DEFYING GRAVITY - 250 WORD SYNOPSIS

Cassandra, a mute 16-year-old runaway, gets off the bus in Yermo, CA. 
A friendly but feisty transvestite waitress named Lola gives the 
disheveled traveler a free meal and clean clothes.

In Venice, CA, a homeless 20-year-old named Shore lives out of a 
broken-down VW minibus and builds rock towers at the beach. He 
appears happy-go-lucky, but he suffers from delusions.

Cassandra reaches her final destination: a Jewish cemetery in 
Los Angeles. As she steps off the bus and darts into the street, 
she is almost hit by Shore's VW bus. She drops her sketchpad 
and stuffed animal in the street, but like a frightened deer, 
bolts into the cemetery.

Cassandra is watched over by the kindly Hispanic gardener named 
Jorge. In his spare time, Jorge is committed to the restoration 
of a classic Cadillac hearse.

Shore returns to the cemetery, determined to befriend the mysterious 
waif who lives there. Cassandra refuses Shore's overtures of 
friendship, and their scuffle disrupts a funeral service. Jorge helps 
them flee the police in the back of his truck, and brings them to the 
protective care of an illegal immigrant family living in a canyon.

From that point Cass must depend on Shore for survival - until she 
gets lost once again. When Shore returns frantically to the cemetery 
looking for Cassandra, he and Jorge encounter a violent-tempered man 
named Lubitch. Shore and Jorge must find Cassandra before her abusive 
step-father does - and the only way to do this is in a stolen hearse.