TO KNOW THE HOUR
FADE IN
INT. ON A BASKETBALL COURT AT A SMALL COLLEGE. TWO OF THE FACULTY ARE PLAYING ONE-ON-ONE. BRAD is dribbling with his back to MARK, trying to muscle his way deep into the lane. Mark is giving a good fight but gradually losing ground. Both men have been at this a while and have worked up a good sweat.
BRAD COMPTON (DRIBBLING)
Your faith argument doesn’t hold water. Give me some facts.
MARK HOUSE (WITH A FOREARM ON BRADS BACK):
It’s really not an argument. You just have to believe (a little extra shove pushes BRAD back out of the lane).
BRAD (BACKING AGAIN FOR POSITION):
Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny should have equal standing then.
MARK
(REACHING AROUND AND TAKING A SWAT AT THE BALL):
Those are crutches you use not to believe.
BRAD RECOVERS HIS DRIBBLE AND TURNS FACING MARK. Mark gives him a few feet. Brad moves across the lane up high. Both are looking directly at each other with only a couple feet between them:
BRAD
I can believe in the existence of a creator…a God, if you insist. I just don’t buy this loving God bit.
MARK
Why? You think that life’s trials are cruel?
BRAD
No. I think that trials are a vital part of life. Take your desperate struggle to keep me from getting this last basket.
MARK
What then?
BRAD
Your formula for salvation. Get saved before you die and you go to heaven. What about the guy that lies and cheats all of this life and then asks God to forgive him and dies the next day?
MARK
That man has been saved.
BRAD
He doesn’t deserve it.
MARK
Of course he doesn’t. None of us do. We all have sinned and it is God’s grace that saves us.
BRAD
Don’t you see the inequity in that? Why would a God create a world full of temptation, let his creation taste the temptation, and then just say, you’re forgiven. How can you call it grace? It’s more like torture.
MARK
God uses life’s challenges, tragedies, and abundance to bring people to him. If he made us all perfect in the first place, what would be the purpose of this life?
BRAD
Why not just do a worldwide miracle a day and skip the faith bit?
MARK
The arrival of each new day is pretty miraculous if you ask me?
BRAD
If it’s so miraculous, then why doesn’t everyone believe?
MARK
We all have been given a free will. We can accept God by the daily miracles we see or when tragedy gives us no place else to turn, or we can reject him.
BRAD
Exactly as I told you! It’s a matter of your paradigm, not your faith.
MARK
Your argument that some people need an external force to explain what they can’t understand, and God has been a convenient crutch for them--you’ve pitched that to me before.
BRAD
You don’t buy that and I don’t buy your faith argument. What really gets me is that a God would create an intelligent people and then take away their lives unannounced.
MARK
What? You think you would be inclined to believe in God if you knew the day and the hour of your death.
BRAD
Yes. It would be evidence of divine justice. I’m not saying we would be guaranteed any more life than we get now, we would just know if we would live to be 30 or 100. If we are random accidents of the universe, that’s one thing. But if we really have a creator, it’s cruel for him not to tell us how long we will live. Why wouldn’t a loving God tell me the time?
MARK
Speaking of time, are we calling 3 minutes in the lane or not.
BRAD MAKES A MOVE TOWARDS THE BASKET AND THEN STEPS BACK FOR A JUMP SHOT. THE BALL RATTLES IN AND OUT AND FINALLY FALLS IN.
BRAD
Game!
MARK CATCHES THE BALL AS IT COMES THROUGH THE NET AND TOSSES IT TO BRAD. BRAD ROLLS IT TOWARDS THE BALL RACK ON THE SIDE OF THE COURT.
MARK
I guess that means you don’t want to go another one?
BRAD
Game or discussion?
MARK
It’s more than a discussion, but we’re in perfect agreement on the right place for the ball.
BRAD
I’m not letting you off the hook so easily. What does your book of answers say to that?
MARK
Only that we are not to know the time of our death or of our Lord’s return.
BRAD
(Using an increasingly cynical tone)
And that, sir, is where your argument falls apart. If we knew the day and hour of our death, we could live our lives as we pleased, so long as we sought forgiveness at the last minute. Let’s even make that the last day, so as to give the almighty a little room for cosmic error. How can you insist there is a loving God if he keeps the number of our days a secret? Not knowing is a sword hanging over our heads. Tell your loving God to remove his sword if he can. But he can’t, can he? Then he would lose his control over us.
MARK
I don’t think it’s really that simple and it’s not control over us that God wants. Through the ages, men who knew they were close to death have hardened their hearts against God. It’s faith, not knowledge that causes believers to submit their will to God’s.
BRAD
And we arrive back at the beginning. God creates an intelligent being and then insists that he must discount logic and physical evidence and just accept Him as, as, as a child would. It doesn’t make sense. And it doesn’t make sense because your God would be powerless over people if he let them know how long they would live. It’s an artificially imposed restraint to induce specific behavior based upon the uncertainty of life on this planet. You’ll never convince me.
MARK
Some things you have to accept from your heart, not your mind.
BRAD
(Less cynical, more relaxed with his friend)
Hold everything. I’m the liberal arts guy here. You’re the high order pontiff of math. Are you telling me if one of your students turned in a couple blue books worth of wrong answers, but told you they were right in their hearts….are you telling me those answers would be OK?
MARK
You’re shootin’ from way beyond the three-point line now, buddy.
BRAD
OK. Here’s one from the free throw line. Have your God tell me how much time I have on this earth, and you’ll have a new believer.
ENTER: TWO TALL MEN FROM THE COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM WALK ONTO THE COURT.
MAN 1
How about some 2 on 2 Doc?
BRAD
How about a research paper?
BRAD AND MARK START WALKING TO THE SIDE OF THE COURT, GRAB THEIR TOWELS, AND STAND NEAR SOME FOLDING CHAIRS ON THE SIDELINE.
MAN 2:
You’re heartless Doc. You know we’re just here a couple years ‘til we can get picked up by a big school, and then…
BRAD
Let me guess, the NBA.
MAN 2:
That’s the ticket.
BRAD
Take statistics next semester and do some research on how many really good athletes can’t even get a ticket to an NBA game.
MAN 1
Coach warned us that you were worse than wind sprints in the off-season.
BRAD
So why didn’t you take something easier?
MAN 1
I don’t like knowing how things will come out. I like the risk.
BRAD
Give me a decent paper and I’ll go one on one with you.
MAN 1
You’re on Doc.
SEVERAL OTHER PLAYERS COME OUT ON THE COURT AND START LOOSENING UP AND SHOOTING. MARK AND BRAD SIT ON SOME FOLDING CHAIRS ON THE SIDE OF THE COURT. WIPING THE SWEAT OFF THEIR BODIES.
MARK
What was the bet?
BRAD
Ten sets of stairs.
BRAD IS LEANING BACK IN HIS CHAIR STARING UP AT THE SCOREBOARD SCREEN THAT HANGS OVER CENTER COURT.
MARK
Can I pay you on Tuesday?
BRAD
For a hamburger today... Your credit’s good my friend. Let’s do the salad bar though. I don’t want to put on what I just took off at least until…
BRAD STARES AT THE JUMBO TV SCREEN ON THE SCOREBOARD. IT READS: BRAD COMPTON. DIED JUNE 5TH, 2011. TIME OF DEATH 2:33 P.M. THERE ARE SEVERAL SECONDS OF SILENCE. BRAD SITS MOTIONLESS.
MARK
You OK? BRAD, are you OK.
BRAD
(finally realizing that Mark is talking to him)
…until dinner tonight. Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine. You had me going for a minute.
MARK
I had you going. You turned really pale. I thought you were going down for the count.
BRAD
How did you pull that off? Man that was fast.
MARK
Pull what off?
BRAD TURNS AND LOOKS UP AT THE CONTROLLER’S BOOTH AT THE TOP OF THE STANDS. IT IS DARK AND NOBODY APPEARS TO BE INSIDE.
BRAD
Nothing. I just caught a reflection of something on the screen.
MARK
Serve’s you right for taunting your students into writing their research papers.
BRAD
Don’t you think happy anniversary would have been a better message?
MARK
Better than what?
BRAD
Are you going to come clean on this thing or not?
MARK
Apparently not. I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. Where are you taking Marie tonight for your 15th?
BRAD
OK, change the subject. Your joke was in bad taste, but I’ll get over it—as soon as you tell me how you did that.
MARK
(With palms facing upward)
I wish I could help.
BRAD
OK, wise guy, but watch your six come April Fools Day…
BRAD AND MARK STAND. BRAD SHAKES HIS HEAD, STILL EXPECTING MARK TO COME CLEAN ON WHAT HE THINKS IS A PRACTICAL JOKE.
BRAD (Continued)
We’re going to Vince’s. It’s about the only place around here where I can check all the blocks required by the boss for special occasions.
MARK
You mean they have wine bottles with corks instead of the university standard…
MARK AND BRAD (IN UNISON):
Wine in a box.
BRAD
(Shaking his head and bringing a chuckle to the surface):
Not to mention the extravagant tip they expect for exceptionally slow service.
INT. RESTAURANT SETTING. BRAD IN DARK SUIT SEATED AT A WELL-SET CANDLELIT TABLE WITH MARIE. MARIE IS DRESSED IN A BLACK, LOW CUT DRESS. OTHER TABLES WITH PEOPLE ARE VISIBLE IN THE BACKGROUND.
MARIE:
You’ve been quite the gentleman tonight and not even one comment about 15 years of hell.
BRAD
You know I’m only kidding when I say that.
MARIE:
Sometimes I wonder…
THE WAITER ARRIVES WITH A BOTTLE OF WINE AND HOLDS IT WITH BOTH HANDS TO PRESENT IT TO BRAD FOR APPROVAL. BRAD SMILES AT MARIE AND THEN LOOKS AT THE BOTTLE. THE LABEL READS: BRAD COMPTON. DIED JUNE 5TH, 2011. TIME OF DEATH 2:33 P.M.
BRAD
(Looking away from bottle directly at Marie):
Is this your idea of a sick joke?
MARIE (startled):
Is what?
BRAD
(Taking the bottle from the waiter and handing it across the table to Marie):
This!
MARIE
(Looking at the bottle, but not taking it):
I’m not the wine connoisseur. You have always selected the wine.
BRAD (looking at waiter):
How much did Doctor House pay you to pull this off?
WAITER
I don’t understand sir. Are you not pleased with the wine?
BRAD
Correct. I am not pleased with…
BRAD LOOKS AGAIN AT THE BOTTLE AND IT HAS ITS ORIGINAL LABEL. HE SPINS THE BOTTLE IN HIS HANDS AND TRIES TO REMOVE THE LABEL.
WAITER
I can assist you with the wine, sir.
BRAD
I don’t want you to assist me with the wine. Just bring us a decanter of your house wine. Put this bottle on my check. I’ll take it with me.
WAITER
Immediately sir.
BRAD LOOKS AROUND THE RESTAURANT FOR MARK. HE DOES NOT SEE MARK BUT GETS SEVERAL INTERESTING STARES IN RETURN.
INT. OFFICE SETTING THE FOLLOWING MORNING. OFFICE HAS DESK WITH COMPUTER AND THERE IS A COAT RACK ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE OFFICE. BRAD WALKS IN AND TURNS HIS COMPUTER ON. He walks to a coat rack in the corner of his office and hangs his coat. He returns to his computer to find an email message on his screen. The message is addressed to Brad Compton, Ph. D. The email has no return address. It reads: Per your request, your date and time of death are June 5th, 2011 at 2:33 p.m. The screen goes blank and then a small status bar appears at the bottom of the screen. It reads: Time remaining: 89 days, 6 hours, 49 minutes.
BRAD (out loud to himself):
This joke has gone too far!
BRAD GRABS THE PHONE AND PICKS OUT THE 4 DIGITS FOR THE HELP DESK.
BRAD
H….(pushes 4), E…(pushes 3), L (pushes 5), P (pushes 7).
BRAD JOTS 4357 DOWN ON HIS DESK TOP CALENDAR AND WAITS FOR AN ANSWER.
BRAD
Yes, you can help me. I got an email with no return address and I need to know who sent it.
A pause for reply.
BRAD
This is Doctor Compton. My login name is ComptonBC.
Another pause.
BRAD
What do you mean I’m not logged in! I got an email.
Pause for reply.
BRAD
No. I didn’t enter my password this morning.
BRAD LOOKS BACK TO THE SCREEN. IT DISPLAYS A LOGIN WINDOW WITH COMPTONBC IN THE USER NAME FIELD AND A BLANK FOR A PASSWORD SCREEN.
BRAD
If I wasn’t logged in then someone messed with my computer here in the office.
Pause.
BRAD
That’s correct. I have no disk drive bays, no zip drive, nothing local. That’s correct; I save all of my files and print from the network.
Pause
BRAD
What do you mean nobody can do anything to my system unless I’m logged in. No, I don’t want you to send me a tutorial on using the network.
BRAD SLAMS THE PHONE DOWN AND WRITES JUNE 5TH, 2:33 PM ON HIS DESKTOP CALENDAR, FOLLOWED BY 89 DAYS.
INT. BASKETBALL COURT A FEW DAYS LATER. BRAD AND MARK ARE PLAYING 1 ON 1 AGAIN, EXCEPT THIS TIME BRAD IS MISSING HIS SHOTS BADLY.
MARK
Your game’s way off. You taking cold medicine or something?
BRAD (holding ball):
Can I talk to you without you referring me to a shrink?
MARK
We’ve been friends a long time. You can trust me.
BRAD
(Looking around the court to make sure they are alone):
I think I’m losing it.
MARK
In all honesty, your game never was that good. You got lucky and beat me a…
BRAD
Please. Don’t joke with me now. This is hard enough as it is.
MARK
(Much more somber):
Sorry. I didn’t know it was something serious. What’s goin’ on?
BRAD
You remember our game several days ago when you said I looked pale?
MARK
Yeah, then you got real testy when I asked you about it.
BRAD
That’s because I thought you had played a pretty bad joke on me.
MARK
Like what?
BRAD
(Pointing to big screen over court):
Like putting my name with my date and time of death on that.
MARK
On the scoreboard?
BRAD
On the big screen. We were talking about it during our game. I was sure you were playing a joke and that you did it again that night at the restaurant with the wine.
MARK
Marie did call Alice and told her you blew up over a bottle of wine. Sort of put a damper on the evening….and you didn’t hear me tell you that.
BRAD
I’m surprised it wasn’t in the local news. I made a real idiot of myself.
MARK
Over what?
BRAD
The same thing. The bottle had my name on it with when I would die.
MARK
BRAD, none of us knows when we will die. These are just thoughts you can’t get out of your head.
BRAD
Not out of my head. The message shows up everyday, sometimes more than once.
MARK
Brad, you are the skeptic. Don’t tell me you believe this message. We can run a test and prove it’s just your imagination. Then see if the message disappears.
BRAD
I’m way ahead of you. Two days ago, I bought this countdown watch like they had for the millennium. I matched the days, hours, and minutes from the messages I’d been getting.
MARK
That’s just reinforcing the illusion.
BRAD
(Holding up hand as is stopping traffic)
Wait. After I set it I asked Marie to put it in her pocketbook. Yesterday I was driving Marie to that mini mall on East Third and the clock on the bank gave me the message: 81 day, 2 hours, 16 minutes. I asked Marie to check the countdown clock and they were identical.
MARK
That doesn’t mean that’s when you’re going to die. Your subconscious was just keeping track of the time. Every time you saw a clock, you mind updated the countdown.
BRAD
That’s just it. I didn’t look at a clock all day. I called in sick and stayed in bed most of the day. I didn’t wear my watch and told Marie not to tell me what time it was. That clock on that bank has been broken since the the ice storm last November.
MARK
What did Marie say?
BRAD
Something about finally spending a day at home and just counting the minutes to myself. But I wasn’t counting.
MARK
That’s still not conclusive.
BRAD
You’re the one always talking faith.
MARK
But this isn’t faith. A unique, strange--really strange revelation of some sorts maybe, but it’s a far cry from faith.
BRAD
Is it true? Is it really a message….or am I going nuts….
INT. LECTURE HALL WITH CENTER STAGE AND ABOUT 20 STUDENTS SEATED AT MULTI-LEVEL TABLES. TWO STUDENTS WILL SPEAK: MR. STANTON AND MS. MINOR.
MR. STANTON
And Makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And Thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.
BRAD
Ms. Minor, what is Hamlet saying?
MS. MINOR
It’s like he’s talking a good game about ending his life, but he doesn’t have the stomach for it.
BRAD
Mr. Stanton, do you agree.
MR. STANTON
I think so. Hamlet seems overwhelmed by what he thinks is injustice, but figures he would rather face the devil he knows that the unknown.
BRAD
Don’t we face the unknown every day and survive?
MR. STANTON
Sure, but Hamlet’s talking about a dream world or a world beyond death. It’s not like he can drop in for a visit to see if he likes it first.
SOME HALF-HEARTED CHUCKLES FROM THE OTHER STUDENTS
BRAD
Ms. Minor, with all of the troubles that Hamlet perceives, why would the unknown beyond death be so terrible to him.
MS. MINOR
Hamlet’s troubles are contrived by the fact Shakespeare wanted to write a tragedy. Your troubles on the other hand are that you have lost the name of action and you know for sure that you’re going to die. In fact, you’re going to die in less than six weeks. What great contributions have you made since discovering this revelation? Have you written a great novel or a collection of poetry? If you’re so sure there is no after life, why don’t you spend the weekend with me, and maybe a couple of my friends? We can show you a really good time Doc, I mean Brad. Your wife will probably re-marry any way, so it’s not really like you’d be cheating on her. I don’t know what you’re waiting for. Nobody will find out until after you’re gone, and then they can’t fire you anyway. It’s like you’ve got a free ticket to do whatever you want and I’m ready to do it with you.
BRAD
(STUNNED AT MINOR’S REMARKS)
What. What did you say!
MS. MINOR
I just said that Hamlet’s looking for a free ticket. He doesn’t want to face his troubles and he can’t muster the courage to kill himself.
BRAD
What else did you say!
MS. MINOR
Nothing. C’mon Doc, you can only read so much into this stuff. Neither a borrower nor a lender be, that’s about all the depth I can handle with this prose.
BRAD
Very well. Your assignments for our next class…
BRAD TURNS AROUND TO WRITE SOMETHING ON THE BOARD AT THE FRONT OF THE ROOM. THE BOARD SAYS: JUNE 5TH, 2:33 P.M. BRAD STARTS TO WRITE AND NOTICES THE WRITING. HE TAKES AN ERASER AND RUBS AND RUBS BUT THE WRITING WON’T GO AWAY. HE STANDS BACK FROM THE BOARD AND JUST STARES.
MR. STANTON
Doctor Compton, you were going to give us our assignments.
NO REPLY FROM BRAD.
MR. STANTON (Continued)
Doctor Compton….Sir…..Doctor
EXT. MARK KNOCKING ON BRAD’S FRONT DOOR. MARIE ANSWERS QUICKLY.
INT. MARK ENTERS A HOUSE WITH ONLY NIGHT LIGHTS ON.
MARIE:
He’s in here. He won’t let me turn on the lights or the TV or radio. He just paces all over the house.
MARK ENTERS THE LIVING ROOM. BRAD IS SITTING MOTIONLESS ON A RECLINER IN FRONT OF THE TV. BRAD IS FULLY DRESSED BUT UNSHAVEN AND TIRED FROM DAYS WITHOUT SLEEP.
MARK
(Shaking Brad’s arm).
Brad. Brad. It’s me. It’s Mark.
MARK LOOKS AT BRAD AND THEN BACK AT THE TV.
BRAD
Do you see it? Do you see it?
MARK
I’m sorry. I don’t see anything, Brad. The TV is unplugged.
BRAD
It’s there. 29 days, 18 hours, 4 minutes.
MARK
We need to take you to get some help.
BRAD (standing):
No! No one can help.
MARK
You haven’t been in to the campus for 11 days now. The Dean is considering canceling your classes. We’ve all filled in where we can, but they’re talking about dismissing you from the faculty. They can’t do that if you need medical help, but you have to go see somebody.
BRAD
I won’t go. Tell them I’ll be back teaching tomorrow.
MARK
I told them that for the last three days. I’ve used up any favor I had with the Dean and the President. We all care about you…
BRAD
Nobody can care! Nobody can understand! They’re content in they’re world oblivious to what tomorrow holds.
MARK
Let me help.
BRAD TURNS TO MARK AND GRABS HIM BY THE ARM.
BRAD
This is mine to deal with. I know when I will die. I asked for this in my vain ignorance thinking if I knew I could plan my life better. I could pace myself for the long haul or sprint through a short number of years. I thought if I knew how long I had, it would make it easier to be charitable and kind. I thought I could attack life like a basketball game—playing at 100% to the final buzzer, saving nothing for days that I would not be here.
BRAD HANDS MARK SEVERAL FOLDED PAPERS. MARK STARTS LOOKING AT THEM.
MARK
These are insurance policies.
MARK CONTINUES TO LOOK THROUGH THEM.
BRAD
I can finally leave enough behind to take care of Marie without having to bet against myself year after year. It’s like knowing who will win the World Series on the opening day of the season.
MARK
Yeah, but baseball players can’t bet on their own teams. This is crazy. There’re eight here for $100,000 each.
BRAD
I’ve got six more in the drawer in my desk. 100,000 is the most you can get without a physical. Everyone paid in full for the next 3 months. I also bought a dozen $50,000 policies online.
MARK
You’re not still buying them are you?
BRAD
No, I had to stop a few days ago. They all take 30 days to be effective.
MARK
Why not go get a physical and just get one policy if you really think you’re going to die.
BRAD
What if they found something? If I got denied insurance because of what I’ll die of? I’m going crazy, Mark. I’m not stupid.
MARK
Exactly. You’re not stupid. You know you need help. You’re still in touch with reality. We can help you if you’ll just let us.
BRAD
No.
MARIE
He’s liquidated most of our assets and put them into insurance policies. We’re living on credit cards. He tried to take out a loan on our house, but I wouldn’t sign..
BRAD
Mark doesn’t need to know all of our business!
MARIE
Mark is our friend. He’s your friend. Why won’t you listen to him?
MARK
Please let somebody help you. We don’t have to go here in town. How about I pick you up at say…
BRAD (Interrupting)
It’s time for you to go. I thank you for your concern. You are my good friend. Please go now, before I say things I’ll regret.
MARK TURNS TO MARIE (who is starting to cry).
MARK
Let me know if you need anything. Anything at all. And as soon as he gives even a hint of getting some help, I’m right here.
INT. LATE NIGHT IN BRAD’S DINING ROOM. INSURANCE POLICIES ARE SPREAD NEATLY ACROSS THE TABLE. Brad stuffs two envelopes with policy papers and sets them on the table. One is labeled Mark and the other Alice. Brad walks to the laundry room and unplugs the dryer. He plugs two wires that have the ends stripped off of them into the empty socket. The coated part of the wire lies across the dryer. The exposed metal ends are a few inches in front of him. He dumps a bucket of water on the floor where he is standing and reaches up and places his hands next to the wires.
BRAD (Talking out loud to himself):
I’m sorry Marie. I can’t continue like this. It’s not fair to you, to anyone.
BRAD’S HAND’S AND BODY TREMBLE. HIS BREATHING BECOMES RAPID. HE CLOSES HIS EYES AND PUSHES HIS HANDS FORWARD GRABBING THE COATED PART OF THE WIRES AND PULLS THEM FROM THE SOCKET AND DROPS TO HIS KNEES.
BRAD (crying):
I can’t do this. I can’t kill myself and I can’t go on like this. I didn’t know what I was asking for. Release me from this. Take my life when you will, but come as a thief in the night!
BRAD COLLAPSES TO THE FLOOR.
INT. UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CLINIC WAITING ROOM. MARK AND MARIE STAND AS THE DOCTOR COMES INTO THE WAITING ROOM.
DOCTOR
He has the body of a 33 year old that works out on a regular basis and eats a healthy diet. I should be so healthy.
BRAD NOW ENTERS THE WAITING AREA PUTTING HIS SUIT JACKET ON OVER HIS SHIRT.
BRAD
I can’t believe I missed all those days of teaching and the Dean and the President both want me to stay on.
MARIE MOVES TO BRAD AND HUGS HIM.
MARIE
It’s nice to have you back dear.
MARK GIVES BRAD A HUG AND THEN STEPS BACK AND SHAKES HIM AT THE SHOLDERS.
MARK
You gave us quite a scare buddy.
BRAD
I can’t believe some of the stuff you told me--That I was really that obsessed with my death. When did you say I thought it was?
MARK
Not important. What is important is that you’re OK.
BRAD LOOKS AT MARIE AND MARIE NODS.
BRAD
Marie and I are renting one of those cabins at the lake for Memorial Day. Why don’t you and Alice come with us? There are plenty of rooms in those cabins. You could use the break too after putting up with my bout of insanity.
MARK
You and Marie probably want to be alone.
BRAD
We’ve set aside a night for that on one of those small houseboats. I was hoping we could continue our basketball discussions over some fishing.
MARK
In that case, it’s a date.
INT. 8 JUNE 2011. CENTRAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH. PASTOR IN PULPIT.
PASTOR
Last Sunday, Brad Compton joined our church. He had not been to church since he was a child and often argued about the existence of a loving God with his good friend Mark. In a boat with his best friend, Brad conceded his argument. When he came to me, there was a certain life force about him that spoke of the abundance of life. That abundance was taken from this world for another place at 2:33 in the afternoon this past Sunday. The man driving the car that hit Brad was too busy talking on his phone to even notice he had taken a man’s life. In the short time that I knew Brad, we spoke of many things. His favorite verse of scripture was not one of reassurance as many of us have, but of stern admonishment. I read from the third chapter of the Book of Revelations.
ZOOM OUT TO SHOW INSIDE OF CHURCH WITH CASKET FRONT AND CENTER.
PASTOR (Continued)
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
ZOOM OUT TO SHOW THE OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH AND A VIEW OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE AND CONTINUE TO ZOOM OUT TO SHOW THE GALAXY, THEN UNIVERSE.
Epilogue.
It is the nature of man to question authority--to offer our own explanations to our perceived order to the universe. It is our way to deny those things beyond our comprehension and spend our lives in futile argument over what we cannot possibly conceive. Perhaps, the paradox of intelligent life is that we can truly understand a cosmic order only when we forsake our intellect and realize the world provided to us through the accepting eyes of a child.
FADE OUT.
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