ARE WE ALONE?

by Durbin, Bruce

  Everyone looks at Chaz for the answer. PAUSE. CHAZ (CONT’D) (to Yasmine)

  Show me your boobs? YASMINE Excuse me? CHAZ

  Research studies have concluded that aliens have three breasts. Show me your boobs and if you only have two, then, well, I guess you're human. If you have three...

  Through the camera, Yasmine gives Chaz a stern look, which slowly dissolves into a slight smile. She reaches down and starts to pull up her top, with Chaz starting to smile. Just as the bottom of her bra becomes visible, she stops.

  YASMINE

  Of course...

  (moving the top a little higher)

  If I'm not human... (moving the top a little higher)

  Will you still love me? Still...want me?

  CHAZ

  Hell yeah.

  Yasmine starts to pull her top a little higher. GINA

  I think you guys need to conserve the batteries or we won’t be able to film the interviews.

  CHAZ

  Gina, Miss Executive Producer, you’re like way too serious and mature to be a student. Are you like an undercover professor or something?

  Gina raises her right hand, then slowly folds down her fingers, giving Chaz the “bird”, as she also turns around, looking at Chaz.

  GINA

  Read between the lines. YASMINE (SCREAMING) Look out. Gina sees Yasmine pointing out the front window, as terror streaks across Chaz and Christina’s faces. Gina starts to turn back towards the front windshield. Christina SCREAMS, as she slams her eyes shut. As Gina turns around, she starts to SCREAM.

  SCENE CUTS TO BLACK: Everyone SCREAMS, then an eerie silence. YASMINE (V.O.) (CONT’D) A tree is a tree no matter where you find it. Yet trees vary in their form manifestation, differing in their size, height, and shape. These variations made us classify them under different names. Still the form is a tree whether you find it at one end of the world or at another, and no matter under what climatic conditions, for the pattern is universal.

  YASMINE (V.O.) (CONT’D) A tree in one part of the world may be quite coarse and in another part of the world quite delicate, but still it is a tree.

  FADE IN:

  EXT. ROAD - DAY A TREE comes into view, as the camera slowly moves around it. As the camera moves around, the CAR and the students come into view, as Chaz and Anthony.

  YASMINE

  With humans the mentality of the being is a governing factor as to whether their form will be coarse or fine, in the same way as the climatic conditions or atmospheric pressure govern the form of a tree.

  As the camera completes a circle around the tree, showing the remote/desolate area, Yasmine comes into view, as she reads the book, sitting on the ground.

  YASMINE (CONT’D)

  One may readily see how it is possible for a fine quality of human life to be on other planets beyond ours.

  Yasmine closes the book and looks towards the CAR, as Anthony moves to the front, raises the hood, and then leans inside the engine compartment.

  YASMINE (CONT’D)

  Men. They're so egoistical that they believe they can fix anything.

  CHRISTINA

  Yeah, but they sure have cute butts.

  Christina comes into view, as she holds the camera. They both lightly LAUGH, as POV switches to behind the girls, with the movement being UP-AND-DOWN and moving from SIDE-To-SIDE. BRIEF FOCUS ON GLOVED HAND CARRYING A ROCK.

  CHRISTINA (CONT’D) Gina’s taking a long time. Maybe, she got lost.

  YASMINE

  She probably found some local inhabitants and has pressed them into service.

  Christina looks at Yasmine, with a questioning look. CHRISTINA Huh? YASMINE

  Gina’s not happy, unless she’s in charge...on top.

  CHRISTINA On top? On top of what? Yasmine starts to shake her head, “NO.” YASMINE

  Sometimes, I wonder about... Christina starts to smile. CHRISTINA

  I’m not as stupid, as I... BRIEF FOCUS ON THE GLOVED HAND, RAISING THE ROCK AND MOVING TOWARDS YASMINE’S HEAD. Christina looks up and almost SCREAMS, as she quickly backs up, stumbles, and falls. Yasmine turns and then sees Gina, wearing gloves, and carrying the rock.

  GINA

  I think it's a moon rock. YASMINE

  Uh, Gina, dear, how would a moon rock get here?

  GINA

  (slight smile)

  I didn't mean a rock from the moon, I meant a rock, which...

  Gina shows the rock to Yasmine, as Christina gets up from the ground and moves closer, also taking a look at the rock. POV jumps to a great distance behind them, watching them.

  OLD MAN (V.O.)

  Our present understanding of the universe is very limited.

  OLD MAN (V.O.) (CONT'D) The human body is so adaptable that we can endure and live even under the most trying of conditions. When Aldridge and Armstrong first landed on the Moon, they were welcomed by people from Venus who were walking around the surface of the Moon without spacesuits.

  By the CAR, Anthony and Chaz look at the engine. ANTHONY

  When Gina swerved and hit that rock, she must have jarred the battery wire loose, which caused us to lose power.

  CHAZ

  Or, maybe, we entered an electromagnetic force field, causing us to lose power.

  Anthony looks up at Chaz. ANTHONY

  Wow, I bet the girls are impressed, when you start spouting off all your knowledge. Is there anything that you don’t know?

  CHAZ

  It’s a nervous condition. When I’m nervous, I can’t stop talking and...spouting off my vast amount of knowledge.

  Anthony and Chaz look at each other, then lightly smile, as Anthony works on the car.

  ANTHONY

  Do you believe in aliens? CHAZ

  Seriously? Yes, but... Chaz leans back and looks at the front windshield, where he sees the GREEN ALIEN BOBBLE-HEAD. CHAZ (CONT’D)

  Not, the kind that we’ve been brainwashed into believing in.

  Chaz looks up into the sky, slightly shielding his face from the glare of the sun, with a hand. CHAZ (CONT’D)

  I believe they're out there. Watching us...

  Behind the CAR, the POV moves from side-to-side, moving closer to the students.

  By the CAR. ANTHONY Watching us? Why? Chaz bends back down, looking into the engine compartment, as Anthony works. CHAZ

  The same reasons Anthropologists look at varying types of cultures and the same reasons Sociologists look at the dynamics that shape society. What causes one man to become a king and another man to become a slave.

  Anthony looks up at Chaz, with raises eyebrows. CHAZ (CONT’D)

  Us humans, we’re just a lab

  experiment, something for aliens to study.

  Behind the CAR, the POV moves from side-to-side, moving closer to the teenagers. ANTHONY

  Humans are like monkeys in a zoo? We’re here just for the

  entertainment of the aliens?

  CHAZ

  Yeah, something like that. Anthony turns back to working on the engine. ANTHONY

  Well, answer the ten million dollar question. Are they here to help or...

  By the girls. CHRISTINA

  I thought guys were good at fixing cars?

  YASMINE

  They just like to think they're good with their hands.

  The girls lightly LAUGH. CHRISTINA

  Yeah, some are really good with their hands.

  GINA

  Retain that link to primitive man. Me man, you wo...

  SFX: NOISE BEHIND GIRLS. Gina starts to turn around, as an object (SHOVEL) swings down at her. The girls SCREAM.

  SCENE CUTS TO BLACK: YASMINE (V.O.)

  If anyone had taken a movie from their television sets of the first Moon landing they would have a bonanza of irrefutable space life evidence and also evidence of how our governments suppress the truth. If you were to run that film forward slowly, picture by picture. You can see a space ship that is used by the Venusians for space travel sitting on the surface of the Moon.


  OLD MAN (V.O.) Is she gonna be okay? FADE IN:

  EXT. ROAD - DAY OLD MAN (70), dressed in ragged clothing, stands above Gina, who blinks her eyes, then starts to SCREAM. Behind Old Man is an old beat up wheel barrel, filled with some rocks.

  OLD MAN

  Ain't she never seen a spider before?

  Gina looks to the others, then back at OLD MAN, who slightly raises the shovel, revealing a gooey mess. OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  Missy, I saved you. If'n this had got'n in your

  panties...well...shoot, no tellin' what might'n have happened.

  Gina looks at the gooey mess with disgust, as she struggles to get up, brushing off her clothes. Old Man lustfully looks at all of the girls, who put forced smiles on their faces, being disgusted by the Old Man, but also cautious. The Old Man then looks at Gina, pointing a crooked finger at her crotch area.

  OLD MAN (CONT’D) I could look? (slight nod at Gina’s crotch)

  Up there. See whether you got bit...or not.

  GINA

  Uh, no thanks. I'm fine. Perfectly fine.

  OLD MAN

  If’n you been bit, that there poison will have to be sucked out.

  Behind the Old Man, Christina makes like she’s gagging, as Yasmine grabs her arm. GINA

  Uh, thanks, I’ll have it checked out by a doctor.

  OLD MAN

  City doctors don’t know squat about things...

  Old Man sweeps the area with the head of the shovel, then moves the shovel in front of Gina, at waist level. OLD MAN (CONT’D) Out here.

  Old Man gives Gina a mean stare. OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  Whatcha all doing up here? Gonna smoke some dope and fuck?

  Gina looks down at the head of the shovel and then up into the face of Old Man. They stare at each other and then Old Man slowly lowers the shovel.

  GINA

  We're college students. We’re doing a documentary on... OLD MAN

  Documentary?

  (looking at the raised hood of the car) On people who get stranded? (looking at the students)

  End up getting killed? (looking at Yasmine)

  Eaten?

  (looking at Gina)

  Fucked?

  (looking at Christina)

  Or maybe worse?

  GINA

  No, it's a documentary on U-F-O sightings.

  OLD MAN

  (slight smile) U-F-O's? Aliens?

  (hard look)

  Missy, you don’t know what you got

  your self’n into...You’re gonna...

  ANTHONY (O.S.)

  That's what I keep telling her. Old Man spins around, seeing that Anthony and Chaz have moved up to them. Old Man looks both Anthony and Chaz up and down. CHAZ

  Believing in U-F-O’s is just...plain crazy.

  Old Man looks hard at Chaz and reads the front of the Tshirt.

  OLD MAN

  (softly)

  Take me to your leader? Old Man slightly LAUGHS. OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  (softly)

  Moron. They find you, you don’t find ‘em. What you don’t know, what you can’t remember...bet your ass happened on another planet. Old Man then slowly starts to smile.

  OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  Crazy? Well, then I must be crazy, because I've seen lots of ‘em.

  Old Man looks back at the girls and sees the book in Yasmine’s hand. Old Man looks into the face of Yasmine. OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  I've even been on one of their ships and...ain’t a book been written that can prepare a soul...a human soul for what they do to you.

  GINA

  (getting excited)

  Could I interview you? Ask you some questions and...

  Old Man slowly turns towards Gina, who is smiling and is obviously excited. OLD MAN

  What about I tell you my story, then you can ask questions, maybe?

  GINA

  Chaz? Get the cameras set up. Christina get the audio set up and...

  OLD MAN

  I thought you wanted to hear my story?

  GINA

  We do, we do. We'd just like to, well, record it.

  OLD MAN Record it?

  GINA

  Yes, for our school project. OLD MAN

  You gonna show it to other people? GINA

  Yes, to our professor and... Gina stops, realizing that the Old Man may not want to be recorded. OLD MAN

  Missy, I don’t care if you ram a probe up my ass and whistle dixie while’n you do it, but I ain’t doing it for free. Twenty bucks, twenty bucks for my story.

  SCENE CUTS TO BLACK: OLD MAN (V.O.) (CONT’D) It was a blisterin’ hot day, just like today.

  FADE IN:

  EXT. ROAD - DAY The cameras have been set up, as Gina talks with Old Man, who leans on his shovel, with his wheel barrel behind him. OLD MAN

  And, I was doin’ what I'd done for the last fifty odd years...Taking my shovel and looking for rocks.

  CHAZ

  (softly, as he films) Yeah, he's definitely lost his rocks.

  Old Man seems to hear Chaz and he gives Chaz a hard look, then slowly looks at each of the students, then back to Gina. Beside Gina’s feet is the rock that she had been carrying.

  OLD MAN

  If’n knowing the truth makes me crazy, then I’m as crazy as a bedbug.

  Old Man stares at Gina, who becomes uncomfortable. Old Man doesn’t even look down.

  OLD MAN (CONT’D) May I see it?

  Gina doesn’t know what Old Man is talking about. OLD MAN (CONT’D) The rock?

  Gina still doesn’t understand. OLD MAN (CONT’D) By your fuckin’ prissy feet. Gina looks down and sees the rock. She reaches down, picks it up, then hands it to Old Man, who examines the rock and places it up to his ear, as though it was a seashell. He seems to be hearing something, as he lightly smiles, then nods his head, “YES.”

  OLD MAN (CONT’D) It's one of theirs.

  ANTHONY It’s a rock. OLD MAN

  (smiling)

  You're an educated youngster, aren't you? Know everything about everything, been everywhere, seen everything, haven't you? Ain’t scared of nothin’?

  In a flash, Old Man drops the rock to the ground, picks up his shovel, and swings the shovel down, as everyone covers their faces, backing up, fearing that they’re going to be hit.

  SFX: CLANG. The students slightly recover, looking up, but still cautious.

  SFX: CLANG. They watch as Old Man swings his shovel down, hitting the rock, which causes a slight METALLIC CLANGING sound. Old Man gives the rock a final hit, then bends down, and picks up the rock. He turns the rock in his hand, which is unblemished.

  OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  I've worked in mines, since I stopped wearing short pants. I've worked in silver mines, gold mines, and coal mines. I've seen all kinds of rocks below ground and above ground.

  (pause - hard look at Anthony)

  Sonny, ain't no rock on this earth can be hit without it showing some sign of being hit.

  Old Man hands the rock to Gina, who cautiously takes it and examines it.

  OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  Ain't quite got it figured out why they leave these things, but they do.

  Old Man reaches and jerks the rock from Gina’s hand and quickly puts it into the wheel barrel. OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  Anyway, back to my story. So, I'm out hunting for rocks...it was back in July, Nineteen-sixty-four. I had been to the county fair. I get this feeling like someone's

  watching me. I look all around and don't see nobody. Hell, it's too hot for any sane body to be out. I figure I'm just being...

  (hard look at Anthony)

  CRAZY or maybe the heat’s too much, so I start to back hunting for rocks.

  GINA

  Why were you hunting... OLD MAN

  (instantly angry)

  I know you...I’ll tell my story, then, maybe, I’ll let you ask questions.

  (softening)

  Agates, mainly, the tourists like crystals.

  (looking at Gina)

/>   People from Earth. Travelers from other worlds. Everyone likes things that sparkle.

  (smiling)

  They’d like you.

  PAUSE. OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  I hear this sound, like a kid's whistle and I look around, seeing not a damn thing. I shake my head, thinking maybe it's the god-durn heat. Then I look back down at the ground, seeing that I'm standing in shade.

  Old Man slowly looks at each of the students.

  OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  See? There weren’t no trees, no buildings. Nothing to cause a shadow. I slowly look up, seeing the belly of their spaceship.

  GINA

  What made you believe that it was a spaceship?

  OLD MAN

  (evil smile)

  Honey, you're real pretty and I reckon you’re use to flashing your teeth and getting boys to do anything, just hoping to get into your pants, but I told you...I tell my story, THEN you ask questions, maybe. Are you understanding me? Do you want to hear my story?

  GINA

  (swallowing)

  Yes, I want to hear your story. Please...continue.

  OLD MAN

  I'd seen plenty of their ships, mostly at night. There was no mistaking it. It was one of their spaceships. So, I'm wondering how I can ask them for some of their rocks, when POOF, I'm inside their ship.

  CHAZ (softly) Yeah, Poof. OLD MAN

  It's all cold inside, like a witch’s tit and there's none of that fancy do-hickies our planes have. I look around and I don't see any of ‘em, but I can feel it.

  Old Man runs his hand on the back of his neck. OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  The hairs on the back of my neck sprung to attention.

  (MORE) OLD MAN (CONT’D)

  I holler out, asking them to come on out, face me like a man, when I suddenly start to perspire. Next thing, I'm back on the ground, looking up at the belly of their ship. Then, it takes off. I'm not talking like an airplane. I'm talking like it was there, then it wasn’t.

  Old Man rubs his hand, nervously looking around. GINA

  Is something wrong? OLD MAN

  (softly)

  Sometimes, they don't like it, they don’t like it when I talk.

  (pause)

  Sure I'd seen plenty of their spaceships, but, well, I figured they were some super secret

  government project. Until I was inside one of their ships, I never really thought it was possible.

  (pause - looking down at his hand)

  When I was back on the ground, I figured I'd just passed out from the heat, until I felt my hand.