My Imaginary Life 04
While they were unpacking earlier, Jo had noticed a number of heavy metallic cases among the boxes.
Jo: So what’s in those cases anyway? They are so heavy, I almost got a hernia moving them.
Shah: Oh, nothing you’d be interested in.
Jo laughs.
Jo: Oh come on. Try me.
Shah: I really can’t tell you.
Jo becomes more curious and starts getting a little suspicious. She decides to tease him a little.
Jo: Hmm. Sounds suspicious. Could it be… a collection of porn? are maybe you’re a drug smuggler? or a professional killer?
Shah shrugs but his face becomes more serious.
Shah: Maybe.
Jo is confused and a little frustrated at Shah for dodging her questions. Shah takes an apple from his fridge and pulls out a rather large and very sharp knife from a drawer.
Jo: Isn’t that knife a little too big for cutting an apple?
Shah: No, I like this knife. It’s got a good grip and I like the weight of it. Makes short work of cutting stuff.
Shah makes some stabbing motions with the knife to illustrate. Jo shifts a little in her seat. Shah places a chopping board on the counter and then places the apple on top of it. He raises his knife and chops the apple cleanly in two, straight down the middle. Jo notices his knife-manship.
Jo: You’re quite good with a knife.
Shah: Well, it comes with the territory. I get a lot of practice.
Jo tries to make sense of what Shah just said. Meanwhile, Shah continues to chop the apple into quarters and then eigths. He suddenly stabs one of the pieces and eats it off the knife like a fork. Jo is unnerved and tries to make a quick exit.
Jo: Um… Well, I think I’ll be going now.
Shah: What’s your rush? You haven’t even finished your drink.
Shah stabs another piece of apple and eats it.
Jo: I need to… uh.. feed my cat.
Shah suddenly puts down the knife and looks thoughtfully up at the ceiling.
Shah: I had a cat once… playful little thing.
Jo is rather relieved at the change in topic and that Shah seems like his normal self again.
Shah: I remember when I first got it as a kitten. She would always want my attention and want to play with me all the time. She had this ball of yarn that she liked to play with and would occasionally get tangled up in it. And when she was tired, she would jump up onto my lap and then curl up and fall asleep right there. She was so adorable. Too bad they can’t stay like that forever.
Jo is rather touched by Shah’s memories of his cat.
Jo: So what happened to her?
Shah’s tone becomes serious again.
Shah: Well, she eventually grew bigger and seemed to want even more attention and basically became a nuisance. She kept clawing at everything… furniture, curtains, once even my brand new jeans. Sometimes I got so angry I felt like… URRGH!
Shah makes a choking gesture with his hands. Jo is getting increasingly anxious.
Shah: It got so unbearable that I got rid of her in the end.
Shah stabs the knife down hard on one of the slices on the chopping board. Jo jumps at the impact of the knife on the counter. Shah points his knife with the apple slice at her.
Shah: Want a slice?
Jo faints.
Note: This chapter isn’t really very good. There should probably more build up of the fear but I don’t know how to accomplish that. Anyway, this is just dialogue and actions. Atmosphere can be added in the shooting script (as if there’ll ever be one). I’ll probably edit this later like I seem to be doing with my previous chapters.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 at 1:35:41 pm and is filed under Scribbles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
eu October 30th, 2005 at 10:35:09 pm
I think he’s a serial cat killer. Or maybe he’s just insane. He stole someone’s identity and he’s on the run from the men in white coats. He’s a crazy that thinks he’s an assassin/spy/hitman.