The Rapture Page #3

ANGIE:

There's nothing to talk about.

SHARON:

Why did you get it?

VIC:

Sharon? Can we talk about it later?

SHARON:

I mean it must have been painful.

ANGIE realizes she has to deal with SHARON'S curiosity.

ANGIE:

(facing SHARON)

I don't remember, and I don't know

why I got it.

She looks at the EXECUTIVE. He gives her a compassionate look.

EXECUTIVE:

Its okay, Angie. I'm here. I'm with

you.

SHARON:

Why would you get a tattoo that you

didn't really want? I'm sorry, I

don't want to make you unhappy, but

I really need to know.

ANGIE:

Why?

SHARON:

I don't know. I don't know. It's

important.

(She asks again:
)

What is it?

ANGIE:

Don't you know what's going on?

SHARON:

What?

ANGIE:

The dream? The Pearl?

SHARON:

What dream?

EXECUTIVE:

Tell them.

Cut to:

INTERIOR:
TELEPHONE COMPANY VENDING-MACHINE ROOM. DAY.

The three workers are sitting together, drinking coffee.

SHARON comes into the room and walks over to them, then sits

down. She acts as though she's seen the light, but she's

heavy-handed and obvious.

SHARON:

Hi, it's a beautiful day, isn't it?

How are you?

WORKER #1

(cautious)

We're fine. And you?

SHARON:

I'm fine. Now that I dream about the

Pearl.

Silence. The men watch her carefully. She becomes

uncomfortable, but they don't release her from their hard

stares. She is being evaluated.

WORKER #2

What dream would that be?

SHARON:

The Pearl. I dream about the Pearl.

WORKER #3

Tell us about it.

WORKER #1

What does it look like?

SHARON:

You know. The Pearl. It's a big

pearl by a river.

WORKER #3

No, it's not.

WORKER #1

You haven't seen it.

SHARON:

Yes, I have.

WORKER #2

You can't fake it.

SHARON slumps, defeated.

WORKER #1

It's a message from God. If you

really want it, all you have to do

is pray.

SHARON:

(disdainfully)

Pray.

WORKER #2

He's coming back.

SHARON:

Slow down. If everybody is getting

this dream, how come it isn't on

the news?

WORKER #2

Those who need to know, know.

WORKER #1

And those who don't believe won't

get the dream.

SHARON:

There are five billion people on the

planet. There's I-don't-know-how-

many religions. Why does the God of

some little country on the

Mediterranean have to be the God for

everyone? Isn't that a little

arrogant? I mean, really? The

Buddhists get along okay without

Jesus Christ. The Hindus get along

okay without Jesus Christ. The

Moslems seem to be getting along

okay without Jesus Christ.

WORKER #1

But none of them are saved.

Cut to:

INTERIOR:
SHARON'S APARTMENT. NIGHT.

SHARON comes in. She goes to the bedroom. VIC is in bed with

a woman.

VIC:

Sharon, this is my friend Andrea.

Andrea is from Nebraska. Come and

join?

SHARON leaves and slumps down a wall in the next room.

EXTERIOR:
SHARON'S APARTMENT. DAY.

SHARON smokes on the balcony. Something has changed.

INTERIOR:
SHARON'S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT.

SHARON wakes up. She shakes RANDY.

SHARON:

Get up.

RANDY:

What?

SHARON:

Get up, or get out.

RANDY:

What did I do?

SHARON:

I have to make the bed.

RANDY:

Come on, look, no, it's three

o'clock in the morning.

SHARON:

Get out of bed, or get out of the

house.

RANDY:

Why?

SHARON:

This bed is unclean.

RANDY:

I'm out, I'm out. Unclean ... you

changed the sheets yesterday.

SHARON:

Shut up!

And he gets out of bed. She rips the sheets off the bed and

then we cut to:

Close-up of clean sheets being put over the bed. RANDY isn't

helping; he leans against a wall, trying to sleep.

SHARON:

I'm starting over, Randy. I've had

enough.

RANDY:

Enough what?

SHARON:

I need a new direction in my life.

There is a God, I know it, there is

a God, and I'm going to meet Him.

RANDY:

When did you get religion?

SHARON:

I am trying, Randy. I want my

salvation.

RANDY:

Sharon, you're fine the way you are.

SHARON:

You just want to live in sin, don't

you?

RANDY:

That's right. I just want to live in

sin.

SHARON:

Fine, be a slave to the Devil.

RANDY:

Devil? Do you remember where we met?

Don't start asking me now to

apologize for who I am or what I

believe in.

SHARON:

Oh, and what do you believe in?

RANDY:

There is no God. There's only chaos.

INTERIOR:
SHARON'S APARTMENT. BATHROOM. NIGHT.

SHARON takes a shower. RANDY talks to her through the glass.

SHARON:

And why do we have such guilty

consciences? Answer that?

RANDY:

You're the one with the guilty

conscience. I sleep really well, or

at least I used to.

(He tests the

shower water.)

Jesus Christ, that's hot.

SHARON:

Don't take the Lord's name in vain,

Randy. That's one of the

commandments, it even comes before

theft and adultery, it even comes

before murder. That's how important

it is not to take the Lord's name in

vain.

RANDY:

Since when have you known the Lord?

SHARON:

I am trying to.

RANDY:

And what does a shower at three in

the morning have to do with eternal

salvation?

SHARON is washing herself in a steaming hot shower. She

scrubs herself with a hard brush. She gets out of the shower.

SHARON:

I want to be clean. Am I clean?

RANDY watches in silence as she dries herself with a towel,

cleans her fingernails, and brushes her teeth. She speaks to

him in her reflection.

RANDY:

Yeah, you're clean.

SHARON:

When you do something wrong, we

feel bad, and that's because there's

a little bit of God in all of us,

telling us to change our ways before

it's too late. Isn't that right?

RANDY:

No, it's not right. It's just

conditioned by society. All we are

is animals whose brains have become

too big and too complicated for the

purposes of satisfying our animal

needs, which are food and sex.

SHARON:

There is a spiritual need which is

just as real as hunger, just as real

as the need for love.

RANDY:

Sharon, don't you understand what's

going on? The world's a disaster.

We have no power to make it better.

You hate your job. You hate your

life. But you want to feel special.

But instead of letting me do that,

you're rushing off to something

that's not even there. There's no

Pearl, there's only us.

SHARON flosses her teeth.

SHARON:

I feel sorry for you, Randy, I

really do. But you have to leave.

RANDY:

I don't want to leave. I want to

stay here with you. You know me. We

know each other. We know each

other's secrets, that's something.

I think we can love each other, and

I think you feel that too.

SHARON:

There has to be something more.

RANDY:

Why?

SHARON cries.

SHARON:

I'm tired of the pain in my life.

I'm tired of feeling empty all the

time.

RANDY:

Let me help you.

SHARON:

Why can't we let God help both of us?

RANDY:

Because there is no God.

And he is out the door. Hold on SHARON.

EXTERIOR:
DRIVEWAY. NIGHT.

RANDY gets into his truck.

Cut to:

INTERIOR:
SHARON'S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT.

SHARON reads the Bible the EVANGELISTS gave her and then

simply clutches it.

She tries to sleep, to relax.

Her eyes close.

Whatever it is, self-consciousness or doubt, she can't force

herself to believe.

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