Light of Day
Light of Day
Scenes 4 and 5: Where we learn about Ozwiena Bookstore, where Eron meets a love interest as he's picking up some recreational reading. Features AI generated photos.
Ext. BW: A Couple of Hours Later
"Running up that Hill" by Kate Bush is playing on Eron’s Walkman. It's that song about how she wants to make a deal with God to swap places with a man.
"It doesn't hurt me. "Do you want to feel how it feels? "Do you want to know, know that it doesn't hurt me? "Do you want to hear about the deal that I'm making?"
It has been an eventful hike from campus through the neighborhoods. A thrift store, a couple of Chile Rellenos tacos, and a Horchata later, he nears his destination.
Eron likes to walk. He walks with an easy rhythm to his music, he gathers his thoughts; he takes in the surroundings; he's young; and he’s digging it. He notices that it's getting cloudy. There is a pressure change, and it smells like rain is coming.
Walking through a neighborhood, he comes to a cross street and makes a right. A few blocks ahead of him is a "T" intersection with a main street. Across the T is Ozwiena Books. It's his favorite bookstore. Fantastic; everything is there: books, coffee, a cat, and a dog. "Every neighborhood needs a bookstore, and every bookstore needs a dog". That's a quote that originated at Ozwiena, from one of Eron's favorite local weirdos.
You can see the large "O" from two blocks away, so large one could sit inside of it. He'll miss it when he moves away. The solace, the sanctuary, the locals, the ghosts, the weirdos, the memories.
As he crosses the alley on the block before the "T" Eron sees a flash in his left periphery, he's startled, and he slows down as he looks. He stops, he sees no source for the flash and keeps moving even though he feels odd, like someone or something is watching him.
At the street he stops and pulls one earphone out as "Waking the Witch" from the same Kate Bush record is playing. He runs across the street, walks up to the store and opens the door.
END SCENE
Scene 5
INT. COLOR - CONTINUOUS
Eron walks into the store and looks around. He pauses the music. The place is completely silent except for the sound of someone shelving books.
The shelving of the books is nearly rhythmic, almost perfectly timed, like the gentle Lake Michigan tide licking the beach. The place is lit up nicely. Between the huge windows in the back of the store and the full spectrum, healthy lighting, the place looks alive, the varying colors of the ad hoc shelves, the posters, the red velvet-patterned wallpaper with giant paper flowers projecting out from wall sconces, and all sizes of brightly colored origami hanging from the ceiling. It's like a scene from some kind of hollowed-out hippy-goth hybrid Hobbit hovel.
To the left of Eron is the counter, where Eron has not noticed the goddess, who's been checking him out since he walked in. He is engrossed in re-familiarizing himself with the category tags on the bookshelves. He turns his head to the counter and sees her, his eyes widen, and he returns the interested, raised, single eyebrow she offers.