LOVE (ABRIDGED EDITION)
by Charles Deemer
Story by Mariana Arevalo G.


FADE IN:

EXT. PARK - DAY

MOIRA, 20s, sits on a bench in the park. There's an empty
bench next to hers.

She's reading the personals in a newspaper. We HEAR what
she's reading.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             "Successful professional SWM:
             tall, fit, handsome, intelligent,
             secure, confident, honest,
             positive. Has good communication
             skills, sense of humor and
             balance."

Moira shakes her head in disbelief and moves on.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             "Rare, slender, nicely integrated
             whole person, spiritual warrior
             to take play to a new level with
             a spiritually mature,
             energetically open friend of the
             heart for whom even lustiness is
             holy. You and I would risk it all
             for the truth. We enjoy intensity
             and adore deep peace."

She looks thoughtful, pausing over this one. Finally she
goes on.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             "Look, I'm lonely and you're
             lonely. Sometimes screwing your
             brains out helps to cut  through
             the crap, know what I mean?"

She hears something and looks up. CALE, 20s, has ridden up
on his bicycle and is parking at the adjacent bench.

For a moment, their eyes meet. Cale smiles, and Moira
quickly looks away. Is she blushing?

Cale takes a bottle of juice and a book out of his back pack.
He sits down at the far end of the bench.

Moira is suddenly self-conscious about the personals and
quickly turns to another section of the newspaper.

She sneaks a glance at Cale and imagines a conversation.
 
                                                            2.


                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             What are you reading?

                         CALE (V.O.)
             "War and Peace."

But the book he's reading is a thin paperback.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             I thought it was much longer.

                         CALE (V.O.)
             The abridged edition.

Moira quickly looks away.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             It always turns out that way with
             men. You think they're the whole
             deal, and they end up being the
             abridged edition.

She looks back at him. Cale notices this and smiles.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             You have a lovely smile.

                         CALE (V.O.)
             Thank you. What's your name?

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             Moira.

                         CALE (V.O.)
             Very pretty. Irish.

Moira quickly looks away. Across the lawn, A YOUNG COUPLE is
embracing, playful flirtation. They kiss.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             What has the greatest odds,
             winning the lottery? Or finding
             the right guy?

                         CALE (V.O.)
             How do you know I'm not the right
             guy?

Moira is startled by this.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             What?
 
                                                            3.


                         CALE (V.O.)
             You never know unless you get to
             know me, right?

Cale turns a page. He senses something and looks up.

Moira is standing in front of him.

                         CALE
             Can I help you?

                         MOIRA
             I notice you're reading "The
             Bridges Of Madison County."

                         CALE
             Promise not to tell anyone.

                         MOIRA
             I loved it actually.

                         CALE
             The critics hated it.

                         MOIRA
             Who cares what they think? Did
             you see the movie?

                         CALE
             I like the book better. Great
             sound track, though.

                         MOIRA
             I like the book better, too. I
             think what saves it from being
             sentimental is the way it's set up.

                         CALE
             Right, exactly. The stuff about
             her kids finding the diary, all
             that didn't work as well in the
             movie.

                         MOIRA
             Not that sentimentality is
             necessarily bad.

                         CALE
             I know what you mean. I'm Cale,
             by the way.
 
                                                            4.


                         MOIRA
             Nice to meet you. Well, I'd
             better let you get back to your
             book.

She turns to go back to her bench.

                         CALE
             Moira?

                         MOIRA
             Yes?

                         CALE
             Look.

He points to a Hanson Cab approaching. It's empty.

                         CALE
             Have you had lunch yet?

                         MOIRA
             Actually ...

She's thinking about it. In her head, she hears:

                         CALE (V.O.)
             "SWM, 20s, wants to meet a girl
             who's not afraid to take a
             chance."

She manages to smile.

                         MOIRA
             Let's do it.

Cale waves down the cab.

EXT.  PARK/VARIOUS STREETS - DAY

Moira and Cale ride in the Hanson Cab. They obviously are
enjoying themselves.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             God, he's good looking. But he
             doesn't flaunt it, he doesn't come
             off as God's Gift to Women. I
             read that Ted Bundy was like that.
             Charmed those women to death,
             literally. The Hanson Cab Serial
             Killer. Well, what can happen in
             the middle of the day?
 
                                                            5.


EXT. SIDEWALK CAFE - DAY

The Hanson Cab pulls up in front of a sidewalk cafe, and
they get out.

EXT. SIDEWALK CAFE - DAY

They find an empty table and sit down.

                         CALE
             I hope you're hungry.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             Don't tell him you're on a diet.

                         MOIRA
             Famished.

She manages to smile.

Cale looks around for a waiter.

EXT. SIDEWALK CAFE - DAY - LATER

The table is strewn with empty plates after their lunch.

A WAITER brings them each a slice of cake.

                         MOIRA
             We didn't order dessert.

                         WAITER
             On the house. One of our staff
             has a birthday.

EXT. STREET - DAY

Moira and Cale walk along the street. Each has a slice of
cake on a paper plate, taken "to go" from the sidewalk cafe.

Cale is eating, Moira just holds her plate.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             How can he eat so much and still
             be so thin? If I ate this much
             every day, I'd be a hippo.

                         CALE
             Aren't you having your cake?

                         MOIRA
             Did you want it?
 
                                                            6.


                         CALE
             God, no. Do you mind if we walk
             off lunch for a while?

A SERIES OF SHOTS - DAY

of Moira and Cale continuing their date.

1. They ride on a carousel.

2. They throw pennies into a pond.

3. They walk through a garden or other scenic spot.

4. They watch a STREET PERFORMER. Cale tips him a dollar.

During the above, we hear:

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             It was amazing. No candlelight.
             No violins. No flowers or boxes
             of candy or sweet words on a card.
             Broad daylight in the middle of
             the day, and it was turning into
             one of the most romantic times
             I'd ever had. We were just
             hanging out. We were just being
             spontaneous.

INT. ANOTHER STREET - DAY

They walk along another street. Cale suddenly stops and
looks at his watch. He looks like he has something important
to say.

                         CALE
             There's something I have to do.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             This is where he dumps me.

                         CALE
             Do you mind coming along?

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             He forgot he had a lunch date
             with his wife. You think you meet
             a whole guy, and he ends up being
             abridged.

                         CALE
             It won't take long.
 
                                                            7.


INT. DELI - DAY

Cale orders a sack lunch as Moira looks on. She looks like
she's in shock.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             He can't possibly still be hungry.
             Has there ever been a serial
             killer who attacked his victims
             with calories?

Cale catches her eye and smiles. Moira forces a smile in
return.

EXT. PARK - DAY

Cale carries the package of take-out.

They enter the same park where they met.

                         MOIRA
             You have a thing for this park?

Cale stops. He sets down the package.

                         MOIRA
             What are you doing?

                         CALE
             Of course I have a thing for this
             park. It's where I met you.

He slowly moves forward and kisses her.

Moira lets herself be kissed. Then she kisses back.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             Wow.

They finally break the kiss.

                         MOIRA
             We're not really going to eat
             again, are we?

                         CALE
             You thought this was for us?

EXT. PARK - BENCH - DAY

Cale delivers the take-out to MRS. LEBONSKI. She sits alone
at a bench. (She can be any age, 40s up.)
 
                                                            8.


                         CALE
             Here's your lunch, Mrs. Lebonski.

                         MRS. LEBONSKI
             I thought you'd forgotten me.
                  (to Moira)
             He brings me lunch every Wednesday.
             He's such a sweet boy. Are you
             his girlfriend?

                         CALE
                  (quickly, to rescue Moira)
             Of course, she's my friend, Mrs.
             Lebonski. Her name is Moira.

                         MRS. LEBONSKI
             Such a pretty name.

EXT. PARK - ANOTHER BENCH - DAY

They sit on the bench where they met.

                         CALE
             The doctor gave her three months.
             And that was over a year ago.

                         MOIRA
             You've been bringing her lunch
             for that long?

                         CALE
             Every Wednesday. If the weather's
             bad, I take it to her apartment.

Moira smiles with sincere admiration.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             A hunk with a heart.

Suddenly Moira's CELL PHONE RINGS.

She looks startled. It RINGS again.

                         CALE
             Want me to throw it in the bushes
             for you?

And it RINGS again.

EXT. PARK - BENCH - DAY

Moira on the bench as before, her cell phone RINGING.

She answers it. Too late.
 
                                                            9.


She looks at the adjacent bench.

The bench is empty.

                         MOIRA (V.O.)
             SWF, 20s, frustrated, maybe
             unbalanced, certainly confused,
             spends a lot of time in the park
             reading the personals and
             hallucinating about romantic
             encounters with a stranger named
             Cale.

She starts to pack up to go. She stands up.

Approaching is Cale on his bike. He has TWO cups of coffee
in an egg carton. He stops.

                         CALE
             Would you like a cup of coffee?

FADE OUT