NEMEROFF:
I get it.
SOBERIN:
Do you, James? Do you?
NEMEROFF:
(LOSING HIS PATIENCE) Yes, I said I GET IT!
SOBERIN:
Then what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do to help me and help yourself?
NEMEROFF:
I’ll... uh... I’ll start making calls. You have to appreciate, it’s not easy, selling a sketch isn’t like selling... I dunno, a cellphone.
SOBERIN:
You do sketches, right?
NEMEROFF:
You know I do, Mr. Soberin.
SOBERIN:
Then why don’t you draw for the comic books?
NEMEROFF:
(GROANS)
SOBERIN:
Have you been to the movies lately?
NEMEROFF:
I couldn’t afford to, even if I wanted to.
SOBERIN:
Just about every movie is a superhero movie. I’m telling you for your own good, there’s money in the comic book business. Plus, you get to draw. Sounds to me like a win-win situation.
NEMEROFF:
I’d sooner die.
SOBERIN:
Then do it outside. I don’t want the smell of your “rotting-corpse” in the carpet when I rent the apartment out again.
SOUND:
SOBERIN SLAMS THE DOOR.
NEMEROFF:
(AFTER A BEAT) What carpet? What am I gonna do, what-am-i-gonna-do..? Music. I need music. Inspiration!
SOUND:
NEMEROFF TURNS ON THE RADIO.
SOUND:
HEAVY METAL MUSIC.
SOUND:
NEMEROFF CHANGES THE FREQUENCY.
NEMEROFF:
Pass.
DJ:
-hot! Damn hot! Hot and sticky! I swear, when I leave this studio today, I’m jumping into Lake Michigan! So remember, if your phone rings in the next half-hour, make sure you pick it up and shout: “I Stay Cool listening to W-
SOUND:
NEMEROFF SWITCHES THE RADIO OFF AGAIN.
NEMEROFF:
Forget it.
SOUND:
HE FORCES OPEN THE WINDOW...
NEMEROFF:
(...WITH A GRUNT)
SOUND:
TRAFFIC NOISE INCREASES.
NEMEROFF:
(A LONG, WEARY SIGH) Let’s see...
SOUND:
NEMEROFF UNROLLS A SHEET OF PAPER AND SLOWLY BEGINS TO DRAW. FADE OUT UNDER NARRATION.
NEMEROFF:
(NARRATES) I sell most of my drawings to newspapers and magazines to accompany the article. I’m not married and my only close relative, my sister, died 5 years ago -- so really, there’s no one in particular to whom I address this manuscript. Only you, who might happen to read it someday. For, because of the odd circumstances you are about to learn, I have the strongest premonition that I will never live to tell anyone about it --
MUSIC:
- FILLS A PAUSE - THEN UNDER.
NARRATOR:
The time is present day, the place is the windy city of Chicago, only on this stifling hot summer day, there is no wind. You’ve just encountered James Franklyn Nemeroff. Age 45, profession: Artist. Up until today, Nemeroff’s life could be filed neatly under the heading of “average.” But something very strange, very unusual and worthy of telling is about to happen to Mr. Nemeroff -- all because of a premonition. A premonition of brooding terror, of unseen forces in the summer’s heat. So, if you’re inclined, let’s look more closely at James Franklyn Nemeroff – the protagonist in another of our… DREADTIME STORIES.
MUSIC:
THEME.
FADE DOWN.
ANNOUNCER:
We’ll continue with our story from “FANGORIA’S DREADTIME STORIES” in a moment.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
ANNOUNCER:
And now back to “FANGORIA’S DREADTIME STORIES” and... “A Heated Premonition” starring (----------).
MUSIC:
THEME.
THRU TO:
SOUND:
NEMEROFF CRUMPLES UP A SHEET OF PAPER.
NEMEROFF:
Dammit! What’s the matter with me? I can’t think, can’t draw – what is wrong with me anyway!?
SOUND:
HE THROWS THE PAPER AWAY.
NEMEROFF:
(NARRATES) You don’t know me -- and If I’m right, I’ll soon be dead, and you never will -- but take my word for it, this was a pretty average day for me.
I glanced through the paper, poured myself a glass of lemonade and proceeded to let my mind wander – in the hope that I might happen upon some subject for my pencil etchings. Even with the window open, my room was oppressively hot, and I’d just made up my mind that the coolest and most comfortable place in the neighborhood would be the deep end of a swimming pool, when –
MUSIC:
… DARKENS … UNDER.
NEMEROFF:
(NARRATES) – Without warning, I was suddenly shaken by a strong feeling that swept over me in such a way as I had never experienced before. It was a swirling, overpowering sensation. I attempted to rise to my feet, but it seemed as though I’d somehow become glued to my chair. I didn’t know what was the matter with me. At first I thought it might be heatstroke, or maybe a seizure. I reached out to try and brace myself. And then, before I knew what I was doing, my pencil was in my hand –
SOUND:
PENCIL SCRATCHES AT PAPER.
NEMEROFF:
What the hell?
SOUND:
PENCIL CONTINUES TO DRAW, IN A MORE FLUID MOVEMENT. CONTINUE UNDER NARRATION.
NEMEROFF:
(NARRATES) -- and suddenly I began to draw. It was as though someone had taken hold of my hand and was moving it across the paper – swiftly, feverishly.
And then after what seemed like a few minutes time “I” seemed to take over. My hand, under its own power now, began to draw. I soon forgot about the stifling August heat. Everything was forgotten in my overwhelming and frantic desire to finish the sketch as soon as possible.
SOUND:
THE PENCIL IS MOVING EVEN FASTER NOW, SCRIBBLING FURIOUSLY.
MUSIC:
REACHES FEVER PITCH, THEN CUTS OUT AS...
SOUND:
THE PENCIL STOPS. DROPS TO THE FLOOR & ROLLS.
NEMEROFF:
(GASPS, AS THOUGH COMING UP FOR AIR). Damn! How long have I been drawing? What have I been drawing? The time, what’s the time? Four o’clock! And I started just after breakfast! What happened to me?
Maybe... maybe this is what real creativity feels like, like Michaelangelo when he painted the- What am I talking about? I’m putting myself up among the giants and I don’t even know what I’ve been doing half the day! Could be just some childish scribble, could be-
SOUND:
HE PICKS UP THE PAPER.
NEMEROFF:
(STUNNED) Wow.
SOUND:
TRANSITION FADE THRU TO SOBERIN’S APARTMENT.
MUSIC:
SOBERIN IS LISTENING TO AN OLD SCRATCHY RECORD.
SOBERIN:
(HUMMING TO THE MUSIC)
SOUND:
A FRANTIC KNOCKING ON THE DOOR.
SOBERIN:
Who is it?
NEMEROFF:
(BEHIND THE DOOR) Mr. Soberin, it’s me.
SOBERIN:
I know a lot of “me”s. Which “me” are you?
NEMEROFF:
(BEHIND THE DOOR) It’s James Nemeroff.
SOBERIN:
James Nemeroff. If you have my money, you can come in. If you don’t have it, I respectfully request you go to hell. And if you’re here to complain about the air conditioning, there’s nothing I can do for you. You are not technically a resident in this
