FADE IN to see a boy running down the street. The year is 1975 or so. Credits are still rolling. Older David speaks as the narrator. It's a flashback.


                DAVID
In this world, there are two kinds of animals: the hunters and the hunted. I was always in season. Everybody has a bully lurking somewhere in their past, a kid whose ambition in life was to make your waking hours a living nightmare. My bully's name was Rosco Bigger, but everybody called him Fang.

                YOUNG ROSCO
Hiya, Davie. Thought you were pretty funny this morning, didn't you?

                YOUNG DAVID
W-w-what d'ya mean?

                YOUNG ROSCO
The spelling bee! Mr. Simmons let you pick the words and you gave me USSR and everybody laughed when I got it wrong!

                YOUNG DAVID
Hey, I make the same mistake myself. Is it two s's or one? Okay, okay, you're upset, I can see that, but could you please delay my beating until Thursday? I've got class pictures tomorrow. My mom'll kill me if I'm scuffed up again.

                YOUNG ROSCO
Say cheese!


He punches him. Fist flies toward the camera. CUT to David sitting in front of the camera screen, a black eye and a fat lip.


                YOUNG DAVID
Cheese.


A woman, David's mother, is seen putting the new photo of David on the fireplace, shaking her head. The old picture shows David bruised as well.


                DAVID
I grew up in Hastings, Minnesota, a small river town on the Mississippi. The kids I hung around with were more than just buddies. We were a band of victims who watched each others' back. Ulf was an odd kid, primarily concerned with explosions and setting things on fire.


A child with red hair is seen, a cigarette in his mouth, lighting a firecracker on a rock. It explodes and sets the pile of hay next to it on fire.


                YOUNG ULF
Cool.

                DAVID
GERRY's father owned a butcher shop on Main Street.

                YOUNG DAVID
[whistles]


A rather large kid walks out of the shop with a sausage in his hand.


                DAVID
To his family, vegitarian is a four-letter word.

                YOUNG GERRY
Hey guys, how's it goin'?

                DAVID
One day in class, GERRY was asked how many different food groups there were. His answer was two: meat and everything else.


The three kids walk up to a barber shop and press their faces against the window. A black boy walks from behind with a mop. He sees the three, smiles, and walks outside with them.


                DAVID
Alan was the only black kid we'd ever seen. But any racial differences were soon dismissed when he proved he could shove his whole fist into his mouth. It was something even GERRY couldn't do.


Alan does this.


                YOUNG GERRY
Hey Davie, look who's comin'!


They all turn around to see a girl wearing a red skirt and pigtails walking toward them. Alan still has his fist in his mouth.


                DAVID
Victoria was by far the most beautiful girl in the school. She may have been ten, but she was built like a twelve-year-old.

                ALL BOYS
Hi Victoria.

                YOUNG VICTORIA
Hi boys.

                YOUNG ULF
Wow.

                YOUNG ALAN
Did ya see that?

                YOUNG DAVID
See what?

                YOUNG GERRY
The way she was lookin' at ya.

                YOUNG ULF
Yeah. She wants it.

                YOUNG DAVID
Wants what?


Pause.


                YOUNG ULF
[shrugs]


They're now walking to their school.


                YOUNG ALAN
Hey! Did ya hear?

                YOUNG DAVID
Hear what?

                YOUNG ALAN
Moon rock's comin'!

                YOUNG DAVID
What?

                YOUNG ALAN
Yep. Next week. They're gonna send guards and stuff, and if you try to touch it, BANG! they'll shoot you on site!

                YOUNG GERRY
Aw, bullshit.


David stays back to swing himself around a metal poll. After once around, he catches up to the other three. Later, we see the outside of David's house. Then we go inside to his bedroom. He's under his covers. The room's dark. He has a flashlight on under the covers. We see him underneath. He's also got a pen and paper.


                YOUNG DAVID
"Death Rock by David Leary. Chapter one. Everyone in town had come to see the rock till there was only one old man left. The old man limped up to the moon rock ;cause he had a cane or something."


A picture has formed. There's a small room. The ground is covered with fog and there's a large, silver rock on a table that's surrounded by men in helmets and guns. An old man is seen walking in on a cane, his hand outstretched.


                YOUNG DAVID
"He reached out to touch the rock when..."

                YOUNG DAVID AND GUARDS
Freeze! Don't touch that moon rock!

                YOUNG DAVID
But the old man was deaf or something.

                OLD MAN
I'm deaf or something!

                YOUNG DAVID
And so he reached out with his wrinkled hand and... BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!

                MRS. LEARY
You'd better be sleeping!


David turns off the flashlight, comes out from under the covers, and puts his glasses on the nightstand.


                YOUNG DAVID
I am.

                DAVID
I knew that one day I would leave this place, and I would become a real writer.


FADE OUT and FADE IN to see David next to the river, a toy in his hand.


                DAVID
I must've had hundreds of toys throughtout my childhood, but there was one that was special above all the others. i'd saved my allowance for three months to buy the Evel Knievel action figure. It was an additional four months before I could afford the Supercycle, but it was worth it. Evel was daring, cool, fearless. In short, he was everything that I wasn't.


David had been turning the crank on the toy, letting Evel ride his motorcycle across the ground. It crashes at someone's feet. It's Fang. He picks it up, takes Evel off the bike, throws the bike on the ground, rips his head off, and throws the body in the river.


                YOUNG ROSCO
Evel Knievel's a pussy.

                YOUNG DAVID
One day you're gonna be sorry you ever did that!

                YOUNG ROSCO
Funny, I don't feel sorry.

                YOUNG DAVID
O-o-one day you will.

                YOUNG ROSCO
Chicken!

                YOUNG DAVID
Pork roast!


David runs away. CUT TO Rosco walking across some logs atop a large waterfall.


                DAVID
When you're a marked man, you appreciate the value of a good hiding place. And so, I spend the better part of my childhood sitting in the cave at Vermillion Falls. There were stories about the cave that all the kids knew, stories about some kid, usualy a friend's cousin's neighbor, who went past the red rock and never returned. I figured they were probably just stories...but why risk it?


The cave is dark and damp. He stops at a rock that looks like red paint has spilled on top of it. He looks past the rock then heads back out of the cave. CUT TO David sitting at the end of the seasaw eating a sandwich. Suddenly, he starts rising into the air.


                YOUNG ROSCO
A-T-O-M-I-C.

                YOUNG DAVID
Uh-oh.

                YOUNG ROSCO
Atomic drop. Incoming!


Rosco is at one end of the seasaw, pushing it to the ground. He lets go the opposite side of the seasaw and David drops heavily to the ground, falling onto his back. Then he walks over and squats over David.


                YOUNG ROSCO (cont'd)
Hey Davie, wanna know how the polar bear died?

                YOUNG DAVID
Tell me, Fang.

                YOUNG ROSCO
[singing] Teacher, teacher floatin' down the Delaware...


He punches David in the stomach.


                YOUNG ROSCO (cont'd)
...chewin' on her underwear...


Another punch


                YOUNG ROSCO (cont'd)
...couldn't afford another pair...


Another punch


                YOUNG ROSCO (cont'd)
...ten days later, eaten by a polar bear...


Another punch


                YOUNG ROSCO (cont'd)
...that's how the polar bear died.


Rosco now promptly licks his finger and sticks it in David's ear. The school bell rings. Rosco begins to walk away but stops.


                YOUNG ROSCO (cont'd)
Drink your juice yet?

                YOUNG DAVID
No why?

                YOUNG ROSCO
Peed in it.


He shrugs and walks away. David gets up and pours out his jug of juice.


                YOUNG DAVID
Yuck.


Later in a line.


                YOUNG ALAN
My dad knows a guy who knows a guy who works for NASA and he says if you look straight at the moon rock, you'll go blind!

                YOUNG GERRY
Aw, bullshit.

                YOUNG ULF
You think the moon rock'll burn?


He holds out his lighter. David looks ahead and sees Rosco staring at the rock.


                WOMAN
Okay, Rosco, that's enough. Don't spoil it for the others.

                GUARD
Son, you're holding up the line.

                WOMAN
Come on.


She helps him out of the line. When David gets to the rock, he stops. It's a tiny silver rock in a glass pyramid case.


                YOUNG DAVID
That's it? Nice rock.

                GUARD
Move it, smart ass.

                YOUNG DAVID
What a gyp.

                LADY
Did that little rock really come all the way from the moon?

                GUARD
That's what they tell me.

                LADY
Could I...touch it?

                GUARD
I, uh...think that could be arranged.


Rosco is seen looking at the stage from far back. Soon after this, all the kids are panicking in the halls.


                KID #1
What's going on?

                KID #2
Hey! The cops are here!

                KID #3
Wow! You're kidding! It's gone?

                KID #4
Yeah. Did you hear what happened?


A kid comes running up to David in the hall.


                KID #5
Somebody hocked the moon rock!

                GUARD
Everybody fan out! Seal the exits! Find that rock!


The lady inquiring about the rock is seen fixing her dress and putting on her boot. They both then look for it. Later, David is walking through the woods when he sees Rosco with the rock in a handkerchief. A twig snaps beneath his foot. He quickly hides behind some bushes as Rosco looks over. He's suspicious for a second, then wraps the rock back up and walks away.


                YOUNG DAVID
Whoa.


As he walks through the door the same day, his dad calls for him.


                MR. LEARY
David! David, come on in here, son. Sit down. We're, uh, having a family meeting.

                YOUNG DAVID
Oh, great.


He sits.


                MR. LEARY
Yeah, well, um...son I know how hard it is to up and move to a new home and a new school --

                YOUNG DAVID
We're moving?

                MRS. LEARY
Now David....

                MR. LEARY
Well, uh, yeah. The company's transferred me out to the West Coast branch and --


He's cut short by David running to his room.


                YOUNG DAVID
David!

                YOUNG DAVID
It's all right. He's going to be fine.


CUT TO his room. He throws his books down and begins jumping up and down on the bed.


                YOUNG DAVID
Yeah! This is so great!


He runs to the closet and starts packing. In school the next day, he's sitting in the office. Principal Kokeler walks out from his office and sees David sitting there.


                PRINCIPAL KOKELER
What?

                YOUNG DAVID
I hear you've been looking for a moon rock.


Next we see him running toward his folks, both in the driveway, ready to go.


                MR. LEARY
Come on, David. Where you been?

                MRS. LEARY (cont'd)
Oh dear. What's going on at the Biggers'?


Rosco is seen in the front yard. He's got handcuffs on, being escorted by a policeman. His father smacks him in the back of the head.


                MRS. LEARY (cont'd)
Isn't that a friend of yours David?

                YOUNG DAVID
Nope.

                DAVID
[something] A place called...Oakland.


FADE TO cop cars racing down the street [a little Paseo is seen driving; I drive the same kind!], sirens blaring away. They go past a bookshop. On the bookshop window is a sign that says that David is signing copies of his book. He sits patiently at a table inside. A woman walks up to him.


                WOMAN
You got that new Steven King book?

                DAVID
Oh, uh, I don't work here.

                WOMAN
Then what're you doing sitting there?

                DAVID
I'm a writer. I'm signing copies of my book.

                WOMAN
Oh an author. What's it about?

                DAVID
Well, it's, uh, about a man who loses his family and finds himself in the process. It's a story about choices, about how the small decisions we make in our lives can change them forever.

                WOMAN
No. I'm more of a Steven King fan myself.


Another younger lady walks up to the table speaking Korean.


                KOREAN LADY
[speaking Korean]

                DAVID
I-I-I don't speak, uh...

                KOREAN LADY
[thick Korean accent] Steven King.

                DAVID
Isle 23, fantasy and horror.

                KOREAN LADY
[thanks him in Korean]

                DAVID
Yeah.


A stoner named Nigel walks up to the table. David is sitting back, his coat off, his feet on the table, reading the newspaper by this time.


                NIGEL
Um, hey, do you guys have, like, that new...

                DAVID
Steven King?

                NIGEL
Yeah.

                DAVID
Isle 23.

                NIGEL
Cool.


He notices the books on the table and picks one up.


                NIGEL (cont'd)
Hey, what's this?

                DAVID
That's my book. I'm a writer.


Nigel looks at the back cover and sees David's picture.


                NIGEL
That's you.


David smiles sarcastically.


                NIGEL (cont'd)
What's it about?

                DAVID
It's about a guy who loses his family and...a guy loses his family. It's...it's a book.

                NIGEL
Oh. He loses his family, huh?

                DAVID
Mm-hmm.

                NIGEL
What happened to them?


David pauses. He looks at Nigel. A thumping heartbeat and dark music underscores.


                DAVID
They're murdered one night.

                NIGEL
Murdered? How?

                DAVID
Ever see one of those electric wood chippers?

                NIGEL
No way!

                DAVID
Killer shreads their body parts, buries them in the backyard.

                NIGEL
Awesome.

                DAVID
What he doesn't know...the backyard is on top of one of those old ancient Indian burial grounds. So the body parts...they come back to life, go after the killer.

                NIGEL
Whoa. It's like Pet Sematary.

                DAVID
Right. It's exactly like Pet Sematary but...little different.

                NIGEL
Sign it, dude.

                DAVID
All right.


He sits up, grabs the book, and shakes Nigel's hand.


                DAVID
What's your name?

                NIGEL
Nigel.

                DAVID
Hey Nigel.

                NIGEL
Hi.


A lady walks up to the table.


                LADY
Mr. Leary? Telephone.

                DAVID
I'm just in the middle of something. Could you take a message for me?

                LADY
It's the school. They want you to come pick up your son.


David sighs. CUT TO Ben's school. He and David are walking out the front doors. As they pass some kids, Ben says bye to them.


                BOY
Bye, Ben.

                BEN
Later.

                DAVID
I don't want you hanging around with those kids.

                BEN
They're my friends.

                DAVID
Those aren't friends. They're future stars of America's Most Wanted.


They drive home. David gets the mail out of the mailbox. He flips through them and finds one from Hastings Middle School.


                DAVID (cont'd)
"Dear Mr. Leary, congratulations on your most recent novel. We realise how busy your schedule must be, but we'd be honored if you'd consider returning to Hastings Middle School to teach a creative writing class for the fall semester. It would be a thrill for students and faculty alike. After all, you are the town hero. Of course, we would be happy to arrange a transfer of your son's transcripts so that he may enjoy the benefits of our excellent school system.


David puts the letter down and looks into the kitchen where Ben is. He sees him drop his backpack on the ground. CUT TO David and Ben driving.


                DAVID (cont'd)
So a ham sandwich walks into a bar and says to the bartender, "Hey gimme a beer." Bartender says, uh, "Sorry, pal, we don't serve food here."


Ben's not amused.


                DAVID (cont'd)
He's, uh, he's a ham sandwich. He is food. You can't serve him.


He's still not amused.


                DAVID (cont'd)
More of a logic problem than a joke, really. Wanna play I spy?

                BEN
No.

                DAVID
Wanna listen to the radio?

                BEN
No.

                DAVID
Wanna count dead bugs on the windshield?

                BEN
[David mouths no as Ben says it] No.

                DAVID
You know, Ben, being the new kid in town isn't such a bad deal. I mean, nobody knows you. You can totally reinvent yourself. It's kind of a fresh start. For both of us.

                BEN
The kids are gonna be a bunch of Gomers.

                DAVID
Hey, Minnesota's a very hip place to live.

                BEN
Right.

                DAVID
I'm serious. Prince lives there. Well, he does. Is he still called Prince? He changed his name, didn't he? He dropped his name. You can do that. You can come up with one of those signs like Prince has. Be the Kid Formerly Known as Ben. Just come up with a good logo. I'll call you...Logo.


CUT TO very Sunny Brook Farm, very Leave it to Beaver house.


                BEN
Dad, when you said we could reinvent ourselves, I didn't know you meant as the Cleavers.

                DAVID
Yeah, well, start unpackin', Beav.

                BEN
Pack this, ward.

                DAVID
Hey, I heard that.


David throws a bag to Ben. Ben walks inside. David grabs a box when a man and woman walk up behind David.


                ART
David?

                DAVID
Yeah.

                ART
Hi. We're your new neighbors. Heard you might be coming today. I'm Art Lundstrom and this here's my wife Betty.                 BETTY
That's me, I'm Betty.

                DAVID
Well, nice to meet ya.


Ben walks out of the house.


                BEN
Dad, there's no cable!

                DAVID
We'll get cable. Come on and meet the new neighbors.

                BETTY
Well, hello there.

                DAVID
Hey, name's Art and this here's my wife Betty.

                BETTY
That's me, I'm Betty.

                ART
And I'm Art.

                BEN
Which one's Betty again?

                BETTY
Me. Right here.

                BEN
Oh.

                DAVID
Well, we're gonna start unpacking. Nice to meet you.


David and Ben start to walk toward the house, but Art and Betty follow.


                ART
Uh, weatherman says that there's a 70% chance of showers tomorrow.

                BETTY
So don't forget your umbrella.

                DAVID
Thanks for the warning.

                ART
But the three-day outlook says there's only a slight chance of rain till midweek.

                BETTY
And there's a storm front moving in.

                ART
Uh-huh.


David leans over so that only Ben can hear him.


                DAVID
I don't think we need cable. We got the Weather Channel living next door.

                ART
Say, I noticed your deck out back is peeling. I got a few cans of stain in the garage if you want to refinish.

                DAVID
I'll keep that in mind.


He tries to close the door.


                ART
If you do, make sure you put on a few extra coats. Otherwise, the moisture is going to seep into that wood and rot it from inside.

                BETTY
Rot it.

                DAVID
Okay, well, thanks a lot.

                ART
You betcha.


David closes the door. They stand next to it.


                BEN
Are they gone?

                ART
I hear the sunfish are biting down at Lake Rebecca, but not on Redworms. Cornmeal!

                DAVID
Have I mentioned how friendly the people are in this town?


Ben steps away and looks around.


                BEN
I hate this house.

                DAVID
Great. Just as I planned.

                BEN
I wanna go home.

                DAVID
Well, you are home.


David throws Ben his bag.


                BEN
Until when?

                DAVID
Until I say so.

                BEN
No wonder Mom left.


Ben walks away.


                DAVID
Now wait a second, that is not fair.


He pauses. When he turns around, Art and Betty are pressed up against the window.


                ART
Don't you fret, David.

                BETTY
He just needs to get acclimated.

                ART
He needs to get involved in some extracurricular activites.

                BETTY
Like band.

                ART
Oh hey, I've still got my old tuba in the attic, if you think he'd like to give it a whirl. David?


David has walked out of site by now.


                DAVID
Come on, Ben! It's my first day! I don't want to be late! Come on, Ben! Let's go!


He runs into the living room and opens the front door. Ben's out on the street on his skateboard, already leaving.


                DAVID (cont'd)
Have a nice day!


Ben keeps going and doesn't look back.


                DAVID (cont'd)
[to himself] Thanks, Dad.


David closes the door and begins walking. Art is in his yard chopping wood.


                ART
Morning, neighbor.

                DAVID
Morning, Art.

                ART
I bet you're wondering...why in the Sam Hill am I chopping wood when the weather is so pleasant?

                DAVID
Not really.

                ART
You know who Sam Hill was.

                DAVID
No, I don't.

                ART
Well, he wasn't anyone. It's a euphamism, Cockney expression for what the hell. [doing Cockney accent] What the 'ell! What the 'ell! Then it turned into..."What the Sam Hill!"

                DAVID
I'll see you later, Art. You'll be here later, right?

                ART
What the 'ell!


CUT TO front of Hastings. Kids are walking into the building. David walks just where they did as a kid and spins around the same pole he used to. He sort of looks back at it with nestalgia. As we walks into the building, he's smiling with disbelief. He walks past the library, but stops.


                DAVID
Ms. Rumpert? I'm David Leary. I was a student here once. I've always wanted to tell you what a big impact this library had on my life. It was the first place that really taught me the importance of reading, of books. Anyway, I just want to tell you that.

                MS. RUMPERT
Green Eggs and Ham.

                DAVID
Excuse me?

                MS. RUMPERT
Green Eggs and Ham.

                DAVID
That's right! That was my favorite book! How did you remember that?

                MS. RUMPERT
It's 8,862 days overdue.


ZOOM IN on David's face.


                DAVID
You're serious.

                MS. RUMPERT
It's what I live for, dear.


CUT TO David writing his name on the chalkboard in a class full of kids.


                DAVID
I'm Mr. Leary and this is creative writing 202.


A small child with large glasses raises his hand.


                DAVID (cont'd)
Yes?

                KIRBY
I have to urinate.

                DAVID
We just got started. Why didn't you go before class?

                DAVID
I'm bladder shy. I can't go with some guy standing next to me like a barnyard animal at a feed trough. I need privacy.

                DAVID
All right. I understand.


He gestures toward the door and Kirby leaves.


                DAVID
Okay, I want everybody to take out a sheet of paper.

                BOY [Gregory Smith]
Is this a pop quiz?

                GIRL #1
I can't do it! I can't do it! I can't do it! I'm terrible at pop quizzes!

                DAVID
Hey, hey, hey, relax. This isn't a pop quiz.

                GIRL #1
It's not?

                DAVID
No. I want you to tell me a story. It can be a paragraph, it can be a whole page...whatever you want. You're the author here. You decide.

                GIRL #2
I don't know how.

                DAVID
Everybody knows how to tell a story.

                GIRL #2
Not me.

                DAVID
Haven't you ever...lied before?

                GIRL #2
No...well, maybe.

                DAVID
Well, sometimes we lie so that we don't get into trouble, like, uh... "Who broke that lamp?" "I didn't break the lamp." "Oh yeah? How did it get broken?" "Um, a meteor came flying through the window and smashed into it! Sometimes we lie to make somebody feel good. "You know, Aunt Silvia, your tuna casserole is fantastic." And sometimes we lie, well, just because we're bored. So we make up a story to entertain our friends. That's all writing really is.

                BOY [Gregory]
So writing is just lying?

                DAVID
Well, kind of. I promise you, you can tell me anything and you won't get into trouble. Go on. Lie to me.


Later, in the teachers' lounge, a nervous, twitchy man is pouring sugar into his coffee.


                CLARK
Bastards tell me the class is boring. Hell, I know the class is boring. I'd like to see them talk about the nucleus of a cell every day, five days a week, for 14 years.


Camera PANS across the room. Two women are sitting at a table, both smoking. One is crying. The other is comforting her.


                WOMAN #1
It'll get easier, really. The first day is always the worst.

                WOMAN #2
Welcome back, David!

                MAN
David wrote a book, you know.

                WOMAN #3
Yeah, I know!

                GYM TEACHER
Hey, nice to have you here.

                DAVID
Oh thanks a lot.

                WOMAN #3
Congratulations on your new book.

                DAVID
Uh, thanks. It's great to actually be in the teachers' lounge. When I was a kid, I always wondered what teachers did in here. Now I know...smoke.


They all laugh, a few cough, and blow smoke in David's face. He leans away from it.


                VICTORIA
David?


The crowd parts and a beautiful woman is standing behind them.


                DAVID
Victoria?

                VICTORIA
I heard you were back in town.

                DAVID
What are you doing here?

                VICTORIA
Sex.... Ed! Uh, sex, uh, edu-edu-education.

                DAVID
You teach sex.

                VICTORIA
Mm-hmm.

                DAVID
Great.

                VICTORIA
I read your book.

                DAVID
Oh, you're the one.

                VICTORIA
"And as he placed his hand on the door, he whispered in a voice so soft only his ghost could hear, 'I'm still alive.'"


David is awestruck.


                VICTORIA (cont'd)
Well, I, uh, better go. I'm gonna be late for class. Promise we'll catch up later?

                DAVID
Yeah. You can count on it.

                VICTORIA
Then I will.


She walks away. He stares after her.


                DAVID
I need a cigarette.


Somebody hands him one.


                DAVID (cont'd)
No. It was--I was...kidding.


In the hall later, Kirby has just shut his locker. His arms are full of books. He walks around the corner and knocks right into Ben.


                BEN
Hey!

                KIRBY
Sorry!


Ben pushes Kirby into the pillar behind him.


                KIDS
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!


Ben, encouraged by the kids surrounding him, starts picking on Kirby.


                BEN
Yes means no and no means yes. You want me to hit ya?

                KIRBY
No.

                BEN
Okay.


He punches Kirby in the arm.


                KIRBY
Oww!

                BEN
Let's try it again. Want me to hit ya?

                KIRBY
Uh...no?

                BEN
Okay.


He punches Kirby in the arm again. The kids around them laugh.


                KIRBY
Oww! You said yes means no and no means yes!

                BEN
That was last time.

                TEACHER
That's enough, boys.


A lady walks up and grabs them by the back of the collar. Later, Ben, Kirby, and another man are sitting in Principal Kokeler's office. David walks in last.


                DAVID
Sorry I'm late.


He stops and looks at Principal Kokeler. It's the same principal he had when he was a boy, but he hasn't changed at all.


                KOKELER
What?

                DAVID
N-nothing.

                KOKELER
What are you looking at?

                DAVID
Nothing, sir.

                KOKELER
Denis...

                DAVID
David.

                KOKELER
Whatever. This is Haas, our shop teacher.

                ROSS
Actually, it's Ross, and it's Industrial Education.

                KOKELER
Whatever. Ross is the father of, uh...

                KIRBY
Kirby.

                KOKELER
Whatever.

                DAVID
Hiya, Kirby.

                KIRBY
Hi.

                KOKELER
Kirby's the boy your son was fighting with.

                DAVID
Very sorry about this sir. I assure you this will not happen again. Will it, Ben?

                BEN
Who can predict the future?

                DAVID
I can.


They all leave the office. Ben and Kirby go one way, and David and Ross go the other.


                DAVID
I'm really sorry about this.

                ROSS
Oh that's okay. Ben seems like a nice enough kid.

                DAVID
Yeah, well, he can be. I tell ya, lately I feel like Gregory Peck in The Omen.


Ross doesn't get the joke.


                DAVID (cont'd)
So you teach shop, huh?

                ROSS
Yeah. Intro to Woodworking and Advanced Metals.

                DAVID
Oh, that must be, uh...interesting?

                ROSS
Oh it is. One time I, we were making keychains, and I cut my thumb off with a saw.

                DAVID
Holy shit.

                ROSS
Oh, yeah. So I wrapped it up in cellophane and drove to the hospital, but there was a line so I went over to the hardware store and I got some needle and thread and I stitched it up myself.

                DAVID
You sewed on your own thumb?

                ROSS
Yeah. I'm good at stuff like that. See?


He holds up his thumb for David to see.


                ROSS (cont'd)
You can't move it much but you can still do a few things with it. Boy, I'm glad, too 'cause they say the opposable thumb is what separates man from the other animals.

                DAVID
Plus it come in good for hitchhiking.

                ROSS
Huh?

                DAVID
You know....


He holds his thumb out.


                ROSS
Oh.

                DAVID
Unless, of course, you got a really nice set of legs.


Ross begins to laugh. David sees that his tooth on the right side of Ross' mouth is pointed, just like a fang. He recognises him as Fang. His pulse starts racing. A bump in his neck begins to pulsate.