Checking the Form (a screenplay?)

Checking the Form (a screenplay?)

The scene opens looking into a construction site, a building is going up. Lots of concrete, girders, re-bar, etc. The camera is POV of someone walking through the site towards two workers talking in the distance with raised voices. Along the way we see other workers talking in hushed voices, shaking their heads, and looking towards the two workers that are talking by the footings of the building… clearly everyone is alarmed, one might even say… panicked!

Jim passes the camera and in to view…

JIM
“What the Hell is going on here now?”

BURT
“Oh, hey Jim. Yeah, we were just talking about it…”

JIM
“Jesus Christ Burt… What the Fuck! Who did this… How… When… ”

BURT
“I swear to God, it wasn’t like that when we left last night Jim!”

JIM
“Oh come on Burt, are you trying to tell me the building transformed all by itself… like a… like a fucking Transformer! ”

BURT
“No Jim, but… listen, why would I or any of the guys want to do something like that! It’s going to set us all back on a job that none of us really want to stick around for any longer then we have to!”

JIM
“Someone did this… and did it deliberately! The only question is Who?”

BURT
“I see that Jim, but you have to admit some of the stuff that’s gone on around here is pretty weird, especially with getting these footings in. We should be pouring the foundation walls by now, and there was all that talk of how the previous building came down… and then, after Tony disappeared… well this is… well… it’s just more of the same!”

JIM
“You too! I’m hearing this crap from the guys every day, but now you? I suppose you want to get the place exorcised too!”

BURT
“Uhhh… the thing is…” looking over his shoulder, ” uhhh, no Jim, no! It’s… It’s just a load of crap man, let’s go for lunch and forget all about this.”

As the two men walked away, the rebar that was slowly moving towards them like a snake approaching it’s victim, wrapped itself around the men’s legs and pulled them in to the darkness of the pit where the foundation walls were meant to be. This time, the men’s screams of horror were heard!

As the last echo of the men’s screams were burned into the memories of the workers who chose to come to work that day, Father Merrin arrived and stepped out of the black car, his satchel in his old, fearless hands.

This was originally a story I wrote for a group on Flickr where people post photographs for other Flickr members to write stories about, I can’t share the photo for this one as the photographer doesn’t allow his photographs to be shared, but I’ve added a link below if you’re curious. I revisited the story recently with the thought of making a short film of it… now if I can only find a construction site I could film on!

Photo by Stephen Foster – Checking the form

©2011 Julian Luckham