Albert

By
Rumpopo
EXT. FRONT LAWN - MORNING
The front lawn of a middle class familys house. An empty
green lawn chair with a full glass of ice cold lemonade on
its right arm. The opening credits quickly go by with a song
to be determined.
Then, Barry, a youngun full of smiles and fun, sticks his
head into the shot.
BARRY
Hows that lemonade treating you?
Cut to a shot of both Barry sitting on a similar lawn chair
and the original chair to his left. Barry pulls his head
back from the other chair and begins to speak to the chair
or maybe something or someone on the chair.
BARRY
Youve always been good to me, Al.
And I hope that you feel Ive been
good to you too.
Cut to the lawn chair for a few seconds.
Cut to a smiling Barry.
BARRY
I thought so. Youre a real pal,
Al. Youre a real pal.
Cut to Barry raising his glass.
BARRY CONT.
To us!
Barry swiftly moves his glass to clink it with the glass of
lemonade on the arm of the other chair. That glass gets
knocked to the grass, allowing the lemonade to escape onto
the lawn. Barry is angry at Al for spilling his drink.
BARRY
Al! What the heck?
INT. LIBRARY - MORNING
Martin, a more serious and less fun-loving youngun, is
sitting in a chair much bigger than him in the library. Hes
reading a chapter book. He comes to a word he doesnt know,
so he turns to his left.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 2.
MARTIN
Hey, Bert. What does f-fan...
phantasmic mean?
Cut to Martins face waiting for an answer.
Cut to Martin in his chair with an empty chair to his left.
No answer comes. Martin waves his hand and snaps, trying to
get his imaginary friend Berts attention.
MARTIN
Bert? Hello?
Still no answer. Martin sits back in his chair and sighs.
MARTIN
Typical.
EXT. SIDEWALK - NOON
Barry and Al (who we dont see) are walking together on a
sidewalk. Barry turns to Al.
BARRY
Hey, Al. Lets race!
Barry makes a pistol with his finger and he shoots it into
the air. The camera follows the "bullet".
Cut to a shot from behind them as they run.
Cut to Barrys face as he runs. He looks to be having a
great time.
Cut to Al running (basically a moving shot of nothing).
Cut to Barry getting to the corner and breathing heavily. He
puts his hands on his knees due to exhaustion.
Then, regaining some strength, he looks to his right, sees
nothing, then to his left and sees Al beating him in the
race.
BARRY
(breathing heavily)
Im coming for you, buddy!
And off the left he goes!
3.
EXT. PLAYGROUND - NOON
Martin is sitting on the left side of a bench on the
outskirts of a playground, eating a sandwich. He sticks his
neck out and looks around, wondering where Bert is.
Barry runs into the same playground, looking for Al. We see
him looking for him in different parts of the playground (on
the swing, on the slide, on the jungle gym, etc).
Martin sees Bert and gestures for him to come to the bench
on which hes sitting.
Barry finally catches a glimpse of Al running to the bench
on which Martin is sitting. Barry chases after him.
Martin and Barry see Bert and Al, respectively, about to sit
on the bench.
MARTIN AND BARRY
(in unison)
There you are!
Then, seen from their backs, they, both equally puzzled,
look at each other, as if to say "Whats going on?" and then
they look at the bench on which the imaginary friend is
sitting.
Cut to the imaginary friends point of view. We see the
boys confused expressions.
BARRY
Al?
MARTIN
Bert?
They look at each other.
MARTIN AND BARRY
(in unison)
Oh.
They look back at Albert.
MARTIN
But I...
BARRY
I dont...
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 4.
MARTIN AND BARRY
(in unison)
What?
INT. DINER - MIDDAY
Barry and Martin are sitting across each other in a diner
booth. Albert is sitting next to Martin. We see them all
from the side of the both. Two hands from an unseen body
give Barry a cup of chocolate milk and a straw.
BARRY
Thanks.
He takes the straw out of the paper and puts it into the
cup. He takes a large sip. When the sip is over, he
contemplates for a second, then nods.
BARRY
Just a bit too much chocolate. Want
some?
Martin nods slightly, and Barry slides the drink to Martins
side of the table. Martin takes a straw from the table,
takes it out of the paper, and puts it into the cup. He
takes a larger sip. When the sip is over he contemplates for
a second, then slightly shakes his head.
MARTIN
Im gonna have to disagree with you
there. I think it has the perfect
amount of chocolate.
Martin makes an Italian kissy hand thingy in Barrys general
direction, mocking him.
MARTIN CONT.
(with an Italian accent)
Perfetto.
Martin passes the chocolate milk to Albert, all the while
glaring at Barry.
MARTIN CONT.
Whats your say on the matter,
Bert?
We see from behind Barry and Martin both look at Albert,
awaiting his response.
BARRY
Well?
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 5.
Cut to Alberts point of view. We see the boys inquisitive
expressions. Then their eyes (and heads maybe)
simultaneously go upwards and then to the right, following
Albert as he leaves the booth.
We see them simultaneously turn their backs to the booth to
look at the door to which Albert is heading. Then they look
at each other inquisitively.
EXT. DINER - MIDDAY
Barry and Martin run out of the diner onto the sidewalk
where Albert is. They grab onto him and stare him down.
MARTIN
Well? Whose opinion is right?
BARRY
Yea! Whose friend are you?
Martin raises his eyebrows in anticipation.
Albert rips free from the boys grasp and runs into the
street. The boys are visually surprised.
A car passes by on the street, smashing into Albert, then
continuing on its merry way.
The boys are stunned - eyes wide, mouths gaping.
Martin runs into the street and begins CPR on Albert.
Barry is still stunned - eyes still wide, mouth still
gaping.
BARRY
(stuttering)
C-call the p-p-police?
Martin feels his pockets and shakes his head at Barry, as if
to say "I dont have a phone!"
Barry feels his pockets and shakes his head at Martin as if
to say "Me neither!"
Martin and Barry simultaneously look at Alberts body.
Martin checks Alberts pockets and pulls out Alberts
(non-existent) phone. He flips it open, dials 911, and puts
the phone to his ear.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 6.
MARTIN
(shouting into the phone)
Hello? HELLO?!
No one picks up. Martin closes his eyes and sighs, then
shakes his head solemnly, closes the phone, and, in a fit of
anger, throws it at the ground. He then violently continues
CPR until exhaustion. He flops over and lies on the street
next to Albert and breathes heavily.
Barry finally snaps out of his daze and runs to Alberts
body. He begins CPR, but after a few seconds Martin puts his
hand around Barrys wrist and looks him straight in the eye,
as if to say it was no use. Barry lies down on the other
side of Albert.
We see a shot of the two boys lying on the street with
Alberts corpse in between them. The camera begins to zoom
out slowly while sad music plays..
But then, Barry looks at his watch.The camera immediately
zooms back into them and the sad music comes to a halt. He
scrambles to his feet.
BARRY
Oh, shoot! Its six twelve! My
moms gonna kill me.
Barry runs off. Then Martin slowly stands up. He wipes his
hands on his shirt.
MARTIN
Its been a long day.
Martin walks off and now we just see Alberts (invisible)
dead body. The camera zooms out for real this time and the
song "Imaginary Man" plays.
Fade to black.