Lines from an unmade art film:
[Joshua, a successful New York journalist and photographer, has returned to the small town in New Mexico where he grew up in order to take care of his mother, Sarah, who recently suffered a stroke. Though he loves his mother, Joshua’s none too thrilled to be back in what he describes to his New York friends as “two blocks east of downtown Nowhere.” He expresses frustration at fact that the local grocery store doesn’t stock decent bagels, and the coffee selection at the local diner isn’t up to par. Yet one night, as he’s relaxing with Sarah on the back patio, watching a breathtakingly beautiful sunset, his mother makes a comment that changes his opinion of everything….]
SARAH: It’s ’cause of those big fires we’ve got such a pretty sunset this evening. You know, on the news the other night, they were talking about the fires and the trouble they cause, and they said that all that smoke can actually cause rain.
JOSHUA: I think you misunderstood them, Mom.
SARAH: It’s true. All that dust and soot gets bundled up, and it sticks together, and makes a cloud–an honest-to-god cloud, with lightning and thunder and everything! A pyrocumu-something or other. And that cloud can cause rain–sometimes enough rain to put out the very fire that caused it… Fires make tornadoes, too… It’s like the whole of nature’s mad about something. Like god’s angry, and he’s got to get down on his belly and kick and scream until it’s all out of him… People are like that, too. When there’s nothing to scream about anymore–good scream or bad scream–it’s no use to keep on living…
[Joshua exchanges a meaningful glance with his mother and reaches for her hand. They watch the sun quietly for a few seconds, then both begins screaming, each laughing and trying to outdo the other. Camera fades to black.]
In other news, I’m alone this weekend while someone‘s in the Apple. Who’s gonna take me out for drinks and keep me company?
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