Dreamsongs - Volume II by George R. R. Martin Read Free Book Online Page A

Denny.
     
    Denise moves upstairs, down the hall.
     
    DENISE
     
    Jeff?
     
    VET
     
    Here. Back here.
     
    The voice is coming from the bedroom.
Denise enters. The drapes are pulled tight, the room is very dark.
     
    DENISE
     
    Honey?
     
    Silence. She crosses the room, pulls back
the drapes, and as daylight floods the bedroom, the door SLAMS, Denise whirls.
     
    DENISE’S POINT OF VIEW - WHAT SHE SEES
     
    The Vet, legless, in fatigues, sits in his
wheelchair, blocking the only exit from the room. We HOLD on him for a long
beat, and for the first time we see that he is Jeff McDowell. A gaunt,
hollow-cheeked Jeff McDowell, his scraggly beard doing little to disguise
obvious ill-health. His speech patterns are rougher, cruder; this Jeff has been
educated by Vietnam and VA hospitals, not colleges and universities. His eyes
are deeply sunken; he looks at her like a starving man staring at a feast.
     
    BACK TO THE SCENE
     
    Denise is terrified for a beat, and then
she recognizes him.
     
    DENISE
     
    (scared whisper)
    Jeff?
     
    The Vet smiles a tremulous, tentative
smile. He looks almost as scared as she does.
     
    VET
     
    They
call me Spaceman. I got the name in Nam, on account of the movies I liked,
    (beat)
    You’re
looking good, Denny. Even better than you did back ... back when we were
together.
     
    She backs away, shaking her head.
     
    DENISE
     
    This
isn’t happening . .. Jeff... what am I saying , you’re not Jeff, you can’t
be Jeff.
     
    The Vet rolls toward her.
     
    CUT TO
    EXT. - FREEWAY - DAY
     
    Jeff’s car is barreling through freeway
traffic, cutting in and out, hurrying home. He comes down an exit ramp, speeds
along a residential street.
     
    INT. - JEFF’S CAR
     
    Behind the wheel, he looks grim and intent,
a little frightened.
     
    CUT TO
    THE BEDROOM
     
    The Vet rolls forward as Denise backs away
from him.
     
    VET
     
    You
want to see my dogtags? I’m Jeff McDowell, just as much as he is. You want to
test me? Go on, I know all the answers. We met in high school, working on the
school paper. Your parents are named Pete and Barbara. The first time we went
all the way was on your couch, the night they went out for an anniversary
dinner and I came over to watch War of the Worlds on your color TV. You’ve got
a birthmark on the inside of your thigh, about an inch—
     
    DENISE
     
    (interrupting)
    My God ... you are Jeff. What ... What ...
     
    VET
     
    (looks down at missing legs)
    What
happened? Is that the question? Vietnam happened, Denny. Vietnam and the draft
lottery and a mine.
     
    DENISE
     
    You
didn’t go to Vietnam. You went to Canada. We went to Canada, together,
we got married up there. You taught up there until the amnesty.
     
    VET
     
    (bitter laugh)
    I’m still waiting
for my amnesty.
     
    DENISE
     
    How
... how did you get here? Where did you come from? And why? What do you want
from us?
     
    VET
     
    I just want ...
     
    Before he can finish, they hear the sound
of squealing brakes from outside.
     
    CUT TO
    EXT. - MCDOWELL HOUSE - DAY
     
    Jeff’s Datsun screeches up into the
driveway, behind Denise’s Volvo, He opens the door, rushes inside.
     
    INT. - LIVING ROOM
     
    as Jeff bursts in through the kitchen door.
     
    JEFF
     
    (wild, yells)
    Denise! Where are
you? DENISE!
     
    He looks around the room, snatches up a
fireplace poker.
     
    CUT TO
    BEDROOM
     
    where Denise hears him yelling.
     
    DENISE
     
    (shouts)
    JEFF! Here, I’m up
here.
     
    VET
     
    Denny, please. I
don’t have—
     
    DENISE
     
    (louder)
    JEFF!
     
    We HEAR Jeff’s footsteps pounding up the
stairs and a moment later the door bursts open as he enters, brandishing the
poker. The Vet wheels his chair around and backs off.
     
    JEFF
     
    Stay away from her!
Leave her alone—
     
    Jeff stops dead, as the full realization
hits him. He stares.
     
    JEFF
     
    (softly)
    You’re ... me.
     
    VET
     
    (soft, weary)
    Bingo.
     
    JEFF
     
    This isn’t
happening, this is some kind