Friday, June 09, 2006
Alternative
They meet again many years later.
Another traffic junction, another city.
Perhaps she has lost the ephemeral sheen of youth, and perhaps he has lost the effortless coolness of immaturity. They are dressed in older, more subdued work-clothes.
The camera tracks her as she walks, focusing then panning in on her downcast, world-weary eyes - glancing up and widening in surprise... and then a trace of hope enters them. The faintest, most hesitent trace of a smile flickers across her face for a split second.
From the opposite side of the road, the camera watches as his eyes meet hers - dull, moody and uninterested; the eyes of a stranger lost in thought in his own private world - for a split second they engage, then they slide away. He does not recognise her.
The camera keeps pace, backing away as we see close-up the edges of her eyes crinkle, and the roots of her brow furrow as the two pass shoulder to shoulder, traces of tears welling up, but not quite falling. Her face dissolves in silent - subtle - anguish, eyes losing their focus, teeth biting down hard on her lower lip - no melodrama here, it has been too long for that now. Perhaps her jaw sets, or perhaps her distracted gaze focuses on nothing at all. We notice her head and shoulders bob faster and faster as she quickens her pace, straining to escape from her past... and then the camera slows to a stop and loses her as she walks into it, passing out the shot. As this happens he, out of focus and somewhat in the background now falls back into focus... turns his head to the side - just imperceptibly - a fraction of an inch - and slows to a stop - or perhaps he doesnt stop? He hasn't turned back to look at her - yet.
Fade to dark.
Another traffic junction, another city.
Perhaps she has lost the ephemeral sheen of youth, and perhaps he has lost the effortless coolness of immaturity. They are dressed in older, more subdued work-clothes.
The camera tracks her as she walks, focusing then panning in on her downcast, world-weary eyes - glancing up and widening in surprise... and then a trace of hope enters them. The faintest, most hesitent trace of a smile flickers across her face for a split second.
From the opposite side of the road, the camera watches as his eyes meet hers - dull, moody and uninterested; the eyes of a stranger lost in thought in his own private world - for a split second they engage, then they slide away. He does not recognise her.
The camera keeps pace, backing away as we see close-up the edges of her eyes crinkle, and the roots of her brow furrow as the two pass shoulder to shoulder, traces of tears welling up, but not quite falling. Her face dissolves in silent - subtle - anguish, eyes losing their focus, teeth biting down hard on her lower lip - no melodrama here, it has been too long for that now. Perhaps her jaw sets, or perhaps her distracted gaze focuses on nothing at all. We notice her head and shoulders bob faster and faster as she quickens her pace, straining to escape from her past... and then the camera slows to a stop and loses her as she walks into it, passing out the shot. As this happens he, out of focus and somewhat in the background now falls back into focus... turns his head to the side - just imperceptibly - a fraction of an inch - and slows to a stop - or perhaps he doesnt stop? He hasn't turned back to look at her - yet.
Fade to dark.
