Deadlock Victim

The Realm Part 5.

Next step was to provide a treatment of the whole project, different from the concept in that there has to be more detail.
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Treatment:
The Past:
He’s been a part of my life for so long, I don’t know if I can remember the beginning. Wherever I go there he is. Forever tossing me into these nonsensical worlds of surrealistic images and obscure puzzles. It’s almost as if he wants me broken only to be rebuilt stronger.

I’ve been alone most of my life, I hold him responsible for the deaths of my parents almost twenty years ago. I have been pursuing him ever since then, or is it the other way around? Maybe he is the one pursuing me. Or maybe it’s neither maybe he is leading me, trying to take me somewhere where I will finally be able to confront him. He is my sole companion in this hell of a life.

How I long to have the companionship of another human being. Not even for the conversation, just to have someone to be with someone who will not fade away like so many of the others have.

The Present:
Mike sits at the bar staring blankly into his drink. He’s sitting there trying to clear his head of “him,” his life, everything. The last thing he wants to do right now is think. Mike’s in pain, confused, bewildered, everything but in control of his life. He doesn’t know where to turn or what to do.

The bartender comes up to him and asks him if there’s anything wrong. The bartender acts very strangely, moving in strange jerky movements and he speaks as if this is the first time he has ever used his voice. Needless to say there is something wrong with this guy.

Mike suddenly starts talking about everything. The death of his parents, the forced solitude of his existence, the strange experiences in what he has come to call “the realm.” The most recent event struck very close to Mike. The reason why this was so close is not exactly clear. It apparently was a strongly harrowing emotional experience. It comes out in the conversation that his last experience in the realm confronted him with the visions of his parents and severely taxed his physical mental and emotional strengths. His strongest feelings right at this moment is to find someone with whom he can share his entire life with, someone who would be there at his side throughout all the troubled times that lie ahead as well as understand completely his past.

The bartender listens intently to this wild talk. His body language is odd kind of jerky, jilting. The look in his eye says something different. He has that look of understanding, completely. The way he expresses himself, its as if they have known each other for years. Mike almost sees this, almost makes the connection, but due to his current mental state he doesn’t make that leap. As the conversation continues, the bartender gets a flash of insight and sees something that could possibly fit his “agenda.” As soon as this look passes SHE enters the bar.

She walks into the bar, her head held high and full of confidence. She has a bounce in her step and looks like she’s walking on air, exactly the opposite of Mike. She walks up to the far end of the bar and gets a drink from the bartender, who had clumsily excused himself from the expository conversation with Mike. She takes her drink and goes to leave. We watch her walk away over Mike’s shoulder, he barely looks up.

A few minutes later, she walks back into the bar and stares strangely at Mike. As she moves this time the confidence and bounce isn’t the same. We then see Mike look more attentive than he had been as he stares back at her. They stare for what seems to be hours.

The scene suddenly shifts to the bartender who has a strange smile on his face. He starts to laugh and the picture fades away to blackness.
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The picture comes up and we see Mike crumpled on the ground. Slowly he rises. He looks weak, tired, as if he is having trouble comprehending his new surroundings. He looks around into the blackness, he sees nothing. He walks around, dementia slowly creeping up him. His already damaged mental state is only worsened as the barren space around him gives way to the increasing disarray of his mind.

At the same time Gina awakes in new surroundings. She is calm and comfortable in her new surroundings. She, like Mike, also rises slowly. She walks around exploring.

The strange thing about these new surroundings is that Mike and Gina are mimicking each others movements, only different somehow. In this version of the realm, they exist in the same space at the same time, only in the exact opposite, much like a photo negative.

Mike is still wandering around, crying out his anger into the thin air. At that moment he hears something, he doesn’t know what it is, but it could be another voice. His state of dementia doesn’t allow him to actually hear what it is.

Gina hears these cries coming from somewhere near her, but she can’t quite make it out. She calls out hopefully to that cry, hoping for some response.

Mike’s head starts to clear, ever so slightly. The voice he hears starts to become more distinct and understandable.

head becomes clear---makes connection with the bartender---realizes that the bartender was the entity and that this is a test----he is being allowed to start a relationship---he must realize that he can allow someone else into his life and release his guard---Gina realizes that while she is happy something is missing from her life---they both recognize that someone else is there---guard is dropped and they see each other---they touch and the scene fades to black.
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The scene fades back into view and we see Mike and Gina still looking at each other across the bar. The eye-lock is broken and they truly look at each other for the first time. Mike slowly rises from his perch and walks toward Gina. She watches him as he makes his way across the bar to her.

The bartender stands in the background with his head cocked to the side, watching as the final act of this story plays itself out. He has the look of someone who has just accomplished some hard task.

Mike reaches out to Gina and takes her hand. Together they turn to leave the bar. They move slowly towards the door to the future. The bartender watches his smile turning into a sneer. Mike and Gina exit the bar. At the same moment the bartender collapses like a marionette with its strings cut. He wakes up a minute later a new man. You see, the bartender was under the control of the entity who has been plaguing Mike’s very existence.

As the new couple exit the bar they enter an empty darkened parking lot. Here they turn and embrace each other. At this moment we hear a sinister laugh which startles the couple as the scene fades away into blackness.

posted by Chris @ 10:24 AM