Thursday, May 03, 2007

I Will Try Not To Breathe, I Will Hold My Head High

Synopsis: It is the not-too-distant future. The world is almost out of air. Instead of fighting for oil, people fight for the air they need to breathe.

Belto: I…I can’t breathe!

Hellwren (through Belto's earpiece): Shit, Belto! You’re in a no-air zone and your tank is on empty! Break out your emergency flora!

(Belto takes out a single rose encased in a small glass dome. He breaks the glass and we see the rose drinking heavy from the surrounding carbon dioxide. Soon it emits slow but steady bursts of oxygen and Belto gasps the oxygen greedily.)

Belto: Thanks, Hellwren. Close one.

Hellwren: Don’t waste time thanking me, Belto! Your rose only has 5 minutes. That means you’ve only got 5 minutes before you run out of air!

Belto (muttering): I could have sworn my oxygen tank was full. And at $4.00 for every gallon of oxygen, I think I know when I fill up my tank!

(Belto, the rose kept close to his nose, runs to an area marked breathing zone. He breathes the air just as his life-giving rose dies. Hellwren is waiting for him)

Hellwren: You wanna be another of those choke-isides? What’s the matter with you? You almost got yourself killed!

Belto: I don’t know what happened! I just filled up my oxygen tank two hours ago!

Hellwren: Then why does it say “empty”? Wait! It doesn’t say “empty” at all….it says “full of oxygen.” Belto, this thing has been tampered with. By enemies. Do you have any enemies?

Belto: Hmm, let me think, Hellwren…Let’s see….do you think….do you think it’s possible that I made enemies in the Oxygen Conglomerates by starting to research how to get breathable oxygen from carbon dioxide?

Hellwren: You’re a marked man, Belto.

Belto: Don’t I know it. This wasn’t the first attempt on my life, Hellwren.

Hellwren: You need to defend yourself. You need to take precautions.

Belto: This wasn’t the first attempt on my life, Hellwren. It was the fourth. I barely survived the first attempt, and as a response I had a very controversial surgery.

Hellwren: No way.

Belto: Yes way, Hellwren. I had all of my fingers surgically made into gun barrels and now I can load bullets into my wrist and shoot bullets from my fingers. It’s the ultimate surprise weapon, and when I point at someone it means their days are numbered.

Hellwren: That surgery is illegal, Belto.

Belto: So is murder, Hellwren. So is murder. And so is Oxygen extortion, which is what I believe is going on here. People can’t breathe, and someone, someone is making a mint.

(Belto turns away from Hellwren, and we see Hellwren secretly throw away the missing parts of Belto’s oxygen tank gauge.)

Hellwren: Oh, I think you’re being paranoid, Belto.

Belto: Shut the fuck up, Hellwren. There is a war going on. People need air, Hellwren, and people die every day by way of suffication.

Hellwren: Yeah.

Belto: NO.

Hellwren: Well it’s not like we can do anything about it. One person can’t make a difference.

Belto: Well I’m going to make a difference.

(Belto shoots bullets from his finger-guns into the air)

Belto: I’m enlisting in the Army, Hellwren. I’m going to war so that everyone can have oxygen.

Hellwren: That is batshit bullshit, my friend. I think that high oxygen prices are both fair and reasonable. I mean, after all you can’t put a price on life, now can you? And you need oxygen to live.

Belto: I’m going to use my fingers for good. I’m going to make a difference by making oxygen free for everyone.

Hellwren: Well, if anyone can do it, it’s you’ Belto.

Hellwren (to himself): That is why I must kill you. With your own finger-guns

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This was pretty good. Like the idea with the dolphin that can race. Cause it's easy to make a dolphin go fast, but it's hard to make it understand the concept of beating other dolphins (or in this case sharks) to the finish line. What audience wouldn't want to join a film on that journey?