Plot
A superstitious young woman who depends on luck and fortune to make decisions, finds an astrology machine that gives her conflicting advice.
Cast
- Ronee Blakely as Cassie Pines
- Justin Deas as Heat Jones
- Ann Hillary as Wanda Sue
- Bill Fiore as Horace X
- Paul Sparer as Narrator
Plot
Act I
Cassie disembarks from a bus and is talking to the bus driver as she enters the station. She remarks on the fact that they were the only two people on the whole bus, he being a Virgo and she being an Aries. She asks him to let her know when the bus is fueled up.
Upon entering the bus terminal, Cassie sees someone vacuuming in the distance. She makes comments about the cracks in the floor and almost steps under an open ladder, but she catches herself first. As she is looking at the magazines, the lady in the bus terminal lets Cassie know that she has a fifteen minute wait for the next bus. Cassie remarks that she was on that bus for twelve hours already and is waiting for it to fuel up. She headed south on a recommendation from her psychic adviser. Her adviser, the prophet Madam X, whom she spoke to twelve hours ago, told Cassie she would meet the love of her life in Lubbock, TX.
Cassie asks the lady at the terminal if she is in love, and the lady confirms that she is married and she and her husband own the bus terminal. Cassie orders some food and mentions to the cashier that she really loves all-beef hot dogs and used to love a man who loved all-beef hot dogs. Cassie takes an apple and twists the stem while reciting the alphabet. The stems comes off at H and she starts wondering what H names her true love may have.
When Cassie gets her food, she asks if it is all right if she pays in quarters. She says that she keeps her money in quarters in case she finds an astrological machine that she consults. The lady at the counter verifies that Cassie is talking about a machine and while Cassie goes on, she goes over to a bubble-wrapped item against the wall and begins to unwrap it. At first Cassie is dismissive of the machine until she mentions to the lady that the machine is the Prophet Madam X. Cassie pays attention, however, when she is told the prophet at the bus station is called Horace X.
Cassie walks over to Horace X and is surprised. Being the son of prophet Madam X, Horace X is supposedly everything Madame X is and more. Cassie steps up to Horace X. Cassie relays all of the information about herself and Horace X allows her to put her hands on his screen. Contradicting Madam X, Horace X tells Cassie that she has reached her destination and if she continues to Texas, danger would be awaiting her there. Horace shuts down and Cassie is visibly upset.
Act II
Cassie steps back up on Horace X to give him information. Horace informs her that he remembers her and that she is on an Aries cusp. She tells Horace X that twelve hours ago Madam X told her to go to Lubbock, Texas to meet a tall Sagittarius. Horace instructs Cassie to put her hands on his screen and to press harder. When she does, Horace confirms that Cassie will take a journey, but insists that it will only happen when the time is right. When Cassie says that she thought Horace X may have made a mistake, Horace shocks Cassie. She steps back, apologizing for offending Horace. Horace begins to brokenly repeat that he is the son and heir of Madam X and appears to be short circuiting.
When Horace calms down, he tells Cassie that it is his birthday. Cassie then tells Horace that she has to ask him a question. Horace informs Cassie that his mother, Madam X, told him about her. Cassie is concerned about angering Horace, but she still asks him if she can consult another source. When he seems upset, Cassie turns to try to determine where the bus driver is.
The lady who owns the bus terminal brings Cassie a drink and tells Cassie that she is going home. She tells Cassie to not worry about locking the door, as she never locks it herself. The lady leaves and Cassie sits down to have a cup of tea. She explains to Horace how she never clicks with men, but that Madam X gave her hope by insisting that she would meet someone. She tries to let him know how important it is that she get to Texas.
Cassie begins to swirl the tea leaves around in her tea and tells Horace that she sees an airplane in the tea leaves. Her happiness quickly fades, though, when she sees more tea leaves that take the form of a hatchet. As the time for the bus to leave gets closer, Cassie begins to worry more about what she should do. She looks for her deck of cards and places several of them face down on a counter. She then takes a coin, closes her eyes, and drops the coin onto one of the cards. The coin lands tails side on top of a card that she flips over and reveals as the three of hearts. Cassie says that tails on a three recommends caution.
Cassie hears the bus honking. She gets back on Horace and tells him it is her last chance and asks if she can get on the bus. Horace asks Cassie if she wants him to lie to her. So Cassie sends the bus driver on his way, telling him that she received a message to remain at the bus stop. As soon as the bus leaves, Cassie returns to Horace and feeds him more quarters. She asks if she will be able to take the next bus so she still may be able to get to Lubbock by midnight. Horace instructs Cassie to put her hands on his screen again and when she does, Horace is very hot. Rather than answer Cassie's question about the bus, Horace tells Cassie that someone is coming. He further warns Cassie to beware of false prophets, which insinuates that the information Madam X gave Cassie was incorrect. Cassie wonders if Horace saved her life. Horace again warns her to beware of false prophets and he shuts down leaving Cassie confused as to what he is talking about.
As Cassie steps off Horace X, a man dressed as a priest is standing by her. He takes off his hat and says "Well, hi there pretty lady."
Act III
The priest begins talking to Cassie by telling her how it is dark outside. He makes several references, both real and metaphorical, about how the darkest moments take place right before the brightest moments. Nervously, Cassie tells him that if he meant to catch the bus that it is already gone. The priest however tells Cassie he was driving by and felt compelled to go into the bus stop. Complimenting Cassie, he tosses his hat onto her head. He gives his name as Heat Jones and tells Cassie that he is the founder and pastor of the Moment to Moment Church.
Heat puts his hand on Cassie's forehead and makes comments to her about living in the present. She doesn't heed his comments, however, and just assumes that he did not hear her about the bus leaving. Heat continues to talk about he and Cassie sharing moments. Cassie begins to look interested, but simply repeats the bus schedule to Heat. Heat tells Cassie that he does not think about the future and he lives only in the now. He asks Cassie if she wants to share another moment, to which Cassie replies that she does not. Heat takes Cassie in her arms and bends her backwards over his arm as if he was about to kiss her. While complimenting Cassie, a red light in Horace X begins to blink and she asks to please be let up. Heat obliges.
Once Cassie is standing upright again, she tells Heat to not bend her over again. Heat takes this exchange as being another moment and walks towards Cassie, remarking on how they have both shared three wonderful moments already. Cassie tries to fix herself up and tells Heat that she wants him to keep his moments to himself.
While Cassie is fixing her makeup, Heat decides to try and guess her name. He tries "Lassie" and "Patsy" first before asking her if her name is "Cassie". When she confirms this, Heat reintroduces himself and puts his arms around an annoyed Cassie. She tells Heat she knows who he is and he immediately assumes he is famous. Cassie, however, corrects him that she knows Heat is the false prophet she had been warned about.
Heat becomes annoyed with Cassie and insists that since he is not concerned with the future that he cannot be a false prophet. He repeats that he is only concerned with the present. Cassie tells Heat that Horace X warned her about him and also told her to not take the last bus. Heat gives Horace a soft kick and Horace's red light comes on. Since Heat is not facing Horace, he does not notice. Cassie says that the bus she was supposed to have gotten on exploded and Horace saved her life by keeping her from getting back onto the bus. Heat, however, insists that the bus never blew up and that all Cassie saw was lightning. He tells Cassie that if a bus exploded, she would have seen lights and heard sirens as the police went to the scene of the accident. Heat says that all Cassie saw was lightning, which was a natural reaction of nature to Heat's animal magnetism.
Heat mentions that it is his birthday and that meeting Cassie is his birthday present. Cassie tells Heat that she is supposed to be going to Texas to meet a man on his birthday and Heat insists that it is silly to go to Texas when she has a birthday boy right there with her. Horace's lights flash as he tells Heat that he saw Cassie first. Heat doesn't realize at first that the voice is coming from Horace. When he tries to kiss Cassie, Horace talks again and Cassie pushes Heat away, telling him that she has to talk to Horace.
Heat backs away with an annoyed look as Cassie steps up to Horace and begins to introduce herself. Horace interrupts Cassie and tells her that he knows it is her. As Cassie puts her hands on Horace, Heat comes up behind her and puts his hands on her waist. Cassie tells Heat she has to know what to do next. This angers Heat and he picks Cassie up in his arms, repeating that there is no next and to not concern herself with the future. Cassie counters Heat by saying that if there is no next, then there is no point in there being a now.
Horace interjects, telling Cassie to not listen to lies. Heat then puts Cassie back down on her feet. As Cassie goes back to Horace, Horace and Heat begin to argue. Cassie tells Heat that he should go somewhere else to spread his lies. Heat finally begins to understand that Cassie has her trust in Horace and he finds it odd that she believes a machine over him. Cassie insists that Horace is a "voice-activated genius." Cassie tells Heat that she likes Horace because Horace tells her what happens next. Heat, on the other hand, continues to insist that the present is all that is important and that the future doesn't exist.
Not being able to understand why Cassie enjoys a machine more than himself, Heat becomes irritated and lifts Cassie off Horace and sets her down on a table. Cassie pleads with Heat to be left alone, but Heat refuses to concede Cassie to a machine. Heat walks up to Horace and tries to touch Horace, but Horace tells Heat to stay away from him. Heat turns away for a moment, before trying to touch Horace again. Heat tries to attack Horace, but Horace forces Heat to put his hands on Horace's screen instead. Horace begins to electrocute Heat, much to Cassie's dismay. She pleads with Horace to stop and manages to pry an unconscious Heat off of Horace.
While Heat is lying on the floor, Cassie remarks that he sure is handsome for a Sagittarius. Horace then begins calling Cassie over to him. As Cassie gets up, Horace repeats to her that it is his birthday and he is the Sagittarius that Madam X had talked about. Cassie asks Horace to tell her if Heat really was a false prophet. Horace simply instructs Cassie to put her hands on him, which she does. Horace begins emitting a blue light and tells Cassie that he told his mother that Cassie did not have to go all the way to Texas. Cassie's eyes flutter as the lights continue to flash.
Act IV
Heat regains consciousness. He doesn't realize where he is at first but realizes that he did lose a few moments. Wind is blowing through the bus terminal as Heat crawls around and looks for Cassie. He crawls over a pile of ashes on the floor shaped like a human outline. Heat keeps asking for Cassie to tell him where she is. As Heat looks up at Horace X, he hears Cassie calling for help.