I saw you first.

Actors:  John Travolta / Samuel L. Jackson / Tom Hanks / Ashley Judd.

Where:  New York City, USA. / Acapulco Mexico.

Subj:  reincarnation.

I saw you first - John Travolta/Samuel L. Jackson/Tom Hanks/Judd: A simple apprentice butcher in the Bronx. One day on the way to work, while waiting for the bus, he senses he is being watched.  Out of the corner of his eye, he can see two men pretending to converse with each other, take turns glancing in his direction.   Using the side mirror on a parked car, he calmly watches the lookers to make sure.  With his back turned to them, he sees them both look in his direction.  Still not sure,  and just when he thinks he's being paranoid, the bus pulls up, and after glancing in their direction, he steps  onto the bus. While walking to the rear of the bus, he bends ever so slightly just before sitting down.  Slyly he glances over his shoulder and out the rear window of the bus.  He can see the two men he thought were watching him, run across the street and get into a waiting black car. Panicked, he watches as the black sedan speeds into traffic and continues shadowing the bus. John is getting scared. Three blocks before the stop,  where he normally gets off the bus, he decides to exit the bus so the men following him can't find out where he works. He pulls the cord, and the bus stops.  He jumps out the open door, and into the bustling early morning crowd on their way to work.   He can't see the black sedan, but runs down an alley anyway.  He darts past dumpsters and trashcans on his way to work.  He passes through a store, down a street, and another alley which brings him to the back door of where he works, the butcher shop he is apprenticing at. Sweating profusely, and trying to catch his breath, he fumbles with the lock, then finally enters the shop and locks the door behind him. He sinks to the floor to hide and catch his breath. After about a half hour, nothing happens and as he relaxes, he begins to feel foolish.  He laughs to himself, and finally begins the mornings chores.  A few hours later, he opens the shop, but before unlocking the front door, and just in case, he coyly  looked out the front windows to see if anyone was there; he looks up and down the street...he can't see anybody out of the ordinary. Finally, the owner shows up and John tells his teacher the fantastic story.  Between the two of them John realizes how foolish he was and shrugs off the morning mystery. At noon, (break time) he steps out onto the sidewalk in front of the shop and while lighting a cigarette watches the bus he takes to work stop at his normal stoop across the street.  As the bus starts to pull away, John raises his head and looks up, to his amazement he sees a person sitting on the street side of the isle slowly turn his head. At that moment, John comes face to face with himself. He drops his cigarette and as the bus starts to pull away from the curb, the two of them just stare in disbelief at each other. The one on the buss is trying to stop the bus by pulling the cord and yelling, while John is running along side, out in the street,  as the bus pulls into traffic. John is banging on the sides of the bus as it pulls away. He can't keep up the pace.  Exhausted, he bends to his knees and slowly walks to the sidewalk as the bus pulls further and further away.  John takes a moment to gain his composure and rests for a minute while leaning against a brick building.  Unbeknownst to him,  the two men who he thought were watching him earlier, step out of an adjacent alley, grab his arms, and pull him in. Without so much as a word, they shove him in the back of the black car. A black bag is pulled over his head and he's told to shut up……………the cruiser pulls away.
    When the cruiser finally stops for good, Johns told to step out and the bag is removed from his head. He is standing with the two men inside a huge building. There are computers and electronic equipment humming and buzzing all around him. He is escorted to a meeting room, where he's told to sit down and wait. Finally, (Tom Hanks) and another person enters the room and asks if he wants something to drink, John declines. Tom swears him to secrecy and informs him that if he tells anyone what he himself is about to learn he will have to die.

He is told, there is life after death. The worlds governments have known it for some time. Unfortunately, a large problem arose when humans started living more than seventy five years. The next life was already coming and many more behind that one. A new life cycle starts about every seventy five years or so.  Unfortunately, as of late, the preceding person is living too long and not dieing, so the next life has already entered that persons cycle, and is on a collision course with the one who has not left. Kind of confusing, but you get the picture, don't you?  Hanks smiles and hands John a cigarette.  Up until this day, we have been pretty successful. It all depends on the way you look at it, but as I said, people are living longer than mother nature planned.  That's why the person you saw sitting on the bus, was you coming to work in a different cycle.  You saw you already at work and you saw yourself coming to work!  How's that for a riddle?

We picked the other you up down the street at the next bus stop.  He is getting the same spiel I'm giving you, only at a different command center.  We are deciding whether to let the two of you meet.  It has never happened before, and no one knows what will happen.  You can imagine what the other alternative is....can't you?   John stares in disbelief for a second or two before it sinks in....."You mean you will have to kill one of us?  Hanks smiles again and looks around the room before answering....."well maybe not that drastic....you see...there is no reason you can't live a fruitful life somewhere else...somewhere far enough from this place, the odds of the two of you ever meeting would be thousands to one.  Haven't you ever heard of the saying, "everyone has a twin somewhere"?  Well that's because of us.  If you do want to meet yourself....then we may have problems...!  You do get it, don't you, or am I spinning my wheels?

    John slowly raises his eyes to meet Hanks, where will I have to go?  Oh, you're going to be busy, your coming to work for us bucko!  Travolta can't believe his ears.  And if I don't ?  Hanks pauses for effect.....then we drop you anywhere we want to.....and believe me, you will never get back here!  We've been doing this for awhile, we're good at it!  Besides, did you really want to be a butcher?....smiles all around the room.  John was glad to see the big guy with the shoulder holster smiling as he leaned over the table and offered his hand to John.  My name is Lucky, glad to have you on-board.  I'll be your partner...(more smiles as John took his hand).  (Lucky is Samuel L. Jackson).

Hanks looks in John's direction and says....there's plenty of time for questions...Lucky will fill you in, but just for now, I'll give you one...!  John pauses as the whole room looks his way, and finally says  "you mean to tell me, everyone that has died is still here, just not in this location, not in this exact time?"  Hanks looks at the faces surrounding the room and smiles, 'you're getting the picture, but it's not that simple'....I can tell, I'm a good judge of people, you're going to have fun with this....' and with that 'we'll see you two tomorrow..

The first case:  Lucky and John are standing across the street in a rough looking, middle class neighborhood.  A young white woman exits a tenement; Lucky was the first to speak, "she's our first assignment" motioning to the young woman (Ashley Judd) as she walks down the concrete steps and on to the sidewalk.  What's her problem asks John.  She doesn't think her son has died, because she is telling neighbors she's seen him.  Seen him where, asks John.  Wd don't know, that's what we need  to find out.  She's a smart cookie.  Problem is,   we know her son has arrived, but guess what, we  can't find him.! There was some mix up.  We're usually pretty good at predicting when and where the next one will be.  He didn't show.  That means he entered somewhere else.  Simply said, the kid is not where he is suppose to be.  Where did you think he is suppose to be?  He was suppose to be speaking Mexican and begging in the streets, three thousand miles from here!  And that's where the rub comes in.....she was also three thousand miles from here when he arrived!  John gives Lucky a quick glance and turns to see the woman duck into a waiting cab.  We think she may have hidden him....... or worse, kidnapped him and may be trying to smuggle him into this country. Those border patrol guys don't fool around!  The two of them run to their waiting cruiser and enter traffic to follow the speeding yellow cab.....

to be continued...RJ

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