Once Upon A Time

#### A Dream

* The Keystones are in a deep forest of every color “floating like a kaleidoscopic snowfall.” They see great stag who is sad, and a dark Cheshire Cat with long grey whiskers in the branches of a tree. A lamp post lit by gas is in the center of the clearing. The forest canopy is thick but it frames a menacing dark tower in the distance.
* A fog rolls in and obscures Scarlet Blake, Jessie "JD" Davis & Derrick "Ricky" Lewis, and they can no longer see the forest and their dream is over.
* Behind Heather Jones, she hears a voice.
	+ *RF: The worlds are coming undone. You impressed me in the castle but you can’t save them all.*
	+ *H turns around to see Randall Flagg: I can try*
	+ *RF: That’s the thing. No matter how hard you try, as it STANDS (chuckle), right now you can’t be in two places at once. But I can. I can be wherever and whenever I need to be. You and I tho, we have similar stories. Can’t you feel that we are penned from the same book.*
	+ *H: Maybe. But I made better choices.*
	+ *RF: Did you? Or have you not had a chance to make bad ones yet?*
	+ *H: I will make better choices.*
	+ *RF: I tell you, I’ve made bad and good choices, and I’ve learned from each one. I am a good teacher. I could teach you. Would you like that Heather?*
	+ *H: Teach me what?*
	+ *RF: I don’t know boys, what do you think? (Two figures are behind him. They seem familiar, but she can’t place them. There should be four of them. They are high school boys, and they should be thinner. It seems like they’ve seen too much. They nod.)*
	+ *RF: I just need you to do something for me. Can you do something for me?*
	+ *H: Probably not.*
	+ *RF: Can I tell you what it is and you can think about it.*
	+ *H: You can tell me.*
	+ *RF: All I need you to do is nothing. Hide in your house. Hide in your books. You aren’t a hero. You’re just a kid. No story would write you as its legend. Not yet. But I can make this world, I can make all the worlds fear you. I am in tales and fables uncounted and you can be too. You can’t be a legend by yourself, but I can make you one. Just do nothing. (He begins to fade away.)*
	+ *H: I can be different. I can be better. I can do it without you.*
	+ *RF: We’ll see.*
* Each of the kids wakes up to a repeated emergency announcement on tv and radio. “Residents, remain in your homes. Schools have been closed across the county. Only emergency services should report to work.”

#### The Keystone Homes

* When Ricky wakes up and hears the announcement, he first takes care of farm chores and tends to the animals. When Ricky is done, he finds his father (Reggie Lewis) at the kitchen table, in his sleeping clothes. He seems to have no motivation to work the farm. He says, “Just do nothin’. Just do nothin’.” and drinks from his empty cup of coffee.
* Ricky rides a Scarlet's house to check on her.

* When Scarlet wakes up and hears the announcement, she looks for her parents downstairs. Her father (Dean Blake) is a firefighter and he is not home. Her mother (Ann Blake) owns The Night Owls Consignment Store and she is sitting in her robe and staring at the TV. She is unresponsive except “You don’t have to do anything today. Nothing.”
* The main headline on the newspaper is “Do Nothing.” Another article is a eulogy about Sargent Herbert J Saville (Sarge). It says his wife, Yuriko Lilly Saville, proceeded him in death in a vehicular accident in the summer of 69. He leaves behind an adopted son, Ben McKenzie, and his son in spirit, Jerry Baker.

* When JD wakes up and hears the announcement, he heads downstairs to find his dad (Jeff Davis, a mayoral candidate) and mom (Mrs. Davis,who is a writer). His mom is not actively typing, but on the page, is the same message (repeated) heard on TVs and Radios. She is barely responsive to questions beyond saying "nothing." JD heads out on his bike to meet up with the others.

* Heather springs awake, the dream vivid on her mind, nearly falling on the floor. She hears the same announcement. She sneaks into the hallway and calls Scarlet on the phone, but when she picks up the phone she hears the same announcement in the familiar drawl of Randall Flagg. At the end of the announcement, she hears, "Heather, do nothin.'"
* Heather heads to Scarlet's house on her ten-speed bike.
* On the ride, she smells smoke and sees a fire in the center of town. She hears three gun shots, a scream, and the howl of a rabid dog. She sees no emergency vehicles, but she does see a 50s Plymouth Fury driving slowly through town with a cream colored arm hanging out the side of the window. The car picks up speed and runs a person over. From the car a voice says, "do nothing."

* Ricky and Scarlet exchange notes at Scarlet's house. Scarlet re-enters her home to show her mother the paper and get her reaction, but there is none.
* There's a map on the counter under the newspaper, and when she pulls the paper away, her mom taps main street on the map.
* When Scarlet leaves the house, Heather and JD arrive. The keystones exchange notes on their mornings, and Heather tells everyone about what she saw on Main Street. They all discuss the dream from the prior night. The kids decide to defy all instructions and "do something" - starting by heading into Main Street.
* Scarlet heads back in to get ready and stops to call her father on the phone in her bedroom. When she picks up the phone, she hears a person making the sound of a "busy signal" on the other end. When she slams the phone down, she hears a voice say "ouch!" She tries another phone in the house.
* She dials the operator but instead of the operator, it's the voice of Pennywise heckling her.
* Scarlet joins the other Keystones and updates them on what happened on the phone. They decide to stick together. The four take their bikes down to Main Street.

#### Main Street

* The kids hear gunshots near the Chat 'n Chew, and they hear mechanized vehicles moving. They see a residential home on fire. It is the last home leading up to the Maplehurst Mall, with a large flagpole out front. [Note: This is the home of Sargent Herbert J Saville.]
* As they pull into Main Street, Scarlet sees Mainstreet Jimmy propped against a wall in an alley. He seems to be deeply asleep, but he has a note pinned to his shirt. As Ricky reaches for the note, he feels greatly fatigued but he pushes past it and opens the note.
	+ *"My friends, they can't see them coming. They've forgotten how to be kids. They are too old. They are defenseless. You must save them. Miss Maggie. Mr. Derry. Carl Baker. Scarlet's dad. He has them in The Paperback Exchange. At sunset, he will devour them. I tried to fight it, but I'm too old now. I've forgotten how to stay awake in the dream. If you need help, the friends you rescued in Castle Grayskull." There's a map drawn on the note. "Whatever you do my friends, stay together this time. No matter who tells you to split up. Stay together. Never surrender." Written in a different hand, "Legends can be now and forever. Teaching us to love for goodness sake. Be a legend."*
* The kids believe the letter references Pennywise. They decide to follow the map to find the friends they rescued from Castle Grayskull: Chris DeWitt and Van Halen.
* On the way, a rumble of a motorcycle alerts them so they hide behind a hedge. They see Chief Rugen riding a motorcycle "like one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse". He is 80 lbs lighter, his skin is jaundiced. There is a swarm of insects following behind him and crawling all over him and in him.

#### The Magnetrine Truck Graveyard

* As they arrive in Magnetrine Truck Graveyard, they see a metallic tree. Chris is there standing above the prone form of Van Halen. He has one blue eye and one brown eye. His jeans are baggy, he's wearing a Led Zeppelin T-shirt and while he should be 16, he seems younger. He looks dirty and cold and he's frantic. The kids approach and attempt to calm him.
	+ *C: I can't explain this, but Miss Maggie and the others are going to die. Or they ... they become evil. Or I ... tsk ... I can't remember. It's not decided yet. No. No. We have time. Um. VH fell asleep. She said someone cast a spell. I don't know what to do.*
	+ *C: It's VH's tree. We were staying here. We were supposed to. This is where the next part happens, and we didn't know when it happened. We heard about the Sarge. And I didn't know what to do. And then she said that she got magic spell. The man in black did something. I didn't see anyone. I couldn't stop 'em but this is when Miss Maggie dies, and turn e... something happens. We have to go to the Paperback Exchange.*
	+ *R: What do you mean by "this is her tree."*
	+ *C: This is hers. The tree. They're one.*
	+ *JD: Chris, slow down. You said that this is when Miss Maggie dies or becomes evil. This has happened before? Do you know?*
	+ *C: No, it's never happened before. But it'll happen again if we don't do something.*
* VH seems restfully asleep like one would sleep in a fairy tale. Her hands are folded across her chest and she seems healthier than the last time the kids saw her. The kids attempt to awaken her with a kiss, and are largely unsuccessful, but she awakens briefly and tells them that the man in black has cast a spell and that they should head to the Paperback Exchange. She hands Heather a page from a music magazine, an advertisement for "Don't Come Around Here" by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - all in an Alice in Wonderland motif.
* Ricky realizes that Chris' eyes are multi-colored like the cat in their dreams, who they take to have been a Cheshire cat.

#### The Paperback Exchange

* They head to The Paperback Exchange with Chris, and arrive to find the front window is shattered and rain has spoiled some of the books in the front window display. The kids vow to stay together and enter.
* As they enter, they see a red sneaker and broken glass. JD finds a walkie-talkie on the ground; across the back of it, written on tape is "Beatbox".
* Chris bolts into the back of the store calling "I'm here, Mags, I'm here.", and the kids pursue. They catch up with him around the corner. He is kneeling on the ground, touching something, and his fingertips are red with blood. "We've gotta hurry."
* As the kids realize that the Paperback Exchange is somehow 20x larger than it ever was before.
* JD grabs Chris to support him. Chris locks his arm around him, while JD grabs the shirt at Chris' waist.
* They come to a T intersection. From the left they hear Mr. Derry, the science teacher from Edgar Allen Poe Middle School, calling "Mitch. Is that you? Get out of here! Save yourself! Tell Prime..." and then he goes quiet. From the right they hear a voice (presumed to be Miss Maggie), "Rob. Rob, run, Honey. Don't stay here! Run! There's no time anyway, it almost has me." Chris pulls JD to the right, "We gotta go." but Heather wants to go left to help Mr. Derry. They decide to stick together and go help Miss Maggie first.
* They enter a large area 20x30 square, ringed with book shelving. On the far end is a large swirling mirror. Pages and books are laid out like a blanket on the floor. The pages ripple like a centipede. On top of the books are Mr. Derry, Scarlet's dad, a man they do not know, and Miss Maggie. They also, see another Chris. All of them are bound and are being pulled toward the mirror. The bound Chris throws himself between the mirror and Miss Maggie, who was the closest to the mirror. The surface of the mirror ripples and grabs Chris' foot and he begins to scream.
* The Chris beside JD says in the voice of Pennywise, "Now we get to play." JD begins to move away, and as he does Pennywise's form is revealed. PW bites at JD with razer teeth and JD narrowly jumps out of reach and slams against a bookshelf.
* The kids realize the tunnel leading into the room is gone and they are completely surrounded by bookshelves.
* Scarlet implements a blocking move and shoves the creature away, sending it spinning and smashing against the other wall of shelves.
* The portal is still pulling the bound people toward it. Chris pushes back on Maggie to keep her out of its reach, as he is being devoured by it.
* Heather yells at the others to push the clown into the mirror, and she attempts to move toward Miss Maggie but as she does so she steps between the books and finds that underneath them is a sea of blood. She cannot reach Maggie from here.
* Ricky begins to tip shelves over and into the pool of blood to give himself a place to stand. Blood splashes everywhere, and the bound people undulate on top of waves of blood from where they're resting on islands of books.
	+ *Miss Maggie: Heather, everything you've ever read, every tear you've cried for the characters in your tales, look to the books, looks to the books, tell them all to look to the books.*
* The keystones discover the weapons of the paperback exchange, the weapons of fable that can only be wielded by legends.
	+ Heather looks down at her feet and sees a copy of Alice in Wonderland with something big sticking out between the pages. She reaches for it and "like a hero of legend" she is holding a Vorpal Blade (an ebon blade with swirling eldritch energy around it), and they hear "One Two, One Two, and Through and Through, the Vorpal Blade went Snicker Snack"
	+ Scarlet looks down and sees a curved handle. It disappears as she grabs it, and around her waist is an oiled leather twin gun rig, the sandalwood rig of a true gunslinger, made from the melted metal of fabled Excalibur.
	+ Ricky sees something like a broomstick sticking out from between some books, and he yanks it out. It is a bow, shaped from the strongest yule - the longbow of Robert Fitzooth, Robin of Loxley, the bandit, Robin Hood. A quiver of arrows appears at his waist.
	+ JD hears, "pick me up" and so he reaches blindly down and wraps his hand around a ring, and in his head he hears, "One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them."
* As Heather, Scarlet and Ricky aim with their weapons, JD wears the ring and runs toward Pennywise to shove him into the mirror. As JD wears the ring, the world turns black and white and he sees the creature as the magical entity that it is: darkness with glowing orbs for eyes that toll and move throughout as they reorient themselves. The weapons land as JD pushes. The mirror reaches out and grabs the creature.
* Chris and Pennywise disappear into the mirror.
* The mirror begins to bubble, and a voice is heard "Get that Legend a Shield." A stars and stripes shield appears in Heather's hand. Heather brings the shield forward and protects her friends, and the people on the floor from the blast as the mirror explodes.
* Silence descends on the paperback exchange. They can barely make out Chris through the mirror. He says, "Thank you, my friends. Thank you for saving me. I'll find a way back and try to help if I can." and gives them a thumbs up as he disappears.
* When the adults awaken, they at first offer gratitude and thanks. But it soon turns to confusion as they begin to forget everything that happened. Maggie reassures them that it must have been another gas leak.
* From across the street, Mainstreet Jimmy approaches, and gives them a thumbs up, "I told you I'd find my way back."

## Characters

* Randall Flagg
* Reggie Lewis
* Dean Blake
* Ann Blake
* Sargent Herbert J Saville (Sarge)
* Yuriko Lilly Saville
* Ben McKenzie
* Jerry Baker
* Jeff Davis
* Mrs. Davis
* Pennywise
* Mainstreet Jimmy
* Miss Maggie
* Mr. Derry
* Carl Baker
* Chris DeWitt
* Van Halen
* Chief Rugen

## Locations

* Magnetrine Truck Graveyard
* Castle Grayskull
* The Night Owls Consignment Store
* Chat 'n Chew
* Maplehurst Mall
* The Paperback Exchange
* Edgar Allen Poe Middle School