SYNOPSIS:

JOHN and MARY are in heaven. Fifteen years married, they have just consummated this Friday evening and lie now as one in each other’s arms. The ringing telephone shatters the serenity of the moment. Mary answers despite John’s plea, and good thing she does; her sister GRACE’S indoor cat has wandered outside. Being the Angel that she is, Mary agrees to join the search party. Knowing how she hates driving at night in the rain, John offers to chauffeur. It is Friday, after all, with no alarm clock come morning, Simultaneously, outside a Bar near where Mary’s sister lives, an enabling husband CHARLIE (“don’t call me Charles”) rescues his “spoiled brat” and drunken wife, RITA from driving home. Both cars arrive at the intersection at the same time. Only one from each vehicle survives. Elsewhere, BERNICE is caught in bed with her Girlfriend FRANCINE (aka Frankie) by “Bernie’s” HUSBAND who determinedly beats the interloper to death. EVA escapes her husband SONNY’S mistreatment but subsequently loses her home and the guilt-ridden Abuser in flames that might have been intentionally set. THE BEREAVEMENT GROUP in which the four Survivors will meet for eight weeks is facilitated by NATHANIEL, a gentle man humbled by life’s “unfortunate circumstances” with the loss of his wife five years before. Since no two Survivors handle such dramatic change with equal aplomb, there will be many variables that contribute to their lives following this trauma each has faced. Bernice battles drug addiction which makes finding and keeping a job for this former Police Officer nearly impossible. Erroneously ascribing to a business as usual approach, Charlie buries his pain in denial. Eva moves in to live with Mary, the Earthly Angel who needs her new young friend equally as they assist each other in staying the course necessary to spiritual fulfillment. “Crossing over” at varying degrees of ascension, acquiring skills like Centering, Reincarnation and Being Omniscient in order to “communicate” with their bereaved Survivors, the “Above” pending Angels discover the process to be more Soul than Will while learning to believe in here and now for answers to the perennial question, Why. It is a tender tale of love and serendipity, promise and hope, and the Grace of gratitude for life’s moments, however often painful, there is always much more still to learn.

ABOVE & BEYOND