FADE IN:

This is one of the thousands of suburbs that can be found
everywhere in the 1960s.  The streets are relatively safe.  Life
is uncomplicated, if your a kid on summer vacation.


EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD, GARY'S HOUSE - DAY

One house here is like all of the others.  At least they weren't
all built on the same plans like modern housing tracts.  There
is a bicycle laying on its side in the front yard.

The front door opens and TONY runs out.  He's twelve.  And he's
fit, like most kids who grow up with their bike being their
primary mode of transportation.

He closes the door and struggles into his day pack as he goes
for his bike.  He gets on his bike then shouts toward the side
of the house.

                        TONY
          Come on, Gary!

GARY, another twelve-year-old and Tony's best friend, zooms on
his bike from the side of the house and past Tony.  He's also
wearing a day pack.  He taunts, of course.

                        GARY
          Slow poke!

Tony launches after Gary, who lets Tony catch up.  They ride
down the street and around the corner to arrive


AT THE HIGH SCHOOL YARD

They ride out to the middle of the huge, empty yard.  This is
where the baseball diamonds are.  The boys drop their bikes and
shrug the packs off of their backs.

                        TONY
          Hurry.  I wanna see this thing fly.

                        GARY
          Shut up.  I'll do it.

He pulls the pieces of a model rocket launch pad out of his pack
and proceeds to assemble the launch pad.

Tony pulls a cut-down shipping tube from his bag.  He opens the
tube and removes a carefully packed model rocket.  He sets the
rocket on the ground, safely away from any harm before going to
help Gary get the launch pad finished.

Despite some minor getting in each other's way, they manage to
assemble the launch pad.

                        GARY
          You ready?

Tony picks up the rocket.

                        TONY
          You know it.  Give me an igniter.

Gary hands him a small piece of wire shaped like a bobby pin.
Tony inserts the wire into the rocket engine then slides the
rocket down the launch rod.  He then reaches for the alligator
clips.  Gary pulls the clips away.

                        GARY
          I got it.

Uh, oh.  Trouble in paradise.

                        TONY
          It's my rocket.  I wanna hook it up.

                        GARY
          It's my launcher.  Let me hook it up and you
          can press the button.

Tony thinks briefly.

                        TONY
          Okay.  But if you push that button, I'll
          kill you.

                        GARY
          Don't worry.  You can push it.

Crisis averted.  Gary connects the alligator clips to the
igniter.  The boys run to the launch control box and jump down
on the grass by it.

                        TONY
          Gimme a count down.

                        GARY
          10... 9... 8... 7... 6... ignition on...

Tony flips the switch to arm the launch button.  The launch
button now glows red.

                        TONY
          Ready.

                        GARY
          5... 4... 3... 2... 1... fire!

Tony pushes the switch and the rocket blasts off from the launch
pad.  The rocket is so light it goes from zero to gone almost
faster than the boys can watch.  They both sound appropriately
impressed.

After a few breathless seconds, there is a puff in the sky.

                        GARY
          It blew up!

                        TONY
          No, that was just the parachute.  I hope it
          opens.

They see the rocket floating down on its parachute and
celebrate.

                        GARY
                 (simultaneous)
          Yeah!

                        TONY
                 (simultaneous)
          All right!

They slug each other in the shoulder and whatever other stupid
stuff boys do in the 60s.  But their reverie is short-lived.
Tony points at the rocket.

                        TONY
          It's drifting.  There's too much breeze.

They both start running across the field to keep up with the
rocket.

                        GARY
          Where's it gonna land?

                        TONY
          How should I know?  Just keep an eye on it.
          I don't wanna lose it.

As they follow, it becomes obvious where the rocket is going to
land.  It's going to land on the other side of a fence into a
back yard.  But not just any back yard.  The boys stop running.

                        TONY
          Oh, no...

                        GARY
          That's it.  You lost your rocket on the
          first try.

They watch the rocket go into the yard.

                        TONY
          Oh, man.  What am I gonna do?

                        GARY
          Build a new rocket?

                        TONY
          No.  I gotta get that one back.

                        GARY
          But that's the House.  You can't go there.

                        TONY
          Who says?

                        GARY
          My folks, your folks, George's folks,
          Melanie's folks...


EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD, CREEPY HOUSE - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

It's Halloween and the creepy house looks just like you'd expect
a haunted house to look.  It's a bit bigger than the other
houses, and the grounds have grown wild.

Eight-year-old YOUNG TONY is walking from the front door of the
house next to the creepy house to the sidewalk where his PARENTS
are waiting for him.  He's wearing a costume, of course.

                        TONY'S DAD
          What did you get?

Tony looks in his bag as they move down the sidewalk.

                        YOUNG TONY
          I think it's a popcorn ball.  It was pretty
          light.

                        TONY'S DAD
          Mrs. Williams makes good popcorn balls.

                        YOUNG TONY
          Yeah, at least it wasn't an apple.

He stops at the walk up to the creepy house and looks toward the
front porch.

                        TONY'S MOM
          Don't go there.  Stay away from that house.

                        YOUNG TONY
          Why?

                        TONY'S MOM
          Because I said so.  That's why.

They continue down the sidewalk.


BACK TO PRESENT

                        GARY
          ...John's folks, Annette's folks, Robin's
          folks--

                        TONY
          Okay, okay.  Shut up.

                        GARY
          What now?

Tony makes a decision.

                        TONY
          Let's get the stuff and go.  I wanna at
          least take a look.

                        GARY
          What?  Where?

                        TONY
          The House.

                        GARY
          No, I'm not going there.

They walk back to their stuff.  Gary starts disassembling the
launch pad.

                        TONY
          You don't have to go if you don't wanna.
          I'm just gonna take a quick look, anyway.

                        GARY
          You can look by yourself.  I'm not going
          near that house.

                        TONY
          Fine.

He gets the shipping tube and his pack and takes off on his
bike, not waiting for Gary.  Gary stops fiddling with the launch
pad long enough to watch Tony ride away.  Tony soon arrives


AT THE CREEPY HOUSE

It's just like he remembered it: a big haunted-looking house.

                        TONY'S MOM (V.O.)
          Don't go there.  Stay away from that house.

                        YOUNG TONY (V.O.)
          Why?

                        TONY'S MOM (V.O.)
          Because I said so.  That's why.

                        TONY
                 (mumbles to himself)
          Sorry, Mom.

Tony gets off of his bike and leans it up against a tree.  He
looks around to see if anyone is watching him.  The coast is
clear so he makes a dash for the overgrown bushes at the side of
the house.

He pauses here, listening hard to see if there are any sounds
coming from the house.  It's quiet, so he continues to work his
way through the bushes to the back of the house.

Again, he stops and listens to the house.  Nothing.  He looks
out of the bushes and there it is.  His rocket is sitting in the
middle of the back yard.  He speaks quietly to himself.

                        TONY
          Yes!

He pushes his way through the bushes and prepares himself
mentally for what he must do next.  He takes one final look
around the yard before launching himself toward the rocket.

He runs in a straight line for the rocket.  When he gets there,
he scoops it up in one hand, not stopping, and turns to run back
to his bike.  As he's scanning for trouble as he runs, he looks
at the back door.

He stops.  He stares at the door, unblinking, almost like he's
under a spell.  But nothing happens.  Nobody yells at him.  Both
the house and the yard are still and quiet.

He finally blinks and that seems to break the spell.  He looks
around, realizing where he is, and takes off running again.

When he gets to his bike, he loops the rocket over the back of
his neck by the nose cone elastic.  He grabs his bike and zooms
for home.  When he arrives


AT TONY'S HOUSE

He dumps his bike and flies through the door.


INT. TONY'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

He zips into the room, closes the door, and stands in the middle
of the room breathing hard.  After a few seconds, he sets the
rocket carefully on his desk and forgets about it immediately.
He sits on the edge of his bed to relax and catch his breath.


LATER

It's night.  Tony is asleep in his bed.


EXT. FOREST - NIGHT - DREAM SEQUENCE

Tony wanders through the heavy brush of the forest.  When he
breaks into a clearing, he sees the creepy house sitting there.
He's looking at the back of the house, and he can see that the
back door is open just a crack.

He advances slowly, heading straight for the door, like he's
being drawn to the house.  He climbs the stairs to the back
porch and stands there in front of the partially-open door.
Then his hand creeps out toward the door.

When he touches the door, there's a blinding flash.  He closes
his eyes.


BACK TO REALITY

When he opens his eyes, he just looking at the ceiling in his
bedroom.  He sits up and thinks about what just happened.

                        TONY
          Wow...

He gets out of bed and dresses in the same clothes he wore that
day, since they were conveniently sitting on the floor of his
room.


EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD, TONY'S HOUSE - NIGHT

The back door slowly and quietly opens.  Once it's open just
enough, Tony slips through the crack and carefully closes the
door.  It's a nearly-full moon, so it's easy to see.  He goes to
his bike, but changes his mind.  He decides to walk.

It doesn't take him long to arrive


AT THE CREEPY HOUSE

He pauses only briefly before walking around the side of the
house to the back yard.  He is disappointed when he finds that
the back door isn't open like in his dream.  He climbs the porch
and reaches for the door, bracing for the blinding flash.

But nothing happens.  So he grabs the door knob and turns.  It's
unlocked, and he's able to open the door.  He steps into the
darkness.


INT. CREEPY HOUSE, KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

Enough light spills through the dirty windows that he can see
well enough.

The kitchen is completely empty, except for the dust.  A thick
layer of it covers everything.  The dust covering the floor is
unmarked by footprints or even animal tracks.  He continues
deeper into the house.


IN THE LIVING ROOM

It's much the same as the kitchen: empty except for dust.


IN THE HALLWAY

He looks through an open door into what must have been a
bedroom.  No surprises here.  It's empty and dust covered.


IN THE STUDY

The room at first looks empty, except for the shelving built
into the walls.  Looking more closely, he can see that there is
a rug under the dust.  Even under the dust, it looks like it's a
fine rug.

He kicks the edge of the rug, and a small section of it curls
back on itself revealing part of the hardwood floor beneath.  He
looks around the room again and notices a brief flash on one of
the top shelves.

There is a book laying down on the shelf.  The moonlight from
the window reflected briefly on the leather spine.  It takes him
a couple of jumps to get the book, but he is successful.

The book is old.  The cover of the book looks black, or at least
so dark it might as well be black.  There are no markings on the
covers or spine.  Tony moves closer to the window so he can see
the book better.

He opens the book to a random page, and it's beautiful.  The
text on the page is hand lettered in Old English text.  It's in
two columns on the page and appears to be in English.

Tony doesn't stop to read it.  He flips through the book a bit
more.  It's almost all text.  There are no picture
illustrations, but there are some pages that have diagrams or
strange symbols.

Flipping the pages proves to be too much for the old book.  One
of the pages slips free of the binding.  It floats to land on
the edge of the rug.

He puts the book on a shelf and bends down to recover the loose
page.  As he reaches for the page, he sees the edge of something
painted on the floor where the edge of the rug is turned back.

He grabs the page then rolls back the rug to reveal what's
beneath it.  It's a five-pointed star, but all of the lines
making up the star are curved instead of straight.

There's not a circle around it as some would expect, but in the
center there is what looks like an eye.  Tony kneels to look
more closely.  There is a very fine covering of dust that had
filtered through the rug.

He tries to blow at the dust, but that doesn't really do the
job, so he wipes away some of the dust with his hand.  The paint
of the symbol is so dry and aged that some of it rubs away with
the dust.

Suddenly, there's a faint growling noise.  So faint, Tony's not
sure if he heard something, or if it was just his imagination.
He freezes, extending his hearing as far as possible.

There it is again: a growling noise, louder this time.  And it
sounds like it's coming from under the floor.

That's enough.  Tony takes off running


EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD, CREEPY HOUSE - NIGHT

Tony flies out of the back door, not bothering to close it on
the way.  He runs around the side of the house in much the same
way as he did when he recovered his rocket.


INT. TONY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Tony quietly creeps back into his bedroom.  He looks out of the
window to make sure some monster isn't flying down at him before
he sits on the edge of the bed.  He tries to relax, to let his
breathing catch up with him.

Then he realizes he's still holding the loose page from the
book.  He puts it on his desk next to his rocket.  He decides
he's had enough adventure for one night so he changes and gets
back into bed.


LATER

The next morning, Tony is sitting at his desk inspecting the
loose page.  He sets down the page and opens a desk drawer to
extract his calligraphy stuff and a blank piece of paper.  He
sets out to duplicate the book page.


LATER

Tony has finished a couple of paragraphs.  It's very slow going.
He's trying to duplicate the original as closely as possible.

                        GARY
          There you are--

Tony lets out a startled yell.  He turns to see Gary standing in
his doorway.  Gary walks into the room.

                        GARY
          What're you doing?

Tony looks at his work, then back at Gary.  He replies
nonchalantly.

                        TONY
          Nothing.  Just practicing.

Gary points to the rocket.

                        GARY
          How come you didn't come by after getting
          the rocket.

Tony pauses briefly to build a lie.

                        TONY
          Uh...  Mom called me on the way over.  I had
          to go home.

                        GARY
          Well, you wanna ride over to the hobby store
          with me?  I gotta pick up some stuff.

                        TONY
          Okay.  Just let me clean my pen.

Gary looks more closely at the loose page.

                        GARY
          What is that?

Tony answers while wiping his pen clean.

                        TONY
          Oh, it's just a practice page...to practice
          the different letters.

                        GARY
          It looks weird.

                        TONY
          Yeah...

He puts the cap back on his ink bottle and puts away the book
page and his page.

                        GARY
          You ready?

                        TONY
          Let's go.

They leave the room.


LATER

It's night and Tony is still working on copying the page.  He
hears a strange noise from his open window.  It's very faint:
not quite a growl, not quite singing, almost a combination of
the two.  He's not sure, but he thinks it's coming from the
House.


INT. TONY'S KITCHEN - DAY

Tony and his mom are eating breakfast.  Dad has already left for
work.

                        TONY
          Mom, did you hear something last night?

                        TONY'S MOM
                 (nervously)
          Hear something?  What do you mean?

                        TONY
          I heard a strange noise.  I don't know what
          it was.

                        TONY'S MOM
          It was probably nothing.
                 (changes the subject)
          So, when are you and Gary going to try
          another launch?

                        TONY
          Gary's almost done with his rocket.  We're
          gonna try it then.

                        TONY'S MOM
          That's nice.

They continue with their breakfast.


INT. TONY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Tony is still working on copying the page.  He's getting close
to done.  Once again, he hears the strange sound.  He goes to
the window and looks out.


EXT. HIGH SCHOOL YARD - DAY

Tony and Gary are playing catch with a baseball.  They talk
while they throw.

                        TONY
          Have you heard any funny noises lately?

                        GARY
          Only after I have beans for dinner.

                        TONY
          No, I'm serious.  I hear something funny at
          night.  I think it's coming from the House.

                        GARY
          Yeah, I heard it too.  I asked my folks
          about it, but they changed the subject.

                        TONY
          Mine too.  I wonder what it means.

                        GARY
          I wonder why they won't talk about it.

They continue tossing and catching the ball.


INT. TONY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Tony is lying in bed, waiting for sleep to take him.  It doesn't
get too cool at night, so the window is open.  He can hear the
strange sound.  It's faint, but it's there.


EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY

Tony and Gary are just riding their bikes around: jumping off of
curbs, playing follow the leader, being kids.  They see a car
pull to a stop in front of the creepy house.  They stop and
watch as a STRANGER gets out of the car and goes into the house.

                        GARY
          Who's that?

                        TONY
          Don't know.

                        GARY
          Let's go see.

He takes off on his bike toward the house.  Tony follows close
behind.

They stop behind the car and look at the house.  Nothing seems
different.

                        TONY
          I wonder who he is.  You think that's his
          house?

                        GARY
          Maybe.  But if it's his, why did he park in
          the street.

They look at his car.  Theres nothing unusual about the car.
But there is a sticker in the the window  it says "MISKATONIC
UNIVERSITY FACULTY PARKING."

While the boys are looking at the car, they hear the front door
of the creepy house close.  They look up to see the stranger
returning to his car.  The stranger acknowledges the boys with a
nod.

                        STRANGER
          Boys...

                        TONY
                 (simultaneous)
          Hi.

                        GARY
                 (simultaneous)
          Hello.

The stranger gets in his car and leaves.

                        TONY
          I wonder what that was about.

The boys look at the creepy house again.


INT. TONY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Tony's family is watching TV.  Suddenly, there's a loud crack
from outside, the TV briefly loses reception, then the thunder
rolls loud enough to shake the house.  Everyone jumps up.

                        TONY'S DAD
          That was a lightning strike.

                        TONY'S MOM
          It sounded close.

They all race for the door.


EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - CONTINUOUS

They're not the only one's who raced for the door.  It looks as
if the entire neighborhood is emerging to view the spectacle.
Tony's family looks from their front porch.  The big house at
the end of the street is on fire.

And there's a dazzling flash and crash as the house is hit by
lightning again.

Tony's parents start toward the house, but Tony just watches for
a moment from the porch.  He soon heads back into the house.


INT. TONY'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

Tony enters his room and takes the loose book page and the page
he'd written from the desk.  He looks at them for a moment
before returning the page he'd written to the desk.  He crumples
the book page and runs out of his room.


EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD, CREEPY HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

Many people are standing around in front of the house, watching
the house burn, including Tony's parents.  Tony runs up beside
his parents.  He throws the crumpled page at the flames.  It
looks like some flames reach out to grab the page in its flight.

                        TONY'S DAD
          What was that?

                        TONY
          Just a piece of paper I found.

They all watch in silence as the house burns.


LATER

It's very early morning.  The people of the neighborhood are in
their houses preparing to meet the new day, so the streets are
empty.

The creepy house has been reduced to ashes.  The houses on
either side of it were untouched by the flames.

                        OLDER TONY (V.O.)
          That was a long time ago...and a long way away...


INT./EXT. CAR - DAY - PRESENT

OLDER TONY is driving around a neighborhood.  It reminds him of
the neighborhood in which he grew up, but the houses look a
little fresher and the cars are newer.

                        OLDER TONY (V.O.)
          I was driving around my new neighborhood,
          just to see what's where.  Where's the
          market?  What's the best way to get to work?
          That kind of stuff.

He turns a corner and comes to a stop.  He stares out of the
windshield in disbelief.

                        OLDER TONY (V.O.)
          I saw something that reminded me of the old
          neighborhood.  It reminded me of that piece
          of paper I still have after all these years.

What older Tony sees at the end of the street in front of him is
a big house.  It's a bit bigger than the others in the
neighborhood, and the yard has gone wild.

                        OLDER TONY (V.O.)
          Who says you can never go back?


                                                   FADE TO BLACK.


                             The End