FanStory.com - The Stopby Bill Schott

"THE STOP"

FADE IN: EXT. BUS STOP
The scene opens at a bus stop at center stage. An older man and woman are seated on the left end of a long bench. On the right end are a younger man and woman. Between the couples, standing, is a man.

STU (OLDER MAN)

How long does it take a bus to come from Nineteenth Street to Twentieth? Five minutes? Where is it?

STELLA (OLDER WOMAN)

What makes you think that the bus is coming from Nineteenth Street, dear? It may be the crosstown transfer that leaves the turnstile and travels all the way to the county seat before returning to Eleventh Street. Then it leapfrogs to just the odd streets until it reaches the exit to Interstate 95. The bus will then return to Tenth Avenue and be here on Twentieth Street in fifty minutes.

STU

Well, Stella, that guy standing right there was on his phone and I overheard him asking where the bus was. Someone apparently said that the bus was on Nineteenth, because he said, "Nineteenth Street?"

STELLA

It could be the crosstown transfer that leaves the turnstile and travels all the way to the county seat before returning to Eleventh Street. Then it leapfrogs to just the odd streets until it reaches the exit to Interstate 95. The bus will then return to Tenth Avenue and be here on Twentieth Street in fifty minutes.

STU

You're beginning to sound like a broken record.

STELLA

Well, dear. You know that I have memorized all of the bus schedules for the city. In order for me to tell them to someone, I need to repeat them as I stored them.

DELLA (YOUNGER WOMAN)

I couldn't help overhearing you, ma'am. That is an amazing ability you have.

DEWEY (YOUNGER MAN)

Let's not be rude, Della. Let people have their privacy.

DELLA

What about her husband's repeating what he had overheard this man here saying on his phone about Nineteenth Street?

DEWEY

That is a totally different situation involving a conversation between two old people and that stranger.

STAN (MAN STANDING)

I would like to weigh in on that discussion if I might.

DELLA

Are you addressing me, sir?

DEWEY

Are you addressing my fiancee, fella?

STAN

When I was speaking on the phone earlier, I was talking to my professor at the university about an historic occurrence in the 19th century. It had nothing to do with the bus route.

DELLA

That's very interesting, sir; however, my comments had nothing to do with you or the university, the bus schedule or history. I only commented on the lady's mnemonic device.

STU

Stella doesn't have a device. She just remembers stuff really well.

The bus rolls up and blocks the view of the bus stop and the characters. When the bus rolls away, Stu, Stella, Dewey, and Della are different people sitting in the same places. Stan is gone.

STU

How long does it take a Time/Space Transport to come from the Nineteenth century to the Twenty-fifth? Five minutes? Where is it?

STELLA

What makes you think that the TST is coming from the Nineteenth century, dear? It may be the crossmillennium transfer that leaves the Nexus and travels all the way to the Jurassic Period before returning to Nero's Rome. Then it leapfrogs to just the odd centuries until it reaches the exit to Interstellar 95. The transport will then return to 1969 and be here in the Twenty-fifth century in fifteen minutes.

DELLA

I couldn't help overhearing you, ma'am. Are you from 1969?

DEWEY

Della, erase the conversation with the woman and hum the greatest hits of Country Joe and the Fish.

FADE OUT

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