SUMMER 2011
IT'S JULY. The peak of summer in the south. The sun is blazing. Tempers and temperatures are high. We hear arguments in the distance, but nothing too serious. There's the sound of a water hose, sprinklers, kids playing, stereos blaring. All the sounds of urban america.
We close in on an urban street. Nothing out of the ordinary. Pavement, corner stores, pedestrians, cyclists, and our main characters: Dakota ( young black girl, between the ages of 8 and 10), Jermaine (young black boy, between the ages of 8 and 10), and Julian ( young black boy, between the ages of 8 and 10). They walk along the sidewalk talking and joking with each other. The cars zooming by them. They have no cares. Simply enjoying the summer.
DAKOTA
Cause I got like four dollars left over from my mama and my grandma gave me ten for my birthday that I didn't spend-
JERMAINE
[jumps up and spins]
Okay and?!
I got a twenty dollar bill!
[pulls the bill out of his pocket and waves it in front of DAKOTA]
I got more than you!
JULIAN
[snatches the money from JERMAINE]
Mine now!
The three of them horseplay on the sidewalk and suddenly, JULIAN,
DAKOTA and JERMAINE step off of the curb and into the street.
The sound of screeching tires, loud impact, screams, and the sound of change hiting the ground.
SUMMER 2021
SUMMER looks different now. Masks adorn the faces of some of those who dare to venture outside. Those in their yards, don't look as happy and the kids who do see, are through the windows of their homes as they play video games and through the windows of community centers.
INT Community Center we see three kids run through the hall that look suspiciously like DAKOTA, JERMAINE, and JULIAN
INT. TEEN AREA
We see a group of 5 teens sitting at a table playing UNO while talking and looking at videos on their phones. One lone teen sits off to himself. His mouth moving and we assume he's singing along to some music as we can't see his entire head.
JASON, black male 15, slaps down two draw twos (one red and one yellow) on the table
JASON
I'm a mouseketeer baby. Cause hotdog, hotdog hot doggit-
ZAY, black male 14, puts down a green draw two effectively stopping JASON's rant
ZAY
Shut up!
DREA, black female, slides through her tik tok before looking down at the stack of cards. Counts them
DREA
Two, four, six
SHAY, black female
SHAY
Your mama suck d-
DREA
[slams down two draw fours and looks at SHAY]
SHAY
[laughs]
That's on JADA anyway
DREA
Oooh,
[tries to pick up the cards]
ZAY
Naw, nie! Ain't no pick ups! It's dead once your hand leave it. Ain't it, Mr. Micah?
MR. MICAH
Yeah
The teens holler and protest while staff watches and the loner ignores them, JADA shakes her head and starts to reach for the deck to start drawing a heap of cards. SHAY starts to record. The first card she pulls is a draw four. She slams it down.
JADA
Color blue.
ZAY
[looks at JASON]
Boy you dog water now.
A sound draws their attention to the table behind them. It's the loner, MIKE. He's laughing.
JADA
That boy crazy. I told y'all he be talking to hisself. Look!
JASON
He watching a video or something.
YOU ARE READING
Look, listen, and feel : A 10 story horror anthology
Horror10 urban horror stories.
