THE DOWSER

by
Andrew Yakovlev

May 30th, 2006

Andrew Yakovlev
A.Yakovlev@mac.com
(646)415-2245
EXT. DESERT - DAY

We fade in on a barren desert, a landscape shaped by gypsum

dunes, punctuated by solitary boulders and scattered trees. A
sequence of wide shots ends in an undulating, heat distorted
composition with two distant figures moving in a line
parallel to the horizon. The mirage materializes, and indeed,
it is two human beings - BARTEL THE DOWSER and his son,
BARTEL JUNIOR. The kid is toting a shovel and BARTEL SR has
two dowsing rods in his hands. They are looking for water.
The slow procession seems timeless and generational.

Two dowsing rods, held by old withered hands, intersect over

a spot no different then any other. BARTEL stops, takes the
shovel and plants it firmly in the ground. The boy comes up
pulls the shovel out and starts digging.

The title comes up “THE DOWSER”

FADE OUT

EXT. DESERT - DAY (TEN YEARS LATER)

BARTEL JR, now a young man, climbs out of a circular well

pit. His clothes are wet and he is holding a shovel smeared
with mud. BARTEL SR, an old man, is resting in the shade of a
tree. BARTEL JR walks over, shakes him. His father doesn’t
respond, the spirit has passed on.

FADE OUT

EXT. DESERT - DAY

BARTEL JR is putting the last stones around the well. He

notices a shadow and turns around. Before him is a broad man
in a sheriff’s uniform, TOM SHERRY, an imposing presence of
authority. SHERRY stares the young man down.

TOM SHERRY
You the dowser?

BARTEL motions to a burial mound of small boulders a few

yards away.

BARTEL
I’m his son...

The sheriff walks over to the grave. There’s a small board,

with BARTEL PRITCHARD SR carved in, hanging on a shovel - the
improvised headstone.
 2.

TOM SHERRY
That’s a shame.

BARTEL drops a bucket into the well. It makes an echoing

SPLASH. When the bucket fully drowns in the dark water he
pulls up and out of the abyss.

BARTEL
Thirsty?

The sheriff drinks, then the kid drinks.

TOM SHERRY
I'm the sheriff from over in Aden,
we're dry as a bone and I came
looking for your old man.

We cut to a long shot of the landscape, the well, the two

men, the burial mound. We hold as the two figures stand still
as if waiting, then move off. The camera takes off revealing
the expansive landscape of arid sand.

EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - DAY

The Sheriff’s Plymouth glides down a one lane highway. Inside

SHERRY and BARTEL. BARTEL is gazing out the rolled down
window. SHERRY about to say something stops short, then comes
up with -

TOM SHERRY
This is it.

The car turns off the highway and onto a barely paved road.

EXT. ADEN - DAY

Aden is a rundown, withered settlement ruled by dust. Rusted

and dilapidated buildings represent a gas station, a general
store, diner, police station, etc. Sand is flowing out of a
broken pump, it’s picked up by the wind and scattered across
the stretch of the main road. In the distance we see the
approach of the Sheriff’s vehicle.

Gradually, the town begins to awaken. We hear some SIGNS of

life: a creaking DOOR, a handheld RADIO playing an oldie, the
BARK of a dog. A raggedy CHILD runs across the main road from
one building to another. A slovenly WOMAN opens the windows
and looks out.
 3.

The car pulls into town and dominates the shot. A pause, and
SHERRY and BARTEL get out. More people come out and gawk at
the new arrival.

BARTEL looks at the people too. All have the countenance that
matches their surroundings. Their expressions are dry, their
clothes made more of dust then cotton. MARIE stands out,
while most of the women are sunburnt, she’s more fair, but in
a sickly way.

BARTEL
Well, might as well get to it.

TOM SHERRY
Suppose so. (screams) Luke! Leroy!

No response.

TOM SHERRY (cont’d)

Luke and Leroy get over here!

Two teens run out. Brothers LUKE and LEROY, messy and in
overalls.

TOM SHERRY (cont’d)

They’ll help you dig when you
strike water.

LUKE
(to PRITCHARD) You Bartel the
Dowser?

BARTEL
I’m his son...

TOM SHERRY
(addressing everybody)
BARTEL passed on. This is here is
BARTEL Junior, the new dowser.

EXT. EDGE OF ADEN - DAY

At the gas station’s back lot BARTEL rummages around

abandoned rusted junk. He finds a length of aluminum wire.
After folding it back and forth a few times, he breaks the
wire and gets two segments, which in turn he bends into two L
shaped dowsing rods. He studies the land. The town is on the
edge of a desert, his best bet since on the other side are
the rolling rocky hills.

The dowsing rods are going back and forth in BARTEL’s hands.
On occasion they intersect, on occasion diverge.
 4.

The kid is having trouble calibrating them, they don’t want

to be still. He concentrates and they center in a parallel
line and then, staying parallel, point in a consistent
direction towards the sun.

BARTEL looks into the face of the burning star and then takes
off in its direction.

As he’s walking around the expanse of the edge, we go back to

the town, it’s quite and deserted.

FADE OUT

EXT. EDGE OF ADED - DAY

BARTEL is now joined by LUKE and LEROY who are following him
a few paces back with restrained curiosity. They both have
shovels and on occasion they whisper to each other and
guffaw, they’re not taking the situation as seriously as the
young dowser. BARTEL is breaking sweat in hard concentration -
the rods just don’t want to obey his novice hands.

Suddenly he stops, the rods have crossed and firmly hold

their position as if glued. LUKE and LEROY run up to him. He
takes one of their shovels and plants it firmly in the
ground.

BARTEL
We’ll take turns. Luke, you go
first.

LUKE comes up spits on his hands, rubs them, grabs the shovel
and starts going at it.

A digging montage follows: the three young men taking turns,

the desert fighting the sky. The hole gets deeper. Next to it
accumulates a mound of dirt and clay.

LEROY is digging now, his shovel hits something with a THUD,

it’s not water. He gives out a YELP and scrambles out.

LUKE and BARTEL peer into the hole.

LUKE
Is the water under there?

BARTEL
You better run along and fetch the
Sheriff.
 5.

EXT. EDGE OF ADEN - NOON

TOM SHERRY
Oh Jesus.

He’s standing on the edge, looking in. Takes off his hat.

TOM SHERRY (cont’d)

Oh Jesus.

He gives the DOWSER a look. Peers into the hole again.

TOM SHERRY (cont’d)

We better get Marie on down here.

EXT. EDGE OF ADEN - NOON

The townsfolk have gathered en masse. They’re burning holes

into the dowser. MARIE pushes through the mob. Runs up and
looks into the pit, she YELLS.

She looks for support, but people avert their eyes from her.

TOM SHERRY
Well...

MARIE starts crying.

MARIE
That’s not me. It’s not me.

She runs up to a face in the crowd, hysterical.

MARIE (cont’d)
That’s not me, it can’t be me. I’m
here, I’m here with you. That’s not
me.

MARIE comes up to BARTEL.

MARIE (cont’d)
This is a joke. This is a
misunderstanding. That’s not me in
there. That’s not. I’m not...it
can’t...

The horror of realization, the shock makes her wilt.

We cut to a long wide shot. The mob, the mound, the desert,
MARIE’s fragile figure dashing about frantically.
 6.

The sun’s scorching distorts the composition, the figures

melt into the heat of the undulating waves - a fading desert
mirage.

A drop of rain falls on BARTEL. He looks up into the sky. It

THUNDERS in reply.

Rain starts coming down more heavily. It falls on the town,

it falls on the ground turning it to mud. The dowser is left
by himself - the SHERIFF, MARIE, LUKE and LEROY, TOWNSFOLK
have disappeared. Water flows down a rusty pipe and
accumulates in a barrel. The downpour doesn’t let up, it
feels like from now on it will rain forever until the whole
world is flooded.

BARTEL is getting soaked standing next to the grave pit. Rain

falls, the young man existing alone on the edge of an empty
ghost town.

FADE OUT

THE END.