Kaji: Three Steps to Home
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Moonlight through curtains. KAJI stands stiftly beside the bed.
KAJI (V.O.): My comforter is positioned in the centre of the bed.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O) (Cont'd): Three steps. That's all it'd take.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Three steps and I'll be home again.
Kaji takes a step forward and then backs away.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): My injured leg healed. The mind...remembers.
Kaji lies down, resting on the floor at the foot of the bed.
Act 2
INT. BEDROOM - MORNING
Sitting rigidly beside the bed, Kaji watches Peter reaching to the empty space at the foot of the bed.
KAJI (V.O.): He thinks I might be there.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Those were the days.
Recalling.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): His heartbeat used to lull me to sleep.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Now, I count it like a clock.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's proof that some things stay steady though.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): I used to be...I don't know who I'm now.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): The bed is just a bed until it becomes something more.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Now, it represents unfufilled devotion.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Eight years of leaping onto bed. One fall in the riverside park.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Peter has stopped saying "up".
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Sometimes, courage is letting myself be helped.
Recalling.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'd let Peter lift me onto the bed.
MONTAGE
A. Slowly, Peter lifts Kaji onto the bed
B. Kaji tenses, then melts into the familiar dent of her old spot.
C. Peter is asleep, Kaji quietly jumps down from the bed on my own.
END MONTAGE
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): It seems that both the Pack Leader and he don't like it.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): They probably worry that I might injure myself again.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): Recovery isn't a straight line - it's three steps forward, two steps back.
Pausing.
KAJI (V.O.) (Cont'd): My leg bones still whisper "fall".
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Kaji nudges her head against the edge of the bed.
KAJI (V.O): Three steps. A cliff.
Kaji sees Peter gazing at her sympathetically.
KAJI (V.O) (Cont'd): Three steps. Four if I count pride.
Thinking.
KAJI (V.O) (Cont'd): Home isn't a place. It's the space between "I can't" and "I'll catch you".
FADE OUT
THE END
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