but she already knows:</scene_description>
    <character>WESLEY</character>
    <dialogue>You're done.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She packs up, walks off.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. CHAIN HOTEL/ CHECK-IN - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff passes through, gets almost to the elevators when...</scene_description>
    <character>CLERK</character>
    <dialogue>Jeff. Jeff.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Busy on the phone, he points to a WRAPPED PACKAGE on the desk.</scene_description>
    <character>ELEVATOR</character>
    <dialogue>Jeff tears the wrapping, pausing for just a moment before deciding to remove it entirely: a copy of WALDEN.</dialogue>
    <character>HOTEL ROOM</character>
    <dialogue>He sits on the edge of the bed, book open.</dialogue>
    <character>JEFF (OFF SCREEN)</character>
    <dialogue>There was something I didn't know...</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE/ BEDROOM - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Now on their bed, he struggles for words. Kris listens.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>...and I filled it with something I made up and now I can't tell the difference. But if none of it's true, if it's all a fiction I built...something has to go in its place...or how are we meant to...</dialogue>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>All you have to say is you don't know.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>His eyes water. He looks like he may say it.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. KRIS & JEFF'S HOUSE/ BEDROOM - MORNING</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris wakes, sits up in bed, about to stand, takes a moment. The ALARM CLOCK flips to "5:28" and the radio turns on. An ad for a symphony plays accompanied by STRIKING CHORDS:</scene_description>
    <character>ANNOUNCER (RADIO)</character>
    <dialogue>This fall...the KL Symphony Orchestra marks the beginning of its 75th season. A gala event featuring the highly anticipated return of-</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She shuts it off instinctively. Then after a moment... ...she turns it back on, now listening intently:</scene_description>
    <character>ANNOUNCER (RADIO)</character>
    <dialogue>From the mind of internationally-renowned composer Wesley Van Kraus...the premiere of</dialogue>
    <character>ANNOUNCER (RADIO)</character>
    <dialogue>an original work...REPETICO: a journey beyond grace and light. Tickets available now.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Jeff steps from the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth, stunned and listening.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. MUSIC HALL - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The orchestra is WARMING UP. Jeff and Kris sit on the third row. She reads the PROGRAM: we see the title "REPETICO", "Composer Wesley Van Kraus", and on a dedication page "For Becky, my life." Jeff, staring ahead, suddenly turns to the audience behind them. Kris senses it too: something is out there. APPLAUSE wakes them and they turn to the stage where Wesley steps out, bowing slightly. He scans the audience, the balcony, his eyes lingering too long. He senses something too. Wesley raises the BATON. A moment of silence. He thrusts it. The music begins softly but we only see... MICROSCOPIC CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL REACTIONS. The TURQUOISE POWDER effervesces against the surface of an ORGANELLE before disappearing inside. BLOOD FLOWS, carrying the powder. After fading to an echo, the music returns with a CRESCENDO: Kris feels the effects, looking like an invisible hand is slowly pushing her over. She almost loses consciousness. Jeff is breathing hard, trying to withstand the spell they seem to be under. He braces against the armrests. Kris tries to stand. Jeff helps her. They move to the aisle. As they walk to the back exit, they notice a MAN in the audience on the right get up, moving to the aisle. A WOMAN stands on their left. Then an OLDER COUPLE, all joining them in exiting.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. MUSIC HALL/ FOYER - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris, Jeff, and 9 OTHER ABDUCTEES are assembled in a group. They look to each other, searching faces while the music plays on, muffled through DOUBLE DOORS. Kris notices that one of the men, GRAHAM, lingers near the door. He presses his head to it, listening. A young woman, DOROTHY, follows too, leaning against the other door. One by one they move into the doorway huddled together in a trance. Kris joins them, letting go of Jeff's hand. He resists, covering his ears. He backs away, headed outside. APPLAUSE ERUPTS. The symphony is over. Doors open. The audience files out.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. MUSIC HALL - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Jeff walks around the back of the building. He pulls on an unmarked door. Locked. He moves on. He tests another door. Locked. He heads toward a fleet of BLACK TOWN CARS parked on the street. After scanning them he gets back to testing doors. He runs his hand along the wall. An ELECTRIC CABLE is affixed to it. On a hunch, he reaches out to it, sensing something... He turns just before a door 20 feet back BANGS OPEN. Wesley exits with Volunteer, crossing to one of the Town Cars. Jeff rushes to him. For a brief moment Wesley recognizes him before ducking into the car. Jeff rubs his throat: the collar.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You know me.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Wesley turns to him as the car door closes. He drives off.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>You know me!</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. MUSIC HALL/ FOYER - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris is still with the abductees. She steps to Jeff as he approaches. He's stunned, almost smiling:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>He saw me. He looked at me. He knows me.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>This excites her. She's thinking of a next step.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. RURAL ROAD NEAR REFINERY - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>THREE CARS idle at the fork, parallel to each other. Inside all 11 abductees silently write on index cards. The cards are passed from car to car to car. Kris tallies:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Seven lefts. Four rights.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>The cars drive off down the leftmost road. CUT TO: Next fork. Another vote. They take off right. CUT TO:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Five left. Six right.</dialogue>
    <character>MILTON</character>
    <dialogue>Again? Why's it so close?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: Another vote.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Six to the left.</dialogue>
    <character>DOROTHY</character>
    <dialogue>It shouldn't count if it's that close. If there were twelve of us it'd be a tie.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: Another fork. They continue.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. GAS STATION - NEXT - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Cars gas up. People are tired. They split off into small chats. Dorothy shakes her head, despondent. Keith checks his watch, yawning. The mood is dour. Brent and Jeff confer over a road map:</scene_description>
    <character>BRENT</character>
    <dialogue>I wouldn't call it a circle, but if we are going somewhere this would be the longest possible route to it.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Carol flips through the votes, comparing, finds something odd. CUT TO: She walks to Kris with the cards.</scene_description>
    <character>CAROL</character>
    <dialogue>Kris? You're Kris? Will you look at this?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: Kris marches angrily to an OLD COUPLE, NORA and CLYDE:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>What are you people doing!?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>They stare back, dumbfounded. Kris holds up index cards:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>What's wrong with you?! Why are you wrecking it? Why are you always the same? Every single vote you guys agree. Even when you're wrong you agree!</dialogue>
    <scene_description>They have no answer. Kris turns to Clyde:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Show me your ankle. Right now.</dialogue>
    <character>CLYDE</character>
    <dialogue>What for?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO: He sits. She crouches, pulls down his sock, and sees the scar. Satisfied, she turns to Nora:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>You. Come on. Show me.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Nora doesn't move, obstinate. She looks to Clyde for help.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>You're not one of us. Are you?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Nora refuses to answer.</scene_description>
    <character>CLYDE</character>
    <dialogue>Nora?</dialogue>
    <character>NORA</character>
    <dialogue>It happened to Clyde so it happened to me.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris, furious, SLAPS Nora. Jeff pulls her off.</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>Kris. Kris. It's just a story. She just made a story.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. RURAL ROAD - NIGHT</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The cars idle. Index cards are passed in. Brent tallies. Keith leans in the window to see how things are going:</scene_description>
    <character>BRENT</character>
    <dialogue>Eight to two, seven to three...nine to one. Last one was unanimous, an even ten.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Keith gets back in his car, announces:</scene_description>
    <character>KEITH</character>
    <dialogue>Good votes. Think we're getting close.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>The cars drive off. Kris, in the front passenger seat, senses something, turns around, scans each face, lands on Graham. What is it? He's lost in his own world, staring at the door. Ominous. Kris sees that Carol also feels something from Graham.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. WESLEY'S FARMHOUSE - NEXT - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The 3 cars wind down the country road towards the house.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. WESLEY'S FARMHOUSE/ KITCHEN - NEXT - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Wesley eats toast over his morning paper at the counter. Hearing VOICES, he turns to see the abductees out front. They are huddled together, trying to decide something. Recognizing them, he's a bit surprised but not unhappy. He cleans up his breakfast, tucks in his shirt, and moves toward the front of the house, looking to welcome them.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. WESLEY'S FARMHOUSE - NEXT - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>On the edge of the group Carol stares at the pigpen. Kris follows her gaze and ends up staring too. There is a faint discussion about what to do next but it dies down, as one by one they all turn, drawn in. Kris steps first and before long the group is walking toward the pen, everyone but Graham who is nowhere to be seen. Suddenly Kris stops, turns back to the house. We hear a GUNSHOT. The group turns to the house. ANOTHER GUNSHOT, the MUZZLE FLASHES inside the house. Wesley CRASHES through the front door and falls to the ground, escaping from Graham who follows him, GUN outstretched. Stunned silence. They all watch Wesley crawl, slowly die. Jeff moves to disarm Graham but Kris stops him. She knows:</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Wait.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Graham puts the gun to the roof of his mouth.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - CONTINUOUS - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A pig BUCKLES to the ground just as Graham, in the far background, pulls the trigger and COLLAPSES himself.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. WESLEY'S FARMHOUSE - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The abductees move through the house, silently looking.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. LIVESTOCK BUILDING/ WHITE ROOM - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The cot is still there. Clean linen. Well lit. They file in like they're touring an historic landmark. When the others leave, Carol can't tear herself away.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. LIVESTOCK BUILDING/ EXAM ROOM - NEXT - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>They crowd around the desk studying Wesley's notes, sketches, the CLIPBOARD of abductees' names. Kris scrolls to the top of the list to the only one without a last name...</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>Becky.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PIGPEN - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The abductees spread out into the pen. Kris walks alone, slowly but directly, to K. She crouches. JEFF approaches holding the clipboard. He compares K's tag:</scene_description>
    <character>JEFF</character>
    <dialogue>It's you.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris wells up, it finally hitting her that she's not crazy.</scene_description>
    <character>KRIS</character>
    <dialogue>I know.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Beyond them, the others are finding their matching pigs.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. YELLOW PIGPEN - DAWN</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The pigs empty out of a LIVESTOCK TRAILER into a large pen surrounded by an AGED YELLOW-PAINTED FENCE. Nora and Clyde wrangle them while other abductees continue repairs on the fence, replacing decay with new lumber. A TRUCK arrives on the road. On the side is painted "'No man should be allowed to be President who does not understand hogs.' - President Harry Truman". A NEW VET emerges. Carol greets her, leads her alongside an OLD YELLOW FARMHOUSE.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. YELLOW FARMHOUSE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>The place is DUSTY, seemingly abandoned for decades. Brent has to practically knock the door down to get in. He carries BOXES of Wesley's sketches and notes, which he stacks in the corner. He looks around at their new workplace.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. YELLOW FARMHOUSE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Over a picnic-table lunch, they all question New Vet:</scene_description>
    <character>CLYDE</character>
    <dialogue>How much space is ideal for them? Do they roam? Would they rather have smaller pens but more of them if that makes sense-</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO:</scene_description>
    <character>NORA</character>
    <dialogue>-so I thought we'd mix in a lot of fresh produce, vitamin supplements, a lot of whole grains. Is that right?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>CUT TO:</scene_description>
    <character>DOROTHY</character>
    <dialogue>-no, I'd prefer to keep them groomed, get them bathed every other day but if the natural instinct- I mean if they like being shaggy I don't want to just force-</dialogue>
    <character>CUT TO:</character>
    <dialogue>SELMA</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Do the women, the sows I mean, ever separate off? Do they like being mixed in all the time? I would think-</scene_description>
    <character>MILTON</character>
    <dialogue>That reminds me...when it does get colder...at what temperature do we need to start thinking about maybe an indoor pen? Space heaters and you know...</dialogue>
    <character>CUT TO:</character>
    <dialogue>KEITH</dialogue>
    <scene_description>All of them, yeah. We just- whatever vaccines are available. All of them. All the shots.</scene_description>
    <character>NEW VET</character>
    <dialogue>This is a list of recommended vaccines and I'll certainly inspect each animal. The truth is you can defend against all manner of disease, make them healthy as can be. But at some point the cost outweighs what you hope to recoup at slaughter.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>The abductees share a look.</scene_description>
    <character>CAROL</character>
    <dialogue>Let me stop you. Don't worry about cost. These pigs are going to be better cared for than most people's kids. It's going to be embarrassing. Now. If they could choose anything...what is it that they really love to eat?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>New Vet looks around the table: is this a joke? Finally she just goes with it and laughs...</scene_description>
    <character>NEW VET</character>
    <dialogue>Okay.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. YELLOW PIGPEN - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>New Vet feels K's belly, confirming pregnancy:</scene_description>
    <character>NEW VET</character>
    <dialogue>Oh goodness, yes. And far along too.</dialogue>
    <scene_description>Kris is overjoyed, roaring with laughter.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>INT. YELLOW FARMHOUSE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Brent reads names from the clipboard then Carol searches them online. They confer on phone numbers. Brent calls:</scene_description>
    <character>BRENT (ON PHONE)</character>
    <dialogue>Yes, is this Marsha Potter? My name is Brent West. I have...some information that...I hope might help you.</dialogue>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. YELLOW FARMHOUSE - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>A CAR drives up. HUSBAND (the one whose wife died) gets out, checks the address against his handwritten note. He walks toward the house as Jeff opens the door for him.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. CREEK/ DRAINAGE DITCH - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Elise and Phoebe scout for orchids. Elise is frail now and walks with a cane, slowing their progress. Again we spend too much time trying to see her ankles, still socked. Phoebe has to leave her to step down the incline to the white orchids we have seen before. She scans for the turquoise. She calls back up to Elise:</scene_description>
    <character>PHOEBE</character>
    <dialogue>Gram, there's none here either. Maybe further up? Should I grab white?</dialogue>
    <scene_description>She turns upstream, still hopeful.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. PLANT NURSERY - DAY</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Evan is shopping for the orchids, checking leaves like before. He looks all around, not finding them. Peter, trying to help, brings him a candidate. Evan scrapes the leaf with a knife but doesn't like the residue. He grabs a bit of soil to be sure, checking for worms. No luck so he tosses it and looks elsewhere. Peter follows, learning.</scene_description>
  </scene>
  <scene>
    <stage_direction>EXT. YELLOW PIGPEN - DUSK</stage_direction>
    <scene_description>Kris sits against the fence, content. She holds a newborn PIGLET, lifting it to her face like she's playing with a baby. All around her K's other PIGLETS clumsily explore.</scene_description>
  </scene>
</script>

Summary: The film begins with a man (mentioned in the credits as the "Thief") who seems to be harvesting a type of larva for the peculiar effects it has on the human mind when ingested. At a club, Kris (Amy Seimetz) is tasered and is kidnapped by the Thief. He makes her swallow the larva, which induces a sort of hypnotic susceptibility, causing an extremely suggestible mental state the Thief exploits. He uses an elaborate set of distractions, such as getting her to create a paper chain where each link features a transcription from the book Walden, to distract her while performing his mind control. He eventually manipulates her to liquidate her home equity, reveal to him a stash of valuable rare coins, and empty her bank account. Through hypnotic suggestion, Kris is prevented from consuming solid foods. She is allowed only to drink small amounts of water at regulated intervals, which she is compelled to perceive as extremely refreshing and delicious. Thief eventually releases Kris, who binges ravenously and falls asleep in soiled clothes in her home. She awakens to find several large worms visibly crawling under her skin. She unsuccessfully attempts to remove them with a kitchen knife. Later, a pig farmer and avid field recorder—the "Sampler"—draws Kris to his farm using infrasonics. The Sampler silently sets up a transfusion through which he transfers a worm from Kris's body into that of a young pig. Kris then awakens in an abandoned SUV on the freeway with no memory of these recent events. Upon arriving at her disordered house, she quizzically notices blood on her sheets and floors and considers calling the police. She realizes she has no information to tell them and stops dialing. After cleaning up, she heads to work, where she is promptly fired for her unexplained absence. A trip to the grocery store reveals to Kris that her personal funds are gone. A year later, Kris meets a man named Jeff (Shane Carruth) on a train and connects with him. They meet several times before finally spending the night with each other. Afterwards, they realize that they both have identical stitching scars from the aforementioned, forgotten, transfusions. They soon realize they had similar experiences; Jeff lost his job as a broker due to shifting company funds around to cover for money stolen from him and attributed the incident to drug abuse. At the same time, it is made clear to the audience that a parallel exists between the emotions Kris and Jeff have been feeling and two pigs, one of which is the host to Kris's parasite: Kris mistakenly believes herself to be pregnant at the same time her pig counterpart is actually pregnant. Upon consultation with a doctor, she is diagnosed with having had endometrial cancer that was successfully removed. The supposed cancer, she is told, is no longer a threat to her body, but it has rendered her infertile. The Sampler finds that the pig containing Kris's worm has now given birth to piglets. He throws the piglets into a burlap sack and tosses them into a river. This event coincides with Jeff and Kris feeling an extreme sense of loss and frustration, and both act as if something terrible is happening to them; Jeff spontaneously picks a fight with two of his co-workers while Kris frantically searches as if she'd lost something. The two, in their panicked state, reunite and travel to Kris's house, where they gather supplies, including a gun, and make camp in her bathroom's tub, expecting the worst. Meanwhile, the sack of piglets is seen rotting away and a blue substance bursts from the piglets' open wounds, filling the surrounding waters, from which orchids have emerged. The orchids eventually turn the same color blue and are collected by farmers, who sell the plants in the neighborhood where the Thief operates. These events seem to mark a change in the state of things. Kris and Jeff begin to remember each other's personal histories as their own. Jeff discovers Kris mumbling the text of Walden while swimming. It is while performing this ritual that Kris comes to sense things that the Sampler has sensed, and it is this moment that the two start to piece together what happened to them both. In a dreamlike sequence, Kris, Jeff, and the Sampler all sit down at a table in a bare, white room where Kris reveals to the Sampler that she is aware of him; the Sampler collapses from an apparent heart attack. The scene then cuts to a parallel shot at the pig farm, where Kris shoots and kills the collapsed Sampler. Kris and Jeff collect a box of written records detailing others who were similarly drugged; they summon these other victims to the farm by sending them copies of Walden. The farm is thereafter remodeled and the pigs are better cared for; as a result, no more pigs are drowned, the orchids in the river no longer turn blue, and the Thief is deprived of the larvae for his drug. The film ends with Kris cradling a baby pig, at peace.