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THE DOWSER

byAndrew Yakovlev

May 30th, 2006

Andrew YakovlevA.Yakovlev@mac.com(646)415-2245

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EXT. DESERT - DAY

We fade in on a barren desert, a landscape shaped by gypsumdunes, punctuated by solitary boulders and scattered trees. Asequence of wide shots ends in an undulating, heat distortedcomposition with two distant figures moving in a line

parallel to the horizon. The mirage materializes, and indeed,it is two human beings - BARTEL THE DOWSER and his son,BARTEL JUNIOR. The kid is toting a shovel and BARTEL SR hastwo dowsing rods in his hands. They are looking for water.The slow procession seems timeless and generational.

Two dowsing rods, held by old withered hands, intersect overa spot no different then any other. BARTEL stops, takes theshovel and plants it firmly in the ground. The boy comes uppulls the shovel out and starts digging.

The title comes up THE DOWSER

FADE OUT

EXT. DESERT - DAY (TEN YEARS LATER)

BARTEL JR, now a young man, climbs out of a circular wellpit. His clothes are wet and he is holding a shovel smeared

with mud. BARTEL SR, an old man, is resting in the shade of atree. BARTEL JR walks over, shakes him. His father doesntrespond, the spirit has passed on.

FADE OUT

EXT. DESERT - DAY

BARTEL JR is putting the last stones around the well. Henotices a shadow and turns around. Before him is a broad manin a sheriffs uniform, TOM SHERRY, an imposing presence ofauthority. SHERRY stares the young man down.

TOM SHERRYYou the dowser?

BARTEL motions to a burial mound of small boulders a few

yards away.

BARTELIm his son...

The sheriff walks over to the grave. Theres a small board,with BARTEL PRITCHARD SR carved in, hanging on a shovel - theimprovised headstone.

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TOM SHERRYThats a shame.

BARTEL drops a bucket into the well. It makes an echoingSPLASH. When the bucket fully drowns in the dark water he

pulls up and out of the abyss.

BARTELThirsty?

The sheriff drinks, then the kid drinks.

TOM SHERRYI'm the sheriff from over in Aden,

we're dry as a bone and I camelooking for your old man.

We cut to a long shot of the landscape, the well, the two

men, the burial mound. We hold as the two figures stand stillas if waiting, then move off. The camera takes off revealingthe expansive landscape of arid sand.

EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - DAY

The Sheriffs Plymouth glides down a one lane highway. InsideSHERRY and BARTEL. BARTEL is gazing out the rolled down

window. SHERRY about to say something stops short, then comesup with -

TOM SHERRY

This is it.

The car turns off the highway and onto a barely paved road.

EXT. ADEN - DAY

Aden is a rundown, withered settlement ruled by dust. Rustedand dilapidated buildings represent a gas station, a generalstore, diner, police station, etc. Sand is flowing out of abroken pump, its picked up by the wind and scattered acrossthe stretch of the main road. In the distance we see the

approach of the Sheriffs vehicle.

Gradually, the town begins to awaken. We hear some SIGNS oflife: a creaking DOOR, a handheld RADIO playing an oldie, theBARK of a dog. A raggedy CHILD runs across the main road fromone building to another. A slovenly WOMAN opens the windowsand looks out.

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The car pulls into town and dominates the shot. A pause, andSHERRY and BARTEL get out. More people come out and gawk atthe new arrival.

BARTEL looks at the people too. All have the countenance that

matches their surroundings. Their expressions are dry, theirclothes made more of dust then cotton. MARIE stands out,while most of the women are sunburnt, shes more fair, but ina sickly way.

BARTELWell, might as well get to it.

TOM SHERRYSuppose so. (screams) Luke! Leroy!

No response.

TOM SHERRY (contd)Luke and Leroy get over here!

Two teens run out. Brothers LUKE and LEROY, messy and inoveralls.

TOM SHERRY (contd)Theyll help you dig when youstrike water.

LUKE(to PRITCHARD) You Bartel theDowser?

BARTELIm his son...

TOM SHERRY(addressing everybody)BARTEL passed on. This is here isBARTEL Junior, the new dowser.

EXT. EDGE OF ADEN - DAY

At the gas stations back lot BARTEL rummages aroundabandoned rusted junk. He finds a length of aluminum wire.After folding it back and forth a few times, he breaks the

wire and gets two segments, which in turn he bends into two Lshaped dowsing rods. He studies the land. The town is on theedge of a desert, his best bet since on the other side arethe rolling rocky hills.

The dowsing rods are going back and forth in BARTELs hands.On occasion they intersect, on occasion diverge.

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The kid is having trouble calibrating them, they dont wantto be still. He concentrates and they center in a parallelline and then, staying parallel, point in a consistentdirection towards the sun.

BARTEL looks into the face of the burning star and then takes

off in its direction.

As hes walking around the expanse of the edge, we go back tothe town, its quite and deserted.

FADE OUT

EXT. EDGE OF ADED - DAY

BARTEL is now joined by LUKE and LEROY who are following hima few paces back with restrained curiosity. They both haveshovels and on occasion they whisper to each other and

guffaw, theyre not taking the situation as seriously as theyoung dowser. BARTEL is breaking sweat in hard concentration -the rods just dont want to obey his novice hands.

Suddenly he stops, the rods have crossed and firmly holdtheir position as if glued. LUKE and LEROY run up to him. Hetakes one of their shovels and plants it firmly in theground.

BARTELWell take turns. Luke, you gofirst.

LUKE comes up spits on his hands, rubs them, grabs the shoveland starts going at it.

A digging montage follows: the three young men taking turns,the desert fighting the sky. The hole gets deeper. Next to itaccumulates a mound of dirt and clay.

LEROY is digging now, his shovel hits something with a THUD,its not water. He gives out a YELP and scrambles out.

LUKE and BARTEL peer into the hole.

LUKEIs the water under there?

BARTELYou better run along and fetch theSheriff.

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EXT. EDGE OF ADEN - NOON

TOM SHERRYOh Jesus.

Hes standing on the edge, looking in. Takes off his hat.

TOM SHERRY (contd)Oh Jesus.

He gives the DOWSER a look. Peers into the hole again.

TOM SHERRY (contd)We better get Marie on down here.

EXT. EDGE OF ADEN - NOON

The townsfolk have gathered en masse. Theyre burning holesinto the dowser. MARIE pushes through the mob. Runs up andlooks into the pit, she YELLS.

She looks for support, but people avert their eyes from her.

TOM SHERRYWell...

MARIE starts crying.

MARIE

Thats not me. Its not me.

She runs up to a face in the crowd, hysterical.

MARIE (contd)Thats not me, it cant be me. Imhere, Im here with you. Thats not

me.

MARIE comes up to BARTEL.

MARIE (contd)

This is a joke. This is amisunderstanding. Thats not me inthere. Thats not. Im not...itcant...

The horror of realization, the shock makes her wilt.

We cut to a long wide shot. The mob, the mound, the desert,MARIEs fragile figure dashing about frantically.

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The suns scorching distorts the composition, the figuresmelt into the heat of the undulating waves - a fading desertmirage.

A drop of rain falls on BARTEL. He looks up into the sky. ItTHUNDERS in reply.

Rain starts coming down more heavily. It falls on the town,it falls on the ground turning it to mud. The dowser is leftby himself - the SHERIFF, MARIE, LUKE and LEROY, TOWNSFOLKhave disappeared. Water flows down a rusty pipe andaccumulates in a barrel. The downpour doesnt let up, itfeels like from now on it will rain forever until the whole

world is flooded.

BARTEL is getting soaked standing next to the grave pit. Rainfalls, the young man existing alone on the edge of an emptyghost town.

FADE OUT

THE END.

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