Shots, Prologue - "Cross"

"Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys."

                                                  Emma Bull

---

     The Oasis.  The local watering hole.  A friendly, run-down bar separated from the noise and intensity of the city.  The subdued nature of the Monday night crowd is drowned out by the cries of men playing poker in the corner of the room.  The bartender silently pours three shots while observing the scene.  The street outside the plate glass windows is unusually quiet, even for a weeknight.


     Three men sit silently at the bar, side by side.  They are all lost within themselves, hardly even acknowledging the existence of their neighbors.  The bartender slides them their shots as he walks past.  The man on the left is staring into another dimension.  He wears a smart black jacket and a red shirt.  His dress speaks young business pro, but his eyes tell a story of terrible misfortune.  To the right sits a large ball of hair in a green hoodie.  Every now and then, a mumble of protest seems to bleed through the fabric of his jacket.  At the turn of the bar sits a young man holding a panicked internal dialogue.  He is dressed to impress, in a black suit and tie and a blue shirt.  His nervousness seems to put the other men on edge even more than they already are.  With a single glance, it is plain to see what runs through his head.


     He takes a breath, sighs, and reaches for his shot.  The other men do the same.


     "It's gonna be okay.  We're gonna be okay. ...right?"


     "Yeah... right."

to be continued

Shots, Preface - "Start at the Beginning"

     So the first thing I've chosen to publish to this blog is a story called Shots.  It was an idea originally conceived in 2009 as a short film screenplay, as part of a "pitch competition" held by Broken Wall Films, following the completion of the Something Remote film and web series.

     While it ultimately lost (to an eight-part web series), I continued to rework the story and mold it over time, eventually connecting the narrative to other stories I had invented over the years.  The connections aren't made obvious in Shots (and really, the story should be considered solitary, for now anyway), but in its current form it is in a sense a "pilot" for a complete universe of characters and locations and events.  Sometime in the future, I aim to publish at least the two stories that branch from here outward (Davian City Blues, a story I've been working on since 2003; and Crusaders, a much more recent addition to the narrative).  A character named Connell Vito (whom you'll meet over the course of Shots) actually sets off the entire Davian City Blues story, on the same day this story takes place.

     As an added bonus, I've recently started operating my own independent film company called Two-Bit Pictures which, hopefully in early August, aims to produce a short film version of Shots.  But that's a ways off and all subject to availability and all sorts of other things.  Something to look forward to.

     Well, I've gone on too long.  There's more I'd love to say about Shots, but I always feel it's better to let the story do its own talking.  Enjoy!

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