U Turn (Stray Dogs)

STRAY DOGS by John Ridley SECOND DRAFT: OCTOBER 1994 EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE DESERT SOUTH WEST - DAY BEGIN TITLES OVER: It is only mid-morning, but it is hot.Insects scurry for shade.Prairie dogs burrow under ground to escape the sun. We can see the heat shimmering off the surface of the Earth. It adds a surreal quality to the surroundings. In the distance, where a long, dusty road meets the horizon, a small shape appears.A Sixty-four-and-a-half Mustang convertible.Its candy- apple red burns like a brilliant fireball under the sun.As the car drifts closer we can see steam escaping from under the hood.Martha Reeves' HEATWAVE plays on the car's radio. The car rolls on, looking as if it won't make another ten feet, until it reaches a small gas station on the edge of a desert town.The station is made of weather-beaten wood, it's windows long since dusted over.The pumps themselves look to have been around since the early Fifties.Above the station is a sign so faded it's barely readable:HARLIN'S. JOHN STEWART - Young, good looking - gets out of the car and, mindful of a bandaged left hand,opens the hood.A plume of steam rises from the engine and hits him in the face. JOHN Oh shit! John looks around for someone, anyone.After a few moments he reaches into the car and blows the horn.He waits, then blows it again.From out of the station walks DARRELL - a skinny man in coveralls that are caked with grease and dirt. He looks the part of a yokel. DARRELL You want somethin'?