Today Is Tomorrow

A Screenplay by Maryrose

A short screenplay I wrote that I might expand upon.

Today Is Tomorrow

Written by Maryrose Krassner

(Setting: Church Chapel; the 25^th of March; ANNA [the bride] is being walked down the aisle. Her best friend HEATHER is in the crowd. The crowd is watching silently in awe.)

PRIEST: Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the holy matrimony of Anna Sofia Isabelle and-

JULIUS: (barging through chapel doors) HEY, everybody! How’s the holy matrimony going?

ANNA: Julius! I’m glad you could make it, but could you sit down?

JULIUS: Can you come here a second?

ANNA: Can’t this wait?

JULIUS: No.

ANNA: (sighs and walks over to JULIUS) What?

JULIUS: (takes out a gun; shoots ANNA; sarcastic) Congratulations on your wedding day. So sorry it’s never going to happen.

(Setting: ANNA’s mind. Gun shot sounds ringing out loud and clear against the sound of harsh, shrill screams. ANNA pretends to be injured by dropping to the floor into a puddle of blood.)

JULIUS: (looking down at ANNA’s body) What do we have here? Ah, Anna, it’s been far too long hasn’t it? Such a pity. A real shame. Wasting all that potential you had. I’m NOT going to miss you. Have fun laying in a pool of your on blood, street filth.

(Setting: Church Chapel; dead bodies everywhere; blood staining the walls; HEATHER wakes up unwounded coming out of a traumatic shock to review the horrible sight she had witnessed three days prior. JULIUS is no where to be found. HEATHER runs out of the church straight to the deep forests. It’s getting near dawn. Heather is walking through the Eden Forest when she hears the sound of approaching footsteps and ducks into a near by cave.)

HEATHER: (whispers to self) Who could that be..?

JULIUS: (running straight passed the cave mumbling to himself) Such a waste of power. Shoulda kept her for the change. Street filth doesn’t even deserve to die with that power within them…

HEATHER: I wonder if he’s referring to me? And what did he mean by, “…it’s been far too long hasn’t it,” and, “…such a waste,”?

JULIUS: (Slows to a nice easy walking pace and starts to disappear into the fog) Ah. It’s about time I can ditch this lame look.

HEATHER: (watches him vanish into the misty fog of grey swirls and falls asleep on cave floor) Did he just pull off his head..?

(Setting: HEATHER just woke up and is walking her way out of the forest to town. Her stomach is growling as she sweeps the city streets she once knew. Only this time, the city has completely rearranged itself. She reads a flyer pasted to a building.)

HEATHER: (stomach growls) Ugh. I’m so hungry. Where the heck is that food court that used to be around here?

STREET ATTENDANT: Hello, M’am. Are you in need of any assistance?

HEATHER: Um… no? May I ask who you are?

STREET ATTENDANT: I’m a street attendant meant to help the misguided, M’am.

HEATHER: Oh? Then would you mind telling me where the Cows Field Diner went? Along with the rest of the ponds and parks and colorful buildings?

STREET ATTENDANT: (puzzled) What are you talking about, Miss?

HEATHER: You know what? Why don’t you just tell me where I am.

STREET ATTENDANT: Of course, you’re in the York Order Provenance, Miss.

HEATHER: What? What do you mean by York Order Provenance? What ever happened to just New York City?

STREET ATTENDANT: New York? Pardon my asking, Miss, but what’d New York City?

HEATHER: (astonished and reread the flyer) S.O. What’s the S.O.?

STREET ATTENDANT: Why, that’s the Society of Order Miss. Our fearless rulers who recreated this world to be a better place for everyone.

HEATHER: The what?

STREET ATTENDANT: M’am, do you need to see a doctor?

HEATHER: What? Why are you asking me that?

STREET ATTENDANT: (pointing to bloody clothes) What happened, Miss? We do not permit violence in our pristine streets.

HEATHER: What’s today’s date?

STREET ATTENDANT: The 29^th of March Miss.

HEATHER: What happened since the 25^th?

STREET ATTENDANT: (Almost singing) That’s the day the Society of Order fixed the Earth.

HEATHER: (astonished) …Fixed….the Earth?

STREET ATTENDANT: (sings) Yes, Miss.

HEATHER: (remembers JULIUS saying, “Such a waste of power. Shoulda kept her for the change.”) Him. He did this.

STREET ATTENDANT: Who did what, Miss?

HEATHER: (ignores the women and reads the flyer over once more) Where is he?

STREET ATTENDANT: M’am where is who? What are you talking about, Miss?

HEATHER: Didn’t any severely bad event happen in the church several miles from here on the 25^th?

STREET ATTENDANT: No, Miss. The only thing that happened in that church before it got torn down on the 25^th was the execution of unworthy street mice by His Highness of the Society of Order Miss.

HEATHER: So Julius is the one running this whole rabbit hole of a nightmare?

STREET ATTENDANT: Julius Miss? No. His Highness’s name is unspoken by us, Miss, but I’m positive it’s not Julius. It starts with a “J” but that’s not it.

HEATHER: Fine, then can you just tell me where I can fine his “Royal Highness” at this time?

STREET ATTENDANT: (sudden realization sweeps features) M’am, I’m on my way there as we speak. Would you like to tag along?

HEATHER: Yes.

(Setting: Inside an exquisite looking mansion. A room made completely of wood with red sating curtains. STREET ATTENDANT has brought HEATHER here. The leader is sitting in a chair facing out over a balcony.)

STREET ATTENDANT: I’ve brought her to meet you, your Highness.

JULLIUS: (swiveling his chair around to face them) Why what do we have here?

HEATHER: So you were behind this, Julius. How could you do this to everyone! How could you kill all those innocent people! How could you kill her of all people..? She took you in. She treated you with the upmost kindness. And you killed her. Along with all the others who didn’t even know you! Well?! What do you have to say for yourself?! Oh wait, excuse me, what do you have to say for yourself, your royal blood sucker.

STREET ATTENDANT: Oh my word! I’m sorry you’re Highness! I didn’t know she’d be so rude!

JULIUS: It’s okay. You are dismissed.

STREET ATTENDANT: (bows and exits)

JULIUS: So, Heather, you haven’t figured it out yet?

HEATHER: Figured what out yet?

JULIUS: Come now, you can’t honestly expect me to believe that you of all people don’t recognize me.

HEATHER: Um… I know you through Anna…

JULIUS: Really, Haeth? You don’t remember me at all?

HEATHER: No… no… No… NO…it… it can’t possibly be… couldn’t be…you can’t be…Jace?

JACE: Aha. So you do remember me then?

HEATHER: How could I forget…? It was a warm summer’s day. I had just arrived to the public pool…

(Setting: Flashback in HEATHER’s mind. Public pool. Five year old HEATHER with her mother.)

HEATHER: Mommy, Mommy!

HEATHER’S MOM: Yes dear?

HEATHER: Can I getta ice pop? Please?

HEATHER’S MOM: After you go swimming sweetie.

HEATHER: Kay!

JACE: (enters running and bumping into HEATHER) Ouch!

HEATHER: (picking herself up and dusting herself off) Hey can’t you watch where you’re going stupid?

JACE: (jumping up) I’m not stupid. You’re stupid!

HEATHER: How ‘bout this? We’re both stupid.

JACE: (laughs and smiles, Extending hand) Okay. Hi! I’m Jacobs. But you can call me Jace.

HEATHER: (reaching out and shaking his hand) Hi! I’m Heather.

JACE: Can I call you Haeth for short?

HEATHER: Sure! We’ll be best friends forever!

JACE: Yeah!

HEATHER: (extends pinky finger) Let’s pinky promise.

JACE: (shakes pinkies) Pinky promise.

(Setting: Flashback ending and coming back to the same dusty old wooden room.)

JACE: Yeah that was until the accident.

HEATHER: I didn’t do anything to you!

JACE: Exactly. You didn’t do anything.

HEATHER: What are you talking about?

JACE: After I lost my parents in that gunfire, you slowly stopped talking to me.

HEATHER: What do you mean? I always talked to you! You just never listened to me!

JACE: Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don’t know how it felt! You tried to help, but both you and I know you couldn’t do anything to make it better!

HEATHER: (starting to speak but getting cutting off by JACE) What could I do?! What did I do! I don’t understand why…

JACE: No one understands what I went through. I want to rid the world of everyone who’s inferior. I want to fix the world! And I am! And I would have gotten away with it without anyone ever finding out the truth. Now you’ve left me no other choice.

HEATHER: No other choice but to..?

JACE: No other choice but to kill you.

(Setting: JACE snaps his fingers and the room swirls into a dungeon chamber. Lit by the torch light, JACE takes off his ring. A whirlwind of colors surrounds him and when the colors blow away, his true body is shown. The same familiar features HEATHER once knew were now a nightmare standing in front of her.)

JACE: Miss me Heather?

HEATHER: No. Not at all. What just happened? Where are we?

JACE: (evil smile) The old church chapel.

HEATHER: I can’t believe you destroyed the church…you’re a monster!

JACE: Thank you for pointing out the obvious. Now can we get this over and done with? I have plans in about an hour, and I don’t want to miss them.

HEATHER: Well what are you expecting to do? Have sword fight to the death? A shoot out? What do you think is going to happen here?

JACE: I guess we’ll see what happens then.

HEATHER: (curiosity turning to shock and horror) See what…happens?

(Fight scene occurs. JACE puts up his hand having red flames spew from it at HEATHER. HEATHER gets thrown up against the wall and screams. Burns start to cover HEATHER’s left arm. HEATHER starts glowing and earth begins to shake. Fire flashes up around JACE. Hurricane force winds blow around the room. Lightning strikes the ground around JACE’s feet making the burning inferno around JACE burn brighter than the sun.)

JACE: (uttering seconds before he slowly burns to death) I love you Heather…

HEATHER: (staring at JACE’s lifeless body astonished) What… What do you mean?! Jace! Jace!

(setting: HEATHER is wandering JACE’s castle when she comes across a crack in the wall. She looks at the crack more carefully and follows it down to where the wall meets the ground, only to find a mismatched piece of wall. HEATHER picks it up, and the wall comes down inside the floor revealing a secret passageway. She goes down and finds a shrine built by JACE. A shrine, made of her own pictures.)

HEATHER: (to self as she wanders the room) What the heck is with him? This makes no sense. Hey what’s this? (picks up a leather bound book with a champagne colored ribbon and gold edged pages)

(Setting: HEATHER reading through the book she found)

JACE: “Diary entry, 28^th of March. I have finally put together all the pieces of the puzzle to change the world. After

I finally destroyed everything Heather has cared about, I can now get her to join me as my queen in this world I have recreated. Society will finally play by my rules! No more throwing caution to the wind or ill mattered fate! Fate took my family, and now I will know what happens and when it happens. And it’s all thanks to this key formula!”

HEATHER: (After carefully reading a complicated formula, attempts to undo the drastic effects on the Earth) Here goes.

(HEATHER says a bunch of words in a Latin sounding language as a circle of light surrounds her. The circle keeps expanding more and more until there’s a huge white flash and a loud bang sound.)

(Setting: March 25^th, HEATHER is opening her eyes and watching ANNA say her “I do’s.”)

ANNA: (looking lovingly at her groom) I do.

PRIEST: (closing his bible) I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.

(ANNA and her groom kiss and the crowd cheers as the wedding bells of the chapel ring out)

(Setting: Outside the chapel HEATHER is the first one to congratulate ANNA.)

HEATHER: (to ANNA smiling) Congrats! Thank goodness Julius didn’t get here in time.

ANNA: (a little confused but immensely happy) Who’s Julius?

HEATHER: What do you mean? You know. Julius. Brown Hair. You think he’s nice and funny.

ANNA: I thought I was supposed to have the wedding stress. Well I don’t know a Julius, but he sounds nice I guess. Sorry, gotta go! See ya in a couple months!

HEATHER: (thinking to self) I guess that final blow wiped him from existence. Even if no one else remembers him, I’ll always remember that little boy on that hot summers day.

(Screen fades to black.)

The End

Maryrose Krassner 1/8/13