Thursday, January 28, 2021

I'll Be Back by Mike Colonna

The Dark Elevator “I will be back” By Mike Colonna BestBeachBuys@Gmail.com 714-747-5670

Inspired by a True Story Charlie was a self made man. He owned a very successful Dot Com company. He was always fascinated with death and the after life. But is it really possible to come back from the dead? Charlie repeated this mantra almost every day of his life. Returning from a business trip, Jimmy Hartman, his business partner and best friend took back road short cut from Las Vegas back to L.A. While driving, Jimmy took his eye off the road to check on Charlie napping in the back seat. The unthinkable happened. A head on collision with a truck that swerved and hit their car, head on.

Jimmy was seriously injured, Charlie sleeping in the back seat, without his seatbelt, was catapulted from the car and died instantly. He had just gotten married to the beautiful Shella O’Rourke who he met on an “online dating” site. They were together for two years before they decided to tie the Knot. He was very popular, his friends envied his business prowess, and magnanimous personality. One thing stood out about Charlie, he loved life but always bragged that he would “be back.” Flash back Sitting at a restaurant bar, Charlie meets his future wife for the first time. Charlie is sitting at a high table sipping on a glass of water and in walks his on line date and future wife.

SHEILA Well here we are. I never thought I would be meeting a man from a dating site. CHARLIE That makes two of us. I didn’t expect to meet a man either. SHEILA (Chuckle) Well that’s a good thing. Where do we start. CHARLIE I’ll take a shot at it. As you may have checked my bio, I’ve never been married before, have no children, that I know off, my mom and dad are still kicking, my younger brother Jimmy is happily married with two young boys and no sister to pick on. SHEILA That was quick. Well let’s see, I’m an only child. My mom is still alive, my dad passed away when I was a little girl. I was a cheerleader in High School, dated a few guys, but I always wanted to be a nurse and help people.

CHARLIE A nurse? Funny, I wanted to be a Vet. As a matter of fact I almost went to Medical School and thought I would make one hell of a doctor. A waitress approaches. WAITRESS How are you guys doing today. Can I get you anything. SHEILA I’ll have a “Dirty Martini.” CHARLIE Wow, a “Dirty Martini.” WAITRESS And you sir? CHARLIE I’ll have a “Death in the Afternoon.” WAITRESS Never heard of that one. CHARLIE It’s a mix of absinthe-and-champagne it’s credited to Ernest Hemingway. WAITRESS Ernest Who? CHARLIE You know, Ernest Hemingway. The drink is named after his 1932 treatise on bullfighting. The book is all about fear and courage, life and death.

WAITRESS (Looks puzzled) Hmm Death in the Afternoon.” I’ll see if he can make that for you sir. What was the man that invented it? CHARLIE Tell him Ernest Hemingway. SHEILA Wow, now that shows the character of a man. CHARLIE You know when I was a kid, I went to Catholic Grammar and High Schools. My parents were very religious. Follow the golden rule or you would never get to heaven, I always wondered if there was a heaven or even hell. SHEILA Well, what did you come up with? CHARLIE I told my parents “don’t be surprised when I die, I will be back.” SHEILA Very interesting. Waitress arrives with drinks. WAITRESS Our bartender had to look up how to make your “Death in the afternoon.” We see them toast from a distance and keep talking. Different clips of walks in the park, going out to dinner, and eventually getting married in a Las Vegas chapel. Seven years later, Charlie and Sheila visit the same restaurant where they first met. CHARLIE You know, I think this is the same table we sat at on our first date. SHEILA You mean my first audition. I was so nervous. CHARLIE Nervous? You didn’t look nervous at all. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. SHEILA (Shy) Looking away. To say it was love at first site would be an overstatement. I remember you confused the hell out our waitress.

CHARLIE What do you mean. SHEILA Well, I ordered a “Dirty Martini,” and you ordered some type of exotic drink. Some drink from a famous novelist. CHARLIE Now I remember, It was a drink called “Death something like that. SHEILA “Death in the Afternoon.” Ernest Hemingway’s favorite drink. CHARLIE Oh, yea, honey you have a great memory. SHEILA You said something about how you planned to come back when you died. CHARLIE You’re right. I still think that I’m coming back to check on you if anything happens to me. SHEILA Let’s not talk about death, Ok Charlie. We’re here to celebrate our five year anniversary, and I don’t want to spoil it by talking about you leaving me. CHARLIE You know I will never leave you. But I been meaning to tell you about a short business trip I have to take next weekend. There’s a some type of “techi” convention in Vegas and were going to meet some VIP’s from Oracle. SHEILA Thanks for the head’s up. Were here now let’s make the most of it. They toast. The next week.

CHARLIE Honey did you get a chance to pick up my cleaning. I want to wear that sport coat you bought me for Christmas. SHEILA Yep, it’s in your closet. CHARLIE You know last week when we celebrated our fifth anniversary, we were talking about life and death. I’m not planning to leave you ever. And if I did, I was serious, I will be back. SHEILA So you’re going to check up on me? CHARLIE Absolutely. SHEILA You are not going anywhere, Honey. And there will never be another man. CHARLIE Never say never. Charlie comes down the stairs, with a small suitcase. It’s time for his business trip to Las Vegas. His business partner Jimmy, drives up. Charlie get’s a big kiss from Sheila. SHEILA I love you, stay safe. CHARLIE Love you too. JIMMY Well Charlie, are you ready to wrap up this Bank Rep app account. CHARLIE Ready as I’ll ever be. If we make this happen we could be the next Facebook.

JIMMY That’s a stretch but we’ll be on our way. They arrive in Las Vegas. They check into separate rooms. Charlie is up all night putting the final touches on his pitch. His laptop is full of charts and graphs. He finally is exhausted and falls asleep on the bed. Alarm sounds, Charlie gets cleaned up. Jimmy is waiting in the casino coffee shop. Charlie looks for a quiet booth in the corner. That’s were the pitch for their idea will be presented. A smartly dressed businessman walks into the coffee shop, the trio greet each other and Charlie leads them to the back booth. The pitch begins. They move out of the booth and everyone appears to be on the same page. Body language appear that Charlie and Jimmy hit the jackpot. CHARLIE (On his cell) Sheila, looks like we’ve hit it big. I can’t wait to tell you about it. SHEILA Hurry home. Can’t wait to see you. JIMMY Let’s get on the road. It gets dark out here fast. CHARLIE Copy that. They congratulate each other. They meet in the lobby of the hotel with their briefcases and small luggage. The valet delivers their car. Jimmy drives. JIMMY It is dark out here. Someday they’ll light up this highway.

CHARLIE Hey Jim, I didn’t get much sleep last night. Could you pull over, I’d like to take a short nap in the back seat. JIMMY You got it buddy. They pull over, Charlie take’s off his coat, puffs it up like a pillow, Jimmy takes off, and Charlie begins napping in the back seat. Sheila is standing in the kitchen sipping a cup of coffee, she has a flash back of her first date with Charlie. SHEILA “Death in the Afternoon.” I will be back to check up on you. (She smiles with a twinkle in her eye) Meanwhile Jimmy is driving and the dimly lit road and the jagged white stripe’s are becoming monotonous. Jimmy looks into the back seat to see how Charlie’s doing. In a flash a pickup truck in the opposite lane swerves into Jimmy’s lane. A head-on collision. Air bags explode, the car veers off the road, catapults in the air and finally rests in a ditch. Jimmy sees the back door open. He checks to see if Charlie’s ok. Charlie is resting about 20 feet from the car. JIMMY Charlie wake up. C’mon buddy don’t leave me like this. Jimmy begins sobbing next to his best friend Charlie. He calls for help.

SHEILA (On the phone) No, God No. Sheila sits down on the couch, She grabs Charlie’s picture and holds it against her. She’s sobbing. SHEILA I can’t believe this. I just can’t believe it. Sheila reminisces about the great times she had with Charlie, his strong character, smiling face, his funny stories and his story about if he died somehow he would come back. SHEILA (Out loud) What am I going to do? A very small funeral at the local chapel. At the alter is an open casket with Charlie laying in rest. Sheila requested that just a very few of Charlie’s friends attend. The priest talks about Charlie’s life, a quick sermon and the service is over. His friends pay their respects to Charlie and Sheila. The chapel is now empty with Charlie facing the heavens with his eyes closed. Sheila is shaken, she makes her way to the casket to visit Charlie for the last time. She’s crying, looks at his face that has a faint smile.

SHEILA (She bends down to kiss Charlie) I love you Charlie and I always will. As Sheila begins to move away from Charlie’s face, she does a double take and looks at Charlie again. Charlie’s left eye opens and winks. Sheila turns away and has a tearful smile. SHEILA I love you Charlie.

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