Bolivian Short

 

 

INT. APARTMENT KITCHEN – NIGHT

A MAN wearing a nice pair of pajamas sleepwalks down the stairs and into the kitchen of his house.

He gets an apple and a piece of bread and goes back for the stairs, but instead he goes straight and goes out the front door of his house.

EXT. STREET TIENDA – NIGHT

An Aymara WOMAN is asleep under a pile of blankets next to her little store.

She stands up and we can see that her eyes are still closed.  She goes to the tienda and tries to open the door, but it’s locked.  She shakes the door a few times then turns around and starts walking down the street.

EXT. STREET – NIGHT

The man and woman are walking directly towards each other on the street.

They run into each other.  He gives her his apple and she start eating it.  She pulls some Chiclets out of her pocket and he chews a few, then swallows them.

She finishes the apple and drops the core on the ground.

They each rest their heads on each others’ shoulders.  They snore.

MUSIC starts.

They are still asleep on each other’s shoulders, but now his feet are tapping.

Her feet start tapping.

Slowly, they start dancing with each other.

The music gets LOUDER and now they’re really dancing hard.

The music comes to a crescendo and he dips her.  They almost kiss.

A car almost hits them and honks and they open their eyes and blink into its bright HEADLIGHTS.

EXT. SALYAR DE UYUNI – DAY

They both blink their eyes in the  bright light of the sun.

WOMAN

                                               It’s daytime now.  Time to go to work.

MAN

Work, where?

 

She points behind him.  He turns around and there’s the entrance to a mine.  There are a line of men waiting to go down into the mine.  She hands him a hard hat and a light and goes and gets in line.  He’s still wearing his pyjamas.

 

INT. MINE – DAY

The man disappears into the mine with a group of workers.

EXT. MINE – DAY

The woman is waiting at the entrance of the mine.  The man comes out, covered from head to foot with dust.

He comes over  and  sits down next to her, exhausted.  She pulls a saltina out of her pocket and he eats it hungrily.

They both look out at the endless salyar.  Their eyes close and they go to sleep

INT. THE MAN’S BEDROOM – DAY

The man wakes up in his bedroom.   He looks around the room, not quite sure where he is.  The light is very dim so we can’t see him clearly.

He goes into the bathroom.

INT. MAN’S BATHROOM – CONTINUOUS

He turns on the light in the bathroom and looks in the mirror.  He sees that he’s still covered in dust from the mine.  He starts the water in the shower and starts to take off his pyjamas.

INT. STAIRWELL IN THE MAN’S HOUSE – DAY

The man comes down the stairs, wearing a clean suit, tying his tie.

Five MINERS, dressed for work themselves and wearing their helmets and headlamps, come up the stairs.  The man flattens himself against the wall to avoid them.

He rushes out the door.

EXT. CITY STREETS – CONTINUOUS

The man takes a few deep breaths and then walks down the street.

He stops at a little tienda to buy a saltina.

As he’s paying he notices that the woman is the woman from the night before.  He stares at her.

WOMAN

                                               Do you want to dance?

He stares at her some more.  He opens his mouth to say something.

Blackout.

THE END

 

 

 

(C) 2009 Karney Hatch