Still Valley At 20,000 Feet by Mike Burns (my reading book .TXT) 📖

BOB
Look, honey, the governor of California!

A tall, muscular, ruggedly handsome man in a summery khaki-colored suit, white shirt, black tie. Julia sits up and takes notice herself. The governor plants himself in the aisle seat right across the aisle from them.

BOB(leaning over toward the opposite seat)
Mr. Governor, it’s an unexpected honor to be seated next to you, sir. I’ve always been an admirer of yours. If only Texas had a governor like you!

GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA
Well, thank you, mister..?

BOB
Wilson. Bob Wilson. This is my wife Julia.

GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA
Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m on my way to Richmond, to do a press conference with President Wallace, and then we’ll go off to the presidential retreat at Still Valley.

In his enthusiasm, the governor of California unthinkingly pulls the typed, folded pages of his speech from his inner jacket pocket as he says this, punching the air with it for emphasis, then returns it to the pocket. He swiftly turns his attention to his cell-phone, making a few last calls before he has to turn it off.

BOB (to Julia)
President Wallace? He must have misspoken. He must be talking about the governor of Virginia...but isn’t Matthiesen the governor of Virginia?


(CONTINUED)
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JULIA
Yes, he is. So who’s Wallace?

BOB
Good question.

CUT TO:

The governor’s assistant, whom Bob has just noticed, sitting on the opposite side of the governor--the one African-American Bob has seen on the whole plane, or the DFW airport, for that matter; he is looking a bit uncomfortable at the governor‘s openness about his intentions, glancing nervously around, a discomfort which he quickly covers with a wide, toothsome grin.

GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA(speaking while his phone has been put on hold)
Mr. Wilson, this is my assistant. Mr. Frederick Douglass V. I’d be lost without this man.


MR. DOUGLASS
Hello. (reaches over and shakes Bob’s hand)

BOB
Nice to meet you. By the way, by any chance, are you related to the abolitionist?

It seems an innocuous-enough joke to Bob. The entire first-class cabin’s complement of passengers turns around and stares sullenly at Bob when he says this.

MR. DOUGLASS (leans across the governor and hastily murmurs, just loudly enough for Bob to hear)
Uh, yes, he actually is an ancestor of mine. But we’ll talk more later. (then he promptly sits back and disappears behind the governor’s great bulk)

GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA (in conclusion, folding up his cellphone)
It was nice meeting you, Bob, Julia. I need to get a little shut-eye before Richmond.

The “audience” is over. The governor stares straight ahead, shuts his eyes, untouchable now.

PAN AROUND, SHOWING ALL PASSENGERS. ALL CAUCASIAN, EXCEPT FOR THE GOVERNOR‘S ASSISTANT.

(FADE OUT)

(FADE IN, short time later)

The navigator shuts the door to the cockpit, with a resounding WHUMP! Bob jumps slightly.

FLIGHT ENGINEER: (can be heard on the phone to the cockpit) Cabin door secured.

A stewardess makes a final walk down the aisle before takeoff.


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STEWARDESS (to Mr. Douglass, with ill-concealed annoyance)
Sir, can you fasten his seat belt? (pointing at the governor’s seatbelt).

GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA: (who wasn‘t really asleep, opening his eyes)
It’s not his job to do that. I can fasten my own seat belt, thank you very much. (His annoyance with her is plain to see)

FOCUS ON BOB.

A mystified Bob sits back and ponders what he has seen.

NARRATOR (voiceover)
Portrait of a baffled man. Robert Wilson, thirty-seven, husband, salesman for Baltex Yardware, and would-be big-hitter in the world of corporate sales. A man who has just been bowled over by a change too great and too profound to be grasped.

FAST PAN to the omniscient NARRATOR, in suit and tie, standing beneath an airport direction sign that reads: "TERMINAL --->"

NARRATOR
Bob Wilson, a man enamored of change for its own sake, and self-proclaimed prophet of the beneficial effects of change in human life, is about to discover that great change does not always produce great improvement, that change on the scale that he dreams of can often only be purchased at an unacceptably high human price--a lesson often available only to those who have providentially drifted into...the Twilight Zone.

(FADE OUT to sound of revving plane engines)

(AUDIO FADE IN sounds of plane in flight)

(VISUAL FADE IN on the unlit NO SMOKING and FASTEN SEAT BELT signs at the front of First Class cabin)

A stewardess (one we haven’t seen before) enters through the front cabin entrance.

CUT TO:

The governor of California, asleep. His assistant, beside him, glancing nervously around every few seconds.

CUT TO:

Bob Wilson, holding up an empty cocktail glass and gesturing to the 1st stewardess we saw earlier.

BOB
Ma’am? Another, please.

JULIA
Bob, take it easy. That was your third one already. Drinks hit you harder at high altitude, you know.

(CONTINUED)
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BOB
Nonsense, my dear, I’m just reaching a pleasant state of relaxation. (to stewardess) Miss? Another please--if you don’t mind!(perhaps a touch belligerently)