INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
Recliner with lampstand on each side of couch aimed at TV. Field and Stream magazines on coffee table. Cowboy hat, Camouflage ballcap and University of Oklahoma football helmet on rack near door. FAINT TIK-TOK OF GRANDFATHER CLOCK near opening to hallway, hands at 11:22.
Big window above couch to water tower above neighbors' simple homes across the leafy street. The lettering on the tank tells us we're in Ardmore. The Oklahoma plates on the Toyota Tundra in one driveway and Honda Odyssey tell us where Ardmore is.
A MAN, 60-something - socks, overalls and tee, glasses - in recliner, turns a page of Foglost. Phone and page-marked bible on lampstand. He sets book in lap, picks up when PHONE BUZZES. He stares at screen.
MAN: Well I'll be damned.
A WOMAN, 60-something - tennis shoes, jeans, Leon Russell tee - arrives in doorway.
WOMAN: Pardon me?
MAN: Come here.
She approaches, she hands him phone. She stares at photo of Claire and Hunter, saddled on horses side by side in the barn.
WOMAN: Well shit howdy. The book.
He hands her Foglost, she opens to the author flap where Hunter looks at the camera from where he stands in the desert, distant mountains in the background above the blurb:
H.C. Hardyn is the author of two other novels, Isleton and Abrasions, and Trabuco: Short Stories.
WOMAN (CONT.): That's him. Right?
MAN: Or his doppelganger.
WOMAN: Either way, I guess he's Jackie's new boyfriend.
She hands him phone and book. He compares the pictures.
MAN: I guess we'll hear more later.
He sets phone on table, opens Foglost.
WOMAN: Quite the page turner. .
MAN: I'll finish tonight. (BEAT.) Wait.
WOMAN: Bingo tonight.
MAN: That's right. Then on the train. Lunch?
WOMAN: (BEAT) Tuna melt and tomato soup?
He smiles.
MAN: Sounds good, sweetheart. Thank you. But I mean tomorrow in Fort Worth.
WOMAN: Oh. Thanks for reminding me. Betty suggested Laredo.
MAN: I like that suggestion.
WOMAN: I have another one but it would mean putting your book down. Or you could just read my mind.
They stare at each other., she winks, he puts book on lampstand, glasses in case, follows her to hall. She extends hand, he takes it, follows woman into hall out of view.
No comments:
Post a Comment