Nigel and Lara were two varied living elements; both lived in the same spectrum of time. Life was only separated by the concept that two diverging visions would never cross.

[Act Four of Four Acts] A Slice In Time © 2012
By Joe Vojt
An original teleplay
One-hour television program

Registered WGAe No. R20975

A SLICE IN TIME

In the western desert, the appalling sun-baked earth felt more like a transient inferno that could not measure. This savored desert revealed the heart of what was once considered an ancient land. While an old dust covered wagon appeared across the peaceful horizon. Darkness blended within the shadows of the night. A refraction of the sun's corona formed, as night continued its domination of the earth.

RAY and HARRIET were sitting in their General Store, talking about their twenty-year-old son, NIGEL. Once the sun set, he became a new person. With the advent of darkness, his attitude instantly changed. He became elated with new energetic functions. Slowly he turned nocturnal, but the real reason why never came to light.

Ironically, through some balance of faith, another world co-existed. It occupied the same physical living area, but in total darkness. Existing not to far from the same settlement, a fine young woman, named LARA kept walking outside in the wilderness of life. She was active and full of vigor, because darkness was the active part of her day.

Nigel and Lara were two varied living elements; both lived in the same spectrum of time. Life was only separated by the concept that two diverging visions would never cross.


ACT FOUR


DISSOLVE TO:


EXT COVERED WAGON

NIGEL
(softly)
My name is Nigel. Are you all right?

Lara heard a deep low sound coming from this shadow.

LARA
(thinking)
It looks like a man.

The ambiance that was being EMITTED from him was friendly. She continued wondering what this truly represented.

LARA
His radiant energy impression, is
not a part of my normal language
dialect.

STRAINING hard, helped her distinguish some of the words, but it used up a lot of her energy.

LARA
(reluctantly)
I am fine.

Standing she pointed to the underside of the wagon.

LARA
Your shelter came in handy. With
the heavy down pour, I had no
choice but to seek cover.

She was now having some difficulty focusing. The excessive water began absorbing the sand in her eyes partially blocking her vision.

LARA
Sorry but the sand is irritating my
sight.

NIGEL
I know what you mean. Glad you were
able to find protection.

Nigel was surprised that he was able to recognize her outline.

NIGEL
Oh by the way, what brings you out,
in this isolated region? I never
knew anyone else existed out in
the western desert region.

LARA
I reside close by. It is not too far
from here.

Pointing toward the land of sand, that was further than he could see.

NIGEL
Strange, I never saw any type of
buildings or activity for miles.

She ignored that remark.

LARA
Nigel is a strange title.

NIGEL
I was given that at birth and it
is not considered a title. What is
your name?

LARA
Lara, the Princess Of The Sand.

NIGEL
A real live princess, do I bow
before you?

Bending down with his head looking up.

LARA
You are incredibly peculiar. No,
you need not bow. All our people
have titles.

NIGEL
If you are a Princess Of The Sand,
why were you lost? Plus you are
extremely wet.

LARA
I was out of my element and the
storm confused my senses.

He looked at wondering but continued.

NIGEL
I had no idea you were under my
wagon. Would you like to dry out?

LARA
A wagon, now it becomes clear.

Lara remembered why it was familiar.

LARA
(thought)
In my early childhood, around the
1880's, this form of transportation
was used to haul mining supplies.
Mostly back and forth from the
local camps into the mountains.

Lara started carefully walking and began stretching her body. With every step, her clothing began diminishing.

LARA
Not only are my seems splitting, but
I feel material falling off my body.

Nigel’s sight began clearing he was able to focus on her body.

NIGEL
(thinking)
It is indeed a woman, but there is
still something different about
her appearance.

Lara continued talking, breaking Nigel’s concentration.

LARA
The wetness started reducing the
protective covering. My clothing
was not designed for these
condensation properties.

NIGEL
I do not understand.

LARA
Any type of moisture can be a
problem for our society. Foolishly
I got myself caught in this
outlandish tempest.

NIGEL
What other society exists in this
area?

LARA
Our people live within the...

NIGEL
You mean rain is unusual. How can
that be? It is natural and necessary
for our lives.

Nigel did not get a response as he watched her walk in pain.

NIGEL
Why don’t you change into some of my
clothes?

She reluctantly accepted his recommendation.

LARA
(quietly thinking)
With movement I feel sever body
aches. I have to act like
everything is typical or normal.

Nigel never saw her features of pain.

NIGEL
Let me open the heavy cloth
covering at the back section of
my wagon.

Lara tried taking that big step up. She began having a hard time.

NIGEL
I know this is a high step.

Lara began teetering and she lost her balance. Nigel supported her weight and gently pushed her in.

INT COVERED WAGON

Nigel climbed in.

NIGEL
(thinking)
Her skin is unbelieving rough. In
fact it is almost scaly.

Nothing like he had experienced before.

NIGEL
Just touching your clothing, the
material is flaking and falling off.

The movement going inside the wagon caused her clothing to fall apart. A strange-pigmented body began appearing.

LARA
(felt scared)
There is nothing I can do about it.
My clothes keep shrinking.

Not knowing what to make of all this, Nigel felt uncomfortable.

NIGEL
Lara, are you all right? You are
still soaking wet.

Looking at his hands, he had brown and gold cloth residue all over them. He tried to whip them clean on his pants.

NIGEL
Would you like to change into
some of my clothes?

She smiled a little for the first time.

LARA
(relaxed)
Yes, if I could only get them off.

Feeling awkward, her body became extremely revealing. Nigel quickly threw what was the closest.

NIGEL
Here is one of my blankets.

Catching it, she quickly wrapped herself.

LARA
Thank you the softness of the
material is working like a giant
sponge. It is removing the moisture
almost instantly.

The process of her skin burning had immediately subsided. Feeling better and relaxed, she began asking questions.

LARA
What form are you?

Nigel felt there was something odd about her question.

NIGEL
(thought)
Even her dialect is unusual.

The more she spoke, the more he began wondering who she really was.

NIGEL
Lara, I am not sure what you mean,
by form. What kind of forms are
there?

Lara stopped and thought about his reply and asked another question.

LARA
Nigel, how come you are out here
alone, in the great desert of all
time?

NIGEL
I am performing scientific research.

LARA
What kind of study would anyone
perform in the land of nothing?

NIGEL
Measure the effects of darkness
on all living elements.


Lara was surprised with this statement, but she did not want to alert him to her feelings.

LARA
Sounds interesting and technical.

NIGEL
For instance, normal light has a
spectrum that can cause damage
to living plant life. Especially
those that are sensitive to
darkness.

LARA
I do not understand what you mean
by light.

Nigel was PUZZLED and CONFUSED by her reaction to the meaning of light sensitivity. It started to appear to him that she was a nonstandard human.

NIGEL
Lara, you mean to tell me you
have never seen daylight?

LARA
We are forbidden to investigate
that strange phenomena. Any form of
brilliance is dangerous for our
people. We are forced to rest and
be asleep during this event.

NIGEL
I don't understand, what you mean
by forced?
(thinking for a second)
By chance could daylight be your
night and darkness your day?

LARA
Yes, our bodies have been
conditioned for the night. We have
a critical requirement in avoiding
any and all types of bright energy
emission.

NIGEL
How can that be?

LARA
I can only explain objects like
stars or anything producing
illumination, or even reflections
off shinny objects are dangerous.

Nigel looked at her moving in his direction. This distracted his thinking. Her body had strangely RECOVERED from the downpour.

NIGEL
Lara, let me get this straight.
Any form of light is forbidden.

LARA
Not so much forbidden, more like
life threatening.

Nigel was having a problem understanding what was going on. She stood in front of him smiling. He was amazed at her ability to get dry so quickly.

NIGEL
It looks like your clothes have
relaxed and stopped falling apart.
They almost look like they have
started renewing? How can that be?

Lara dropped the blanket next to him and intentionally touched his arm. Her action was unexpected.

LARA
Nigel, how come your skin feels
so soft. How do you maintain it?
You are not a typical opposite.

Nigel became interested in finding out where she really came from.

NIGEL
I use soap and water. What do
you use?

LARA
(thinking)
Soap and water, this life form
must be from the other world.

Becoming confused she did not want to give herself away.

LARA
We use an abrasive mixture.

She pointed to the vast wasteland of sand outside. Now Nigel knew something was not right.

NIGEL
There is nothing out there but
sand, mountain ranges and sand
dunes. How can anyone use grit
to cleanse the body?

Nigel could tell by his statement that she was not capable of responding to his questions. He had another thought.

NIGEL
Lara, would you like something
warm to drink or eat?

LARA
Nigel, you mean that you do not
consume your nourishment by the
pill?

NIGEL
What pills? We have a variety of
eatables. Would you care to try
some of these? I have dried meat
and a bag of potato chips.

Opening the bag, as the aroma reached Lara's senses.

NIGEL
(sarcastically)
I am sure your pills do not taste
anything like this dried meat and
chips.

LARA
No, thank you.

Nigel popped some chips in his mouth. The crunching sound exploded in her ears.

LARA
What causes that sharp sound?

NIGEL
It is normal eating in our society.
Why don’t you try some of my chips?

Moving the bag of chips in her direction.

LARA
No thank you, I am not interested
in what you call food.

NIGEL
You mean pills keep you going.

She again selected not to respond to his statement.

LARA
Nigel, how can you keep food out
here? There is nothing but sand
and cactus.

NIGEL
The food is kept dry and lasts
forever. One thing about cactus
they can supply emergency water.

Lara changed the subject.

LARA
I am grateful for your hospitality.
You know I have to be going before
...

Nigel watched her jump out and she disappeared in front of his eyes.

Rubbing his eyes, he tried catching her vision between the many sand particles but everything washed out. She had moved quickly.

NIGEL
Dam it my eyes are irritating me
again.

Looking around in his home on wheels.

NIGEL
My chuck wagon is empty.

Jumping out he began searching the area. There was nothing out there but darkness and sand.


EXT. WESTERN DESERT AREA


NIGEL
No visible traces of her, as if she
never existed.

At the same time, the evening obscurity began setting in.

NIGEL
The sun’s rays are totally covered.
Darkness remains king for another
era.

He felt like he woke up inside a dream. Shaking his head, sand began falling off his shoulders and clothing.

NIGEL
It is hard to understand, what
really happened here during the
last few hours. Nothing makes any
sense except it felt as if a slice
of time passed me by.

Checking his water barrel.

NIGEL
There are no other leaks. I lost one
barrel due to the storm. Everything
is dry. Yet I see what looks like
small foot prints tracking outside
the wagon and disappear.

He could not figure out what happened.

NIGEL
The wet sign disappear at the edge
of the horizon. There is nothing
out there but open desert.

Jumping back inside.

INT COVERED WAGON

He picked up the blanket Lara had left behind.

NIGEL
That is odd it remains soaking wet.
For some reason I cannot recall
how that happened. This first trip
from home has been exciting.


Looking through the opening, what should have been the sunset.

NIGEL
Night as I know it is about to
commence.

Deep inside his mind, he was trying hard to understand what today all was about.

NIGEL
For some reason, I feel sad and that
makes me feel weak.

He never experienced that type of feeling.

NIGEL
I wonder how long I will sense this
emotion, before regaining my
strength?

DISSOLVE TO:



EXT. SOME WHERE OUT IN THE WESTERN DESERT

Lara was reluctantly walking toward her hacienda, trying to understand the images she visualized. Her eyesight became normal.

LARA
I know a pink-skinned form can
never propagate through my
spectrum.

In general, she would have dismissed any of these experiences.

LARA
For some underlying principle today
everything felt surreal. Another
form of turbulent motion exist in
the land of sand. Why wasn’t I ever
told of it?

Like a signal, she became tired.

LARA
There is a strange new weakness
affecting my body. I hope my
strength will last long enough for
my culture.

She had to rest more then ever before.

LARA
Blending within the diverse
elements has been increasing. For
some reason I am becoming without
physical form.

She could not get out of her mind what she experienced.

LARA
Maybe just maybe, this rare pink-
skinned male was real.

Trying to forget, she held her head up high enjoying this new freshness of her day (darkness). Without warning, a cool chill blew through the open canyons of her mind.

LARA
Nothing like a healthy day
(darkness). My time is finally in
full swing.

Getting up, she began walking aimlessly. Approaching those giant doors, they opened automatically as she disappeared inside. She headed toward her lonely room.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. COVERED WAGON

Nigel was convinced life with intellect continues without interruption for both societies. Proving visualizations can propagate through many forms of turbulent motions would take another lifetime of understanding. The question is; within a slice of time, which world is yours?

THE END

FADE OUT