23 Days in Jericho

EXT DAY

An old man with long, matted hair and native features sits cross-legged in the sun.  The light reflects off a large metal cross that hangs around his neck.  We hear the hypnotic buzz of crickets.  A crow cries as it glides in the sky.  His eyes are closed and he whispers words we cannot hear.  Suddenly his eyes open and he stares across the landscape.  His face is wrinkled and swollen from the sun.

SAGE

He whispers

EXT DAY

The camera looks down directly onto the face of ELI as he lies in the grass.  He is ten years old.  His eyes blink as the sun, mixed with shadows, washes across his face.

The picture inside the frame dissolves into ELI lying in the grass as a man. 

INT.. BUS STATION – DAY

ELI walks into the bus station.  He passes the lineups at the ticket counters and squeezes through the crowds of travellers. 

ELI  (NARRATION)

• I close my eyes.  I become detached and I float in a river of word and images. that carry me to a place where I become fixed in time again.  I open my eyes and stare at the departures board and there it was.  Jericho.  I knew I had to go I just didn’t know why.  Eventually it would all fall into place.

ELI rides into Jericho on the bus.  It roles to a stop outside the doors of the Jericho Bus Station.  Two passengers exit the front door. Eli lies flat on the seat that stretches across the back of the bus.  The palms of his hands face upwards and with his eyes closed, he speaks in tongues.

An old man and the bus driver lean over him.

OLD MAN

• He’s alright.  He’s a Holy Ghost rider.

EXT. MAINSTREET – DAY   ELI POV

THE CAMERA PULLS OFF A SIGN “MISSION HOTEL”

Carrying a small, well travelled suitcase, ELI stands in front of a hotel on the main street.  We hear the buzz of electrical current as it struggles to light up “Mission Hotel” above the entrance.

INT. MISSION HOTEL – DAY

I stepped through the front door.  A winding wooden staircase leads up to the second floor. Opposite reception, a doorway opens up into a saloon – a large room with a bar at one end and a small stage with a piano at the other.  ELI approaches the front desk.  An old fat man sits on a stool, reading a newspaper.

INT HOTEL – DAY

ELI

• I’d like a room.

The old man lifts his head to see Elijah standing in front of him.

HOTEL MANAGER

• 20 for the two hour special, 29 a night, 69 buys you seven days you’ll never forget,