If you have the will there is a way
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The Journey - Scene I
by
Lisa Whelan
Based on fleeting moments in the lives of Anne and Lisa
Photography by
Anne Carr
A NEW PATH.... OUR JOURNEY TO OXFORD 18/11/2008
INT. BUS.
Anne and Lisa jump onto the bus as the doors are about to close.
ANNE
Let’s go upstairs.
The bus begins to move as they clamber up the stairs, Lisa with her bag that weighs a ton, Anne with her hands full, hanging onto her camera for dear life.
LISA
Oh my god! I feel like I'm a teenager again.
ANNE
Let’s sit at the back.
They both giggle, running to the back of the bus.
LISA
I haven’t sat at the back of a bus since school.
They plonk down on the seats, excited.
ANNE
Let me take your photo.
Lisa looks apprehensive.
LISA
On the bus!
Anne ignores her already clicking away.
LISA (CONT’D)
Did you always feel comfortable in front of a camera?
ANNE
Yes, my Mum has these cute pictures of me standing like this...
She leaps up from her seat holding onto the rail, posing with her leg up in the air behind her.
ANNE (CONT’D)
I was always like this in photos with one leg cocked up behind, smiling. I was a ham.
They laugh.
LISA
I was the opposite I would always hide. I hate having my photo taken.
Anne sits back down picking up the Camera.
LISA (CONT’D)
Oh god no!
Anne clicks continuously.
ANNE
They will be cute.
LISA
Quick! It’s our stop
They grab their bags tumbling down the stairs stepping out onto the pavement.
EXT. COBBLED STREET. OXFORD CITY CENTRE.
Sound of two feet walking along a small narrow cobbled street, old fashioned lanterns line the pavement.
LISA V/O
Wow! I love this street. It’s so cute.
Anne is busy clicking away on her camera lost in another world.
ANNE
I have always wanted to come here, there is so much symbolism here. It’s a hugely spiritual place.
LISA
There is a different energy here isn’t there.
ANNE
A powerful energy.
LISA
A calmness.
ANNE
A peacefulness.
There is a moment of silence they stand looking at each other.
ANNE (CONT’D)
Wow! Did you feel that?
Lisa looks at Anne almost in a trance like state.
ANNE (CONT’D)
You did you felt it.
They both grin in recognition. They burst out laughing.
LISA
Yes! Yes! It was amazing!
ANNE
Quick, come here, I want to take a picture in the mirror.
Lisa drops her bags running over they stand in front of a glass fronted building, Anne holds the camera out in front of them taking a picture in the glass. They burst out laughing as the camera clicks.
LISA
We are Mad!
Sound of Anne clicking away with the camera, she replaces the lens cap, fade to black.
INT. CAFE.
Sound of door catch click. Fade up as a door opens.
LISA
Oh! I love this place.
ANNE
It’s cool.
A cosy cafe with a simple feel about it. They study the menu.
LISA
Oh! What shall we have? I don’t want bread.
ANNE
No. Me Neither.
LISA
Scrambled egg? Maybe poached?
ANNE
No not poached, scrambled.
LISA
Ok, scrambled.
ANNE
Here look scrambled with ham.
LISA
Yes! Yes! Let’s have that.
Waitress comes over.
ANNE
Can we have two scrambled egg and ham please.
WAITRESS
No bread or hollandaise sauce?
LISA
No. I Know we are weird, is that Ok?
She smiles an uncertain smile. Nodding.
LISA (CONT’D)
And a pot of tea? Oh and some ketchup. Thank you!
She smiles at the waitress, the waitress smiles back.
LISA (CONT’D)
This weekend is going to be so great.
ANNE
I’m so excited. I can’t wait to see what they have come up with. Our first project in the hands of the children.
LISA
It will be amazing.
ANNE
We need to think of the next project. Maybe something to do with self image.
LISA
Yes! I had so many insecurities about the way I looked.
ANNE
Me too. I hated this bit.
Anne grabs the top of her thigh just below her buttock.
LISA
You are skinny, there’s nothing there.
ANNE
I know but when I was modelling they would measure it all the time to make sure you hadn’t gained weight.
LISA
That’s horrendous.
ANNE
Also, my Dad used to say my butt was big.
LISA
It’s strange how those things stay with you. I hated myself I was so so skinny at the bottom I had to wear kids clothes in my teens like 7 year olds clothes and I had a huge bust I was totally unbalanced. I wore jumpers up to the neck.
ANNE
I had nothing. No bust.
LISA
Oh god I would have loved to have no bust I was the first girl in my glass to wear a bra. I hated PE because of that.
ANNE
I would have loved a bust like yours.
LISA
No seriously you wouldn’t I walked around like this all the time.
Lisa crosses her arms across her bust.
ANNE
Seriously! Oh I hated my moles.
LISA
Yes! I hated mine, I have them here on my stomach.
ANNE
Me too.
She lifts up her sleeve.
ANNE (CONT’D)
Look here.
LISA
Yes, look I have the same.
ANNE
I even had some removed.
LISA
Oh I just remembered something, god that’s weird I was so tiny I mean so short, people used to say to me "Mind you don’t bang your bum on the curb"
They both start laughing.
LISA (CONT’D)
That is funny though.
ANNE
I don’t care anymore.
LISA
No, me neither. It’s funny I really don’t think about any of those things now. They just don’t matter.
ANNE
I know. We always want the opposite to what we have.
LISA
It’s amazing when you don’t put your mind to those thoughts isn’t it, so much time wasted on nothing.
ANNE
All those years wasted on insecurities. We have to do something on self image with the models. It’s so important.
LISA
Yes! Yes! It would be amazing.
They both pause thinking, they hold each others gaze.
ANNE
I know what we can do.
Lisa is still thinking, she looks at Anne smiling in recognition.
LISA
So do I.
They burst out laughing.
EXT. BANK OF A RIVER.
Anne and Lisa laughing.. sitting on a river bank their legs dangling over the edge, willow trees surround them, autumn leaves are dropping from the trees into the river.
LISA
You and your spots.
ANNE
I know I found the perfect little spot in Jordan for my meditations.
LISA
You are good at finding spots. I love this place, look at the river.
River flowing with an unstoppable force. They sit in silence watching the river run....
LISA (CONT’D)
I love the water.
ANNE
Me too. It’s a force of nature.
LISA
Look at its power.
They sit watching the river flow, two ducks swoop down onto the water, they are lost in the energy in the silence...
ANNE
This energy here reminds me of Jordan. Pure power.
LISA
The energy here is incredible, it’s like you can feel the city but we are so far removed from it.
ANNE
It’s a heavy energy.
LISA
Do you feel in that space of complete calm.
ANNE
Yes, I’m there. None of it matters. Oxford. Coming here was always a dream of mine and here I am.
They sit in silence, watching the river...lost in the moment.
LISA
I know. We should just do the Jordan trip, we can’t wait for someone to sponsor us we just need to do it.
ANNE
Yes, let’s just do it. Let’s just book the ticket before christmas.
Lisa rests her chin on the railing in front of her, gazing at the water, a leaf falls from the tree.
LISA
It will all fall into place if we put it into action.
ANNE
Oh let me take a picture, you look so calm.
Lisa stares off into the distance, Anne focuses the camera and clicks, camera shutter closes fade to black.
EXT. STREET. OXFORD CASTLE.
Fade up on Image of a man lying in a field of cotton...
LISA V/O
Wow! That photo is amazing.
Pull back to reveal a photographic exhibition.
ANNE
I love that one.
Image of a canadian forest in Autumn.
LISA
Look at the different colours.
MAN
I couldn’t see the man in that one.
LISA
Isn’t the cotton field incredible I feel like I want to jump into the picture. It is hard to see him.
MAN
You know it’s funny I walk past here everyday and I have never noticed them.
He is lost in the moment, lost in the photographs, smiling to himself, amazed.
ANNE
I love this one too, look how happy the people look.
Image of lake in Iceland with people jumping in and out.
MAN
I guess I have been too busy with life too stop and look.
He is transfixed by the images completely absorbed, he looks at Anne and Lisa they smile at him, he smiles back.
ANNE
Have a beautiful day!
He smiles walking away, still glancing back at the photographs...
INT. BUS.
Anne and Lisa’s feet running up the stairs on the bus.
ANNE
Quick! Go to the back.
LISA
I love the bus now I haven’t been on a bus for years. Let me take a photo of you.
Lisa stands in the aisle, she bends down to take a photo.
ANNE
No, you need to stand straight on.
LISA
I’m rubbish with a still camera. Ready!
Anne beams a huge beautiful smile.
LISA (CONT’D)
Look at you. You’re so natural, you’re glowing.
Anne grins, posing.
LISA (CONT’D)
Oh my god! You’re eyes are so sparkly.
The bus speeds up Lisa loses her balance hanging onto the rail, she runs back to her seat.
LISA (CONT’D)
When you create a photograph do you visualise the image beforehand?
ANNE
Sometimes I see it then I create it. Sometimes it just happens.
LISA
Isn’t it amazing what your mind can create when you just go on that journey and are completely open.
ANNE
I know. I have had the most incredible images and visualisations in my meditations recently
LISA
Oh! I love the journey.
ANNE
It is the journey. It’s all about the journey not the destination.
They laugh.
ANNE (CONT’D)
That’s you. You are always going on about the journey.
LISA
I know. But it is.
ANNE
We are on a journey.
They look at each other grinning.
LISA
Yes! Yes! An incredible journey. Like this journey on the bus.
They both start laughing, both looking ahead down the bus, they turn to each other laughing, Anne picks up the camera...
LISA V/0
It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.
Anne clicks away... Fade to black.