FADE IN:

1 INT. JAKE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - CLOSE ON ALARM CLOCK - 1
PREDAWN (4:59 AM)

In a Santa Clarita housing tract. It's dark.

WIDER ANGLE

Eyes glisten in the clock's shine, patiently watching the time.

BZZZZ! The ALARM SOUNDS. A hand that's been hovering over the clock drops. Silence. JAKE HOYT, a fit young man, rolls over, throws an arm over his sleeping wife --

JAKE
It's time.

-- she's not there, just empty blankets. He sits up, sporting a scraggly goatee, his hair growing out.

HIS POV

Lisa, his wife, in a rocking chair in the corner.

BACK TO SCENE

Jake is surprised. How'd she sneak off?