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By Misti Lake Submitted by Misti Lake Date: 2001 Jul 16 Comment on this Work [[2001.07.16.13.10.25876]] |
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*~*~*~*~SCENE SIX~*~*~*~* EXT.-Day-Backroad in Bridgeport. 1985 Gamma is walking down a rural road. She's wearing a white tank top and khaki walking shorts. Her hair is in a ponytail. As she crosses the small bridge over the creek, she hears splashing and a man's voice. She looks down and sees Hopkin. She stops on the bridge. Hopkin looks up at her. Hopkin: Well, I'll be a bowlegged monkey. Where did you come from, ma'am? [Suddenly, Hopkin disappears. Just as suddenly, he reappears.] Gamma: Oh, god. Another flashback. Hopkin: It's you again! Gamma: Bye. [Gamma waves and crosses the bridge, not looking back.] Hopkin scrambles out of the creek and trots after Gamma. Hopkin: Pardon me, ma'am. I'm Hopkin Crockett Watchfulbear. I don't mean to bother you, but whatever happened back there has made my nerves a jangled mess. One minute I was mindin' my own business, wadin' in the creek. Then I saw you. Then you disappeared like a mirage. Then I saw Tansy and she disappeared on me after I splashed water on my face. Then I saw you again. But I'm glad I did. You're a helluva lot prettier than Tansy. The thing is, I can't figure out what's goin' on. Gamma: I thought I was having another acid flashback. You're real. Oh, well. My great-grandmother was right. I thought she was crazy. She was half-Cherokee. Very mystical and otherworldly. Never went to church or owned a Bible. Didn't own a clock or watch or even a TV. She always referred to that creek back there as the Time Stream. Said she used to wade in it when she was a young girl. Supposedly, she went back and forth in time until she lost her first love in 2008. He got trampled at a BeeGees concert. I guess the hardest thing for me to believe and accept is that the BeeGees will still be performing twenty-three years from now. Geriatric disco. Go figure. So what time are you from? Hopkin: 1895. What year is this? Gamma: 1985. Where's your cowboy hat? Hopkin: Hangin' on my bedpost. I don't wear it too often. Messes up my hair. Gamma: I hope you aren't lookin' for a tour guide to the future. I'm not a very good representative of 1985. It's been a bad year. I got a divorce and we've got a goofy president. What's worse, I didn't even vote. And Bridgeport probably hasn't changed all that much since 1895. We're still outside the loop. Hopkin: You won't take me in and show me around? Gamma: I don't even know you. For all I know you could be an outlaw. Hopkin: I ain't no outlaw. Shoot. I work on my granddaddy's ranch. You never did tell me your name, by the way. Gamma: Gamma. Hopkin: Were you the third child? Gamma: A literate cowboy from 1895. Wow. Sorry for the cynicism. Yes, I was the third child and no, my older siblings aren't Alpha and Beta. Hopkin: Oh, I understand the stereotype. No harm done. I don't have many friends back there. It's a real handicap, speakin' in more than two syllables. You know, it's a doggone shame I can't court you properly. I'm out of my element here. Gamma: I'm out of my element here, too. |