The Mats On the Roof

1. FADE IN

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. EXT. PUBLIC CAR PARK, SILVERSTRAND - 10:00

6. 
   

7. Blindingly sunny. Shadows are sharp. The asphalt shimmers.

8. 
   

9. After parking his 2002 Mercedes, PETER steps out and opens the passenger door.

10. 
    

11. PETER (V.O.): After taking over the car from my younger son days ago, I noticed the driver-seat carpet was damp. I also found an umbrella placed in the back row.

12. 
    

13. He reaches down, peels back the rubber mats and spots dark staining on the carpet. He presses a palm to it.

14. 
    

15. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's cold and damp.

16. 
    

17. Slowly, methodically, he scrubs each mat. Then the carpet inside. When he's done, he places the mats side by side on the roof of the Mercedes. They lie flat.

18. 
    

19. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There. Sun, do your work.

20. 
    

21. He locks the car, pockets the key, and walks towards the hillside stairs.

22. 
    

23. Act 2

24. 
    

25. EXT - SILVERSTRAND BAY - 11:20

26. 
    

27. No waves. Peter reaches the sand. Drops his swim bag. Walks into the water.

28. 
    

29. PETER (V.O.): It's cold. Sharp.

30. 
    

31. He swims a lazy breaststroke out to the buoy line, then floats on his back. The sun pounds his face.

32. 
    

33. Two SWIMMERS treads water nearby.

34. 
    

35. SWIMMER#1: Wow, 39 degrees here.

36. 
    

37. SWIMMER#2: Can't believe it.

38. 
    

39. Peter looks at his bare arms.

40. 
    

41. PETER (V.O.): I feel nothing but cool.

42. 
    

43. Peter looks up at the sky. The sun is a white-hot hole in the blue.

44. 
    

45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): One of many.

46. 
    

47. He turns his head. Looks at the sun again.

48. 
    

49. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The sun is a yellow dwarf. Middle-aged. Unremarkable, galaxy-wise.

50. 
    

51. Pausing.

52. 
    

53. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There're hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way alone. And the Milky Way is one of two trillion galaxies.

54. 
    

55. Peter sinks in the water.

56. 
    

57. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And I'm one of the intelligent beings in this tiny silver of time who gets to know that.

58. 
    

59. Peter sinks a little lower in the water. The cold climbs his neck.

60. 
    

61. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I feel small. Not in a bad way. In a precise way. Like a single grain of sand knowing it's on the beach.

62. 
    

63. He dunks his head underwater. Comes back up.

64. 
    

65. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My lifetime, from the first fish crawling onto mud to now - nothing. A blink. Less.

66. 
    

67. Repeats.

68. 
    

69. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I learned that an electron can be in two places at once until I look. That the universe doesn't owe beings a story. It just is.

70. 
    

71. He treads water.

72. 
    

73. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When my time is up, the atoms won't go anywhere. The carbon in my bones. The calcium. The iron from a dead star that exploded six billion years ago.

74. 
    

75. Repeats.

76. 
    

77. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The universe began 13.8 billion years ago. My mats will be bone-dry in hours. Both statements are true. Both matter.

78. 
    

79. He dunks again. Comes up smiling.

80. 
    

81. EXT. PUBLIC CAR PARK, SILVERSTRAND - 12:15

82. 
    

83. Peter reaches the parking lot. The Mercedes sits in full glare. Peter touches the mats on the roof.

84. 
    

85. PETER (V.O.): Quite dry. Good sun.

86. 
    

87. He places the mats back inside the car. He touches the floor carpets.

88. 
    

89. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Still a little damp underneath.

90. 
    

91. Peter sits in the driver's seat. Hands on wheel.

92. 
    

93. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The umbrella water became vapour. The vapour became cloud. The cloud will become rain again. My mats have been here before. So have I.

94. 
    

95. He turns the key. The engine turns over. Smooth.

96. 
    

97. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I die, my atoms will go into the soil, the sea, the air. May be one day into another mat, another roof, another human's hands. Nothing is lost. Merely rearranged.

98. 
    

99. He pulls out of the lot.

100. 
     

101. Act 3

102. 
     

103. INT. BEDROOM - 21:15

104. 
     

105. Peter uploads an image to a draft on his laptop. It shows the car's mats are laid flat and neatly stacked across the roof.

106. 
     

107. PETER (V.O.): Mats on the roof look ridiculous. That's the point. Dignity is overrated. Dryness is divine.

108. 
     

109. Thinking.

110. 
     

111. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I needed the heat to dry what the rain had soaked. So I swam in the cold to endure the sun. I can want two opposite things. That's not conclusion. That's living.

112. 
     

113. Reflecting.

114. 
     

115. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Thank you. To the sun, which is a star. To the water, which is old. To the mold, which is honest. To the car, which still starts. That's enough.

116. 
     

117. The END

118. 
     

119. FADE OUT