A Recollection With Tears (Screenplay)

A Recollection With Tears

EXT. DOCKS - EARLY MORNING

TOMMY, 21, messy blond hair, infectious smile, walks along the cobblestone path near the water. DAVE, 21, long black hair, gloomy attitude, follows his friend down the path.

A thick fog blankets the area, the swirling mist hovering above the calm water as it laps against the side of the pier.

Lamp posts line the edge of the path, each light extinguished due to the rising sun. The only hints of the fiery star's existence are the weak rays that pierce through the smog.

Tommy grins as he looks about the docks, a sullen Dave following him a few steps behind as they walk down the slightly slick path, the cobblestone wet from a recent downpour.

TOMMY (breathes in deeply): Ah, doesn't this place always feel like a second home, Dave?

Tommy glances back at his friend as Dave steps carefully across the cobblestone path.

TOMMY: Here we have no classes, no assignments and nagging teachers!

Tommy walks over to the edge of the water and points to a spot across the docks.

TOMMY: Remember when we fished on Mr. Willith's property over there? Damn, he got so upset at us.

DAVE (sullenly): Yeah, I remember.

Dave remains a few steps away from Tommy as he squints at the place his friend is pointing at.

TOMMY: He chased us off with his shotgun in hand! I have never seen you run so fast in your whole life!

As the two look across the water a BOAT slowly chugs past them.

Tommy waves at the vessel as he gets precariously close to the edge of the pier. Dave reaches out and roughly grabs Tommy by the back of his shirt, pulling him away.

TOMMY (Slightly annoyed): Whoa there! You know I learned how to swim two years before you did! If anything you're the one who needs to be more careful! I have more practice that you.

Dave stays silent as he continues carefully picking his way down the pathway. Tommy's annoyance towards his friend vanishes as he clicks his tongue and smirks.

TOMMY: Oh, I see know!

He walks past Dave and stops in front of him, forcing his friend to halt his progress.

TOMMY: You must still be upset about me asking Meladie to the dance tomorrow!

DAVE: Tommy.

TOMMY: You're jealous!

DAVE (firmly): Tommy, stop.

TOMMY: No, I won't stop! This conversation has been put off for far too long.

Tommy resumes walking in front of his friend, giving Dave no choice but to follow.

TOMMY: Now I know you've had feelings for Meladie ever since the fifth grade. But c'mon man, you shouldn't be that upset about me swooping in and seizing the moment!

DAVE (tearing up): Tommy...

TOMMY: If she dumps me at the end of the dance then I'll see if I can hook you up with h

Tommy realizes that Dave has stopped walking. His friend looks up at Tommy with tears rolling down his cheeks.

TOMMY(concerned): Dave, I didn't think you'd get all worked up over this. You know I'm just messing with you.

DAVE: Meladie's dead.

A long beat.

TOMMY (nervously chuckles): W-wait, Dave. Meladie isn't dead. You and I both saw her yesterday.

DAVE (exasperated now): Don't you remember the bombings?

A beat.

TOMMY (stuttering): Th-the um, the b-bombings?

DAVE: Meladie was one of the first ones to die. It detonated right next to her house from the sky.

Dave slowly makes his way to Tommy, once more picking his steps cautiously along the cobblestone path.

TOMMY'S P.O.V.

He blinks, the road suddenly full of debris: burned wooden planks, chunks of stone, and metal shards strewn about. Dave steps over a particularly large chunk of debris to get closer to Tommy.

BACK TO SCENE

DAVE: After the first bombing, there were several others. They had to cancel school because it got so bad. Tommy, the dance will never happen.

TOMMY: No! No, no... Meladie. W-we saw her.

DAVE: That was two years ago, Tommy.

TOMMY'S P.O.V.

Tommy looks back at the water and blinks. The boat chugging across the water is now burdened with artillery and soldiers milling about its deck.

BACK TO SCENE

TOMMY (growing hysterical): No! That was yesterday...

TOMMY'S P.O.V.

Tommy blinks again. The lamp posts are now rusted, with most of them torn from the ground. The water is diluted with god knows what, the tainted liquid sloshing about as a horrid stench rises from its depths.

BACK TO SCENE

DAVE (begging): Please, Tommy. You started acting like this a week ago. Tommy defiantly holds out his palm at Dave.

TOMMY: Shut up, damn it! Shut the hell up!

TOMMY'S P.O.V.

Tommy blinks. The fog blanketing the pier is now suffocating and sinister as it mingles with the smoke that drifts from the distant battlefield. The rays of sunshine flash sporadically as the distant sounds of gunshots can be heard across the water as Tommy clutches the sides of his head.

BACK TO SCENE

Tommy is in full UNIFORM, a RIFLE strapped on his back as a PISTOL is nestled in a holster near his hip.5.(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)

TOMMY: I-I don't want to live here. I want to l-live back then!

DAVE (tenderly): I wish we could, but we can't. Not anymore. Tommy crumbles to his knees, the young man ignoring the debris that digs into his pants as tears freely flow from his eyes. Dave allows his friend to grieve, his own eyes still watery from his own despair.

TOMMY (quietly): There is a way...

A beat.

DAVE: What?

TOMMY (more audibly): There is a way.

Tommy quickly draws his PISTOL out of its holster as he points the barrel underneath his chin. His finger hovers over the trigger, Tommy already applying tension on the deadly device.

DAVE (desperate): Tommy! No!

Dave rushes towards Tommy as he watches his friend close his eyes.

TOMMY: I'll see you tomorrow.

Tommy presses on the gun's trigger, yet his finger won't budge. Why? Dave closes in on Tommy, his hand outstretched as he reaches for his friend. Tommy takes a deep breath, brushing his hesitation to the side as he firmly pulls the trigger.

BANG.

Tommy's body racks with sobs as he looks at his hand. Dave has a firm grip on his wrist, the gun's barrel pointed away from Tommy's chin as Dave tightly hugs him. Tommy releases the gun from his grip, the firearm clattering to the broken cobblestone path.

TOMMY (Softly): I'm sorry.

DAVE: Don't be.

Tommy buries is head in Dave's shoulder, the two weeping as they mourn together. The dance will not be tomorrow, nor the next day or the day after that. Only in the next life.