Thesis Treatment (First Draft)

The High Five Apprentice

Chet is sitting on a bus station bench in a dull, grubby city. Everything is in a charcoal-ish black and white style. He's on the phone with his wife after getting fired from his job. She says she’s leaving the apartment and hangs up. Meanwhile, an alley cat (who’s coloured yellow, even in the human world) lays about in the background, cleaning itself.

Chet, in his defeated state buries his face in his hands, wondering what will become of him. All of a sudden, someone blurts out “HIGH FIVE!” startling Chet. He looks around to find the yellow alley cat, Blotto, with his hand raised. “Don’t leave me hangin’!” he says.

Rather stunned by the presence of a talking feline, Chet doesn’t respond, convincing himself that his melancholy has driven him into a hallucinogenic state of mind. Blotto offers him another high five. Once again, Chet doesn’t pay attention. Blotto then proclaims he’s the Cat-God of High Fives, and says that a high five would make him feel better. Chet just says Blotto isn’t real.

Blotto transforms into a scary, demented version of himself and pins Chet against the bench; he assures him of the fact that he’s very real, and then swallows Chet in one mouthful.

Chet wakes up to find Blotto (returned to his regular form) sitting opposite him. Blotto informs him that he’s in the Realm of High Fives. Chet is still in black and white, but the whole world around him is in beautiful, trippy colour… it’s some sort of high five paradise located in space, with lush fields of green, broad starscapes and lots of open palmed hands.

Blotto reveals that he has chosen Chet to be his High Five Apprentice; his new responsibility is to spread the joy of high fives, and thus bring richness to his world. Chet is reluctant and wants to go home; either way, Blotto forces Chet into an It’s-a-Wonderful-Life type journey. He brings up floating screens that show footage of countless people talking on phones or on their computers, and comments on the fact that because of all this technology, people have lost the ability to communicate on a more physical, personal level. Blotto says that small gestures, such as high fives, can mean a lot more than an email or phone call.

Chet, folding his arms, still won’t accept the ‘offer’; Blotto, still determined, mentions Chet’s struggles such as his bad job, failing marriage and overall sense of depression, and how it’s linked with his disconnection to the world. To show an example, Blotto transports Chet through a vortex into his childhood/adolescence. As the two move through past memories, Chet finds that the most meaningful parts of his life involved personal contact with other people a.k.a first kiss, playing with siblings, shaking hands at graduation, and holding hands with his dying mother. When Chet sees his past self holding her mother's hand on her deathbed, he calls out to her before being sucked back into the vortex.

After returning to the High Five Realm, Chet agrees to become the apprentice. In order to be sent home, all Blotto needs is a high five. After a couple failed attempts (Chet’s never high-fived before) Chet and Blotto finally make a very epic high five that results in colour finally restoring to Chet’s body, quite literally. Afterwards, he faints, and lands on the pavement next to the bus stop bench. He’s also back to black and white.

When he wakes up, a little girl, Eve, is standing with her mother waiting for the bus. At first, Chet thinks he was dreaming, but then notices an image of an open palm burnt onto his wrist. Below reads ‘Believe in the Five’. Chet turns to face Eve… after an awkward pause, he raises his hand and says ‘High Five!’ For a moment, she does nothing, but then happily takes to the offer, and they both high five. Her mother, giving Chet a mean look, drags Eve onto an arriving bus. Eve sits at the window and presses her palm against the bus window. Chet smiles and waves. Eve’s palm turns skin-colored, while Chet’s hand does the same. The bus leaves.

THE END