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FADE IN:
INT. BANK ‚ DAY (1962) JOHN WAYNE GUELPH, 6, is dressed in a cowboy costume reminiscent of Howdy Doody. He is in line for the teller, holding his FATHER's hand and watching an OLD MAN work on a door off to the left. Father holds a pink piggy bank. John is focused on the door, until his father tugs on his hand and leads him up to the teller window. TELLERFather sets the piggy bank on the ledge before the teller window. FATHERJohn hasn't been paying attention: he's still fixated on the old man, who has just locked the door and dropped the key into his pocket. TELLERFather taps the counter and gives his son an expectant look. John reluctantly snaps to attention. JOHNAs the teller begins assembling the forms, John glances off to the left again. The old man is nailing a sign to the door: it reads THIS DOOR IS NOT TO BE USED AS AN ENTRANCE OR AN EXIT. FATHERJohn looks up from his father to the counter, which is too high off the ground. Father takes him around the waist and lifts him up to the teller window. INT. BANK ‚ DAY (1964) John, now 8, is on his knees in front of the door, squinting through the keyhole. Without warning, he jerks backward and leaps to his feet. He scrubs his eye. Father is in line for the teller again. FATHERJohn joins his father in line, blinking and wiping at his eye. FATHERFather Guelph and John conclude their business at the window, exit the bank and get into their car. John slumps into the passenger seat and gazes out the window. Father turns on the radio. "I Feel Fine" by the Beatles plays as Father turns on the engine and pulls out of the parking space. EXT. HIGH SCHOOL ‚ NIGHT (1974) A car waits in front of a high school. A "CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 1974!" banner hangs across the face of the building. John, now 18, and his friends PETE, TOMMY and GORDON run down the front steps of the school and pile into the car. INT. CAR ‚ NIGHT BILL is driving. He turns around and grins at his passengers. BILLEveryone laughs. Bill shifts gears and hits the gas. They zoom away. INTERCUT CAR INTERIOR AND CAR TRAVELING THROUGH LANDSCAPE GORDON SERIES OF SHOTS A) John moves into his college dorm room B) John takes an exam in a full classroom C) John laughs with a group of FRIENDS D) John kisses a GIRL E) John and friends toss up their caps at graduation F) John, at the alter, kisses his NEW BRIDE G) John shakes hands with his NEW BOSS H) John, with his wife and BABY in his arms, looks at their new house INT. BANK ‚ DAY (1998) John, now 42, waits patiently in line for the teller window at the bank. His eyes don't wander, though little has changed since he was a boy: the sign, for instance, is still up, though faded. All of a sudden, armed ROBBERS appear in the lobby. ROBBERAll the customers drop to the ground. Some robbers drag the PRESIDENT out of his office and hold him in front of the RINGLEADER. PRESIDENTSuddenly, John jumps to his feet and bowls through the crowd of robbers toward the door. Before anyone can stop him, he rips the door off its hinges and spins with the flat side out, knocking the robbers unconscious. The lobby is silent: everyone is staring at John, who drops the door and stares at his hands. JOHNSomeone from the other side of the doorframe clears his throat. John looks up: it is the old man from his youth, unchanged. OLD MANThe old man calmly walks out of the room and into the lobby. John points, flabbergasted. JOHNJohn nods, still in shock. The old man shrugs, and walks away. John looks back at the room from which the old man came. In it is a plastic kiddie-pool filled with murky water and overgrown with reeds. BEGIN FLASHBACK INT. BANK ‚ DAY (1964) Eight year-old John kneels before the keyhole and peers through it. He can just make out a strange sight: the room is bathed with light, and there seems to be a river running through it, replete with rushes and other plants. Sunlight dances on the surface of the water. A SNAKE rears up in front of his eyes, hissing and spitting, and John jerks back. END FLASHBACK INT. BANK ‚ DAY John turns toward the old man.
JOHNJohn looks down at his feet, and at once tries to pick the door up and set it back in its frame. The only problem is that the door is now somehow bound to the floor. It swings open, and at John's feet is a view of a marsh by a river. In the distance are the shapes of ziggurats. John gasps, and drops the door so that it slams shut. He looks up at the rest of the customers. JOHN FADE OUT.
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