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154. The Collector - Leslie
- FADE IN:
- PAUL sits by the window of the subway car watching people rush past on the platform.
- Something in his peripheral vision grabs his attention and he turns to see what it is.
- A YOUNG BLACK WOMAN with big hoop earrings walks past with a t-shirt that declares "Green is the New Black."
- Paul catches her eye and nods his approval.
- She grins back.
- The train begins to move and she and the train keep pace for a moment.
- Paul places his hand against the window as if to reach out and touch her.
- A glow sparks around his fingers and traces down to his palm.
- He closes his hand into a fist and holds it tight.
- He pulls a small, leather pouch from the inside pocket of his blazer, and sticks his fist into the bag.
- He pulls his hand out and tightens the draw-string.
- A door opens and Paul slips into the room, letting light steal in from outside the darkness before banishing it with a quick shove of the door.
- He knows the room well and makes his way to an antique cabinet on the far wall.
- He pulls the leather pouch from pocket and loosens it.
- A beam of amber light shines out of the back, illuminating a thin trickle of dust.
- He places it by the shelf on a small stand, and carefully opens the cabinet with a key he also removes from the blazer pocket.
- The open cabinet reveals rows of carefully folded vellum cubes that glow deep orange, illuminating Paul.
- The bottom shelf holds a stack of clean vellum.
- Paul removes a sheet and carefully folds it into a cube, leaving a small opening.
- He pulls the light source from the leather pouch, revealing a small orb swirling with marbleized light.
- Pushing it into the box, he holds it up, observing, then closes the paper cube.
- The light glows through the thin vellum and Paul uses the light to find the right shelf, labeled "subway moments.
- He places the box on the shelf, next to moments large and small; then smiling to himself, closes the cabinet, and leaves the dark room.
- FADE TO BLACK.
1 comment:
I wasn’t sure where this was going at first. At the end I realized that I do the exact same thing – maybe in a book instead of in translucent boxes on a cabinet shelf, but the same thing still. The boy in the midway at the physics fair on my birthday, the name tag-less barista, the ziplining guide, that guy on the plane, a friend of a friend, that customer at work. And at the end I always feel like I’ve just lost something that could have been really priceless.
WHAT makes certain people connect? Or seem to. Just for moments until they're gone. The chemistry they don't teach you in university is a terribly complicated subject.
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