OUTLANDISH By BRET ACKLIN

The tone of this piece is meant to be sort of over the top, almost cartoonish. Sort of like Punch Drunk Love. Or one of the whackier Coen Brothers movies. Yes, the ending is like that. Get the fuck over it.

EXT. CONVENIENCE STORE - DAY Establishing shot. AARON walks into frame. INT. CONVENIENCE STORE BARRY is holding a basket, looking at a row of cans. AARON goes to BARRY and taps him on the shoulder. AARON Where you from? BARRY Do I know you? AARON I dont know, where you from? BARRY Im from here. Ohio. AARON Originally. BARRY What? AARON You originally from Ohio? Like from when you was a kid? Ohio? BARRY I was born here, yes. AARON Oh. Aaron walks away. Barry turns back to his shopping confuse. He looks back. He walks the direction Aaron went. He comes back, picks up a can, looks at it, then puts it back and goes again. He looks around, walks up an aisle and finds Aaron again. BARRY Excuse me, what was the point of that? AARON Huh?

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2.

BARRY Asking where Im from, was there a point to that. AARON Huh? (pause) Do you know me? BARRY I dont know. I think so. I dont know. Where are you from? AARON That aint none of your business. BARRY Youve got to be fucking kidding me. Aaron punches him. EXT. CONVENIENCE STORE - DAY AARON Im sorry, I just dont like being swore at. BARRY You didnt have to hit me. AARON You swore at me unnecessarily, I dont like that. BARRY It was completely necessary. Okay, maybe not completely. But hows it not my business where youre from? AARON Cause it aint your business where Im from. BARRY I told you where Im from! AARON That was my business. BARRY Hows it your business where Im from, but not my business where your from?

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AARON Cause I recognized you. BARRY Well, I recognized you too. AARON You said you didnt. BARRY I was uncertain, but yes, now I know I know you some how. AARON Kentucky. BARRY What? AARON Kentucky? BARRY (pause) What? AARON Im from Kentucky. BARRY Oh. Kentucky? AARON Yessir. BARRY You were born in Kentucky? AARON That aint your business. BARRY Oh, come on now! AARON Yes I was born in Kentucky. BARRY How long have you been in Ohio. AARON About a month. Visiting relatives.

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BARRY Have you ever been in Ohio before? AARON No. BARRY Then how the hell do we know each other? INT. AARONS CAR - DAY AARON You bruise easy. BARRY I swear to god if you hit me one more time, i wont care how it is we know each other, because we wont anymore. AARON Thats up to you aint it. My names Aaron. BARRY Barry. AARON Yep. Barry looks out the window. He gets lost in thought. CUT TO: BARRY Wait, where are we going? AARON You wait until were half way there to ask me? BARRY Where is "there?" AARON Are you stupid or something? BARRY Im sorry, I just got lost in thought. Thinking about what the... crap is happening.

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AARON Ill let that one slide. BARRY Thank you. AARON Didnt your mother ever teach you not take rides with strangers? BARRY What? AARON Didnt your motherBARRY I heard what you said. Its just an odd thing to say. AARON I mean, its not like you put up much of a fight. BARRY What fight would I have to put up? AARON Im just saying, you didnt have anything else to do today? BARRY Not really. AARON Thats good. Barry looks at him INT. AARONS HOUSE - DAY Aaron is sitting, Barry is standing. They are in the LIVING ROOM. There is a TV. AARON So what exactly do you think is going on? BARRY I dont know. What is going on?

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CONTINUED: AARON Are we talking about the same thing? BARRY What are you talking about? AARON Im talking about the nature of how we know each other. BARRY Oh. Okay. See I have a theory. Actually youre not supposed to call it a theory, its more of a hypothesis, because you know theres a difference between the colloquial definition and the scientific... anyway. Its kind of strange. AARON I bet it is. BARRY Kind of wacky even. AARON Wacky! BARRY And Buddhist. AARON Uh. BARRY See, what Im thinking... Oh god this is so stupid what the ... what am I doing here? AARON You mean like past lives. BARRY Huh. AARON You said Buddhist, so is that what you mean? Past lives? BARRY Yes, exactly! It sounds weird, but yeah. Thats what I mean. Past lives.

6.

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Aaron laughs uproariously. BARRY What? AARON What time is it? Barry looks at his phone. BARRY Uh. Six oclock. AARON Just about time. He grabs the remote and turns the TV on. Flips the channel to the news. A news woman is on and there is a mugshot of Aaron in the top right corner of the screen. NEWSWOMAN ...and the manhunt continues for the notorious serial killer Stephen Condel who...etc. Barry, scared shitless, looks at Aaron, who is smirking. BARRY Oh. Fuck. Aarons eye twitches. EXT. FIELD Aaron is silhouetted against the sunset as he digs Barrys grave. The corpse of Barry lays five feet from Aaron. THE END FADE OUT. I am aware your immediate reaction to this is to roll your eyes. Trust me, it kind of even hurt me to type the words "serial killer" knowing what your reaction will be. A) There are millions of far worse short films on the internet.

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B) To keep going down the road would lead into territory. I want to do something short, given my longer shit, nothing has been accomplished. this is seven pages, its mostly dialog, so it shorter than that.

very long that with all Even though should be far

C) There is a bit of a moral, or theme or whatever to be had. When faced with a series of unusual events its usually the simplest answer that is the most accurate. Or something to that effect. Occams razor.