Scrubbing                                                                                           Sean McHenry

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FADE IN:

EXT. BRICK BUILDING WALL - NIGHT

A man's hand is very slowly scrubbing spray-painted letters from the outside wall of an older brick building. He slowly wipes at the letters over and over.

The entire word he is attempting to erase is not visible in the small circle of bright light from a single spotlight. The sounds of surf on a shore are audible.

The man is dressed in clown attire but he is smoking a cigarette and his grease paint is smeared and fading.

FADE TO BLACK.

FADE IN:

INT. AN APARTMENT LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

A small circle of people in various types of chairs sit listening to a man wearing a squeaky clean white lab coat, glasses, and a clipboard on his lap. The apartment is dim and shabby.

LEADER

So we all agree that this wasn't
quite the best route to take.
    (beat)

Jimmy, why don't you tell us what you
think we can do to resolve this conflict?

JIMMY

    (stuttering)
W-w-well, I think we could try reasoning with him. He seems to have above average capacity, at times I mean.

LEADER

Jane, what do you think about reasoning with him on this?

JANE

   (getting agitated quickly)
I think we tried that once and we all agreed that only made things worse. He came really close to tossing it all away. Where would that leave us?

                        (beat)

I ask you all, where would you be if
that happened huh?

LEADER

Jane brings up a point, and so does
Jimmy. We have already tried reason,
and we have tried other less savory
approaches.

JOHNNY

What are we going to do about this?

All the people in the room turn to look at the person whose back is toward the camera. His head is hung low but rolls from side to side occasionally, like a drugged man. He is in a robe and slippers.

JESSE

Reality ain't for everyone I suppose.
Maybe that's why we're here?

JERRY

    (leaning forward and staring
    directly at the man they are
    all talking about)
It ain't right to talk about the guy when he's like this. Just ain't right now.

LEADER

Jerry, this is the only time we're able
to talk with him. His behavior is
increasingly erratic; he can't reason
anymore; he's delusional and is just plain loosing his grip.

JANE

Maybe it's not his fault, you know? Maybe it was something we don't know about him yet. We'll never find out with him in this state.

VOICE 1 (V.O.)

    (Voices 1 and 2 are always filled
    with echo and phasing qualities)
     Alright, let's prepare.

FADE TO BLACK.

FADE IN:
EXT. BRICK BUILDING WALL - SAME

The clown is still wiping at the letters but you can see he is making a little progress. He pauses to puff a cigarette and then goes back to the slow, methodical wiping of the letters.

FADE TO BLACK.

FADE IN:

INT. APARTMENT - SAME

LEADER

It's agreed then. We'll try a few more
times. But we might want to prepare
ourselves. It is possible he will
never get better.

JIMMY

    (sarcastically)
F-F-Fuck. That would be a damn shame,
wouldn't it?

JOHNNY

Shut the hell up Jimmy. If it wasn't for
him you wouldn't be here.

JIMMY

    (visibly agitated, standing quickly)
An-an-and how the hell is th-th-that
supposed to make me feel? Sitting here
all this time with you a-a-assholes.
    (beat)
Man, I could have been doing so much
better on my own.

LEADER

Jimmy, your methods are quite harsh.
How long would you have lasted if it
wasn't for the rest of us? Now sit
down and be quiet for a minute.

VOICE 1 (V.O.)

OK? Let’s do this. Everything ready?

VOICE 2 (V.O.)

Yes sir. What setting?

VOICE 1 (V.O.)

Let’s begin at 400. Clear?

A blinding series of white flashes like lightning with thunder over and over.

The man's head flails. More white flashes

The man clutches the chair arms as in a death grip. More lightning and thunder.

All the people have shifted positions randomly. Jane is now wearing the lab coat and holding the clipboard.

VOICE 1 (V.O.)

    (in a calm voice)
And again.

The bright flashes again with the sound of thunder.

The man tightens his grip again on the chair arms. The flashes and thunder stop. We see the back of the man's head. His hair is oily and he hasn't had a haircut in some time. He is sitting straight up.

The people have shifted again. This time the people's faces are "fogged" or "fuzzy"

The man's head slowly falls again rocking side to side.

THE MAN (V.O.)

Hold on. These people aren't real. The pain isn't real. I'm not here. It always comes in threes.

VOICE 1 (V.O.)

And one more time, please.

VOICE 2 (V.O.)

He's showing some changes, sir.

VOICE 1 (V.O.)

Yes. He's fighting this like mad and I don't know why. Step it up to 425, please.

VOICE 2 (V.O.)

Yes sir.
The lightning and thunder again. We see the man sit straight up, stiff, from behind.

THE VOICE 1 (V.O.)

I think that's enough for now.

VOICE 2 (V.O.)

Yes sir.

The man slumps forward in the chair.

FADE TO BLACK.

FADE IN:

EXT. THE WALL - SAME

CLOWN

(he sighs loudly)

He pauses and drags on the cigarette. He has made more progress. The entire word he is erasing from the wall is still not visible. He starts again with the slow scrubbing of the painted letters.

FADE TO BLACK.

FADE IN:

INT. APARTMENT - SAME

The people are semi-transparent, fading in and out of the room a bit, like a television station that isn't coming in clear. The sound of the voices is echoing and hard to hear.

After the images and sound settle in, the leader is now Jimmy, the angry one.

JIMMY

OK then, you pricks have had your
turn with him. I think it's time we
tried a little old-fashioned "leaning"
on the guy to get some results.

JANE

And what are you going to do that we
haven't already tried? You're a joke,
Jimmy.

JIMMY

I don't see anyone with any other ideas.

JESSE

Maybe he's just not going to make it out?

JIMMY

You asses, if he doesn't make it, all our efforts were a waste. And what do we do if we can't fix this?

JOHNNY

We have nothing left to lean on. I mean,
look at the guy. There's nobody frickin'
home, you asshole.

THE MAN (V.O.)

    (his head rises from its lowered
    position and flops a bit from side
    to side)
I. I am. I am alive. I am here, now.

JIMMY

Oh sure, you think you're here, now,
but you aren't. You're over there you dolt.

Jimmy points to his right, camera left.

PAN TO:

INT. APARTMENT DINING ROOM - SAME

A single spotlight on a hospital bed with machines around it. Tubes in his arms, the man is tied to the bed.

Around the bed are two people, a Doctor and a Nurse. They have masks over their faces that obscure their features.

VOICE 1

OK, this time we'll try 450 for 10.

VOICE 2

    (she fiddles with some equipment)
Yes Doctor. The machine is ready.
         
          VOICE 1
Prep him, please.

The nurse places a sponge/stick in the man’s mouth.

VOICE 2

He's ready, Doctor.

VOICE 1

    (he places the electrodes on either
    side of the man's head)
Clear. Any time, nurse.

She throws a loud switch sound. Everything goes white again.

Shift back to the man in the chair, his head flailing from side to side rapidly. Foam comes from his mouth as his head stops moving. His wide eyes stare straight ahead. They are blank but there is a smile on his face.

FADE TO BLACK

FADE IN:

EXT. WALL - NIGHT

The clown steps back. He admires his cleaning job, his hair is smoldering a bit.

CLOWN

Well, that's a bit better. Damn kids.
They think they own the place or
something.

The clown takes his rag and cleaning solution. The label on the cleaning solution says "Psychotherapy Ward."

The clown looks at the can in his hand and puts on a pair of glasses and reads the warning label.

CLOWN

Removes those pesky personality traits
from any surface. Please test on an unused section of psychosis. May damage some personalities.
    (beat)

                    Huh.

The clown slowly walks off into the darkness, the camera pulls back revealing the wall. A wet outline of the letters is visible. They spell the word "Spirit.”

FADE TO BLACK.