STAY

EXT. BROOKLYN BRIDGE -- NIGHT

A wrecked Ford Mustang burns in the middle of the empty

bridge. Empty. No other cars, no people in sight..

.

There is a gaping hole in the windshield on the driver's

side. Flames consume the backseat. Smoke spills out the

windows. The radio still plays, however: The Band's "I Shall

be Released." .

.

One of the Mustang's front tires has blown out. Scraps of

black rubber litter the accident scene.

As the camera pulls in, we see HENRY LETHAM, twenty, sitting

in front of the ruined car. His eyes are closed.

.

He looks sick-- pale, skinny, disheveled-- but he has a

presence, a magnetism that compels you to look at him.

Finally Henry opens his eyes. After a moment he stands and

walks away from the burning car, never turning around, .

heading for the illuminated towers of Manhattan.

Somewhere nearby a BABY is HOWLING, though no one is in

.

sight.

INT. MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS APARTMENT -- MORNING

.

Tuesday

The baby's HOWL continues, faintly, in the background.

.

DR. SAM FOSTER, a psychiatrist in his early forties, wakes up

in bed, disoriented, sunlight shining on the disheveled

sheets. .

For several seconds Sam looks about the apartment, confused,

as if he's never seen the place before. .

EXT. OLLIE'S NOODLE SHOP -- 116TH AND BROADWAY -- MORNING

.

Sam parks his old, battered Volvo in front of the Chinese

.

noodle shop. He checks his watch and curses under his breath.

Sam's hair is beginning to gray, but he's still built like a

college tennis player. He smiles readily but there is a

brooding quality about him, in his dark eyes, that suggests

he has seen things most of us have not.

2.

EXT. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY -- MORNING

The bells are tolling. Sam dashes through the campus gates.

Under his tweed blazer he wears a frayed navy-blue cable-knit

sweater.

As he rounds a corner he checks his watch, and before he

looks up collides with LILA CULPEPPER, knocking her styrofoam

cup of coffee to the sidewalk.

With her stylish haircut and clothing, Lila looks more like a

young editor of a fashion magazine than a graduate student.

Only the thick philosophy textbooks she carries and her red-

ink stained fingers give her away.

She shoves him.

LILA:

Watch where you're going, old man.

SAM:

Jesus, kids these days...

He kisses her on the lips.

LILA:

I don't have time to stand here

flirting with you. I've got to give

a test to Grunbaum's undergrads.

Sam stoops to pick up the empty cup, stands straight,

crumples the cup, tosses it into a nearby garbage can.

SAM:

Thank God none of the TAs looked

like you when I was a student. I

would've flunked every test.

LILA:

(unimpressed)

Oh, that's sweet. Can I tell you

something?

She sidles up next to him and fixes the collar of his jacket.

SAM:

What?

LILA:

You owe me a cup of coffee.

3.

EXT. TURNER HALL -- MORNING

Sam hurries inside the sleek, angular, glass-and-steel

building.

INT. TURNER HALL -- MORNING

Sam gets out of the elevator and waves to a RECEPTIONIST

sitting behind a desk. A sign on the wall behind her reads

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY COUNSELING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES.

SAM:

Hey, Toni.

TONI:

Hey, Sam. Henry Letham's waiting in

Beth's office.

SAM:

Thanks.

He walks down the hallway and opens the last door on the

left.

.

INT. BETH LEVY'S OFFICE -- CONTINUOUS

Henry, wearing paint-spattered army pants and a black long-

sleeve tee-shirt, stands at the window of the bookshelf-lined

office, looking out at the sky. He stares at Sam when Sam

enters the room. Sam smiles and nods.

SAM:

Henry?

HENRY:

Where's Dr. Levy?

SAM:

Dr. Levy had an appendectomy,

she'll be gone a few weeks. I'm Dr.

Foster, I'm covering for her.

Sam offers his hand and Henry examines it for a moment before

shaking. Sam goes behind the desk to sit and gestures for

Henry to sit inn one of the facing chairs.

Sam pulls a manila folder from his suitcase. Henry sits on

the edge of a facing chair. He looks ready to bolt at any

second.

4.

Henry holds a piece of string which he coils tightly around

his index finger, then uncoils, then coils again.

HENRY:

So you're the substitute shrink?

Sam smiles.

SAM:

I guess you could call me that.

Does it make you uncomfortable that

I'm filling in for Dr. Levy?

Henry thinks about it, coiling the string tightly.

HENRY:

Is she your girlfriend?

SAM:

No. We were classmates, actually.

So listen, I read your file-

HENRY:

Oh, really? May I read your file?

SAM:

Fair enough. How about you ask me a

question for every question I ask

you?

HENRY:

How about we don't play stupid

games.

Sam smiles and leans back in his chair. Far from being

deterred by Henry's attitude, he's intrigued. He likes

challenges.

SAM:

Okay. Tell me why you're here.

HENRY:

You read the file. You ought to

know.

SAM:

You torched your car. Why?

HENRY:

I don't know.

SAM:

What do you mean, you don't know?

.

5.

HENRY:

I don't remember.

SAM:

Were you drinking?

HENRY:

I opened my eyes and I was sitting

in the car and it was on fire.

Henry is quiet for a moment, remembering.

SAM:

Do you often set fires?

HENRY:

No. I'm not a pyromaniac or

anything. It's not like I burned

flies when I was a kid.

(beat)

Maybe a couple times I did. Is that

bad?

SAM:

For the flies it is.

HENRY:

I remember them trying to crawl

when they were on fire.

Henry is silent for a moment. He coils the string so tightly

around his finger that the tip of his finger turns bright

red.

HENRY (CONT'D)

Maybe Hell is the place where all

the bad things you've done come

back to get you.

Another pause. Sam points at Henry's finger.

SAM:

You're cutting off the circulation.

HENRY:

I never meant to hurt anyone.

SAM:

You were a kid. Kids are cruel.

HENRY:

I'm not talking about the flies.

6.

SAM:

What are you talking about?

Abruptly, Henry stands, knocking over his chair in the

process. He bends down to pick it up.

HENRY:

Sorry. I better go.

SAM:

Are you sure? I feel like we're

just getting started.

HENRY:

No, no, I better-

Henry looks out the window.

HENRY (CONT'D)

We'll have hail this afternoon.

Sam watches him leave and then stares out the window. The sky

is bright blue.

EXT. RIVERSIDE PARK -- AFTERNOON

The sky is still blue on this beautiful autumn afternoon. Sam

and Lila, on rollerblades, slowly roll down the promenade

overlooking the Hudson River. Lila holds Sam's hand,

steadying him.

Lila is obviously skilled; Sam is obviously a beginner. He

wears a helmet, kneepads, and elbow pads over his long-sleeve

tee-shirt.

.

LILA:

Don't lean forward too much.

SAM:

Okay.

LILA:

Try to relax. You're too tense. Try

to get the rhythm. You want it to

feel natural.

SAM:

I have wheels strapped to my feet.

There's nothing natural about it.

Two kids on rollerblades whiz by the couple. Sam, trying to

get out of the way, nearly falls.

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