Sunday, May 29, 2005
Collect
In a shopping mall, at a collection of pay phones. Nameless walks towards pay phone.
Picks up receiver and begins patting his pockets, looking for change.
After much searching, he pulls out a quarter, and, as he is about to put it in the slot, a very large man brushes past, bumping him and causing him to drop the quarter on the floor.
He bends to pick up the coin and it is kicked away by a passerby going in the opposite direction.
He walks toward the quarter, but before he gets there a group of children run past. One of them stops and picks up the quarter.
He grabs the child by the upper arm and holds out his hand palm up, demanding the quarter.
Child begins crying. Mother walks up and begins yelling at Nameless.
Nameless, still holding on to child's arm, genuflects with his free hand and tries to explain. Before he can get his point across, a large man, apparently the father of the child, walks up and looks at scene. Father then looks at mother, head tilted quizzically, turning his hands up questioningly. Seems to be saying, “What is going on here?” Mother angrily points to Nameless and then to the child and jabbers to the Father. Father, now very angry, hits Nameless in the nose. Nameless yelps, lets go of the child and grabs his nose with both hands.
Father and mother turn and walk away, father dragging child behind him. Child looks over shoulder, shrugs apologetically and tosses quarter to Nameless.
Quarter rolls toward Nameless, still holding his nose. Nameless stomps on quarter to keep it from getting lost again.
Nameless lifts foot and bends to pickup quarter. Quarter is not there. Nameless turns around, looking madly for his missing quarter.
While Nameless is facing away, a man walks behind him toward the phones. Man pulls a quarter out of his own pocket, and accidentally drops it. Nameless turns and sees the quarter lying on the floor. Nameless bends to pick it up at the same time as the actual owner of the quarter does.
Nameless and man knock heads. Both stand up and, pointing at the quarter on the floor and waving their arms about, they begin to argue about the quarter.
Man points behind Nameless, over his shoulder. Nameless turns to look and, while Nameless is distracted, the man scoops up quarter and inserts it into a pay phone, picking up receiver and dialing a number quickly while turning his back toward Nameless.
Nameless turns to see the man on the phone. Taps him on back. Man waves him off over his shoulder and begins jabbering at someone on phone, laughing at something the other party says.
Nameless shoves him slightly. Man turns to Nameless and puts his hand in Nameless's face while he continues to talk on the phone.
Nameless waves arms wildly, and angrily begins to shout around Man's hand.
Man nonchalantly kicks Nameless hard in the shin. While Nameless begins hopping in a circle on one foot and holding his afflicted shin, man turns away from Nameless again and continues conversation on phone without pause.
Nameless sits hard on floor and rubs shin, sobbing slightly. Man finishes his phone conversation. He hangs up the phone, looks at Nameless, tosses his head back with a “Hmph!” and walks past Nameless and away, stepping on Nameless's extended foot in the process.
Nameless grabs foot that man stepped on and rocks back and forth in pain. One hand seems stuck to foot. He pulls hand away from foot, shaking it off. He looks down at foot and realizes that there is gum on his shoe and that his quarter is actually stuck to it. Nameless slumps slightly, arms hanging loose as he gazes at the bottom of his foot.
Nameless pulls quarter from bottom of shoe and painfully draws himself up to a standing position. He lifts the receiver and puts the quarter in the pay phone.
He puts receiver to head and audience hears a loud fast-busy signal.
Nameless holds receiver away from head, looking into the earpiece.
Holds it back to head, audience hears fast busy signal.
Nameless hangs phone up. Audience hears mechanical noise as quarter is accepted. Nameless checks coin return with no luck. Picks up receiver.
Voiceover: “Please insert coin.”
Nameless begins beating the phone with the receiver, screaming and hopping.
A mall security guard walks up behind Nameless and taps him on shoulder as Nameless continues abusing the phone. Nameless ignores him.
Security guard pulls out billy club and uses it to tap Nameless on shoulder a little harder.
Nameless turns wildly from his the phone, still beating it with receiver, and begins yelling without looking to see who is there. When he realizes its a security guard, he smiles pleasantly and, with exaggerated care, puts receiver back on phone. He gently pats the top of phone, pulls Kleenex from pocket, and quickly wipes the top of receiver.
Security guard points at Nameless. Guard then turns his hand around and curls his finger toward himself, signaling for Nameless to follow him.
Nameless panics, pushes Guard's hat down over his eyes and takes off running.
Guard pulls hat off head, looks around and sees which way Nameless ran. He shouts and runs off in the same direction that Nameless ran off in, accidentally knocking receiver off of phone as he runs past.
Phone is now all alone with receiver swinging.
Voiceover: If you'd like to make a call, please dial a number. If you need help, please hang up and dial your operator.
- END -
Check out the OTHER scenes, too!