THE VERY WORST THING THAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN, PART 6
EXT. PARIS STREET, 1959 - CONTINUOUS
Picking up from where we left off in the previous episode. A secret knock on a door. The little window in the door slides open.
CLAIRE
Say it.
SARA
(timidly)
The future enters into us?
KATE
‘And transform itself inside of us...’
SARA
‘...Long before it comes to pass.’
The steel door opens.
KATE (V.O.)
Kate reporting. Mom and Sara are at the club, but I’m pretty sure they’re being followed. Please advise.
Theme Music. Titles:
ANNOUNCER
The Very Worst Thing That Could Possibly Happen, Part 6.
INT. SECRET SEX CLUB, PARIS 1959 - CONTINUOUS
Claire and Sara walk down an echoey corridor, come to another door, open it, and enter the club, smoke and Jazz music. Claire orders two glasses of wine at the bar.
CLAIRE
Vin rouge, s’il vous plait. Deux.
BARTENDER
(from distance)
Oui!
SARA
It... smells different?
CLAIRE
The rooms change all the time. Its interesting, I think.
SARA
What do you mean?
CLAIRE
Come to the hallway, I’ll show you.
They walk to the other side of the room, the crowd and music fade into the background. SFX of an ocean, and wind fade up.
CLAIRE
(Whispering)
Ahhh. Does this look familiar? They’ve made up the room to be a first love, on a summer vacation in the south. Smell the wind?
SARA
Yes! And the ocean.
SARA VO
The room was bathed in a dim golden light, like sunset. Three or four couples were laying on blankets and pillows, whispering to each other and touching each other softly. I saw a beach umbrella, black and white stripes, exactly the one that I stared up at when I lost my virginity. All those feelings came rushing back to me, and I squeezed Claire’s hand, missing that time and the smell of the ocean, and that clumsy boy from town, Girard. Oof, what clown. But he made me laugh, and he had the softest lips. So I let him. It was simple.
CLAIRE
And this one, too, come look!
They take a few more steps down the hall. The music changes to french rock and roll.
SARA
(coughs)
So much cigarette smoke!
CLAIRE
I think this is university! Look its like a college party.
SARA VO
This time it was clear. I remembered the night, and I had remembered it hundreds of times. The room looked like a regular dorm room, small and cramped with one tiny window. It was my second year at University, my friend and I had gone to a party. Everyone was drunk and this band played, oh they were not good. Later, when I wanted to leave, I knew my friend had snuck off with some literature student- he said he was studying Rilke, actually- so I went to find them. When I got near the room upstairs, I could hear them fucking, so I opened the door slowly and peaked in, like a spy. She had the literature student and also the guitar player from the crappy band up there! And they were both fucking her! She was on her knees on the bed, with Rilke in front, and the guitar player behind her. I couldn’t believe it- I mean, she was that kind of person, outgoing, a flirt... so much braver than me. I wanted to join them, to have them to do that to me, but, no way... I couldn’t.
CLAIRE
Remember?
SARA
This is for me?
CLAIRE
Of course its for you.
A kiss.
SARA
But how?
CLAIRE
Because the future enters into us.
Another kiss.
CLAIRE
Now go. This time, you go.
SARA VO
I took a a few steps forward, so slowly. Rilke stood up and came to me, and took my hand. All in one motion he kissed me and undressed me and put me on the bed. Briefly I saw Claire’s silhouette in the doorway before I felt so good I had to close my eyes. I was on my back, and Rilke kneeled by my head. The guitar player pushed into me as I tasted Rilke for the first time. The girl, the stand in for my friend, she kissed my cheek and we shared Rilke and kissed each other as the guitar player started moving faster, holding my thighs apart and pushing. Then she reached her hand between my legs and touched me, until all of me was filled, and I came and saw stars, and felt heat on my stomach and my breasts as both the boys came.
Sound of them coming, and laughing, and kissing.
SARA VO
I own this moment. Its mine. I can share it with you, Raul, or keep it secret. I can hold it in my memory and relish it, and love it, and love myself. There is no tax on this joy, no part of it that I owe to anyone.
CLAIRE
(quietly)
Here, my sweet. Let me clean you off.
SARA
Oh. That was...
CLAIRE
Good?
SARA
Amazing.
A kiss.
CLAIRE
Let’s go.
SARA
There’s more?
CLAIRE
One more.
INT. TRAIN TO KAZAKHSTAN, 1997 - NIGHT
SFX of a train as it squeaks and squeals along with its steady chug. Snake and Vincent are drunk.
SNAKE
One more!!!
VINCENT
Let’s do it! One for you, Mr Ming... and one for me!! Whoops.
He spilled.
RAUL
You guys are wasted.
VINCENT
Its like 20 more hours to Kazakhstan, buddy. What else are we going to do?
RAUL
Its your liver, Vinnie.
SNAKE
You’re not exactly the picture of health over there, scarecrow. What you weigh these days, 140? 145 at the most.
RAUL
Last time I checked I was 138.
VINCENT
Fuck. I think I have some peanuts in my bag, you want some peanuts?
RAUL
Mr Wu?! Mr Wu you in there? Are you guys sure he’s ok? He hasn’t moved since we got on the train.
SNAKE
He’s fine.
VINCENT
He’s fine.
RAUL
If you say so, man, but its been two days--
THUD! The train rattles a little bit.
RAUL
What was that?
SNAKE
A cow. Sometimes they fall asleep on the tracks.
RAUL
Gross.
SNAKE
Yeah, that’s what those triangular things on the front of trains are for-- they’re cow scoops.
VINCENT
Cow scoops!!
SNAKE
Gotta scoop ‘em out of the way!
VINCENT
Scoooop scoooop!
Vincent does a train whistle sound.
RAUL
I’m going to get some air.
EXT. TRAIN TO KAZAKHSTAN, 1997 - CONTINUOUS
Cabin door slides open, we walk out with Raul in the corridor, down to the end of the car. The outside door opens and the wind and train sounds get louder as he stands between the cars. Raul lights a cigarette.
Then he hears a COUGH and a GASP. Its a GOLDFISH. The goldfish has an Australian accent, btw.
RAUL VO
Sara, I was standing on the platform between the train cars when I heard him. I don’t know how I could, over the wind and the giant steam engine of the train, but I looked down, and there he was. A little goldfish. Flapping around and coughing. He was inches from the side of the steel plate I was standing on, just about to fall and get squashed by the wheels of the train.
RAUL
Whoa buddy, I got you. Man, that was close.
GOLDFISH
Water!
RAUL
What?
GOLDFISH
Water!! Need... Water!!
RAUL
Where’s your tank?
GOLDFISH
Next... car!!
Raul clanks through the door into the next car. He knocks on the first cabin door. We hear DRUNKEN LAUGHTER. TWO TRAVELERS are killing time, just like Vinnie and Raul. Traveler #1 is a Vinnie- a Korean guy who’s riding shotgun with the fish. Traveller #2 is an American woman.
TRAVELER #1
...So then the Zulu lady, she picks up the fucking chainsaw--
RAUL
Anyone in here missing a goldfish?
TRAVELER #2
Oh shit! Did you drop Pierre?
GOLDFISH
(gasping)
Yes you fucking idiot!
TRAVELER #2
Here, his tank’s right here.
PLOP as Pierre goes back in his tank.
TRAVELER #1
Shit, Bernard, so sorry about that!
GOLDFISH
Its literally your ONLY JOB. Make sure I don’t die. That’s it.
TRAVELER #1
And look after Madame over here.
GOLDFISH
Ok her too, but she’s just a lump of meat, so... not exactly secret service level protection, is what I’m fucking saying.
TRAVELER #1
I said I’m sorry.
TRAVELER #2
Yeah, Bernard, he said he’s sorry. Calm down.
GOLDFISH
You guys are wasted.
The clink of a bottle and glasses.
GOLDFISH
Thanks, man. Really appreciate the heads up, good looking out.
RAUL
Sure thing. Where you headed?
GOLDFISH
Same place you are.
RAUL
Almaty?
GOLDFISH
No, no. The middle. We’re headed to the middle.
RAUL
So not Kazakhstan.
GOLDFISH
No, thats YOUR middle. Our middle is a little north of there. Town called Omsk.
RAUL
Huh.
GOLDFISH
Shitburg. There’s like, nothing there. You’re lucky.
RAUL
I am?
GOLDFISH
Yeah, Almaty is great! Silk Road, so much history. Plus, since the fall of USSR, the dictators have really been pouring money into that town. Oh, but by the time you get there, I think it’s still under Moscow. But yeah, very regal.
TRAVELER #1
You want a drink? We owe you a drink for saving Bernard.
TRAVELER #2
Yeah, we have Soju!
RAUL
You guys were in Korea?
TRAVELER #2
(finishes a shot)
Mm hmm! Yeah, I went there to work for Samsung. It was so fun. They like LOVE Americans there. I was like a total rock star. And I’m not that tall, but I felt like SO TALL. It was the best. Where were you?
RAUL
Hong Kong.
TRAVELER #1
Here you go.
A glass clinks.
TRAVELER #2
So same deal.
RAUL
I guess. I didn’t really notice.
(For the drink)
Thanks.
TRAVELER #2
Bottoms up.
TRAVELER #1
Geonbae!
TRAVELER #2
Whewww. Still hate that stuff. It’s like wheat flavored cough syrup.
His tone changes a little bit. Serious. Quieter.
TRAVELER #2
You look skinny. How much weight did you lose?
RAUL
35 pounds.
TRAVELER #2
That’s not so bad. I lost 54. 54 fucking pounds! Back in college, I was like the drinking champion at my sorority!!! Now I take one shot and I’m wasted.
RAUL
Who, uh, who were you writing letters to?
TRAVELER #2
This guy in Sweden. Pajala. Ever heard of it?
RAUL
No.
TRAVELER #2
That’s because its in the middle of NOWHERE. Like way up north on the border with Finland. Reindeer and shit.
RAUL
Huh.
TRAVELER #1
Wait, wait, I never finished my story about the Zulu lady with the chainsaw!
TRAVELER #2
Oh shit! Thats right! Ok, ok, where were we--
RAUL
I’m going to head out. Thanks for the drink.
TRAVELER #1
Cool.
TRAVELER #2
See you around!
GOLDFISH
Thanks, buddy. Say hi to Ming for me.
RAUL
Yeah. Yeah, sure, you got it.
Raul exits to the train corridor.
RAUL VO
So there’s two drunk people, a talking goldfish, and a Korean woman who’s passed out on the bunk. Its a mirror image of me, Vinnie, Ming and Mr Wu. I look into the next cabin, the curtain is drawn but I can still peek in. A fox is drinking schnapps from a metal bowl. Couple of Germans are wasted, including a big strong looking woman. They’re singing an old drinking song: My Hat It Has Three Corners.
You hear them singing the drinking song in the background. Each round you leave out a word, and if you fuck up, you drink. We can do this with a looping crew.
GERMANS AND FOX
My ____ it has three corners, three corners has my ____, if it doesn’t have three corners, then it is not my _____!!!
But someone says HAT and everyone yells at him that he has to drink.
GERMANS AND FOX
Drink, Fritz, you clown!! Its so simple!! How can you not do it??!!
RAUL VO
Germans are always a little too honest with their criticism for my taste. Soften the blow, buddy.
The Germans fade out.
RAUL VO
The next cabin was a big tropical looking parrot and some Vietnamese people, with a passed out Buddhist monk lying on the bunk. The one after that was 2 Indian women, a big fat guinea pig, and a dilapidated looking Sikh guy drooling on himself in the corner. They didn’t even try to get him the bunk.
Beat. Raul walks back to the space between the cars, where the wind is loud and the air is fresh.
RAUL VO
So that’s where I am, Sara. On a train full mistakes that need to be fixed, heading towards some place called the middle. I think that’s where I get to meet you. I hope so. Otherwise, I’m just... I don’t know. Are you a Rilke fan? I don’t know much of his work, honestly, I read a few things back in college when I was trying to date some German girl... total waste of time. Anyway, Rilke was in love with this older woman, for years, you know, this amazing woman named Lou Andreas-Salomé. She hung out with Nietzsche and Freud. And they would write letters to each other, I guess kind of like us? In one of them- fuck I remember this so clearly - he said: what should a man do who has so little grasp of life that he must just let it happen to him, and who learns that his own volition is always something less than some other great will, in whose current he sometimes gets caught up in, like an object on a receding tide?
Beat.
RAUL VO
What should a man do, Sara? Can he do nothing? Is that a workable approach?
The door opens.
VINCENT
There you are, bud! Gotta a smoke?
RAUL
Sure.
VINCENT
Thanks.
A lighter flicks. Its hard because its windy.
VINCENT
Fuck.
(Exhales)
Man its nice out. Look at those stars.
RAUL
Yeah. Beautiful huh?
VINCENT
I’m not much an outdoor type, but this is pretty sweet.
There’s a HUGE BOOM, like a wet bag of cement hitting an empty steel coal car.
RAUL
What the fuck!!!
INT. SECRET SEX CLUB, PARIS 1959 - NIGHT
The SFX of the train crossfade into the sounds of the nightclub in Paris.
SARA
Is that Trotsky?
CLAIRE
Who?
SARA
Hey, Trotsky? Trotsky! What are you doing here.
TROTSKY
Oh hello! How are you?...
SARA
Sara.
TROTSKY
(a bit embarrassed)
Yes, Sara. Nice to see you.
SARA
I’m good, thanks. This is my friend, Claire.
TROTSKY
(To claire)
Enchanter, Claire.
CLAIRE
(whispering, hungry)
So they call you Trotsky, now?
Claire slaps his ass and just starts making out with him.
SARA
Claire! Goodness.
CLAIRE
What? Look at him! He’s delicious.
SARA
So you know each other? Why am I not surprised.
TROTSKY
We... how would you put it?
CLAIRE
I’d say we’re both rooks, but I’m white, and he’s black. But we play together some times.
TROTSKY
You’re not white, Claire...
She kisses him again.
SARA
Ok alors.
TROTSKY
Sara, what are you doing here? I have to say, I’m surprised by you...again.
SARA
I’m mailing a letter.
TROTSKY
Pardon?
CLAIRE
Everyone has secrets here, Trotsky. That’s what this place is for.
TROTSKY
You didn’t bring your dad, I see.
SARA
Not exactly his kind of place.
TROTSKY
Mmm. Its a bit progressive, if not communist.
SARA
There IS a lot of communing going on. Is it yours?
TROTSKY
Excuse me?
SARA
Is it your kind of place?
TROTSKY
Oh I’m working. This is research.
CLAIRE
Ha. Is that what they call it now?
TROTSKY
No I’m serious!
CLAIRE
What are you researching?
TROTSKY
For my PhD. Sexual taboos as an arm of state control.
SARA
Is that why you fucked me? To rebel against the state?
TROTSKY
Well, I if I’m honest I had a couple of motives. But rebellion was definitely one of them. The owner of that restaurant is an complete asshole.
CLAIRE
Sara, do you have the letter?
SARA
Yes.
CLAIRE
Trotsky, be a sweetheart and get us a canister for the pneumatic tubes? They have them at the bar. Meanwhile, we have a few things on our checklist.
They start to walk away.
TROTSKY
Of course. Happy to help in any way I can.
SARA
Nice to see you!
Giggling.
CLAIRE
He’s so hot!
SARA
I know.
CLAIRE
You fucked him?!
SARA
In the bathroom of a restaurant at lunch time!
Their conversation fades out, overwhelmed by the SFX of ocean waves and seagulls.
CLAIRE
Do you remember this?
SARA
I’m not sure.
CLAIRE
It might not be your memory, it might be Raul’s.
SARA
He and I are sharing memories now?
CLAIRE
We all share memories, Sara. But your brains, they’re so... entwined.
SARA
Do you know Charles Babbage?
CLAIRE
Hmm. I don’t think he came up in the brief.
SARA
The brief?
CLAIRE
The dossier. For this mission.
We move into the room with ocean sounds and seagulls.
SARA VO
I took her hand and brought her into the room. There was dune grass and sand on the floor, and a beach blanket laid out. On the far wall a static sunset permanently flickered on a calm sea. We laid down on the blanket.
SARA
Claire, look at me. I don’t know why you tell me one thing, then tell me something else. I don’t know why I think you’re a guide one minute and a liar and a spy the next--
CLAIRE
I will never hurt you--
SARA
You will be the end of me. Or at least the end of a version of me. The one I am now, this Sara, she’s almost gone.
CLAIRE
She is. Its true.
SARA
But listen to me! You can’t kill me. You can not. Listen:
Sara takes a note book from her purse.
CLAIRE
What’s that?
SARA
I wrote this down, it seemed... important. I wanted you to know it, too.
She recites a passage from Charles Babbage. We need to get Trotsky, Hans, Raul (in Spanish) and Ai (in Chinese) to recite this as well, so we can create a big weird audio montage. MUSIC is a cover of “the Ghost in You” by Psychedelic Furs.
SARA VO
So I recited: What a strange chaos is this wide atmosphere we breathe! Every atom, impressed with good and with ill, retains at once the motions which philosophers and sages have imparted to it, mixed and combined in ten thousand ways with all that is worthless and base. The air itself is one vast library, on whose pages are forever written all that man has ever said or woman whispered. There in their mutable but unerring characters, mixed with the earliest as well as with the latest sighs of mortality, stand forever recorded, vows unredeemed, promises unfulfilled, perpetuating in the united movements of each particle, the testimony of man’s changeful will.
SARA
(in the room, intermingling with the VO)
What a strange chaos is this wide atmosphere we breathe! Every atom, impressed with good and with ill, retains at once the motions which philosophers and sages have imparted to it, mixed and combined in ten thousand ways with all that is worthless and base. The air itself is one vast library, on whose pages are forever written all that man has ever said or woman whispered. There in their mutable but unerring characters, mixed with the earliest as well as with the latest sighs of mortality, stand forever recorded, vows unredeemed, promises unfulfilled, perpetuating in the united movements of each particle, the testimony of man’s changeful will.
The sounds of kissing.
CLAIRE
One last time.
SARA
Then I’ll be asleep?
CLAIRE
And dreaming.
They’re breathing gets louder, faster. Music comes in, quiet and rolling in waves.
SARA
This isn’t my memory. I never made love near the beach. I think I’d like it.
CLAIRE
Close your eyes. Can’t you hear the waves? We’re there.
SARA
Where?
CLAIRE
Its a beach in Necochea, the coast of Argentina. And its 1987.
SARA
No. How? Its not possible.
CLAIRE
Yes. Its 1987 and Raul is 14. He has a crush the neighbor’s daughter, but she’s 16, and she’s been teasing him all summer.
SARA
Girls are mean.
CLAIRE
So mean! Especially when we were young, right?
SARA
Its born into us. But some of us out grow it. I did.
CLAIRE
Yes you did. This girl, she did not. She teased Raul all summer, letting her bikini slip when was staring at her on the beach, eyeing him at the pool as climbed up the ladder to the diving board. And she was beautiful: dark eyes and black hair and golden skin. And her tits! Her tits were amazing. Like yours.
Claire touches Sara, and Sara reacts.
CLAIRE
At the end of the summer, when all their friends had gone, this girl, she could finally see Raul, because she didn’t need to impress anyone, now, and she was bored and alone. They take a walk on the beach. They lie down in the dune grass. And she takes his hand... and puts... it...here.
Claire groans.
CLAIRE
And they don’t go all the way: they grind against each other, trying to break through, trying so hard to feel what its like to be inside someone else...
Sara moans. Clothes rustle.
CLAIRE
Like this. I have to put myself against you.
SARA
(groans again)
Like that?
CLAIRE
Yes. Oh fuck.
SARA
(whispers, panting)
I don’t love you, Claire. I can’t.
CLAIRE
That’s not the point. Just fuck me.
They almost stop.
SARA
But, tell me - honestly- don’t you love me?
CLAIRE
Sara, no. Please don’t. Don’t ask.
SARA
Maybe?
They start fucking again as Claire evades:
CLAIRE
I don’t want to love you. I. Just. Need. You. To. Fucking. Come.
SARA
Fuck. Bite me. Bite my neck. HARDER!
The music swells as they fuck, and they come, in the dunes on a beach that never was.
Music fades out.
TROTSKY
(from a distance)
Are you guys ready now?
CLAIRE
(still breathing hard)
Ah. Come on, Sara, we have to go.
SARA
What? Where?
CLAIRE
The letter, remember? Get dressed.
SARA
Yes, its in my purse.
CLAIRE
Trotsky, you have a canister?
TROTSKY
Right here.
CLAIRE
Well give it- you can come in, we’re not shy!
TROTSKY
Here.
CLAIRE
Put the letter in the canister, Sara.
SARA
Ok.
She does, and closes the clasps.
CLAIRE
Come on- you remember the access tube, yeah? At the end of the hallway?
SARA
Yes, to the left, no?
Footsteps in a hallway, music playing in the far background.
CLAIRE
Here. This one.
She opens a cover on the pneumatic tube with a FWOOSH.
SARA
And he’ll get this?
CLAIRE
If everything’s working.
TROTSKY
Everything’s working. They have a mail drop in about... 20 minutes.
SARA
Well, ok. Hello, Raul. Talk to you soon.
PHOOOOOMPH.
TROTSKY
We have to hurry. The cab’s waiting.
SARA
To go where? Why won’t you guys tell me what the fuck is happening??
CLAIRE
I did! I told you we had to put you to sleep, mail a letter, and then go on a trip. So let’s go, we don’t want to miss the plane.
SARA
And I’m asleep now?! I’m not asleep.
CLAIRE
You are. Now come one, we have to go.
SARA
Claire- what about my clothes? My passport?
TROTSKY
I have a bag in the car for you.
SARA
Did you go in my apartment?!
TROTSKY
Well...
SARA
This is insane! I thought you guys were on different sides?? I can’t just leave Paris, I have a job!!...
CLAIRE
Sara! We are fixing a problem. A problem that you KNOW exists. And has ALWAYS existed. And its been crushing you from the inside since the day you could speak. So stop trying to act like you need more information to make a decision!! You don’t! You know EXACTLY what I’m talking about, and you always have.
TROTSKY
Ai, we have to go.
CLAIRE
Ok. Come on.
They start walking out of the club.
SARA
Who’s Ai?
CLAIRE
I am. That’s my other name.
SARA
Your real name.
CLAIRE
No. Not really.
They leave the club and get into the taxi.
EXT. PARIS STREET, 1959 - MOMENTS LATER
The cab is waiting. Car doors open.
CAB DRIVER
There you are. Airport?
CLAIRE
Yes.
TROTSKY
(from the window)
I’ll meet you there, the van’s parked around the corner.
CLAIRE
(quietly, so Sara doesn’t hear)
You have our friend in there?
TROTSKY
Of course.
CLAIRE
Good.
They drive off. Trotsky walks to a phone booth.
TROTSKY
Red Hand 5403. Yes, I’ll hold...
HANS
Go ahead.
TROTSKY
The mission’s changed. The candle is lit. We have to go to plan B.
HANS
Shit. Fine. I’ll telephone the embassy. We’ll have a team in place when you arrive.
TROTSKY
Copy that.
HANS
You’re traveling with them?
TROTSKY
Yes, sir.
HANS
Good. That gives us an edge.
TROTSKY
Sir, I’m concerned about the tactics. We don’t want to harm the target, correct?
HANS
Don’t get soft on me now, or you’ll wind up like the real Trotsky: dead in a ditch.
TROTSKY
I won’t sir.
HANS
You fucking better not.
The receiver is put back in the cradle.
INT. TRAIN TO KAZAKHSTAN, 1997 - NIGHT
We’re back on the steel platform between cars with Vinnie and Raul.
There’s a HUGE BOOM, like a wet bag of cement hitting an empty steel coal car.
RAUL
What the fuck!!!
VINCENT
We’re fine! Its ok!! Its fine, man. Its just the mail.
RAUL
What?!
VINCENT
Yeah, yeah - they hang the mail in these giant bags, and when the train goes by they put out this boom with a hook on it to catch it.
RAUL
Scared the shit out of me.
VINCENT
Right? Its pretty old school-- been doing that since the 1800’s. Let’s go back inside, maybe you have a letter.
RAUL
No seriously, my heart can’t take it, Vinnie.
VINCENT
Just sit down for a sec. There you go. You’ll be ok.
RAUL
I don’t fucking think so, Vinnie. Look at me- I’m a sack of bones, man! My pants don’t fit, I get tired walking a block. What... what’s happening to me?
VINCENT
Don’t worry. There’s a plan. I mean I think there’s a plan- they don’t tell me shit. Its pretty fucking aggravating to be honest. I mean, I have a BA from North Western.
RAUL
But- do I survive this?
VINCENT
Like I said, they don’t tell me dick. But I hope so- you’re a good dude. So, yeah, I hope so.
RAUL
Fuck.
VINCENT
Yeah. Fuck.
RAUL
Is Sara on her way to Kazakhstan too?
VINCENT
That’s what I hear.
RAUL
I wonder what her trip is like.
EXT. CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT, 1959 - NIGHT
Claire, Sara, and Trotsky walk up the metal stairs onto an airplane. CHARLIE (the stewardess, mid 20’s, European accent, any ethnicity) greets them.
CHARLIE
Champagne? Champagne?
CLAIRE
(flirty of course)
That would be lovely, thank you.
CHARLIE
(so friendly)
Tickets, please?
TROTSKY
Here, I have them.
CHARLIE
Thank you. You’re in seats 7A, 7B, and 7C.
TROTSKY
And our baggage?
CHARLIE
Oh they’re loading that now sir. Don’t worry, they’re very careful!
TROTSKY
Great, thank you.
CHARLIE
Welcome aboard!
INT. PLANE TO ISTANBUL, 1959 - CONTINUOUS
They walk into the plane. Swing jazz plays on crap speakers, as people settle into their seats. Then Charlie comes by.
CHARLIE
Champagne? Champagne?
SARA
Why are we leaving so late at night? Is that normal?
CHARLIE
Oh yes! Its much more convenient this way. We’ll get to Istanbul in the afternoon, and you’ll be rested and ready to explore!
SARA
Istanbul?
TROTSKY
We’re connecting to Almaty- its a quick layover.
CHARLIE
Oh that’s exciting! I don’t there often. Only Aeroflot flies that route. My Russian is good, but my Kazhak is a little rough!
CLAIRE
Tell me...
CHARLIE
Charlie.
CLAIRE
Tell me, Charlie, what languages do you speak?
CHARLIE
Oh the usual- French, of course, English, German, Spanish, Korean, Italian, Portuguese, oh and Catalan.
SARA
That’s amazing! I’m so jealous.
CLAIRE
Has anyone ever told you that knowing lots of different languages is sexy?
SARA
Claire!
CHARLIE
Of course it is! Everyone knows that. Ciao.
She keeps passing the drinks.
CHARLIE
Champagne? Champagne?
SARA VO
Dear Raul, as I sat on the plane with Trotsky and Claire, I felt three things, all quite distinct and clear from each other. I felt nervous that I would just disappear from my job and my family- they would have no idea where I was. It seemed quite inconsiderate and unlike me, they would be worried. But then I felt free, sipping a glass of champagne, going somewhere I’d never been before- like the world had pulled back its curtains and the show was finally about to begin! And then I felt something else: I looked out the window at the night sky and the flashing lights, and I could see they were loading something long and heavy into the plane. It was a coffin. Is death a part of this, Raul? Am I flying straight into oblivion?