No Day But Today
The cast in the roles I saw them fit.
Rodger….Fang
Mark……Gazzy
Mimi…..Ari (Don't worry, Ari's still a guy.)
Angel…Iggy
Collins….Max
Benny…..Jeb
Joanne…..Nudge
Maureen….Angel.
Note: The flock is all the age/gender of the characters in the movie. They don't have wings/powers. Deal.
First chapter skips seasons of love. Deal.
"December 24th, 1989. 9 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. From here on in, I shoot without a script."
Gazzy puased, taking a moment to heave a sigh. "See if anything comes of it. Instead of my old shit."
He flipped the camera just in time to shoot a homeless man wipe the glass of a certain Hummer. "GET OFF THE WINDSHEILD!" the driver yelled, flooring it out of there, cursing loudly. Gazzy stopped recording, putting the old camera into the basket on his bike.
Song: RENT
Gazzy pedaled through the cluttered street of Broadway, blinded by the lights and sounds of the streets of New York.
"How do you document real life,
When real life is getting more like fiction each day?"
Gazzy turned into an alleyway as part of a shortcut.
"Headlines, breadlines, blow my mind,
and now this deadline-eviction or pay,
Rent!"
Fang sat on the couch in their spacey loft in East Village. He sat there, plucking the strings of his red Fender guitar, trying to piece together a song. At this point, his mind was a whorehouse-take what you can get while you can. The lights suddenly dim, and flicker out.
"How do you write a song?
When the chords sound wrong,
Though they once sounded right and rare?"
He got up, walking over to the pad box. He opened it, and sparks flew it. Best to leave it alone. He cursed softly
"When the notes are sour,
Where is the power you once had to
Ignite the air?"
Gazzy reached the duplex, grabbing a eviction notice slip on the door. He ran up the stairs to the loft. "We're hungry and frozen-"
"It's the life that we've chosen!" Fang said, noticing come in.
"How we gonna pay,
How we gonna pay,
How we gonna pay,
Last year's rent?"
Gazzy showed him the notice. Smiling, Fang grabbed a pack of matches, striking one and set it ablaze. Gazzy grabbed an oil drum.
Max was at a payphone, trying to reach Fang and Gazzy.
"Hey!"
Max turned around to find a group of thugs, cracking knuckles, and wielding 2X4s.
She turned and ran.
"How do you start a fire when there's nothing to burn,
And it feels like something stuck in you flue?"
Fang dropped the now-burned notice in the drum. He then grabbed a stack of screenplays, dropping them in as well, setting them ablaze.
"How can you generate heat,
When you can't feel your feet,
And they're turning blue?"
"You light up a mean blaze!" Gazzy exclaimed.
"With posters."
"And screenplays!"
"How we gonna pay,
How we gonna pay,
How we gonna pay,
Last year's rent?"
Max's head was thrown against the wall form a kick thrusted from one of the thugs who had beaten her. She leaned against the wall, struggling to keep her balance-and her consciousness.
"How do you stay on your feet,
When on every street,
It's trick or treat,
And tonight, it's TRICK."
She took a few steps before falling again.
"Welcome back to town,
Oh, I should lie down,
Everything's brown,
And uh oh, I feel sick."
"Where is he?" Fang asked, looking out the window.
"Getting dizzy." Max said, sight fading.
"How we gonna pay,
How we gonna pay,
How we gonna pay,
Last year's Rent?"
Gazzy grabbed another poster, tossing it in. "The music ignites the night with passionate fire."
Fang grabbed one last screenplay and tossed it in. "The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit."
Both of them made their hands into cameras, pretending to zoom in on the fire. "Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground, and feel the heat of the future's glow."
They both nodded at each other, then grabbed the barrel and headed towards the window.
"How do you leave the past behind,
When it keeps finding ways to get your heart?
It reaches way down deep and inside out, tell you're torn apart!
RENT!"
People along the flats lining the street were dropping burned eviction slips out the window, a rain of fire filling the dark sky.
"How can you connect in an age where strangers, landlord, lovers
Your own blood cells betray?"
The two friends dumped the contents of the drum off of the balcony just as the same Hummer came driving up. It stopped, and the owner got out.
Jeb.
"What binds the fabric together
When the raging, shifting winds of change keep ripping away."
Jeb continued walking down the street. "Draw a line in the sand, and then make your stand."
Fang and Gazzy looked to each other. "Use you camera to spar!" he said.
"Use you guitar." Gazzy replied.
"When they act tough, you call their bluff!
We're not gonna pay,
We're not gonna pay,
We're not gonna pay,
Last year's rent,
This year's rent,
Next year's rent!
Rent, rent, rent, rent, rent!
We're not gonna pay rent!
CUZ EVERYTHING,
IS,
RENT!"
The crowd gathered exploded into a riot. The people on the balconies spewed bouts of rebellion and resistance at their landlord. Jeb continued walking, ignoring them.
Ari looked up to the balcony above him.
Fang looked down.
Ari winked.
Meh, one song this chapter, I promise to have at least two next time. Check back for more soon.