One of the problems with having a very strange brain is that sometimes little scenes will spring into my imagination fully formed, like Athena from Zeus’ brow. Generally they are surreal and impossible to put into any context. Eventually, I may collect enough of them to sew into some kind of screenplay for a movie that nobody would watch.
In the meantime I’ll post the outlines of some scenes here. Watch for them in a theatre (or theater) near you!
You hear about gambling addicts sometimes, usually when people are talking about a new casino development. But there’s a form of gambling that tends to slip by ‘under the radar’ practically everywhere. I’m talking about Bingo. Church Bingo isn’t just a fund raising activity, it’s a potential source of gambling addiction. There are stories of desperate alcoholics so hurting for a drink that they’ll try anything from Aqua Velva aftershave to Sterno… Imagine a mowhawked punk rocker hooked on the illicit thrill of Bingo. He lives for Wednesday evenings. The rattling cage full of balls, the smell of the card markers, the thrill of the count, and the tension that builds until some grandmother with hair more blue than his yells, ‘BINGO!’
A scruffy looking hulk of a prisoner is being placed in a new cell. The current occupant is an inoffensive looking older man who is sitting on his bunk, playing solitaire. After the guards leave, the big guy looks at the old man and asks, “Whaddaya in for?”
Flashback to a park. The old man is playing chess with an old friend. Some people are watching. After his opponent moves his Knight, one of the spectators says “You can take his Bishop with your Rook.”
Return to the cell. The old man shrugs. The big guy snorts in derision, then glances at the cards and says, “Hey, you could put that red Jack on the black Queen.”
Long shot of the cellblock. Distant screaming in the voice of the big prisoner can be heard. Suddenly, it falls silent…
That’s enough for now…
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