EPISODE: 2

She opens the fridge. It is bare except for a box of sushi.

DALTON

Sushi? Aw, that's weirdo food.

RENAI

It's all we have. Just for today,

honey.

JOSH

Check it first, Dalton. It's

probably made out of Styrofoam.

RENAI

(to Dalton)

And while I've got you, if you're

going to look at my books, please

don't leave them all over the floor.

DALTON

I didn't touch your books.

Josh streaks past, kissing Renai on the cheek.

JOSH

I gotta go.

RENAI

Are you taking the boys to school?

JOSH

No time.

RENAI

Well can you pick them up after

school?

JOSH

Not today.

RENAI

But I have stuff I wanted to...

She trails off. He's gone. Foster BURPS. Loudly.

FOSTER

Can I have another cup, mom?

INT. CLASSROOM, FORRESTER HIGH SCHOOL - DAY

Noisy students settle into their desks. Inner city kids,

mostly Hispanic. Josh is their teacher, scribbling on the blackboard. One

student, a lanky boy, ALANSO (16), hovers near the door.

JOSH

Alanso, please sit down.

ALANSO

No entiendo.

JOSH

Siéntate, por favor.

Alanso takes a seat. Josh is having trouble getting control.

JOSH (CONT'D)

Come on guys, quieten down.

A pretty girl in the front, TERI, is annoyed at the class.

TERI

You better all shut up.

She commands respect. They do. Except for one kid.

THE ONE KID

Just cos you're in love.

JOSH

Thank you, Teri. Today we are going

to talk about Darwin. It's a city in

Australia, but it's also the last

name of which famous naturalist?

MALE STUDENT # 1

Charles Darwin.

JOSH

Correct. Does anybody know what he

is famous for?

MALE STUDENT # 1

He said that people descended from

monkeys.

JOSH

Half right. He wrote a seminal book

that explained his theories on

natural selection, and how the

different species on this planet -

including humans - evolved.

ALANSO

I know I didn't evolve from no

monkey. Shit. Everyone laughs.

JOSH

Humans actually have a lot in

common with monkeys, or more

specifically, chimpanzees.

ALANSO

Maybe you do, but I was created in

the image of my Dios.

He takes a gold cross hanging on a necklace out of his shirt,

kissing it and holding it up. That gets another laugh.

JOSH

I respect your right to believe

that, Alanso. But I want to give

you all possible theories. I want

this class to go out into the world

with an informed opinion.

ALANSO

The theory is incorrect, Mr. Lambert.

JOSH

How can it be incorrect? It's a

theory. A scientific theory.

ALANSO

Yeah, well, science is bullshit. We

didn't get here cos of no test-tubes.

JOSH

Alanso, if you keep talking like

that I'm going to ask you to visit

the principal.

ALANSO

Fine.

He gets up and leaves as the class JEERS and BOOS.

INT. LIVING ROOM, LAMBERT HOME - DAY

Peace and quiet at last.

Renai gropes in behind the bookcase, plucking a hidden jewelry

box free. She pinches a cigarette out of it and lights it.

She sits down at her piano, feeling the keys, warming her

fingers up. Sunlight streams in through the windows.

She takes out a notebook, filled with scribbled handwriting. She places the notebook on the sheetstand, then sets a small,

mechanical METRONOME in motion and begins tapping out a sombre

melody in time with it.

RENAI

(singing)

Yeah, I'm looking west, always been

looking that way, gonna get it all

happening, just can't do it today...

She stops and makes a note in her book. She starts over,

rising to the emotion of the song. She's got a good voice.

RENAI (CONT'D)

(singing)

Yeah, I'm looking west, always been

looking that way, I'm gonna be

somebody, I just can't be her today--

She is interrupted by the tinny sound of a baby crying.

She stops playing and looks over at a baby monitor, the

source of the noise.

Renai deflates, her shoulders sagging in defeat. She closes

her notebook and leaves the room.

INT. CALI'S NURSERY - DAY

Renai scoops up Cali, rocking her gently.

A scratching sound interrupts. Rough. Frantic. Like a dog

pawing at something.

INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

Renai steps into the hall, curious. She can still hear it.

She follows the sound to a door. Grabs the door handle.

The sound abruptly ceases.

INT. BASEMENT - CONTINUOUS

The door whines open and stabs a blade of light onto a set of

stairs that descend into a gloomy basement.

Renai stands at the top of the stairs, squinting into the

inky blackness, straining to see.

She reaches up and yanks a light chain, illuminating a bare

bulb and throwing light across the tenebrous space.The basement is large and completely bare. Cleaned out.

Renai takes a step down. She is still carrying Cali.

FURTHER DOWN below her, we see that there is one step that is

cracked and broken.

She takes another step. The broken step is right below her now.

One more step and she will fall.

Cali squeals happily. Renai pauses...then turns around,

heading back up the stairs. Stops when she sees something.

DEEP, VIOLENT SCRATCH MARKS...running downwards on the inside

of the door...as if someone were trying to claw their way out.

EXT. LAMBERT HOME - NIGHT

A Spanish-style home. Very pretty. This is not the suburbs.

More of an inner city neighborhood. There's history here.

Josh pulls into the driveway of his new house in his Subaru.

INT. LIVING ROOM, LAMBERT HOME - NIGHT

The house almost looks liveable.

Foster is watching loud, zany cartoons on TV. Cali is in a

high chair. Renai is folding boxes. She has unpacked most of

the living room and is very tired.

Josh ambles in, sees the work Renai has done.

JOSH

Look at this. Nice job.

Foster bolts over and crashes into his dads legs, hugging him.

JOSH (CONT'D)

Whoa, buddy. Slow down.

RENAI

Josh, where's the box of my lamps?

JOSH

I don't know. They should be here.

We packed them up.

RENAI

Yeah, I packed them. They're not here.

JOSH

I remember the movers bringing them

in and putting them right there.

RENAI

(passive aggressive)

Well, they're not here. I would

know, I've been unpacking this

stuff all day.

INT. CORRIDOR, LAMBERT HOME - NIGHT

Dalton wanders the hall, sporting a red superhero CAPE and

carrying a plastic, glowing light-sabre toy.

He reaches a door. The basement door. He pulls it open.

INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT

Dalton holds up his light-sabre, the glow allowing him to

make out the murky corners of the basement below.

He takes a step down the stairs. Then another step.

The broken step is right below him.

He steps again --

-- and falls. Flails forward, tumbling down the steps, all

the way to the bottom. His light sabre SHATTERS.

He hits the ground, his head smacking the floor.

All is dark.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Josh sits with Foster, zoned out in front of the droning TV.

INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT

Pitch black.

Dazed, Dalton sits up. His head is cut and bleeding. He is

alone in the dark. He stares into the corner of the

surrounding cell.

His eyes adjust, making out a shape.

A shadow. INT. LIVING ROOM - SAME TIME

Josh and Renai look up as the quiet is shattered by a SCREAM.

They spring into action, scrambling to their feet.

RENAI

Dalton? Where are you?

He doesn't answer. Just keeps screaming.

INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT

Renai and Josh whip the door open, glaring into the basement

from the top of the stairs.

RENAI

Dalton?

Dalton is crumpled at the bottom of the steps, sobbing, his

red cape gathered around him.

Renai flicks the light on. Her and Josh scamper down the

steps, propping Dalton up.

JOSH

What happened?

DALTON

I fell.

RENAI

Dalton, you have to be careful. You

shouldn't be coming down here in

the dark.

JOSH

Where do you hurt the most?

DALTON

My knee and my head. I can't stand

up.

Josh lifts him to his feet. A severely grazed knee is dotted

with blood. He's okay.

JOSH

You scared us, champ.

Josh carries him up the stairs as he sucks in sobs.

Renai glances around the basement, her eyes landing on the

lone object that resides in it. She frowns. It wasn't there when she saw the basement last.

It is a box. One of her large, cardboard moving boxes.

It is marked LAMPS.

INT. DALTON'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Dalton is lying in bed, a band-aid slapped across his

forehead. Renai tucks him in, Josh standing over him.

JOSH

You're lucky you don't need stitches.

RENAI

If I catch you falling down the

stairs again I'm gonna break your

neck.

DALTON

That doesn't make sense.

There are dozens of pictures tacked to the wall, all drawn by

Dalton. Josh taps one; a drawing of Dalton flying through the

night sky, wearing his cape.

DALTON (CONT'D)

You might be a superhero but you're

not invincible. Be more careful, bud.

Renai kisses him and gets up.

RENAI

Sleep tight, honey.

They wave goodbye and turn out the light.

INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT

Renai flops into bed beside Josh, exhausted.

JOSH

We've gotta lock that door.

RENAI

He's such a boy. He goes off

exploring. Sometimes I wanna keep

him on one of those child leashes.

JOSH

Why bother with a child leash? I'll

stop at the pet store tomorrow. She laughs and cuddles up to him, resting her head on his chest.

RENAI

I'm sorry I was pissy when you got

home. I was trying to work on a

song today and then Cali woke up

and wouldn't stop crying...

JOSH

I didn't even notice.

RENAI

I feel guilty for wanting my own

time.

JOSH

It's normal to want your own time.

RENAI

Is it? My mother gave up everything

for me. I keep waiting for the

completely selfless parent gene to

kick in, but I'm exactly the same

person I was when I was 22, only

now I'm married with kids.

JOSH

You're a great mother.

RENAI

No, I'm not. They like you so much

better than me.

JOSH

That's not true.

RENAI

You're the cool dad who comes home

with presents and I'm the one who

yells at them all day.

JOSH

Now you're being crazy. They love

you. At least you get to connect

with them. I work so much.

RENAI

Believe me, you're their hero. They

try to play us off against each

other. They're master manipulators.

I guess they really are my kids.

Josh laughs. A lull settles over them.

RENAI (CONT'D)

Is this it, Josh?

JOSH

Is this so bad?

She doesn't answer. They sit in silence for a long beat.

RENAI

Thank you for letting me take some time

off to work on my music again.

JOSH

We'll get by. I want you to do it.

RENAI

There's a couple of songs...I mean

not all of them, but there's a

couple of them that I think are

really good. And I think, maybe I

could do something with them.

JOSH

I love all your songs.

They kiss.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

It is 3AM. All the remoteness of that hour is present

here...we can feel it.

As still and quiet as deep space.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

The formerly bustling kitchen is now a museum at midnight.

INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT

A long, dark thoroughfare. A ticking clock its only occupant.

INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT

Stairs swallowed up by darkness. The groan of settling wood.

INT. FOSTER'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

The soft breathing of a sleeping child.....