Stars Collide
Page 28
“I love you, Mrs. Murphy,” he echoed, brushing a loose hair out of my face.
We stood together in blissful silence for a moment as the crowd pressed in around us. Funny, with Brock Benson in the room, no one seemed to pay us much notice. Not that I minded. I rather enjoyed being off in our own little world.
“I’ve been thinking about this ‘Kat with Nine Lives’ thing,” Scott said finally.
“Oh?”
“It does seem like the Lord keeps giving you new lives, doesn’t it?” He shrugged. “Some scripted, others not so much.”
“True. I’m Kat the granddaughter. Kat the actress. Kat the girlfriend—er, wife. Kat the woman who’s been healed from the pain of her past. Kat the niece who found herself grafted into a large family.” I giggled. “What else?”
“Oh, trust me. There are plenty of lives left to go. And I, for one, am glad we can’t see into the future.” He gave my nose a tweak. “Though I wouldn’t mind seeing you become Kat the mommy. And Kat the PTA leader.”
“Ooh.” I smiled. “The first one sounds lovely. Not sure about the second.”
“Well, you know what they say. ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’ ”
“Tell me you did not just say that.” I punched him in the arm. “Haven’t we had enough of that goofy guessing game?”
As he shrugged, a giggly voice rang out from the wings: “Tom Hanks. Forrest Gump. 1994.”
“See what I mean?” he whispered. “You never know what you’re gonna get.”
He was right. And for once I was completely happy with that idea. Toss the script. This girl didn’t want to see what was coming around the next bend.
No, I decided as I stared into Scott’s gorgeous baby blues, this moment—the here and now—was all a girl like me would ever need.
SPECIAL FEATURE
STARS COLLIDE
SEASON FOUR, EPISODE ONE
“HONEYMOON IN PARADISE”
WRITTEN BY
Athena Pappas
The AMAZON RAIN FOREST at sunrise. Crickets chirp. Early morning dew covers foliage. Wide shot of rustic thatched hut, exterior, with a Hummer parked out front.
View dissolves to inside of hut, which is beautifully decorated. Open laptop sits on IKEA-type table, displaying Facebook page with Stars Collide logo on top. Status update:
“ENJOYING OUR HONEYMOON IN PARADISE. DON’T CALL US. WE’LL CALL YOU.”
Tight shot on ANGIE, sleeping in a hammock surrounded by mosquito netting. JACK sleeps in another hammock nearby. The sound of a MONKEY calling to its mate shatters the stillness of the dewy morning. ANGIE stirs.
View dissolves to the exterior of the hut, where the MONKEY examines the Hummer then moves to the hut, tapping at the window frame. A blue and gold MACAW joins him, perched on the windowsill. Together they peer inside at the sleeping honeymooners.
ANGIE
(stirring, eyes still closed)
Jack?
(stretching)
Jack . . .
Tight shot on JACK’s hammock. He stirs, but does not fully awaken. He swats at a mosquito.
ANGIE
(coming awake, eyes still closed)
Jack, I had the craziest dream. We were on our honeymoon in Acapulco. Then suddenly the dream shifted and we were in a canoe, floating down the Amazon. Huge snakes and all sorts of wild animals surrounded us on every side. Isn’t that crazy?
(yawns and stretches)
Wide shot on JACK’s hammock, through open window. We see the back of the MACAW and MONKEY as they listen in on the conversation. They are joined by a large, red-eyed TREE FROG that hops onto the windowsill, croaking loudly. Cricket sounds fill the air. Other rain forest animals begin to vocalize. A BOA CONSTRICTOR slithers by in the grass.
JACK
(eyes still closed, half-asleep)
Hmm? Wild animals?
“THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT” begins to play overhead. The MONKEY takes the opening melody, with the FROG croaking out the rhythm section. The MACAW joins in, adding just the right harmony. Crickets do the choreography, joined by dancing spiders. Angie’s GRANDMA appears in the doorway of the hut and begins to sing the lyrics in an off-key, full voice. Before long, all of the Stars Collide KIDS pop up from various spots, both inside and outside the hut, adding their voices to the chorus.
ANGIE
(sitting up in bed, looking through netting)
Jack, wake up!
JACK
(falls out of hammock onto ground)
Huh? What? Where am I?
(looks around, rubbing eyes)
The MONKEY comes to JACK’s rescue and encourages him to join the dance. GRANDMA takes ANGIE by the hand and pulls her to the middle of the room. Before long, everyone is in a circle, singing and dancing with full abandon. The MONKEY begins to show off, singing louder and dancing harder than anyone else. By the time the song ends, all eyes are on him.
(music ends)
JACK
(looking at MONKEY, spoken to ANGIE)
You know, he’s not half bad. Maybe we should sign him.
ANGIE
(slipping arms around JACK’s neck)
Oh no you don’t! We’re on our honeymoon. No business! We promised.
JACK
(eyeing MONKEY)
Yeah, but think of the possibilities with Pixar and Disney alone. This little guy’s really good!
MONKEY reverts to begging position, then shows off his dancing skills.
ANGIE
(shooing him away)
Sorry, little guy, but not this time.
View widens. ANGIE boots everyone out of the hut, leaving the place empty and quiet. She closes the window, casting shadows of darkness over the room. Drawing near to JACK, she wraps him in an embrace and begins to kiss him. TREE FROG eases window open, sighing as he sees them kissing. MACAW slips through the crack in the window, flies to the laptop.
Tight shot on MACAW, typing on laptop with his beak. He is updating the status report on Jack and Angie’s Facebook page to read:
“AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.”
FADE TO CIRCLE. MACAW PEEKS THROUGH CIRCLE. FADE TO BLACK.
Acknowledgments
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to each of the following:
Jennifer Leep, my amazing editor. Jennifer, it took some time to pound out this idea, but was it ever worth it! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write Kat’s story, and thank you for letting me add the deeper elements. Your trust in me means so much.
My wonderful team at Revell, particularly Jessica Miles, Michele Misiak, and Donna Hausler. Ladies, none of this would be possible without you. What did I ever do to deserve such an awesome group of worker bees?
My agent, Chip MacGregor. Thanks for believing in my stories. I know they are wackier than most. But you’ve helped me find my fit, and for that I’m eternally grateful.
My awesome critique partners, Martha Rogers, Janetta Messmer, and Kathleen Y’Barbo. Ladies, you were all so busy with your own projects, yet you took the time to give my story a Texas spit shine. I owe you.
My tribe of twelve. You know who you are. You are the wind beneath my wings. You give me the encouragement I need to keep going, even when this frail body begs to disagree.
My father. Oh, how I wish I could pick up the phone and call my dad to tell him I’ve finally written a story set in Hollywood. He would be so proud. It was his dream to produce movies, and though he’s now writing his scripts in his mansion above, I am still here typing away. It might not be a movie, Dad . . . but it’s close.
My heavenly Father. You are the ultimate Daddy. May you reveal your heart to all of your daughters, especially those like Kat, who cannot seem to comprehend a loving Father God.
Janice Thompson is a Christian freelance author and a native Texan. She has four grown daughters, four beautiful granddaughters, and two grandsons. She resides in the greater Houston area, where the heat and humidity tend to
reign.
Janice started penning books at a young age and was blessed to have a screenplay produced in the early ’80s, after living in the Los Angeles area for a time. From there she went on to write several large-scale musical comedies for a Houston school of the arts. Currently, she has published over fifty novels and nonfiction books for the Christian market, most of them lighthearted.
Working with quirky characters and story ideas suits this fun-loving author. She particularly enjoys contemporary, first-person romantic comedies. Janice loves sharing her faith with readers and hopes they will catch a glimpse of the real happily ever after in the pages of her books.
Books by Janice Thompson
Weddings by Bella
Fools Rush In
Swinging on a Star
It Had to Be You
Backstage Pass
Stars Collide
www.JaniceAThompson.com
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