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WINSTON'S VOICE (O.S)

Shitty color! Looka the skin tones.

REVEAL:
THE TV SET IS IN BERNIE'S APARTMENT

INT. LIVING ROOM/BERNIE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT (RAIN)

WINSTON, fifty and fat, is scowling at the image on the TV

screen in BERNIE'S spartan and tasteless three room apartment.

BERNIE grabs the remote from WINSTON'S pudgy hands.

BERNIE:

Chrissake! Homeless people are

supposed to have shitty skin tones.

Look!

BERNIE points the remote at the screen...

ON THE TV SCREEN

CLICK! A gunfight replaces the BAG LADY ON SCREEN, then a

sitcom, an old movie, MTV, and finally a slick commercial

featuring a sexy bikinied BLONDE.

INT. BERNIE'S APT. - NIGHT

BERNIE:

There you go! Skin tones! Listen,

you gotta fish or cut bait. I

wouldn't even do this if I didn't

have these legal problems. Two

fifty. That's it. I gotta get

outta here, I gotta take my kid to

the movies tonight, I'm late.

WINSTON stares at the lithe thighs ON THE SCREEN as BERNIE

starts rummaging urgently in his closet.

WINSTON:

I'll go two hundred.

BERNIE has just found his good shoes, notices a carton of brand

new jackets.

BERNIE:

Two hundred! How about a jacket?

Wanna buy me a jacket?

INT. MAIN CABIN/BOEING 727 IN FLIGHT - NIGHT

The engines drone as we look into the sparsely populated main

cabin of the "baby Boeing". Among the many empty seats, a MR.

FLETCHER reads a magazine while his ten year son RICHIE plays

a pocket video game.

LESLIE SUGAR, one of the two Flight Attendants, is serving a

drink to Mr. Smith, a businessman while FREDDY, the other Flight

Attendant, is giving a pillow to an ELDERLY WOMAN.

We DISCOVER GALE, cradling a phone to her ear while she

awkwardly fishes in her purse and pulls out the Silver Mike

Award.

GALE:

It's very nice actually.

(reading the

inscription)

"For Excellence in the Pursuit of

Truth." Uh, listen, I just wanted

you to know I got a seat back on

the early flight after all so...

What?

Reacting to what she hears on the phone, GALE overturns the

purse in her lap and the contents -- wallet, comb, lipstick,

notepad, etc. -- spill on the floor.

GALE:

What do you mean you gave it to

Conklin? Conklin wasn't on that

ledge! Conklin wasn't...

INT. DEAKINS' OFFICE/CHANNEL FOUR - NIGHT

DEAKINS is grinning into his phone, winking at WALLACE who's

standing beside his desk.

DEAKINS:

Gale, you were gonna do the town,

remember? Fancy suite at the

station's expense, see a show, get

laid maybe. What was I supposed

to do?

Still grinning, he breaks off and listens to Gale's faintly

audible response while holding out his palm to WALLACE in a

triumphant "pay me" gesture. Then he speaks into the phone...

DEAKINS:

Okay, okay, you get back tonight,

doll, and I'll take Conklin off your

suicide. Fly carefully... and

congratulations on the award.

DEAKINS hangs up and smugly pockets the fifty WALLACE has fished

from his wallet, chuckling gleefully...

DEAKINS:

What'd I tell ya! They're all like

that, the good ones. They're

junkies for the story. They can't

let go.

INT. MAIN CABIN/BOEING 727 IN FLIGHT - NIGHT

The eight-year-old, KELLY, seated next to GALE is helping GALE

pick up the contents of her purse from the floor.

GALE:

Thank you. Very much.

KELLY beams. And GALE gives a look to KELLY'S mother SUSAN

who's seated on the other side of KELLY.

SUSAN:

There's another credit card on the

floor.

GALE reaches down to pick up her Visa card from the floor.

GALE:

Thanks.

GALE inserts the Visa Card in her wallet with the other cards.

EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT

Rain comes down in curtains as BERNIE'S Toyota chugs and farts

through curtains of water.

INT. MOVING CAR/CITY STREET - NIGHT

BERNIE is at the wheel, trying to see through the rain swept

windshield. He's talking to himself as he drives...

BERNIE:

I know why it's raining. I coulda

predicted this. It's raining

because my wipers are f***ed up.

If my wipers were okay, the f***ing

sun would be shining right now.

At night!

INT. COCKPIT/727 - NIGHT

Engines DRONE monotonously. The Flight Engineer is looking at a

magazine while the PILOT and CO-PILOT, surrounded by glowing

instruments, stare into the blackness ahead... until something

catches the bored PILOT'S eye. A red light on the control

panel. He frowns and looks closer.

INT./EXT. BERNIE'S CAR/FREEWAY - NIGHT

Looking for exit signs, BERNIE can barely see through the sheets

of rain that his malfunctioning wipers do little to clear.

Suddenly a sign looms into view and disappears before he can

read it.

BERNIE:

Damn!

INT. MAIN CABIN/727 IN FLIGHT - NIGHT

The engines drone. The cabin is peaceful, most PASSENGERS

dozing or talking softly as GALE glances up from her magazine,

sees SUSAN reading while KELLY sleeps peacefully, her head in

SUSAN'S lap.

PING! The electronic tone. Gale looks up, sees the "Fasten

Seat Belt" sign illuminated.

GALE looks toward the dark window. No sign of any lights below.

No city. No airport. strange.

The P.A. SYSTEM comes to life and the CAPTAIN'S mellifluous

VOICE murmurs soothingly...

P.A. SYSTEM

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your

Captain. We're experiencing a high

reading on one of our indicators.

Ten to one, it's a malfunction in

a gauge, but just as a precaution

I'm going to ask you to fasten your

seat belts while the Flight

Attendants run through some safety

procedures with you. I apologize

for the necessity and the

inconvenience.

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