RECKLESS DREAMING
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Reckless Dreaming
Author: Nick David
SCRIPT CODE: EXT. = (EXTERIOR) OUTDOOR SCENE, INT. = (INTERIOR) INDOOR SCENE, O.S. = OFF SCREEN, & V.O. = VOICE OVER. ALSO, RED DOT = PRIVATE VIDEO SCENE.
"RECKLESS DREAMING"
FADE IN:
EXT. SANTA CRUZ (PRESENT DAY) - GIANT DIPPER ROLLER COASTER
The roller coaster climbs the steep grade with a well-dressed female PROFESSOR, 32, ahead of eight other passengers. MADELEINE, 29, artist, streaked medium length brunette, clutches a beret.
She occupies a car with DESTINY, 24, an alluring Asian-American woman who dances to a different drummer. Assorted couples fill out three other cars.
The Giant Dipper's safety bars release! A beret sails away. Panic sets in as the crest approaches. Amidst SCREAMS, the coaster speeds down and around the turns. Hands hug the safety bars but it's futile! Bodies fly... skyward!
INT. AUDITORIUM - DAY
Darkened stage and curtains. With an object in her hand, the professor gets out of a front row chair, struts to a wall, and turns on the lights.
PROFESSOR
Okay, class, come back from the daydream.
About twenty people, including all eight from the roller coaster, shift upright from a slumped position in their desk-topped theater chairs. Destiny and Madeleine are seated next to each other.
Maroon velvet pouches are scattered about the seats. Each student's desk top contains a typed page and a gleaming five-point copper star. The hollow star center holds an oblong quartz crystal. The professor resides stage front.
PROFESSOR
Congratulations to those who joined me. It was the roller coaster ride from Hell until focus on your hands let you fly!
For the eight, it's assorted smiles and nods.
PROFESSOR
The rest of you -- don't worry. It's much easier to enter someone else's dream during actual sleep when you're deeper into the subconscious.
2.
PROFESSOR (CONT'D)
You can try for a specific friend or lover but don't be surprised if you encounter the world of a stranger.
The professor raises the shiny star.
PROFESSOR
Copper and quartz crystal are a powerful electrical energy combination. These two ancient forces vibrate in harmony.
She touches the crystal and a copper point on the gadget.
PROFESSOR
They transmit; you receive. Just follow the instructions. This is not just a dream catcher; it's a "people catcher."
MADELEINE
(bites her nails)
Geez!
Destiny rubs the star across her chest.
DESTINY
This is a nuclear weapon!
MADELEINE
Only if you use it that way, Destiny.
PROFESSOR
Dream interaction is a skill you can own for a lifetime. The device is helpful but not vital. The main ingredient is concentration.
The whole class pays rapt attention.
PROFESSOR
This is a new dimension in human communication. If you enter the subconscious of another person deeply enough, you can even affect what they do when they're awake!
3.
EXT. OREGON STATE HOSPITAL - DAY (RAIN)
A steady downpour drenches snarled vehicles. TARA, 33, a striking, intelligent woman with shaved hair, exits Oregon State Hospital. She pulls a bottle of Scotch from her coat pocket and takes a couple of long swigs before hiding it away.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. BUDDHIST MONASTERY - DAY
A large Buddha statue dwells in front of a rustic abode in the woods.
INT. TARA'S ROOM AT THE MONASTERY - DAY
Tara, shift dress and hair now short, sits at the computer. Display: "POSSIBLE $100,000 WINNER TAKES ALL CHESS INSTITUTE MATCH BETWEEN MICHAEL MCALLISTER AND TARA SILVER."
A bed and shelved books. Small chess set and ornate cup on a side table. A labyrinth featured on a wall.
Tara's fingers caress a worn notebook hand-titled "KEYS TO THE CASTLE." Her hand movement stops.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. COTTAGE - FATHER'S LIVING ROOM - DAY
Little girl on a man's lap. His neat clothes and British accent suit each other. Fully set chess game. He lifts the knight.
FATHER
The horse can jump over anything that gets in its way.
CHILD
I want to go for a ride!
INT. BUDDHIST MONASTERY - DAY
Brother Robert, 42, a dark-haired, stern-looking man attired in a traditional monk's robe, stands behind Tara. He carries a small stick. Tara's eyes remain shut. Brother Robert rouses her with his free hand.
TARA
Oh.
He flicks his stick.
BROTHER ROBERT
Most students would get a whack.
4.
BROTHER ROBERT (CONT'D)
Two years here should have taught you that daydreaming is no substitute for meditation.
TARA
I decided against accepting the offer, Brother Robert.
BROTHER ROBERT
What?
Tara rises to face the monk.
TARA
Money was set aside by the Chess Institute for a match my father never got to play. Turns out his opponent's son in San Francisco is issuing me an official challenge.
BROTHER ROBERT
The computer is for the study of religious documents only.
She glides her hand across the screen.
TARA
I branched out.
Brother Robert raises his stick, then lowers it.
BROTHER ROBERT
I can't.
TARA
No one can... anymore.
BROTHER ROBERT
What do you expect, Tara?
TARA
To still be treated like everyone else.
BROTHER ROBERT
Please understand; it changes things when a tumor could kill you at anytime.
TARA
I need to accept that. So, is it better to bury these with me or give them away?
5.
Tara picks up the cup.
TARA
The chess trophy my father never pawned and...
Tara touches "KEYS TO THE CASTLE."
TARA
found at his side dedicated to me. If I had my health, I would win the match for him and establish a charity in his name.
BROTHER ROBERT
Spiritual books will help you cope with everything you're facing.
TARA
Odd word -- cope. But that's the future -- coping with nausea, losing balance, worse and worse headaches.
Tara presses the chess cup and notebook against the sides of her head. She appears lost in thought before suddenly returning the two objects to their original places. Tara turns to the monk.
TARA
No, it doesn't have to be that way! I can take on Michael and the symptoms too.
BROTHER ROBERT
You have enough challenges so why take on chess? It's war; it's a battle of egos and you could easily give in to temptation.
TARA
I'm over that.
BROTHER ROBERT
The path to the universal mind is full of thorns.
She grasps the back of her head.
TARA
Then, this thorn can help me find enlightenment before my death.
Tara strokes the monitor.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
I hope readers will enjoy creating Reckless Dreaming as a movie in their mind. That is ahead of any possible theatrical production. - Nick David, Screenwriter
ENLIGHTENMENT, LOVE, AND A STING ARE JUST AROUND THE CORNER AND YET SO FAR AWAY. WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF RECKLESS DREAMING!
Imagine a game of Strip Chess surrounded everywhere you turn by strip the soul! Michael and Tara use everything including their wits for weapons! Meanwhile, no knowledge of chess will be needed to determine who is winning as their match progresses.
Chess masters Tara, 33, and Michael, 34, stage a high stakes match in San Francisco that their chess rival fathers never got a chance to play. Michael is an intense “win at any cost” player with his own obsessions. Tara is an embattled singer and Eastern Religion buff. As a reformed alcoholic, she leaves a Buddhist monastery on a quest for enlightenment and love. Tara keeps one vital secret from Michael: She has a brain tumor which could kill her at any time! Not knowing her condition, Michael hires Destiny, a possible girlfriend who is into the occult, to play mind games on Tara. However, Destiny plans much more than just mental harm. In a class, Destiny receives a device that helps her enter other people’s dreams. Then, as Destiny remarks, “What could they charge me with, reckless dreaming?” Meanwhile, psychotic “fellow-dreamer” Dwayne pursues a Tarot card riddle which doesn’t bode well for Tara! A female artist influences events in unique ways. Additional obstacles stack the deck against our heroine. More conflict brews in the subplot. It reveals that Tara, Michael, and the rest of the cast are pitted against the unscrupulous producer Wesley. It’s all yours to find out if a sting causes the plot and subplot to merge into multiple twist climaxes!
Comments from 3 Professional Script Consultants:
Paul Young’s clients have included Academy Award Nominees for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay as well as the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Paul wrote that “Reckless Dreaming has plausibility, substance, focus, resonance, appeal, and emotional power, which helps to create a single film with its own inner layers and complexities.” - Literary & Screenplay Consultants Woodland Hills, CA
“All in all, you’ve succeeded in writing an interesting erotic film which has intellectual appeal.”
- Caroline Blair San Francisco, CA
“You have drawn a very creative visual treatment for moving into and out of dream-space and time.”
- Constance Richardson Mill Valley, CA
www.recklessdreaming.com
About the Author
Nick David was born in San Francisco and grew up in the Bay Area. He acted in many high school plus college plays at UC Davis and UC Berkeley. After that, Nick performed alongside Robin Williams in the improvisational “Committee Workshop” in San Francisco.
Nick David has spent much of his spare time in the enjoyable reading of dozens of books on Eastern and Western philosophy. Nick found the subject of enlightenment particularly interesting. He has always been an avid player of strategy games. Plus, Tarot cards are a significant factor in Reckless Dreaming due to Mr. David’s interest in them.
Also, his passion for art comes into play as an artist named Madeleine influences multiple events. And, as many people are, Nick is fascinated by erotic subject matter and the meaning of dreams.
With plenty of heartfelt knowledge, Nick David began writing Reckless Dreaming. He developed the daring characters and plotline over an extensive period of time. Along the way, Nick sought out and took the best of various professional script critics’ advice. Meanwhile, Mr. David always maintained his overall vision for the work. That included ensuring that sex and nudity are never gratuitous. Rather, they occur or don’t occur based on plot and character needs.
Each spiritual viewpoint must be authentic and represented fairly as well.
Furthermore, as a lifetime San Francisco area resident, Nick intimately knows the unique locations he has chosen. That even includes one which Hollywood Set Designers would need to create because it no longer exists!
Thank you for your interest!