Kaji: The Coming and Going of Bright Things

1. FADE IN

3. Act 1

5. INT. HOME - MORNING (A WEEK AGO)

6. 
   

7. The sky outside is soft. KAJI wakes. She stretches. Her ears then pitch forward, absorbing every faint sound from inside the apartment.

8. 
   

9. KAJI (V.O.): The whole pack is home...

10. 
    

11. Pausing.

12. 
    

13. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's bigger than before.

14. 
    

15. Pausing.

16. 
    

17. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): The air is fuller. Every smell is a welcome.

18. 
    

19. Kaji closes her eyes, absorbing the belonging.

20. 
    

21. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): No empty spaces. Only pack. The now is forever.

22. 
    

23. Then, a Gang Member appears.

24. 
    

25. MEMBER: Let's go and have some fun.

26. 
    

27. Act 2

28. 
    

29. EXT. WATERFRONT PARK - LATER

30. 
    

31. Happy chaos. Human FRIENDS, some with cameras, buzz around, laughing. Kaji is wearing a delicate, beautifully crafted white gown that shimmers like crystal.

32. 
    

33. KAJI (V.O.): The pack grows. So many friends.

34. 
    

35. Pausing.

36. 
    

37. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): They put the cold-bright-thing on me.

38. 
    

39. Hands gently adjust her gown, smooth her head fur.

40. 
    

41. KAJI (V.O.): I feel important, wearing a gown similar to a Gang Member's costume.

42. 
    

43. FRIENDS: Isn't she just as beautiful as the bride?

44. 
    

45. Kaji moves among them, accepting pets.

46. 
    

47. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Love is a warm hand on my head. Missing is the cool spot where the hand was.

48. 
    

49. Pausing.

50. 
    

51. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): And I hold each old and new smell in my mind.

52. 
    

53. MONTAGE OF OTHER SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

54. 
    

55. A. Kaji joins the PACK LEADER and other Gang MEMBERS for a pack dinner.

56. 
    

57. B. Kaji sleeps at the foot of the rare visitor's bed.

58. 
    

59. END MONTAGE

60. 
    

61. INT. HOME - DAY

62. 
    

63. Kaji gazes at the door.

64. 
    

65. KAJI (V.O.): I slowly began to sense that they'd soon vanish after such joyful and heartwarming moments.

66. 
    

67. Pausing.

68. 
    

69. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): They came. They went.

70. 
    

71. Pausing.

72. 
    

73. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Every leaving feels like the last one. Every return feels like the first one.

74. 
    

75. Kaji sits. Her posture is erect, watchful and patient.

76. 
    

77. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): I don't know the path they take. I don't know the "when",

78. 
    

79. Pausing.

80. 
    

81. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): To me, there's only "now", and "not-now".

82. 
    

83. Pausing.

84. 
    

85. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): The not-now is long. But the now, when they're here, is everything.

86. 
    

87. Pausing.

88. 
    

89. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): I watch the place where they disappeared. I know it's where they'll appear again.

90. 
    

91. Kaji gets up, turns a slow circle, and lies back down, facing a different direction.

92. 
    

93. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): A door opening is a happy noise. A door closing is a hollow one.

94. 
    

95. Pausing.

96. 
    

97. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): The apartments would breathe out, and get bigger, and quieter.

98. 
    

99. Pausing

100. 
     

101. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Bright things are brief. Their gift is to define the darkness, so we may know both.

103. Act 3

104. 
     

105. INT. HOME - NIGHT

106. 
     

107. Kaji relaxes in the massage chair, enjoying the peace of being home alone.

108. 
     

109. KAJI (V.O.): The door tells the story. It squeaks for the coming, it thuds for the going. This is the song of coming and going of bright things.

110. 
     

111. Thinking.

112. 
     

113. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm good at waiting. It's my only job for the long quiet between the coming and going of bright things.

114. 
     

115. Reflecting.

116. 
     

117. KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've learned the rhythm of the coming and going of bright things. My tails knows the coming and my heart knows the going.

118. 
     

119. FADE OUT

121. THE END