Kurt arrives at his father’s house and begins searching the contents for any information he can find about the deceased man.
This episode features Zack Ginsberg and Bizzy Davis.
Written and directed by Zack Ginsberg and Sam Burton.
Transcript
Dad Magick
Episode 2 – Love Letter
KURT is driving to his father’s house. He dials a number and the phone rings.
ABBY:
Hey sweetie.
KURT:
Hi mom.
ABBY:
How’s the adventure going?
KURT:
Well I’m heading to the house right now. I met his lawyer at a bar this morning. Didn’t seem like he knew what he was doing.
ABBY:
So you’re saying he didn’t.. pass the bar?
KURT:
Ha. Ha.
ABBY:
Can’t pass on a good pun. What’s next?
KURT:
On my way to check out the house now, but the GPS is pointing me down a dirt road into the woods.
ABBY:
Of course it is.
KURT:
Any idea where I should dig?
ABBY:
Huh?
KURT:
For dad’s hidden gold.
ABBY:
Hah. Honey, if you see anything you like, just pack it up and take it with you. But hidden gold? I think you’re setting your hopes a little high.
KURT:
Well I, just, don’t know what to expect.
ABBY:
And… how are you feeling?
KURT:
Honestly? Kind of nervous.
ABBY:
Well that’s only natural.
KURT:
Anything I should know?
ABBY:
Hon, just don’t go in there thinking you’re gonna find some missing piece of yourself. There are good reasons you grew up without him, and I promise you we are both better off.
KURT:
Yeah, well, I’m just pulling up to the house now.
ABBY:
Okay, well, promise me you’ll be careful in there.
KURT:
I will.
ABBY:
Good. And Kurt, I love you. Call me back if you need to talk.
KURT:
Love you too, mom.
KURT hangs up the phone, pulls into the dirt and gravel driveway, and parks his car. He gets out and looks at the dump of a house, secluded in the woods.
KURT:
(sighs)
All right. Let’s get this over with.
He walks up to the house and opens the door.
KURT:
Okay… It’s unlocked.
He walks inside and begins looking around.
KURT:
And… It’s empty.
TV.
Beat up old couch.
Coffee table’s a mess, covered in random papers. What even is all this shit?
Are these puzzle pieces?
Hm. My dad. The puzzle master.
He walks around a little more, looking at the place.
KURT:
(sighs)
Well, may as well open this up.
He drops the heavy journal on the coffee table and sits down on the couch.
KURT:
Diary of Eustace Pucker, page one.
Looks like he was writing poems to pass the time.
Not much of a calligrapher.
“From an act on a stage that is splintered and dry,
The players perform on a liminal line,
In crystalline eye, a paradise lost,
A pupil of oak, an iris of moss,
A key will be turned,
A lock will turn red,
To open it, turn it,
Again and again.”
He’s no Robert Frost.
KURT closes the journal, gets up from the couch, and continues wandering the house.
KURT:
I’m in your house, and, you’ve never been so… absent.
The place is a disaster, but doesn’t exactly look lived in.
There’s no family photos on the walls.
Kitchen’s empty.
Only that smell of mold coming from the basement.
(scoffs)
Mattress on the floor? Not even a boxspring?
He sits down on the mattress.
KURT:
Must’ve taken a special talent to fall asleep on this thing.
Let me guess… Bible in the nightstand?
It’s a letter.
“Dear Caroline.”
Who the fuck is Caroline?
“Dear Caroline,
Do you dream? Do you dream terrible things? Magical things? Wild beasts at play in impossible forests. Jagged teeth and twisted limbs, grinning their grim pleasure, never sated no matter how much they’ve consumed. Crowds amassed screaming for joy, and terror. Cries that welcome a darkness where all devils dance. Dancing, to eternity’s utter lack of interest. Beautiful, gentle Caroline, could you cast that disinterested gaze, with a power that bores you? That is my dream, Caroline. A dream that I will build for you. It is a dream built of blood. This is the first drop. It will not be the last.”
KURT is unsettled and takes a shaky breath.
KURT:
Mom… Who was this man?