The Rapture Page #6

PAULA:

What does the Bible say?

SHARON:

We who are alive who are saved will

be taken bodily into Heaven.

PAULA:

Ohhh, Sharon ... Sharon ...

SHARON:

You can't accept God, can you?

PAULA:

No.

SHARON:

Well, maybe we should talk about

that for a minute.

PAULA:

(smiling)

Okay, do you mean that if you're a

Christian and you're ironing your

shirts and the Rapture happens,

you'll be taken to Heaven in the

middle of doing the laundry? Or does

God give you time to turn off the

iron, or do your shirts burn?

SHARON:

(joking but deadpan)

I wear permanent press.

PAULA:

Well, I mean what's supposed to

happen? You are supposed to float

up into the sky?

SHARON:

In the twinkling of an eye. The body

will be transformed into spirit. And

there is a warning. If you listen,

if you pray for it. We'll hear the

sound of trumpets, God's angels.

MARY listens.

INTERIOR:
RANDY'S WORKPLACE. DAY.

RANDY is now a supervisor in a large insurance office. He is

well groomed; his hair is cut short; he is a few pounds

lighter. Other workers are around. RANDY is arguing with

LOUIS, another worker. A security officer stands behind

RANDY.

RANDY:

Louis, I'm trying to say this

without causing you a lot of pain.

LOUIS:

Any way you say it, I'm fired,

right?

RANDY:

We have struggled together, but, you

have to admit, it hasn't worked out.

LOUIS:

That's because I'm not kissing ass

around here, isn't it?

RANDY:

Louis, it's because you're not

doing your job.

LOUIS:

You're not doing your job, banana-

head.

RANDY:

Louis, we've tried to help you,

haven't we?

LOUIS:

(crying)

I don't want your f***ing help.

RANDY:

We took you to a counselor.

LOUIS:

You took me to a homo.

RANDY:

I took you to an A.A. meeting.

LOUIS:

They were a bunch of a-holes.

A-holes Anonymous. And you're an

a-hole. And I'm tired of kissing

your Christian a-hole.

(To the security guard:)

What are you looking at?

RANDY:

Louis, I'll pray for you.

LOUIS:

(wildly)

Yeah, well, f*** you!

Cut to:

INTERIOR:
RANDY AND SHARON'S APARTMENT. DAY.

MARY and her parents, RANDY and SHARON, hold hands in a

circle. This is a happy family.

INTERIOR:
RANDY'S WORKPLACE. DAY.

We hear a blast. We see RANDY in his office at the corner of

a hall. There are two bodies in the hall, and LOUIS walks

down it with a gun. RANDY gets up from his desk and starts

to come out. As he does, LOUIS shoots into an office. LOUIS

goes into another office, and we hear two more shotgun

blasts. RANDY is now out of his office and turning down the

empty hall when LOUIS comes back into the hall.

RANDY:

Louis.

LOUIS:

No speeches, preacher.

RANDY:

I have a little girl.

LOUIS:

So what?

And he blasts RANDY.

Cut to:

INTERIOR:
SHARON AND RANDY'S TOWN HOUSE. DAY.

MARY opens the front door.

MARY:

Come in.

The living room is filled with friends who have brought food

to SHARON. MARY and other children play. SHARON talks to

PAULA on a balcony.

PAULA:

You see, now's one of those times

when I wish I was a believer.

SHARON:

Why?

PAULA:

Because I would have a rock to stand

on, because I could tell myself that

everything was for the better

because God has a plan.

SHARON:

But it is, because He does.

PAULA:

It is so hard for me, Sharon. I try

to resist it as much as possible.

SHARON:

So you do feel something tugging at

you, don't you?

PAULA:

I tell myself it's just conditioning,

it's how I was raised. I tell myself

that if we didn't tell our children

about God, they wouldn't ask. It is

a story we tell ourselves so

everything makes sense.

SHARON:

It's not.

PAULA:

But how do you know?

SHARON:

The Bible.

PAULA:

Don't tell me the Bible.

SHARON:

It's a question of faith.

PAULA:

So there's no proof?

SHARON:

Paula, the universe you live in is

cold and filled with empty space.

The universe I live in is filled

with God.

Cut to:

INTERIOR:
SHARON AND RANDY'S TOWN HOUSE. NIGHT.

SHARON and MARY kneel at MARY'S bed, praying.

MARY:

Will we see Daddy again?

SHARON:

Yes.

MARY:

When we die?

SHARON:

Or when God takes us to Heaven.

MARY:

When the Rapture comes, does that

mean we die?

SHARON:

Not exactly.

MARY:

So you can go to Heaven without

dying?

SHARON:

Yeah.

MARY:

But if you die, you can still go to

Heaven.

SHARON:

Yes.

MARY:

So Daddy is going to Heaven.

SHARON:

No, Daddy's already in Heaven.

MARY:

If we pray to Daddy, can he hear us?

SHARON:

Well, we pray to God, and God tells

Daddy what we're saying. That way he

can hear everything.

Cut to:

EXTERIOR:
MINIMALL STAIRCASE. DAY.

SHARON comes down the stairs and stops.

Pull back to reveal:

We are outside a Photolab in a corner pod mall. SHARON walks

into view, looking at the snapshots of America rolling off

the printer.

In the photographs, we see RANDY wearing the clothes in

which he died, and he's trying to reach her, trying to say

something to her. Her husband appears improbably in a

picture at the beach, standing behind a typical family. Then

RANDY is pictured in the desert, standing on a tall rock pile,

his arm raised, calling her to him. He's pleading with her.

Cut to:

INTERIOR:
CHURCH. DAY.

The room is filled; people are standing on chairs at the

wall. There's still a circle in the middle, but it's smaller.

HENRY and THE BOY are flanked by the two EVANGELISTS. SHARON

is across from them, with MARY. Now THE BOY speaks.

THE BOY:

This is from the Book of Revelation,

chapter 12, verse 6. It says, "And

the woman fled into the desert where

she had a place prepared for her by

God." Is anyone else getting visions

that tell us we have to go to the

desert?

SHARON:

You don't believe me.

THE BOY:

I do.

SHARON:

What does it mean?

THE BOY:

You're the only one who can hear

these calls. It could be Satan.

SHARON:

I don't think so.

THE BOY:

Then God wants you for His special

purpose.

SHARON:

Please, come with me.

THE BOY:

We haven't been invited.

SHARON wants to cry. She gets up and takes Mary's hand. The

crowd parts for her, making a path to the door. She starts

walking toward it, about ten feet.

SHARON:

But I'm scared.

THE BOY:

Don't ask God to meet you halfway.

SHARON:

What does that mean?

THE BOY shakes his head no.

HENRY:

(to THE BOY)

What does that mean?

THE BOY shakes his head. No, he won't answer. SHARON is

scared. She opens the door.

EXTERIOR:
OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. SUNSET.

SHARON and MARY are framed in the church door, the faithful

behind them. They walk out into the sunset.

Cut to:

EXTERIOR:
SHARON AND RANDY'S TOWN HOUSE. DAY.

SHARON is packing a sports bag while PAULA watches her.

PAULA is desperate. SHARON is calm. SHARON holds up a few of

MARY'S dresses while she studies the clothes in her closet.

PAULA has a shopping bag filled with food.

PAULA:

Sharon, you can't just leave like

this.

SHARON:

Yes, I can. God is calling me.

PAULA:

No, no, no ... Sharon ... what

about Mary?

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