scene 2 final

EXT. MANUFACTURED HOME - SUNRISE

The front porch - potted and hanging plants, wind chimes, hummingbird feeder - and driveway of one of a dozen doublewides that line both sides of the lane in a mobile home park. The tops of cottonwood trees above and behind the neighbors across the way. Old but well-kept two-tone Ford F-150 XLT Lariat model pickup in the driveway, nosed aimed at the lane. Grill guard, trailer hitch, running boards, roof lights. 10-year-old Subaru Outback behind it at the back of the port   Wyoming plates on both.  A few United States flags fly from neighbors' porches. We can see the open front door through the closed screen door opened by Tom to let Wanda pass through to the porch.

She's in robe and slippers, thermos in both hands. He's a cowboy from boots to hat. Plain western-style shirt with pearl snap-buttons. Silver belt buckle features turquoise horseshoe. Phone peeks out from shirt pocket. Key ring on belt loop. Suitcase in hand. They walk to and down the steps to the truck. He opens the driver's door, slides the suitcase to the passenger side of the bench seat, folds down center seat into console, takes thermos from Wanda, sets it in holder. He turns to her, they kiss, embrace, another kiss, Tom gets in, puts key in ignition. Wanda closes the door, Tom rolls down the window, Wanda steps up onto the running board, both hands on the window sill.

WANDA: Scenic route or twenty-five all the way.

TOM: Scenic. Thinkin' lunch at that taco place in Cimarron, if it's still there.

WANDA: Tortilla Azul. 

TOM: That's it.

WANDA: That was delicious.

TOM: I'll send a selfie from the river.

WANDA: I would like that very much.

TOM:  And call every half-hour.

WANDA: Thank you.  

TOM: So where are you drivin' miss Daisy today?

WANDA: Coffee downtown, walk on the river trail, lunch, matinee, maybe bingo tonight.  

TOM: Ready?

She nods. Tom turns on the ignition, drives slowly to the lane, stops. Wanda pokes in her head for another kiss.

TOM: I love you Wanda Pearl.

WANDA: I love you, Thomas Travis. Drive safe, sweetheart.

TOM: How many days til we land in Honolulu.

WANDA: A hundred and two. And a little over nine and a half hours. 

TOM: But who's counting.

WANDA: Aloha, my love.

WANDA: Aloha, angel.

She steps down from the running board   Tom turns onto the lane, Wanda watches him drive away. 

INT. TRUCK 

Tom keeps his eyes on WANDA IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR.

WITH WANDA

She watches the truck stop, make the left turn, Tom wave out the window, wave and blow a kiss. She waves back, blows a kiss. the truck leaves view. She keeps her stare there, finally walks to the steps and porch. As she nears the door a strong breeze RINGS THE CHIMES. She turns to see the cottonwood leaves stirred. The gust subsides, she enters the house, closes the door. 

patio

EXT. PATIO TABLE - NIGHT

Hunter, Chloe and Tom around the table post-meal, silverware on cleaned plates, glasses of water and the pitcher.  MONSOON CLOUDS obscure the moon. DISTANT THUNDER.

HUNTER: So Tom, do you and Wanda have any plans for your twenty-fifth?

TOM: Goin' to Hawaii.

CHLOE: Cool. Which island?

TOM: Oahu. Stayin' the first few nights in Honolulu, doin' the Waikiki thing, and the last few on what's called the North Shore.

CHLOE: Sweet. 

HUNTER: Have you been before?

TOM: No sir. First time for both of us. Y'all prob'ly been.

Chloe nods.

HUNTER: We have. 

CHLOE: Are you excited?

TOM: We are. Not so much about the flyin' part but that's part a the package.

CHLOE: Doing a luau?

TOM: Luau, sunset cruise, ridin' horses on the beach. She don't believe it but I'm takin' a surfin' lesson.

CHLOE: Yay.

TOM: I'm sure I'll be fallin' off before I get the hang of it, but I'm guess' it's a softer landin' than comin' off a horse. Far as I can tell Waikiki's a good place to learn.

CHLOE: It is.

TOM: Do you surf?

Chloe nods.

CHLOE: I learned on Maui.

TOM: How old were ya?

CHLOE: My eleventh birthday.

TOM: Take a lesson?

CHLOE: My mom.

TOM:  Do you surf, Hunter?

HUNTER: I have but it's been awhile. 

TOM: Where do ya surf outta San Luis Obispo?

CHLOE: Pismo mostly. If you know where that is.

TOM:  I do. Was there for a few days about a million years ago.

CHLOE: What were you doing, if you don't mind me asking.

TOM: Y'all can ask me anything ya want, anytime. I was out there doin' a little wranglin' for one a the Hollywood studios.

CHLOE/TOM: Really?

TOM: Not long, couple months. Had a friend who knew a fella and a matter a good timin'. Anyway, me and this friend had some free time, drove up the coast to Pismo Beach, did some fishin', spent a couple nights. 

CHLOE: How old were you?

TOM: Twenty-four. 

NEARER THUNDER.and SUDDEN HARD RAIN   

HUNTER: Here it is.

TOM: Got plenty in Albuquerque last night. Put me right to sleep. Speakin' a which, if y'all'll excuse me, I reckon I'll give my wife and sister the call they're waitin' for and get on to bed.

He stands.

TOM (cont.) Chloe, I sure hope you'll share that casserole recipe 'cause that was delicious. Thank you.

CHLOE: I'll share. After you tell us a little more about your wrangling over breakfast. 

TOM: Deal.  

They shake on it.

CHLOE: Cool.

TOM: Goodnight, y'all.

CHLOE/HUNTER: Goodnight, Tom.

TOM: Can I take them plates in?

CHLOE: No. You're our guest.

TOM: Thank y'all so much for your kindness and generosity.   

HUNTER: Don't forget to sign the guest book.

TOM: I won't.

Hunter and Chloe watch him walk to house, enter kitchen, leave view.

CHLOE: I'm gonna call mom. 

HUNTER: If there's a horse for him and he can and wants to come along -

CHLOE: Yes.

Hunter smiles, gets phone, speaks into it.

HUNTER: Jackie.

Hey.

She's right here with me. 

Can't wait. In fact that's why I called. We have a surprise visitor and are wondering if there's any chance your cousin can find another horse.

[CUT TO:

19 : EXT. HUNTER'S DRIVEWAY - DAY]

.

how Tom found Hunter

EXT. HUNTER'S PATIO - D

Tom at table, smoking. Hunter and Chloe, having returned from the airport, watch through window over kitchen sink, grocery bags on center island. They come out, intros, re dinner, Chloe excuses herself. Tom inquires; we learn Chloe lives in San Luis Obispo with her mother, that she will be seventeen in March and soon starting her junior year in high school.

Hunter asks Tom how he found out about him.

Tom looked up Olivia, found her obituary, and "survived by her son Hunter  and grandaughter Chloe," fueling curiosity that led him to see what he could find about Hunter Hardyn, which led Tom to Hunter's Wiki page, which included his date of birth. Tom "did the math."

Etc.

what good re Story how Tom found Hunter

 

Looks up Olivia online, finds her obituary, including "survived by.".

Coming Soon.

how have i best utilized this blog to get to Finally Final

 

What remains is to to get act three's beats set and then commence Finally Final blog next week. 

.

Timeout and change for the better

Realizing the being-stuck and burnout had something to do with being too-wed to previous notions that further understanding allows for reshaping if not jettisoning. And burnout and stuckness giving way to refreshed and near-ready to resume, with final beats in fixed position, io be posted here, and beginning of Finally Final blog.

Posted here For The Record re stations re progress re finishing, finally.

(more) burnout timeout

 

Hilary Barrett:

You wait for what you need, like a farmer waiting for the weather to change. This is not a passive state; you can dance for rain, influence events by bringing yourself into harmony with the outcome you need. But you cannot force this, you can only attend to it. You will need patience: it may all take much longer than you had imagined. When you are fully present in waiting, your intense attention shines out like a beacon, beginning a creative engagement with the world – not by working on anything, but by waiting on it and holding your faith.

Other titles: Calculated Inaction, Biding One's Time, Nourishment Through Inaction

finding the right title

"Boots" and "Honda Knot" fine as working titles, but neither is the one that sticks. 

Hilary Barrett:

"This is about natural beauty, like the beauty of a plant, whose form is the perfect, simple expression of its nature. It's also about the way people create images to communicate something of a person's or thing's inner nature."

end of this blog other than notepad

Just as semifinal informed this blog, so will this blog end today, other than as notepad, to inform the Finally Final blog I will begin next week.

scene 40

Previous.

EXT. PATIO - DAWN

Hunter in pajamas with mug of coffee, watching a roadrunner seeming to be looking back at him from the rock wall. It finally scurries away. Hunter swallows the last sip, heads to the door to the kitchen.

INT. KITCHEN

Hunter enters, sets mug on counter, gets tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, spinach, cheese and eggs from refrigerator, puts them on center island, stops, surprised when he hears a CAT'S MEOW. He steps into hallway.

INT. HALLWAY

Hunter stares down the hall at the open door to the guest room from which another MEOW comes. He walks slowly to the open door, is startled when a CAT runs out and past him down the hall and disappears through the cat door in the door to the garage. He turns back to the guest room, looks in from the doorway.

INT GUEST ROOM

Hunter in the doorway stares at Tom under the covers in bed, still, eyes closed, his arms crossed at wrists, hands on his chest.

HUNTER: Tom. Tom.

He enters, moves desk chair to bedside, sits.

HUNTER (CONT.) Tom. Tom.

FAINT MEOW.

He holds a finger to Tom's nostrils, searches for pulse at wrist, then at carotid artery. He stares at Tom, finally stands, leaves into hall.

[41. CHLOE'S BEDROOM

Describe. Chloe sleeping. Hunter arrives in doorway, stares, finally enters, sits on edge of bed Chloe faces. FAINT MEOW.] 

scene 39

Previous.

EXT. CAMPFIRE - NIGHT

POV at modest CRACKLING FIRE ringed by rocks. TILT UP  to reveal across the fire a WORKING COWBOY whose face is obscured by the brim of his hat as he feeds twigs to the flame. His silver hair rests on his shoulders.An AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD at repose next to him.  

WHISPER OF RIVER, LOWING OF CATTLE and SNORT OF HORSES we can’t see in the dark sparkled by approximately sextillion stars and a quarter moon. We finally notice what seems the blinking eyes of an owl looking back at us from behind the cowboy, over a shoulder. 

A WOLF’S DISTANT HOWL alerts the dog and lifts the cowboy’s gaze from the fire. He’s Tom, silver beard and mustache, twinkle is his eyes and smile on his face. He looks to the sky and quickly gathering clouds that soon enough eclipse the moon ad stars then drop snowflakes that cover the fire and finally Tom as the last ember of the fire is extinguished.

BLACK for a moment before SUNRISE on the distant mountains we could not see behind where Tom had been. The sun ascends quickly on the snow-covered Big West High Country. Horse and dog tracks in the snow lead from the bare tree with the branch the great horned owl flies from without a sound, toward the cowboy, his black horse and the last few of a dozen head of cattle completing the crossing of the steaming river shallow over and around gravel bars.

After the last cow has completed the crossing, the cowboy turns his black horse to us, takes off his hat and waves it over his head before finally turning and continuing out of view.

ROOSTER CROW.

INT. HUNTER’S BEDROOM - DAWN

Describe. Time on clock.

Hunter wakes. ROOSTER CROW.  Sits up, silk pajamas. He speaks elements of dream into phone-record, slips into slippers, leaves into hall.  

40. INT. KITCHEN - MOMENT LATER

Hunter enters, starts coffee.

Begin Timeout

 

related.

Hilary Barrett:

"To still yourself is to come to rest in your own right place. It's not the opposite of motion, but of being pushed into motion by outside influences. Whether you move or stop is determined inwardly, by your sense of the nature of the time."

Burnout Timeout

 

Time to walk away awhile. Stake out remaining beats tomorrow, then put this down for a minute.   

found re 33:

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