Thin Ice1

FADE IN:

EXT. LAKE - DAY

Camera is following two pairs of ice skates gliding across the ice. Camera pans up.

BILLY & JIMMY are ice skating. The sky is grey. Billy pulls ahead then stops to look back.

JIMMY
Hey, wait up!

Billy hears a BOOM and looks down. A crack in the ice shoots between his legs and heads toward Jimmy. Jimmy stops and looks up, shocked.

JIMMY
(whispers)
Billy.

Jimmy falls through the ice and disappears.

BILLY
Jimmy!

Billy starts to head for the hole Jimmy fell through but hesitates, turns and skates for shore.

EXT. SHORE - DAY

Billy trips and flops on the ground.

BILLY
Grandpa!

EXT. HOUSE - DAY

GRANDPA throws open the door and looks out. Upset, Billy tries to shout but nothing comes out of his mouth. He can only point out the window toward the lake.

Grandpa runs out of the house.

EXT. LAKE - DAY

Grandpa reaches into the ice hole and pulls out- .

INT. BILLY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

OLD BILLY, now in his 20s, sleeps in bed. His shut eyes fill the screen. They snap open and he sits up in bed. Old Billy breathes a SIGH of relief that it was just a dream.

Old Billy swings his legs over the side of his bed and puts his feet on the floor...

SPLASH! ...and into a puddle of water on the rug. Old Billy looks at it quizzically. A silouhette of a young boy stands behind him.

JIMMY (V.O.)
(whisper)
Billy.

Old Billy snaps his head to one side. Jimmy stands next to him. He's dressed as he was when he fell through the ice. Jimmy is blue with ice crystals on his face.

JIMMY
You ran away.

Old Billy's POV: Jimmy reaches out for Old Billy.

EXT. LAKE - EVENING

Old Billy can be seen through the ice. Camera pans up. We can see Grandpa and Jimmy in the b.g. Jimmy is bent over coughing up water as Grandpa pats him on the back.

FADE OUT:

END

Thin Ice

by

Michael Kazlo II