MERCY KILLING By Lloyd Mattson
EXT. MID-MORNING
Establishing shot of a prairie village. Then another closer of a service station/garage on the highway at the edge of town
FADE:
INT GARAGE/FILLING STATION - MID-AFTERNOON IN LATE AUTUMN
Coffee row with several men drinking coffee and joking. They discuss their farming operations. Four male coffee drinkers crowd the coffee machine. A woman attendant is behind the counter, and goes outside to the gas pumps from time to time as required. An old guy enters and taps into the coffee pot. Discussion zeroes in on raccoons. The almost universal opinion is one of condemnation
CHARACTER 1 - Kill them all. Destructive animals.
OLD GUY - I admire them myself. They kill a lot of rodents. Smart animals those raccoons.
CHARACTER 2 - Grow any corn in your garden? They'll wait till it's ripe and then help you harvest, ha ha.
CHARACTER 3 - A coon'll chew holes in the roof of an old building in the fall. Place to spend the winter.
OLD GUY - I had them do that to an old building that had once been a house. Let them live there. Patched it after they'd moved out.
CHARACTER 1 - Vicious killers. Enjoy cat meat. Cats can't get away - these guys climb better and polish them off fast.
CHARACTER 4 They have four fingers on each of all four paws. Lets them be picky as they eat your corn.
OLD GUY - Well, I'm hoping it's moved away on its own accord. Otherwise, guess there's a mercy killing coming up.
CHARACTER 2 -Ah, you're too soft hearted in your old age.
The woman behind the counter tries to concentrate on doing her books and answering the phone. The old guy finishes his coffee and leaves.
CUT:
EXT. GARAGE AND ROAD PAST CEMETERY AND BACK TO THE VILLAGE. HALF HOUR LATER.
The old guy makes the return trip of his twice-daily walk. He looks at the cemetery but doesn't enter the gate. He knew a lot of its inhabitants and talks to himself a bit.
CUT:
INT. OLD GUY INSIDE HIS HOUSE - MIDNIGHT
He wakes from a dream of sunnier climes he has known. Mexico and portions of Latin America. Scenes from his adventures. A truck races its motor. The old guy mutters to himself as he shuffles off to the bathroom holding a flashlight.
OLD GUY - - Darn boozer racing his motor in a big hurry to get out of town. Noisy nincompoop nobodies pretending they're somebody. Interrupted my favourite dream - that I was in Mexico again. Oh well, a few weeks and I'll be there. First time in ten years. Wonder who I'll still know? They call me Luis down that way. Heh.
CUT:
EXT. MAIN STREET IN FRONT OF HOTEL - MIDNIGHT
Two men, AL and MATT, leave the bar, each carrying a case of beer. They laugh and joke as each finishes the partially filled bottle he has smuggled out.
AL - The bar closes, and we're just getting started. So we'll just move the party out of town to the great outdoors.
Matt, head back, tosses down a half-bottle
AL - Chugalug there Buddy. Open road, here we come.
MATT - Feelin' no pain.
AL - No pain, no gain.
