FADE IN.
Rain falls as HEADLIGHTS pierce the darkness. Suddenly --
A BARN OWL dives from the blackness.
A SHRIEK. KRAEE!
CUT TO:
LLOYD, 50's, pale, panting, and sweat covered, shoots awake.
He turns to his night stand. It is littered with pill bottles.
Lloyd opens one and then another. He swallows the fistful of pills with a glass of water.
Lloyd sets the glass near --
A PICTURE - A youthful Lloyd smiling, arm around an equally youthful, beautiful blonde.
Lloyd crosses the room and opens his closet. He pulls out a bag and exits.
Lloyd sits at a table. A bag lies open, tools covering the table. A chisel, drill, and various other wood working tools.
Lloyd drills a hole in a ornate figure. He sets the drill down and begins to use the chisel.
Wood shavings fall as Lloyd digs the chisel into the wood. He continues until --
The chisel slips. Blood drips from his finger.
LLOYD
Eyes fixed on the dripping blood. He stares. Vacant...
DR. LINDELL (PRE-LAP)
Lloyd?
Lloyd stares at the floor. His mind is elsewhere.
DR. LINDELL (O.C.)
Lloyd, you with me?
Lloyd looks up, but not at DR. LINDELL, a sleek woman dressed in a form fitted pantsuit.
DR. LINDELL
You were telling me about a dream you had?
Lloyd shakes his head. Returning his gaze to the floor.
LLOYD
It wasn't a dream.
DR. LINDELL
If it wasn't a dream, then what was it?
LLOYD
A sleeping memory.
Dr. Lindell jots in her notebook.
DR. LINDELL
Jessica?
Lloyd fidgets angrily.
LLOYD
The fucking owl.
DR. LINDELL
What about the owl?
LLOYD
It's the owls fault. It came at me. Out of nowhere.
DR. LINDELL
The owl was just being an owl, it's not to blame.
Lloyd gnashes his teeth.
DR. LINDELL
Are you familiar with the term projection?
(beat)
It's common to see in patients after a traumatic event. It's a way to shift blame from one's self to something or someone else. In your case, you feel overwhelming guilt over what happened. To cope you have shifted that guilt onto the owl.
LLOYD
You think I'm to blame?
DR. LINDELL
No one's to blame. That's my point. It was an accident. Nothing more.
Lloyd moves his gaze to the window. Rain streaks down the glass.
Rain falls steadily onto the windshield.
A wiper glides across displacing the rain.
LLOYD
Looks at his passenger --
JESSICA, early 20s, and pretty in a Khol's catalog kind of way.
JESSICA
Shouldn't you be watching the road?
LLOYD
I'm gonna need a kiss first.
Jessica leans in. Their lips touch. A playful kiss, full of youthful romance.
JESSICA
There. Now, eyes on the road, Rico.
LLOYD
Fine. Fine.
Lloyd turns back to the road. A moment passes. Something unsaid.
JESSICA
You nervous?
LLOYD
Kinda.
JESSICA
You'll be fine.
LLOYD
Do you think they'll like me?
JESSICA
I think so.
LLOYD
You don't sound too convinced.
JESSICA
They are parents. So they'll do the whole parental, no one's good enough for my princess, thing.
LLOYD
Is it gonna be that bad?
JESSICA
You'll be fine. Just be yourself.
Lloyd, full of nerves, looks at her.
JESSICA
A less nervous version of yourself.
Jessica smiles a toothy, disarming smile.
LLOYD
I just wanna make a good impression.
JESSICA
If they see half of what I see in you, they'll have no choice but to approve.
LLOYD
God, I love you.
Lloyd takes her hand and kisses it.
JESSICA (V.O.)
I love you too.
Thick steam hovers as we move through the bathroom towards the shower curtain. We hear the sound of SOBBING.
Lloyd is curled in a ball, head buried in his knees. Water splashes down on his body, convulsing as he sobs.
Rain pours onto an unconscious Lloyd. Blood drips from his head. He stirs to consciousness.
Lloyd struggles to his feet. He scans the area. Confused. Scared.
Lloyd staggers through the field, searching in a panic.
In the distance he sees --
AN OVERTURNED CAR
Lloyd rushes towards the car.
LLOYD
No. No, please!
LLOYD
Covers his mouth. His eyes glisten. Tears fall down his bloodied face. Lloyd collapses...
... Onto the couch. Dark bags have formed under Lloyd's eyes.
A long silence as Dr. Lindell observes. She writes something in her notebook.
DR. LINDELL
Any more dreams?
LLOYD
No.
DR. LINDELL
Have you been sleeping?
Lloyd remains silent. A moment passes.
DR. LINDELL
I would like to try something a little different this session. Have you ever been hypnotized, Lloyd?
Lloyd closes his eyes.
DR. LINDELL (O.C.)
Clear your mind.
PITCH BLACK DARKNESS
DR. LINDELL (V.O.)
Listen to the sound of my voice. The rhythm of your breathing. Steady. Slow. Calm.
(beat)
Focus your thoughts to the night it happened. What do you see?
OWL'S P.O.V. - DARK ROAD
LIGHTS break through the veil of darkness.
LLOYD (V.O.)
Lights.
DR. LINDELL (V.O.)
Follow the lights.
We swoop towards the lights.
LLOYD (V.O.)
I feel weightless.
We veer left and right as we move closer to the lights.
DR. LINDELL (V.O.)
Focus on what you see. On what you feel.
As we close in on the light their source is revealed --
A CAR
LLOYD
No...
We dive towards the car. The occupants become clear.
LLOYD AND JESSICA
We are about to collide with the car when suddenly -- The shriek of a barn owl. KKARREE! The car veers off the road.
CUT TO:
Lloyd flails. His head darts violently left and right.
LLOYD
No!
DR. LINDELL (O.C.)
Stay with it. Focus.
PITCH BLACK DARKNESS
Pull back to reveal --
THE BLACK MARBLE EYES OF A BARN OWL
Beautifully terrifying.
The owl, perched on a tree, turns its head to focus on --
AN OVERTURNED CAR
Lloyd, on his knees, sobs.
We move past Lloyd to see --
Jessica, hanging from the seat belt. Blood seeps through her matted blond hair.
MUSIC SWELLS as Lloyd fights to free Jessica. Rain spills down upon Lloyd as he holds Jessica in his arms. Eyes locked on her pale face.
THUNDER CRACKS --
-- Dr. Lindell snaps her fingers.
Lloyd's eyes, full of tears, shoot open. He springs up, full of sadness. Anger... Guilt.
DR. LINDELL
It's okay. You're all right.
LLOYD
No. No, I'm not alright. I'm not all-fucking-right!
DR. LINDELL
Lloyd, calm yourself.
LLOYD
Why did you do it? Why!
Lloyd flings himself off the couch. He paces back and forth like a lion in a cage.
DR. LINDELL
It's been years, Lloyd. Years of us going in circles. I thought this would help you progress to --
LLOYD
Progress! You call this fucking progress? I take enough pills to put a horse into a coma, but I still can't sleep without reliving the nightmare. Every fucking day I am reminded of what happened. Twenty-seven years I've been carrying this shit. I JUST WANT TO FORGET!
Lloyd turns towards the wall and smashes it with his fist. The rage turns to sorrow, then pity.
LLOYD
I just want to forget it all.
Beat.
DR. LINDELL
What about Jessica? Do you want to forget her?
Lloyd looks as if he is about to say something, but can't. Instead, he storms out, slamming the door behind him.
THE PICTURE ON THE NIGHTSTAND
Overturned pill bottles. Pills shotgunned on the surface. In the distance we see --
A blur of Lloyd as he searches his closet. Lloyd grabs his woodworking bag and exits.
We hang for a moment on the picture.
We move in on Lloyd's face --
-- Lloyd looks at his reflection in the mirror. Sunken, tear-filled eyes stare back until -- SMASH.
Lloyd punches the mirror. Glass shards plummet into --
A WHITE PORCELAIN SINK
The displaced shards sparkle as something begins to whir. The familiar sound of a drill.
We hear a SCREAM as the drill penetrates bone.
BLOOD drips onto the glass as the sickening whir continues.
The blood spirals down the drain.
Coffee swirls as it is stirred.
Dr. Lindell's red puffy eyes, look through a viewing window. Next to her is a MEDICAL DOCTOR.
Dr. Lindell's hand shakes as she sips her coffee.
DR. LINDELL
I can't shake the feeling that this is my fault.
MEDICAL DOCTOR
No one's to blame.
DR. LINDELL
Maybe I pushed him towards it.
MEDICAL DOCTOR
We all make our own choices. No one forces us into anything.
DR. LINDELL
Then why do I feel so guilty?
LLOYD
Head covered in bandages. Wires and tubes protruding from his body. The IV DRIPS. Drip. Drip. Drip.
SUPER: Cobble Hill Mental Institute - Three weeks later.
An institutional castle of marble and stone surrounded by an iron rod perimeter fence.
OCCUPANTS litter the yard. Some wandering aimlessly, others gardening. Content in their own realities.
Lloyd, disheveled, shaved head, sits at a table and paints a little wooden figure.
Dr. Lindell crosses the room and sits with Lloyd.
DR. LINDELL
How are you, Lloyd?
Lloyd continues to paint.
DR. LINDELL
Beautiful day, isn't it?
Dr. Lindell forces a smile. She turns her eyes to the figure.
DR. LINDELL
That looks lovely. Did you make it?
Lloyd nods.
DR. LINDELL
That's good. You look good, Lloyd. How are you feeling?
For the first time Lloyd makes eye contact.
LLOYD'S P.O.V. - DR. LINDELL
Finely pressed, form fitted pantsuit, with a barn owl's head.
LLOYD (O.C.)
Fine. I feel fine.
The obsidian, marble eyes of the barn owl blink as we --
FADE OUT.
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