306. I LIke Romantic Walks in The Stars - Leslie

• FADE IN:


• INT. ABRAM'S PLANETARIUM - DAY


• ZACH cautiously enters the planetarium dome, looking around the empty space.


• ZACH
• Jenna?


• JENNA pops up near the center beside the massive projector.


• JENNA
• Hey you, come over this way.


• Zach walks to the center and finds Jenna sitting on a picnic blanket.


• A small basket with sandwiches, cheese, and wine sits open.


• He stands, staring up at the dark dome.


• JENNA
• Sit.


• Zach takes one more look, then plops down onto the blanket.


• ZACH
• You sure it's ok for us to be here?


• JENNA
• Yes, stop worrying, I have an in.


• ZACH
• So this is your idea of a hot date eh? Nerd.


• JENNA
• So very proud of it. Didn't your parents every take you to a planetarium?


• ZACH
• No, not really sure what the big deal is.


• JENNA
• Oh! No words, I...oh, just watch.


• She lies back on the blanket and stares up at the blank sky, then punches in a code on a remote lying next to her hand.


• Zach looks at her, then follows suite, lying next to her.


• The lights darken in the dome and the room becomes pitch black.


• JENNA
• My dad used to run this place when I was a kid. I used to watch the stars for hours by myself when they weren't running shows. Look.


• She pushes a button and the dome disappears, replaced by a night sky thick with stars.


• She scoots closer to, resting her head on his shoulder.


• She turns, looking at Zach's face.


• His eyes are open wide in awe.


• She smiles.


• JENNA
• Look, there's the Big Dipper - draw a line straight from the handle, and there's the North Star - watch.


• The night sky begins to rotate, the moon spinning across the dome, planets revolving around the sun, everything moving except for the North Star.


• ZACH
• Ohhh.


• JENNA
• Wanna see this in context? I mean it's one thing to know this in theory, but to see it!


• ZACH
• Uh, sure.


• JENNA
• Ok, here's the sun...and look.


• They race away from the solar system, whizzing past planets.


• The entire room feels as if it has tilted on its axis, a domed spaceship, traveling through the dark of space.


• Jenna adopts a storyteller's voice.


• JENNA
• We once thought the solar system was our universe...but Galileo started pushing the boundaries of that belief...


• They whiz past more solar systems as they move further out until the stars with their planets are just dots in the Milky Way's cloudy arm.


• JENNA
• And then, we thought that just the Milk Way was the universe, but Hubble discovered that there were other galaxies packed with billions of stars.


• The darkness explodes with galaxies.


• JENNA
• And what we know see as our universe, is packed with billions of galaxies.


• They whizz even further out, until the galaxies are just points of light, stars all over again and then the massive ball of the universe is visible - an almost mystical appearing sphere of galaxies and star clusters.


• Jenna takes a breath, taking it all in.


• JENNA
• Context? I'll give you context.


• They whiz back into the universe, clouds becoming clusters of galaxies, racing past towards the other edge of the universe, flying in and out of clumps of galaxies.


• The galaxies grow larger and then they are skimming through clouds of stars, past planets and towards the Milky Way.


• They dive into it arms and slow down as they whiz past neighboring stars until the reach orbit around the sun.


• They plunge back into earth's atmosphere and flip, the sky once again full of those distant stars.


• Zach lets out a breath and shakes his head.


• Jenna pushes herself up onto an elbow and looks at him.


• e's wiping his eyes.


• JENNA
• Babe...


• ZACH
• I think that's the closest I'll ever get to touching the infinite.


• JENNA
• I know, this never ever gets old.


• He grabs her and gives her a kiss.


• ZACH
• You're amazing, you know that? Thank you.


• She smiles.


• JENNA
• Hungry?


• She pulls a sandwich from the basket.


• ZACH
• Yes, please.


• They both sit up and begin to eat, holding hands under the artificial, but no less beautiful, stars.


• FADE TO BLACK.