Sunday, September 18, 2011

Hollywood Dick's 169th Dream

Based on actual events.
FADE IN:
INT. FAMILY HOME - EVENING
As in many dreams, I start out in my old house back in Louisville with my family. But the setting is fluid, shifting from one locale to another. Now I'm at my parent's place in Maine. Now I'm in my Malibu beach house. (Or more accurately, my Malibu Dream House.)
I am very sad. I have come to a decision. I am going to leave California and go back home. I am giving up on my "dream" of becoming a screenwriter. The decision weighs very heavily upon me. I can barely speak.
CUT TO:
EXT. DOWNTOWN LA - NIGHT
I am on my way to a special event: a movie screening, or a premier. I know the exact location, but I can't seem to get there. I am in an unfamiliar part of town. It is dark. The streets are confusing.
I find myself on the iconic North Broadway Bridge, with its rows of Beaux-Arts lampposts curving off into the night. It's like a scene from a movie. Like a scene from a hundred movies, where the hero is all alone and doesn't know where to turn. And the city is big and lonely and unforgiving.
I make my way through a series of alleys and side-streets filled with shady characters and lowlife types. I am a little apprehensive, but try to appear undaunted.
Despite the fact that I am totally out of my element, I feel like I know where I am going. I feel like I am getting somewhere.
I must navigate a series of confusing twists and turns, but eventually I arrive at…
CUT TO:
INT. PRIVATE CLUB - NIGHT
I am in a large, well-lit room at some kind of crazy party with a bunch of people I don't know. Everyone is drinking and talking and laughing.
A man approaches me from out of the crowd. He seems to know me. He is smiling and friendly. His face is slightly familiar -- like someone I might have seen on TV or in a movie. Apparently his job is to 'guide' me through the party, and keep me from misbehaving.
I have a glass in my hand, but it is empty. I go to the bar and order a drink. The bartender tells me that I have been cut off.
My 'guide' reappears and takes the empty glass away from me. I look around and see that everyone else is having a good time. I just want to get out of there...
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. CAFE - NIGHT
Small groups of people sit at tables, eating dinner and generally enjoying themselves. I am on a bench over against the wall. There is a stage at one end of the room.
A waiter confronts me. He seems to think I am someone else -- or that I am not who I am supposed to be. I do not know what to tell him.
Someone hands me a guitar and tells me to play. I take the guitar and strum a few chords. I feel confident. At last I have something that I know how to do.
I begin to play a song, but one of the guitar strings breaks. I try to fix it but decide that it is futile. I set down the guitar and walk away.
CUT TO:
INT. BACK ROOM - NIGHT
I end up in a small room in the back of the cafe, where I meet a beautiful woman. She has a great smile and seems glad to see me. Then she laughs and tells me that I have to leave right away. She will help me escape -- the only way out is through the window.
We try to open the window, but it only comes up a little bit. Just a crack. Not enough to get through. I keep tugging on the window but it won't budge...
FADE OUT.
...and then I woke up.