the 'what-if' script
the ‘what-if’ script
EXT. - CITY - SIDEWALK - DAY - VERY EARLY MORNING
a man places his hand in his pocket,
pulls out five coins,
and enters a convenience store,
a motorcycle’s exhaust
sets off the alarm on a 10 year old Prius
waking up a sleeping sidewalk woman
who stumbles in an attempt to stand
dropping the bottle from her hand,
in the street she bends over
to pick up the bottle that didn’t break
and her glasses slide off her nose,
she reaches to pick them up
which are now farther out into the street
and it’s looking up
through the glasses
that are now back on her face
that she sees
in the corner of her eye, a light;
a tunnel,
as far as the vision she sees,
but it’s not the kind of light
you’d walk towards
if you had a choice
and she didn’t,
well I mean she had choices,
but how far back do we go?
Her last boyfriend, no,
the one before, no,
the third, fourth, fifth, no, no, and no;
you’d have to go to the eighth one back
to find the one
that was the most like her Dad
and then
we’d find out why or when
her story got sad.
EXT. - CITY - STREET - DAY - STILL VERY EARLY MORNING
Sidewalk woman
still a bit tipsy
smelling like pee
from having urinated on herself during her sleep
is standing in the middle of the street,
she’s sees the light
and it’s too late to realize
that it’s coming from car headlights
and bad luck for her
because she’s struck.
EXT./INT. - CITY - INSIDE CAR - DAY - STILL VERY EARLY MORNING
A well dressed man
inside a two year old previously leased Maserati,
drives with his knee,
his left hand holding a Starbucks cup,
right hand on his cell phone;
he looks up to see sidewalk woman.
MAN DRIVING CAR
What the fuck!
EXT. - CITY - SIDEWALK - DAY - STILL VERY EARLY MORNING
Coffee man
walks out the store door
just in time to hear the tires yell
and the sidewalk woman screech.
He sees her and the car meet,
she looks to the driver,
he looks to coffee man,
who is looking at him.
COFFEE MAN
Qué mierda!
(What the fuck!)
EXT./INT. - CITY - INSIDE CAR - DAY - STILL VERY EARLY MORNING
Man driving car shifts it into park,
but then puts it in reverse
driving around sidewalk woman,
who now lies dead in the street,
and moves over to coffee man.
Man driving car inspects coffee man:
short, medium build, brown skin,
tattered t-shirt, work worn pants, weathered skin;
he pulls the e-brake,
places the transmission in park,
and gets out of the car.
EXT. - CITY - SIDEWALK - DAY - STILL VERY EARLY MORNING
MAN DRIVING CAR
¿Cuánto?
(How much?)
Coffee man looks at the Maserati:
door ajar,
front end smashed up and bloodied,
parked caddy-cornered in the street.
COFFEE MAN
¿Qué?
(What?)
MAN DRIVING CAR
¿Cuánto cuesta?
(How much is this?)
COFFEE MAN
¿Mande?
(Excuse me?)
Man driving car takes his wallet out,
thumbs through it,
and hands the only bills inside to coffee man.
The two men alone on the street
look into each other in the eyes.
MAN DRIVING CAR
You didn’t see me.
Man driving car
heads out onto the freeway,
pulls into a carwash off an exit,
then to an independent body shop,
and Ubers to his day.
INT. - CITY - NEWS STUDIO - DAY - SUNRISE
From a hallway,
man driving car opens the door to the studio,
slips into a suit jacket,
and walks to an anchor desk sitting down.
PRODUCER
(O.S.)
Three...Two...One...Live!
MAN DRIVING CAR
Good Morning Los Angeles,
it’s 6 A.M.,
how did you sleep?