LOVE (ABRIDGED EDITION)
by Charles Deemer
Story by Mariana Arevalo G.
FADE IN:
EXT. PARK - DAY
MOIRA, 20s, sits on a bench in the park. There's an empty
bench next to hers.
She's reading the personals in a newspaper. We HEAR what
she's reading.
MOIRA (V.O.)
"Successful professional SWM:
tall, fit, handsome, intelligent,
secure, confident, honest,
positive. Has good communication
skills, sense of humor and
balance."
Moira shakes her head in disbelief and moves on.
MOIRA (V.O.)
"Rare, slender, nicely integrated
whole person, spiritual warrior
to take play to a new level with
a spiritually mature,
energetically open friend of the
heart for whom even lustiness is
holy. You and I would risk it all
for the truth. We enjoy intensity
and adore deep peace."
She looks thoughtful, pausing over this one. Finally she
goes on.
MOIRA (V.O.)
"Look, I'm lonely and you're
lonely. Sometimes screwing your
brains out helps to cut through
the crap, know what I mean?"
She hears something and looks up. CALE, 20s, has ridden up
on his bicycle and is parking at the adjacent bench.
For a moment, their eyes meet. Cale smiles, and Moira
quickly looks away. Is she blushing?
Cale takes a bottle of juice and a book out of his back pack.
He sits down at the far end of the bench.
Moira is suddenly self-conscious about the personals and
quickly turns to another section of the newspaper.
She sneaks a glance at Cale and imagines a conversation.
2.
MOIRA (V.O.)
What are you reading?
CALE (V.O.)
"War and Peace."
But the book he's reading is a thin paperback.
MOIRA (V.O.)
I thought it was much longer.
CALE (V.O.)
The abridged edition.
Moira quickly looks away.
MOIRA (V.O.)
It always turns out that way with
men. You think they're the whole
deal, and they end up being the
abridged edition.
She looks back at him. Cale notices this and smiles.
MOIRA (V.O.)
You have a lovely smile.
CALE (V.O.)
Thank you. What's your name?
MOIRA (V.O.)
Moira.
CALE (V.O.)
Very pretty. Irish.
Moira quickly looks away. Across the lawn, A YOUNG COUPLE is
embracing, playful flirtation. They kiss.
MOIRA (V.O.)
What has the greatest odds,
winning the lottery? Or finding
the right guy?
CALE (V.O.)
How do you know I'm not the right
guy?
Moira is startled by this.
MOIRA (V.O.)
What?
3.
CALE (V.O.)
You never know unless you get to
know me, right?
Cale turns a page. He senses something and looks up.
Moira is standing in front of him.
CALE
Can I help you?
MOIRA
I notice you're reading "The
Bridges Of Madison County."
CALE
Promise not to tell anyone.
MOIRA
I loved it actually.
CALE
The critics hated it.
MOIRA
Who cares what they think? Did
you see the movie?
CALE
I like the book better. Great
sound track, though.
MOIRA
I like the book better, too. I
think what saves it from being
sentimental is the way it's set up.
CALE
Right, exactly. The stuff about
her kids finding the diary, all
that didn't work as well in the
movie.
MOIRA
Not that sentimentality is
necessarily bad.
CALE
I know what you mean. I'm Cale,
by the way.
4.
MOIRA
Nice to meet you. Well, I'd
better let you get back to your
book.
She turns to go back to her bench.
CALE
Moira?
MOIRA
Yes?
CALE
Look.
He points to a Hanson Cab approaching. It's empty.
CALE
Have you had lunch yet?
MOIRA
Actually ...
She's thinking about it. In her head, she hears:
CALE (V.O.)
"SWM, 20s, wants to meet a girl
who's not afraid to take a
chance."
She manages to smile.
MOIRA
Let's do it.
Cale waves down the cab.
EXT. PARK/VARIOUS STREETS - DAY
Moira and Cale ride in the Hanson Cab. They obviously are
enjoying themselves.
MOIRA (V.O.)
God, he's good looking. But he
doesn't flaunt it, he doesn't come
off as God's Gift to Women. I
read that Ted Bundy was like that.
Charmed those women to death,
literally. The Hanson Cab Serial
Killer. Well, what can happen in
the middle of the day?
5.
EXT. SIDEWALK CAFE - DAY
The Hanson Cab pulls up in front of a sidewalk cafe, and
they get out.
EXT. SIDEWALK CAFE - DAY
They find an empty table and sit down.
CALE
I hope you're hungry.
MOIRA (V.O.)
Don't tell him you're on a diet.
MOIRA
Famished.
She manages to smile.
Cale looks around for a waiter.
EXT. SIDEWALK CAFE - DAY - LATER
The table is strewn with empty plates after their lunch.
A WAITER brings them each a slice of cake.
MOIRA
We didn't order dessert.
WAITER
On the house. One of our staff
has a birthday.
EXT. STREET - DAY
Moira and Cale walk along the street. Each has a slice of
cake on a paper plate, taken "to go" from the sidewalk cafe.
Cale is eating, Moira just holds her plate.
MOIRA (V.O.)
How can he eat so much and still
be so thin? If I ate this much
every day, I'd be a hippo.
CALE
Aren't you having your cake?
MOIRA
Did you want it?
6.
CALE
God, no. Do you mind if we walk
off lunch for a while?
A SERIES OF SHOTS - DAY
of Moira and Cale continuing their date.
1. They ride on a carousel.
2. They throw pennies into a pond.
3. They walk through a garden or other scenic spot.
4. They watch a STREET PERFORMER. Cale tips him a dollar.
During the above, we hear:
MOIRA (V.O.)
It was amazing. No candlelight.
No violins. No flowers or boxes
of candy or sweet words on a card.
Broad daylight in the middle of
the day, and it was turning into
one of the most romantic times
I'd ever had. We were just
hanging out. We were just being
spontaneous.
INT. ANOTHER STREET - DAY
They walk along another street. Cale suddenly stops and
looks at his watch. He looks like he has something important
to say.
CALE
There's something I have to do.
MOIRA (V.O.)
This is where he dumps me.
CALE
Do you mind coming along?
MOIRA (V.O.)
He forgot he had a lunch date
with his wife. You think you meet
a whole guy, and he ends up being
abridged.
CALE
It won't take long.
7.
INT. DELI - DAY
Cale orders a sack lunch as Moira looks on. She looks like
she's in shock.
MOIRA (V.O.)
He can't possibly still be hungry.
Has there ever been a serial
killer who attacked his victims
with calories?
Cale catches her eye and smiles. Moira forces a smile in
return.
EXT. PARK - DAY
Cale carries the package of take-out.
They enter the same park where they met.
MOIRA
You have a thing for this park?
Cale stops. He sets down the package.
MOIRA
What are you doing?
CALE
Of course I have a thing for this
park. It's where I met you.
He slowly moves forward and kisses her.
Moira lets herself be kissed. Then she kisses back.
MOIRA (V.O.)
Wow.
They finally break the kiss.
MOIRA
We're not really going to eat
again, are we?
CALE
You thought this was for us?
EXT. PARK - BENCH - DAY
Cale delivers the take-out to MRS. LEBONSKI. She sits alone
at a bench. (She can be any age, 40s up.)
8.
CALE
Here's your lunch, Mrs. Lebonski.
MRS. LEBONSKI
I thought you'd forgotten me.
(to Moira)
He brings me lunch every Wednesday.
He's such a sweet boy. Are you
his girlfriend?
CALE
(quickly, to rescue Moira)
Of course, she's my friend, Mrs.
Lebonski. Her name is Moira.
MRS. LEBONSKI
Such a pretty name.
EXT. PARK - ANOTHER BENCH - DAY
They sit on the bench where they met.
CALE
The doctor gave her three months.
And that was over a year ago.
MOIRA
You've been bringing her lunch
for that long?
CALE
Every Wednesday. If the weather's
bad, I take it to her apartment.
Moira smiles with sincere admiration.
MOIRA (V.O.)
A hunk with a heart.
Suddenly Moira's CELL PHONE RINGS.
She looks startled. It RINGS again.
CALE
Want me to throw it in the bushes
for you?
And it RINGS again.
EXT. PARK - BENCH - DAY
Moira on the bench as before, her cell phone RINGING.
She answers it. Too late.
9.
She looks at the adjacent bench.
The bench is empty.
MOIRA (V.O.)
SWF, 20s, frustrated, maybe
unbalanced, certainly confused,
spends a lot of time in the park
reading the personals and
hallucinating about romantic
encounters with a stranger named
Cale.
She starts to pack up to go. She stands up.
Approaching is Cale on his bike. He has TWO cups of coffee
in an egg carton. He stops.
CALE
Would you like a cup of coffee?
FADE OUT