Carnival Page #2

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A BONFIRE burns, silhouetting shadows dancing to a

mesmerizing gypsy beat.

Townies are gone, drunken carnies have some fun. Ayleen among

them, dancing with MIRAGE (30s) the handsome Illusionist:

Quick SLEIGHT of hand - a flower appears - a gift to her.

She puts it behind her ear and KISSES him.

Shiv sits alone on a log, holding a BEER MUG. His stare

focused with absorbed concentration.

HIS EYES:

Reflect the shadow of a woman outlined against the fire’s

glow. She dances alone. Carefree. Sensual.

SHIV (V.O.)

I see her dance and wonder once

again how did I get infected with

the idea of her.

We PUSH INTO his eyes until her reflection becomes reality:

BY THE BONFIRE:

The woman smokes a joint as she dances, lost in her own

world. This is ZODIAC (25). The fortune teller from the

flier. A feline brunette of mystic beauty.

SHIV (V.O.)

I watch every inch of her and can’t

help but think of the midway’s game

booths.

She now dances with Mirage, he holds her hand and makes her

SPIN.

SHIV (V.O.)

Nice and shiny, they encourage

suckers to play.

She now dances with a young TRAPEZIST.

SHIV (V.O.)

And they’re rigged to screw them

over.

8.

Shiv puts his beer down, eyes on the prize.

SHIV (V.O.)

Yet the stubborn sons of b*tches

can’t stop playing.

He’s about to get up when -

Zodiac TURNS to him first, as if she sensed what he was about

to do. Her stare fixed on him.

Then she APPROACHES. Kneels in front of him.

ZODIAC:

I just had a vision. A vision about

you. You stand up and ask me for a

dance.

SHIV:

And what do you say?

ZODIAC:

I ignore you.

SHIV:

Did I happen to ask why you despise

me like I killed your mother?

ZODIAC:

I don’t despise you. You’re just

not my type.

SHIV:

And what’s your type?

ZODIAC:

Asking doesn’t help. My type would

know that.

She walks away and soon she’s dancing with someone else.

EXT. MENAGERIE - NIGHT

PANTHERS pace inside CAGE TRAILERS. Moonlight paints their

restless shadows on the floor as Shiv walks by.

SHIV (V.O.)

She’s like a puzzle without the

picture on the box...

He stops when he sees:

9.

Shrouded in darkness, Zodiac is having sex with a CIRCUS

PERFORMER against a trailer.

SHIV (V.O.)

And pieces are rigged to give an

electric shock each time you try to

fit them where they don’t belong.

SLING!

A hand UNSHEATHES a knife - the blade reflecting the full

moon - we are now at:

INT. SHIV’S TRAILER - NIGHT

Moonlight seeps in through a window, painting a square of

silver light in the dark. Shiv sits on his cot -

Cutting his arm with the knife.

Previous scars reveal this self-punishment is a common

practice for him.

Wild-eyed. SWEATING hard. BREATHING harder.

BAM! - door flies open - Ayleen bursts in - sees him.

AYLEEN:

Oh hell no.

She RUSHES over to him - STOPS his hand - struggling to take

his knife -

AYLEEN:

Gimme that!

SHIV:

I’m fine -

AYLEEN:

Fine my ass. You’re having one of

your anxiety attacks -

SHIV:

I’m taking care of it -

AYLEEN:

Not this way -

She manages to PRY the knife out of his hand.

10.

AYLEEN:

Good, now lie down.

She pushes his head down so he lies down on the cot.

AYLEEN:

Take a good deep breath through

your nose.

He keeps hyperventilating.

AYLEEN:

C’mon, I know you can. We’ve done

it before.

He tries to take a deep breath.

AYLEEN:

Nice and deep. Deeper.

He follows her lead.

AYLEEN:

Now gently blow the air out.

Slowly. Very slowly.

He does.

AYLEEN:

That’s it. Clear your mind. Focus

on the breathing. Nothing else.

LATER:

Shiv is still on edge, but his breathing is steadying.

AYLEEN:

Again.

Another deep breath.

LATER:

She caresses his forehead.

AYLEEN:

And slowly let the air out.

He does, feeling much better now.

11.

AYLEEN:

Wish I could open that head of

yours and take all the crap away.

Starting with her.

SHIV:

I had this thing long before I met

her.

AYLEEN:

But she surely doesn’t help. She’s

poison. You need to let go.

Shiv touches the flower behind her ear - Mirage’s gift.

SHIV:

Could you let go?

AYLEEN:

It’s different. We’re in love.

SHIV:

Maybe I’m in love as well.

AYLEEN:

Love takes two.

SHIV:

Says who?

AYLEEN:

Ever saw Marion and Dante kiss?

Have a good look next time you see

them. Notice how she takes his mask

off, how she doesn’t care about the

charred skin on his face. Notice

how he doesn’t let anyone see his

mug... except her. That’s love. A

two-way street. The one-way street?

That one’s named “obsession”.

Shiv takes this in as she stands up to go.

AYLEEN:

Now get some sleep, handsome.

CUT TO:

EXT. THE CARNIVAL - DAWN

A fiery SUNBALL rises behind the heat-wave distorted circus

tents.

12.

INT. BACKSTAGE TENT - DAY

CLACK! - a knife THRUSTS between two fingers.

Shiv, alone, plays five-finger fillet. Warm-up for the show.

SHIV:

I thought a thought. But the

thought I thought wasn't the

thought I thought I thought. If the

thought I thought I thought had

been the thought I thought -

Something breaks his focus - he STOPS.

SHIV (V.O.)

Where is she?

He looks around. No Ayleen.

SHIV (V.O.)

She’s never late.

EXT. MIDWAY - DAY

Townies test their skill and chance amid a cacophony of

lights, sounds and drunken laughter. A feel of heightened joy

all around except...

Shiv paces along, head down. A hooded figure weaving solemnly

through the crowd like a cursed ghost.

SHIV (V.O.)

The desert sun makes the carnival

grounds swelter in a triple digit

hell, yet I have this cold feeling

in my chest as I head for Tigra’s

tent.

A CIRCUS FLIER:

“Tigra” is the name of the LION TAMER, written in font made

of sharp canine teeth. A woman clad in leather, cracks a whip

while holding two fierce PANTHERS on a leash.

SHIV (V.O.)

Her father used to be the

ringmaster but died when she was

seventeen. She started barking

orders even before the funeral was

over. And since that day her word

is law.

13.

The flier is glued to:

EXT. TIGRA’S TENT - DAY

Shiv TOLLS a bell.

TIGRA (O.S.)

I’m busy!

He enters nonetheless -

INT. TIGRA’S TENT

Shiv paces over the Persian rug to find...

TIGRA (40s) in bed, having sex with a circus ROUSTABOUT and

smoking at the same time. She doesn’t stop riding him as she

turns to Shiv.

TIGRA:

Someone better be dead.

SHIV:

My sister is missing.

TIGRA:

Ask her boyfriend.

SHIV:

He’s missing too.

TIGRA:

Sent him to town to get some

supplies. I think she tagged along.

They should be back by now.

EXT. THE CARNIVAL - TIME LAPSE

The SUN plummets behind the horizon - circus tents’ shadows

stretch across the arid soil like reaching fingers.

SHIV (V.O.)

Time crawls by like a dying man in

the desert.

EXT. THE CARNIVAL - ROAD - NIGHT

Shiv stands in the middle of a misty DIRT ROAD, circus lights

glowing behind his back.

14.

SHIV (V.O.)

The wait kills my hope bit by bit,

feeding a growing thirst to go out

and find her.

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