SCENE 12.

CUT back to house. WITZ uncovers the video camera and takes it to his room, where he hooks it up to his TV and begins to play it. His expressionless face is bathed in a blue glow. CUT between him and the image of his mother reading. CUT to a distressed Brill popping pills and growing more desperate. CUT to WITZ fast-forwarding through unchanging footage. Suddenly the phone rings. It is BRILLIARD. He launches an incoherent polemic.

WITZ
Hello?

BRILLIARD
(Immediately) What do you think of this? I can see you. I can read you--it’s not as complicated as you think.

WITZ
Well, I never thought--

BRILLIARD
This is serious. My whole life is a disease. Possibly it has been-

WITZ
What disease? What are you--

BRILLIARD
Yeah. I never understood how Mr. Fannely did it. But now I know.

WITZ
Did what?

BRILLIARD
Everything. It’s that I don’t know what to do.

WITZ
What?

BRILLIARD
Godammit. (Hangs up.)

WITZ, though slightly perturbed, continues to watch the tape and falls asleep.

ACT III

CUT to later in night. The door to WITZ’s room slowly opens. His father’s silhouette fills the doorway. His fingers tap on the threshold. Dissolve to outside shot of dawn. CUT to WITZ’s room. Dad enters once again, this time removing WITZ from his bed, as he does every dawn. This time, WITZ awakens.

WITZ
What are you doing?

DAD
Doing what I always do. Making you crazy.

WITZ
Yeah! Get out of here. I thought I locked my door.

DAD
You did. There’s no privacy here.

WITZ
What?

MOM enters.

MOM
What’s going in here? Are you guys fighting?

DAD
He’s just being a child.

WITZ takes his keys and leaves fitfully. CUT to WITZ driving to Allardale. He looks pissed.

CUT to DAD, who by now has uncovered the videotape of his wife.

DAD
Honey, come here and look at this.

MOM turns around and puts down the books she’s been rearranging.

MOM
What?

CUT to WITZ arriving at Allardale, getting out, and walking to the bridge.  Aarvo Part’s “Cantus in Memoriam of Benjamin Britten” begins.

CUT to parents watching, appalled.

CUT to BRILLIARD, who removes a prescription from the refrigerator and copies it.

CUT to WITZ peering down bridge.

CUT to PARENTS.

DAD
This is getting pretty boring. (He fast forwards through the unchanging sequence.)

CUT to beginning of WITZ’s suicide fantasy.

WITZ swings his arms behind him to ready for his swan dive.

CUT to bluescreen of WITZ falling, wind in face.

CUT to mother’s face watching the video of her husband flailing while she reads

CUT to BRILLIARD taking perscription with him into his car

CUT to WITZ falling more

CUT to other student receiving an acceptance letter from a university, complete with substantial scholarship

CUT to another student receiving another acceptance letter and laughing with his parents in glee

CUT to WITZ reaching the archway without his shirt.

CUT to WITZ falling

CUT to BRILLIARD, as he arrives at pharmacy

CUT to BRILLIARD inside, receiving perscription

CUT to WITZ approaching Mother.

CUT to Father with somewhat distrubed look on his face as he watches video.

CUT to Father kissing Mother passionately some time in the past

CUT to WITZ falling, here comes his death!

CUT to WITZ flexing for Mother.  She woos.

CUT back to Father kissing Mother.

CUT to WITZ falling.

CUT to Mother watching video

CUT to WITZ looking over bridge at creek.  Awwrgh.  Music stops.  It is a woefully short distance.  WITZ exits.

CUT to BRILLIARD returning home with the prescription.

CUT to Parents again.  The tape finishes, and starts rewinding itself.  “Cantus” stops.

DAD
Well, he’s pretty crazy, but he’s persistent.

MOM
It’s probably just a phase.

DAD
You think?

MOM
I don’t know.

CUT to BRILLIARD.  He holds bottle and looks at it, contemplating not going through with self-medication.

BRILLIARD
Maybe I should talk to my mother.  Maybe I’ve made this all up.  I don’t really need medication.

CUT to WITZ driving home.  He is obviously upset and supet.

CUT to Mother sitting in chair.  She picks up a book to read, but thinks again and puts it back down, at which point you hear WITZ open the door.  Camera pans over to WITZ.

WITZ comes towards his mother.

WITZ
Hi, Mom.

WITZ continues his approach.

CUT to side shot of Mother.  WITZ comes over to her and kisses her full-blown on the lips.  Harp music plays.  Mother’s eyes divert to the foyer.  WITZ turns around.  Father had been watching all along.  WITZ bends down to retrieve the gun.  WITZ shoots his father.

CUT to BRILLIARD.  He opens the letter.  He then bends over with stomach cramps.

CUT to pan of living room and foyer, showing WITZ, his astonished mother, and his dead father’s body.

CUT to WITZ.  Somewhat astonished himself, he stumbles over his father’s body on his way to his bedroom, revealing his mother’s devastated face.

CUT to BRILLIARD’ Father.  BRILLIARD has been frothing at the mouth in his chair.  His father takes the letter.

BRILL’S DAD
Accepted?  Well I’d be excited, too.  Brill?  BRILLIARD?

CUT to WITZ.  He enters his room.  He walks over to the stereo and turns on the same music he played when he hid the camera.  He starts crying.

Determined to finish this, WITZ exits his room and enters the hallway, where he finds his mother.  “Everyday” begins.

In an emotional embrace to the music of the second fantasy, his mother approaches him and hugs him.

Jump cut to a sobering close-up of WITZ on the floor of the hallway, wounded in the chest by gunshot.  Music here has diminished

Music returns full-strength as campy credits play.

THE END

Comments

Remember when I raced that guy Written by Guest on 2004-03-27 15:05:37 Wasn't that luge scene awesome?    George Lazenby, who thinks he'd be great for the part of Brilliard.

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