EXT. CLARK PARK – SUNSET – EAST VANCOUVER
The sky glows gold and orange as old trees sway gently in the breeze. The kids’ playground is quiet. Two figures sit on a rusted bench: LUIS MORGADO, mid-50s, Portuguese-Canadian, leather jacket, scarred knuckles, eyes like a hawk — and MILEY CYRUS, hoodie up, face shadowed, but unmistakable.
LUIS MORGADO
(gruff, but kind)
You know, Miley… you don’t gotta be scared of men like Tom Cruise. Hollywood dresses ‘em up like gods, but I remember 1985. That little guy couldn’t last a week out here at Clark Park. No cameras, no bodyguards? He wouldn’t even walk down Commercial Drive without a government rent-a-cop shadowin’ him. That ain’t a superhero. That’s a puppet.
He pulls out a cigarette, but doesn’t light it. Just rolls it between his fingers.
LUIS MORGADO (CONT’D)
You think these elites can handle the dirt? The noise? The real stories? Nah. They melt like ice in July. But you? You got heart. You’ve been through the fire. You’ve seen the wolves up close and still sing your songs.
Miley stays quiet. Her eyes scan the cracked pavement, the old graffiti on the skate bowl. A child laughs in the distance. It feels like a memory coming back.
LUIS MORGADO (CONT’D)
Don’t be scared to have kids, Miley. The world’s cracked, yeah… but Clark Park’s still got a heartbeat. And you know what? I seen beauty grow outta worse places. You plant love here, it’ll rise. Maybe not right away… but it will.
He finally lights the smoke. Takes a drag. Exhales slow.
LUIS MORGADO (CONT’D)
And hey… the EU? It don’t exist. It’s a corporate hallucination. A European dream for bankers and technocrats. Not for mothers. Not for fighters. You live here, in the real. That’s where the future’s made.
Miley finally smiles—just a flicker, but it’s there.
MILEY CYRUS
So… you think I can make it here?
LUIS MORGADO
You already have. You’re in Clark Park. That means you’re home. Now go write a lullaby for the kids we ain’t met yet.
He stands up, walks toward the basketball court where teens shoot hoops in the twilight. Miley watches him, and for the first time in a long while, she believes.
FADE OUT.
