THE ENIGMA OF THE BASKET WITH THE DEAD CAT UNDER THE TREE BEHIND THE

TOMBSTONE OF MERRIWEATHER LEWIS



By Shawn Waldow





SCENE 1



It is sunrise. In the oldest section of a woody cemetery, we open with a

very long shot, the central subject of which is an old tree surrounded by

graves stones, but off to one side in the background Man and Woman are

engaged in sex, naked.  The sex is silent. Birds chirp.



Cut to a medium shot of the couple entwined. A bird gives one last loud

chirp then stops.



Woman notices the name on the gravestone just beyond the one she and Man are

having sex against:



	      WOMAN

      Holy Shit!



She is now distracted but Man keeps thrusting. Without a word, Woman gets up

and, clutching herself in the cold, hurries over to the curious grave.



	      MAN

      What, did the telephone ring?



	      WOMAN

      No, silly. Look at the name on this grave: Merriweather Lewis. He's a

      famous explorer, isn't he? The Lewis-&-Clark Lewis?

	

	      MAN

      U don't know that its the Lewis-&-Clark Lewis. Besides,  if it was a

      famous explorer it'd have some shrine here or something.



	      WOMAN

      How do u know?



	      MAN (putting on pants)

      Because i'm not stupid.



Woman brushes off the stone then stands up and begins putting on her clothes

too. Man lights a cigarette. They pack up the rest of their things and begin

walking back to their car. Woman stops when she sees a basket nearby with an

apparently dead cat inside.



		MAN

	What the fuck is a dead cat doing...



Woman has stopped and bent over, shaking the basket to make sure the feline  

isn't simply ragged looking but alive. She is now sure the cat is dead and

is visibly grief stricken. She clutches at Man.



		MAN

	Don't touch me bitch, u just touched a fucking dead cat!



		WOMAN

	I didn't know it was dead for sure.



		MAN

	That doesn't make yr hands any cleaner.



Woman starts to cry huddled to herself.

Man now tries to embrace girl.



		MAN

	im sorr-



		WOMAN (interrupts)

	U fucking asshole!



Woman beats boy off by pounding his chest



		MAN (sound trailing off to chirping birds)

	Fuck u!



Camera pans up to barren tree branches. Fade out to sobs of girl.



THE END







NOTE TO DIRECTOR: I SUGGEST USING NEGATIVE BLACK AND WHITE CHROMA KEY. THIS

HAS TWO ADVANTAGES, MAKING A LIVE CAT PASS FOR DEAD (IF IT WILL STAY STILL)

AND LETTING US CHANGE THE NAME ON A GRAVESTONE WITH  MAYBE A DROP CLOTH. THE

STRANGE TEXTURES OF THE CHROMA KEY WILL HIDE /DISTORT ENOUGH DETAILS THAT U

WON'T BE ABLE TO NOTICE THESE OTHERWISE DIFFICULT TO SURRMOUNT FLAWS. IT

ALSO FITS THE MOOD OF THE PIECE. TOO BAD IT IS A LITTLE CORNY. MAYBE U HAVE

A BETTER IDEA. DON'T WORRY ABOUT ACTORS & LOCATION. I CAN COVER THAT PART.