Adam feeling like a fool drives up the dark, winding canyon road. As he nears the top of the canyon the residential area gives way to desert brush. The road winds steeply up to a dark dead end where an old barn and stable sit. Adam parks in a little dirt lot and walk up past the barn to the corral. His eyes grow accustomed to the dark and he.looks about. No one is around. There's only a light wind and a few twinkling stars in the sky above. Suddenly some bare bulbs hanging from the corral gate flare up. Adam hears a noise in the brightness and turns. There walking toward him into the light is the Cowboy - dressed in clean blue denim jeans, well-oiled unscuffed, beautifully engraved cowboy boots, a red embroidered ivory buttoned cowboy shirt complete with string tie. Atop the Cowboy's head is a 10 X white Stetson. The Cowboy is smiling warmly as he approaches. He stops in front of Adam and begins to speak with a true, slow Western drawl.
COWBOY Howdy!
ADAM Howdy to you.
COWBOY Beautiful night.
ADAM Yeah.
COWBOY Sure want to thank ya for drivin' all the way up to see me from that Beverly Hills Hotel.
ADAM No problem. What's on your mind?
COWBOY Well now, here's a man who wants to get right to it. Kinda anxious to get to it are ya?
ADAM Whatever.
COWBOY A man's attitude ... a man's attitude goes some ways toward how a man's life will be. Is that somethin' you agree with?
ADAM Sure.
COWBOY Now... did you answer cause you thought that's what I wanted to hear or did you think about what I said and answer cause you truly believe that to be right?
ADAM I agree with what you said...truly.
COWBOY What did I say?
ADAM That a man's attitude determines to a large extent how his life will be.
COWBOY So since you agree I guess you could be a person who does not care about the good life.
ADAM How's that?
COWBOY Well, just stop for a little second and think about it. Will ya do that for me?
ADAM Okay, I'm thinking.
COWBOY No. You're too busy being a smart aleck to be thinkin'. Now I want ya to think and quit bein' such a smart aleck. Can ya do that for me?
ADAM Look ... where's this going? What do you want me to do?
COWBOY There's sometimes a buggy. How many drivers does a buggy have?
ADAM One.
COWBOY So let's just say I'm drivin' this buggy and you fix your attitude and you can ride along with me.
ADAM Okay.
COWBOY Now I know a few things. I know you have had a rough day. You're probably thinkin' I don't know the half of it, but in actual fact I know every part of it. The business of gittin' thrown off your movie, the heartache of seeing your wife with another man... losin' access to that precious film vault...
Adam suddenly looks stunned, unsure.
COWBOY (cont'd) ... realizin' you don't have hardly a nickel to your name and then add on to that the sickenin' feeling some men are gonna catch you and hurt you bad for bustin' their vehicle. Some days are like that. They are rough, but what will tomorrow bring? Will it be better than today? The same ... or worse? A lot of that is up to us individually. Up to us and our attitude. When the Castigliane brothers said "This is no longer your film," they meant it, but they didn't mean you were not going to direct it. I want you to go back to work tomorrow. You were re-casting the lead actress anyway ... audition many girls for the part. When you see the girl that was shown to you earlier today, you will say " This is the girl." The rest of the cast can stay- that is up to you, but that lead girl is not up to you. Now, you will see me one more time if you do good. You will see me two more times if you do bad. Good night.
The Cowboy turns and walks until he is engulfed in darkness. Through the darkness Adam hears the sound of a car door opening and closing, then another opening and closing and then the sound of the car driving away. Adam walks up in the direction the Cowboy took, but he sees no sign of a car nor any dust nor any road. He goes back down past the barn and stables to his car. There standing by his Porsche is the Cowboy.
COWBOY (cont'd) You thinkin' this'll work out, cause I was thinkin' it just might.
ADAM It will work out.
COWBOY Good then, but, just in case, that bank's gonna stay closed a bit longer. You understand that?
ADAM I understand.
COWBOY You're an understandin' fella.
ADAM So, this is the last time I see you then unless I do bad?
COWBOY No, this one doesn't count. It's part of the original one. So then ... until we meet again.
ADAM Okay.
Adam gets in his car and drives off leaving the Cowboy smiling behind him.
