Soul Ego Dog 

EXT. SUBURBIAN CITY STREET – NIGHT – MOVING

It's a Monday, late February. The road is quiet and misty.

Spring winds ripen the smells of the city: discarded rubbish, canal fires and neighbourhood cooking. Small pools of light, birthing from street lamps, glow upon the pavement ahead. Only two people walk the street: DOG WALKER wearing a raincoat and pulling a black Labrador and, on the pavement opposite, EGO, a tall woman of around 25 years. Ego, is counting her breaths and from the outside, looks ordinary. Ego notices Dog Walker heading towards her as SOUL, a purple non-human essence, flies out from the breeze of a passing car. Soul joins Ego on the same pavement, nears, then nudges her so not to frighten. They greet each other as usual whilst Dog Walker, walking towards Ego, crosses the road.

EGO: Hey soul. [Spoken in an unexcited manner]. You know I can’t tell these days if you’re shrinking or expanding.

SOUL: I’m always expanding you plonker. I’m made of the same stuff as the universe, remember?

[Soul bonks Ego in the head with a thought].

EGO: Oh yeah. Well what I mean then is am I providing the best conditions for you to grow, expand, or whatever?

SOUL: I can’t answer that. I’m the guest.

EGO: Fine. How’s the body doing then?

SOUL: Not bad. You move every now and then, gives me the room to stretch.

SOUL: And the heart?

EGO: Well, I must say, it is a bit tight in there. Cosy though!

[Enter Dog Walker and Black Labrador].

DOG WALKER: Evenin’. [Spoken softly].

SOUL AND EGO: Evening. 

 

[Black Labrador sniffs Ego's hand as they pass].

EGO: Greeting strangers in the city? He must be mentally ill or walking his dog from Wales.

SOUL: He wants to connect.

EGO: Sure. Anyway, enough about him. What can I do to make it better?

SOUL: What better?

EGO: My heart, plonker. Besides, it was you that said I can only change myself, remember?

SOUL: Wrong. You can change other people but you are not in control of that.

EGO: But you said…

SOUL: I said you can only be in control of changing yourself.

EGO: Oh well that’s sad.

SOUL: Sad?

EGO: Yeah, what if I change people for the worse?

SOUL: Then it’s out of your control.  So too if you change people for the good.

 

EGO: What is good and bad anyway? 

 

SOUL: Eathly matters; not for me to answer. 

EGO: Well, if I do change anything for the good then I will drink three beers to congratulate myself.

SOUL: What for when it was the other person that decided to change?

EGO: But if I didn't exisit then the oth...

 

SOUL: You are the other.

 

EGO: Exactly! Therefore I should congratulate myself. 

 

SOUL: Not quite. 

 

EGO: Ahh, you’re never up for a party.

 

SOUL: Not a party of one, no.

EGO: What can I do to make it better then, my heart?

SOUL: It's out of my control.

EGO: Oh I see, going to be like that are we?

SOUL: No really, does it look like I have arms?

EGO: What’s that supposed to mean?

SOUL: It’s a clue.

EGO: Well, I don’t get the clue.

SOUL: Open the window, let in some air.

EGO: What?

SOUL: Breathe!

[Ego inhales] ...  

 

SOUL: And breathe out of course. 

[Ego exhales].

EGO: Anything else?

SOUL: Well, since we’re on the topic, sometimes you do interrupt me with some pretty pointless tasks.

EGO: They’re not pointless – they need to be done!

SOUL: Is editing a photograph of your childhood cat really necessary?

EGO: Yes. 

SOUL: More essential than meeting up with your beloved friend?

EGO: She’d understand.

SOUL: Hmm.

EGO: So how do I know what’s pointless then?

SOUL: Throw away the to-do list, that’s a start. Remember the good old days, running around in the garden? We didn't have a thing to do then.

EGO: But I’m an adult now.

SOUL: We are only older.

EGO: Ok then, as an older person, I do have things that need to be done.

SOUL: Age is out of your control, what you do with your time isn’t.

EGO: Man, you are tough to please.

SOUL: I am. But I'm not a man and I love you, unconditionally. 

EGO: Ah, here we go, all that self-love nonsense. 

 

SOUL: Oh yeah, and one more thing: music. Keep playing it loud. It feels like taking a warm bath.  

EGO: Got it.

 

[Ego scratches her head as Soul disappears through the iron bars of a city drain].