Scene opens on a stack of black leather-bound journals on top of a black speaker. They are arranged like a staircase. There are titles and respective dates handwritten on the pages’ sides in black-ink pen: unearthing, shifting, remembering, here, surrender, release, play.

[Voiceover]
It’s hard to know how to start things. Like - how do I make a beginning that is compelling enough for you to want to keep going? How do I make one that inspires me to keep going? And where do we even start?



[SOUND: pages turning]



[Fast forward through many different clips of d’s life 
through their eyes and perspective. A sea of memories]



[SOUND: music Tame Impala - “nangs” 
or “feels like we only go backwards”]

We’re at a “girls” high school basketball game in the midst of a fastbreak. We hear a muted collage of d’s heavy breathing, the ball dribbling on the hardwood floor, shoes squeaking, and the crowd cheering. The Diamondback’s are wearing white and blue jerseys, and we are in a gym trimmed with blue, gold and white. We see their slithery mascot guardian painted on the wall - a diamondback snake. Reminders of shedding. Number 10, a thin-framed philipinx with a long black ponytail throws out their right hand while sprinting toward an open basket and yells, “Howie, over here! I’m open.”

[cut]

We’re in a stereotypical hospital with overwhelmingly bright sterile lights. The lens perspective is from below and has a soft blurred effect. We hear the nurse say, “What a beautiful healthy baby girl!” Followed by a deeper warm voice, “That’s my baby.”

[cut]

We’re at the beach around midnight peering into what feels like a cove. It’s almost completely dark except for two silhouettes screaming, jumping up and down, and running across the sand. We see the outline of their curls bouncing. They are in what seems like the blue of ecstasy and bliss. They disappear into the ocean.

[cut]

We’re in front of a blue paneled wall and we see a beautiful dark brown masculine figure in a white button-up shirt bashfully smiling and shooing away the camera. He smiles and holds his gaze for just a moment.

[cut]

We’re in a small cozy apartment and we see that same scene and smile, but this time it is frozen in a brown picture frame with both a “beloved father” and “beloved son” white sash draped around it.

[cut]



[SOUND: when song drops we end up here]

We’re following a character biking along Broadway St. in Oakland, California near the 40s. It’s around 10pm. A Wednesday. The streets are mostly quiet, but there is still an unimposing presence of movement and life. A steady flow of interactions seen and unseen.

[CAMERA: (1) alongside the biker perpendicular to where they are going, (2) behind them, and (3) through their perspective starting from their hands on the handlebar and then up and out into the world]

We see hipsters walking into bars and leaving restaurants weaving between black elders with gems for eyes and teeth - the keepers of stories of the streets.

[cut]

We pass by a camp of tents stretching wide as the visible horizon across from a skyrise Kaiser Permanente Hospital building.

[cut]



[CAMERA: interspersed between (1) close up of bike wheels moving/d’s hands, (2) shots of the sky gridded through telephone poles and lines, (3) close up of feet on pedals]

We ride under the overpass near the 24 freeway. In red paint, “STOP DRIVING” is tagged on the wall followed by “STOP FUKUSHIMA.” On the dirt along the sidewalk, there is a vacant pink and blue children’s play car near a pile of soiled blankets, fabrics and trash. There is life here.

[cut]



[SOUND: something instrumental like “Kids” Devonté Hynes]

We see a brown person in a hospital bed waking up. Presence gently returning to their body. Nerve by nerve. Limb by limb. They slowly place their hands across the center of their chest - one at a time. They rest on top of one another like the spreading of butterfly wings. Their hands and fingers pulsate in and out like slow motion flutters. Their eyes are still closed. We see them breathing. We see them. Breathing. Their head surrenders and falls down to their chest in an embodied prayer.

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