BARSTOOL DECEPTIONS
A chance encounter at an airport bar leads a story-hungry reporter to question his place in the cosmos.
Propping up the bar while waiting for his red-eye flight, a bored Ryan strikes up a conversation with the only other patron: the enigmatic Jessica. Discovering her links to the air force, journalist Ryan chances to question her on the rash of alien sightings in the region, finding to his surprise that Jessica is all too willing to tell her story:
RYAN
How many shots do I have to buy to
get you to tell me everything?
JESSICA
Keep em coming and my lips will
keep moving.
Ryan smiles, can’t believe his luck.
RYAN
Let’s start with, where have you
seen them?
JESSICA
Minot, Malmstrom, and some in
Warren.
RYAN
All remote Air Force bases with
missile silos. Why there?
Jessica waits while the bartender serve them their drinks.
JESSICA
Why not big cities?
RYAN
Yeah.
JESSICA
Just like humans, they are seekers
of knowledge. These remote bases
are centers of technological
advancements. They prefer
isolation, less chance of their
actions triggering widespread
panic. The vast, clear skies make
it easier to navigate.
Ryan stares at her, mouth agape. He lowers his voice.
RYAN
What... what do they... look like?
Jessica seductively picks up her drink, waits for Ryan to pick up his. They throw back their shots. Ryan breathes out hard. Jessica fights to hold back a laugh.
The drinks keep coming and Ryan listens, rapt with attention as Jessica holds forth on the subject of extra-terrestrial visitations with an authority that hints at more than a passing interest.
But for all his affable charm, Ryan harbours the heart of a hard-bitten journalist, and talk is cheaper than the departure lounge liquor burning his throat. Nothing but irrefutable proof will sway his scepticism.
Does Jessica have more to offer than talk of interstellar waypoints, electromagnetic anomalies, and shapeshifting minotaurs?
Is there more to this sultry stranger than Ryan could ever have imagined?
Pia Cook’s Barstool Deceptions offers a budding filmmaker a tightly crafted two-hander with crackling back-and-forth and a sci-fi twist. The perfect one location short for those looking to hone their skills with a dialogue driven script and a touch of SFX to carry the day.