A Monster Calls Page #12

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137.

84 ExT. seCOND TALE HILLTOP - night - conTINUOUS 84

The parsonage is now a drab and grey place.

MonSTER (V.O.)

But then the parson’s daughters

were struck by a terrible sickness.

Figures move in the windows of the parsonage. Night passes.

MonSTER (V.O.)

Nothing the parson did helped. No

prayer, no cure from the more

modern doctors, nothing made them

better. There was no choice but to

approach the Apothecary.

The Parson steps sadly out onto his doorstep.

138.

85 ExT. seconD TALE apothecary’s hovel - night - conTINUOUS 85

The Parson is on his knees before the Apothecary, in front of

the Apothecary’s hovel.

MonSTER (v.O.)

“Will you not help my daughters?”

the Parson begged. “Will you not

save two innocent girls?”

The Apothecary stands over the Parson haughtily.

MoNSTER (V.O.)

“Why should I?” said the

Apothecary. “You have driven away

my business with your preachings,

and you have refused me the yew

tree, my best source of healing.”

The Apothecary walks away. The Parson chases him.

MonSTER (V.O.)

“You may have the yew tree,” said

the Parson. “I will preach sermons

in your favour. I will do anything

if you would only save my

daughters.”

The Apothecary stops, surprised.

MonSTER (V.O.)

“You would give up everything you

believed in?” said the Apothecary.

“If it would save them,” said the

Parson, “I would give up

everything.”

The Apothecary turns and enters his house.

MoNSTER (v.O.)

“Then there is nothing I can do to

help you,” said the Apothecary.

The Apothecary’s door closes on the Parson.

ConOR (v.O.)

(shocked)

What?

We pull back from the Apothecary’s hovel to...

139.

86 ExT. seconD TALE HILLTOP (TBC YARD) - day - conTINUOUS 86

...the parsonage, where the Parson and his wife stand over

two new graves.

MonSTER (v.O.)

The very next day, both of the

parson’s daughters died.

ConOR (V.O.)

WHAT?

MoNSTER (V.O.)

And that night, I came walking.

140.

87 ExT. second tale hilltop fringe (STUDIO) - night - continuous

87

Conor and the Monster still watching the tale.

CONOR:

Good! He deserves all the

punishment he gets!

MONSTER:

Indeed. It was shortly after

midnight that I tore the Parson’s

home from its very foundations.

The Monster shockingly STEPS INTO THE TALE, becoming sytlized

along with it. Conor watches him walk down the path to the

Parson’s house.

CoNOR

(shocked)

The Parson?!

The Monster starts destroying the parsonage, tearing off its

roof and flinging it down the hill, sending the PARSON and

HIS WIFE fleeing in terror.

Conor is outraged.

ConoR (CONT’D)

What are you doing?

The Monster knocks down a wall.

MONSTER:

When times were easy, the Parson

nearly destroyed the Apothecary

with his belifs. But when his

daughters were sick, he was willing

to sacrifice every belief to save

them.

CONOR:

So? So would everybody! What did

you expect him to do?

MONSTER:

I would have expected him to give

the Apothecary the yew tree when he

first asked.

ConOR

(surprised)

You’d have let yourself be killed?

The Monster destroys another bit of the parsonage.

MONSTER:

It would have saved many lives,

including the Parson’s daughters.

141.

Conor

But the Apothecary was evil!

MONSTER:

He was greedy and rude, but he was

still a healer. The Parson? What

was he? A man who thought he

believed, but was actually too weak

to hold on to anything worth

believing in.

The Monster topples a chimney.

MONSTER (CONT’D)

Belief is half of all healing.

Belief in the cure, belief in the

future that awaits.

(to Conor)

Your belief is valuable, so you

must be careful where you put it.

And in whom.

Beat, as the Monster gets a mischievous look.

MoNSTER (CONT’D)

Tell me, Conor O’Malley. What shall

I destroy next?

ConOR

(beat, bewildered)

What?

The Monster kicks down a wall.

MONSTER:

It is most satisfying, I assure

you. Come on! Tell me!

Conor hesitates, still unsure.

MonSTER (CONT’D)

What should I destroy? I await your

command.

Conor hesitates again.

ConOR

(confused)

Snap the chimney!

MONSTER:

The chimney!

The Monster unhesitatingly knocks over what remains of the

fireplace. Conor steps closer. That felt interesting.

MoNSTER (CONT’D)

Next!

142.

ConOR

Throw away their beds.

MoNSTER

The beds!

The Monster reaches into the house and flings the beds nearly

to the horizon. Conor begins to feel liberated.

CONOR:

Smash their furniture!

The Monster stomps on the parsonage’s furniture.

CONOR (CONT’D)

Break their windows!

The Monster doesn’t, but steps back and gestures to the

window as if in invitation.

MoNSTER

Windows? Break them yourself, come

on!

Conor gets an excited smile and picks up a large fallen

branch and RUNS DOWN THE PATH TO THE PARSONAGE, turning into

a STYLIZED VERSION OF HIMSELF, joining the destruction.

We remain VERY CLOSE on Conor as he smashes one window and

then another, his face blazing with excitement and fury.

MoNSTER (CONT’D)

Harder! Harder, Conor O’Malley!

Come on! That’s it! That’s it! Yes!

Hard as steel, Conor O’Malley!

Feels good, doesn’t it? Again!

But the lights are slowly changing, darkening as he continues

smashing, the landscape and Conor becoming less stylized.

Until he takes one last ferocious swing, flinging the branch

away with a cry, spinning around...

143.

88 InT. granDMA’S SITTING ROOM - nighT - conTINUOUS 88

...he’s back in his Grandma’s sitting room.

Where he’s destroyed nearly everything. The settee is in

pieces, the side tables broken, the glass display cabinets

shattered, papers strewn from the bookcase.

Worst is the CLOCK. Knocked over and broken into pieces

almost beyond recognition.

Conor is ankle-deep in rubble.

ConOR

Oh, no. No, no, no.

And then, almost before he can compute it, there’s worse: his

Grandma’s car pulls up outside.

He freezes. The lights from her car shine behind the sitting

room curtains, then turn off. He hears her door open.

There’s nowhere for him to run, not a single thing he can do

except follow the sound of her coming up the front steps,

turning her key in the lock, coming in through the front

door, down the hallway and-

She enters her sitting room. Before she registers anything,

her unguarded face is serious and worried.

But then she looks up.

GRANDMA:

What-

She looks slowly around the room, her face in ever-growing

horror, her mouth open. She leans down and picks up a piece

of her beloved clock.

We wait for the apocalypse. But then her face changes. She

puts a palm over her mouth as if to try and stop sound from

coming out. Then she slaps a second hand over it.

But she can’t help it. A horrible, anguished keening escapes

from her. And again. This is much worse than her being angry.

CONOR:

(wary)

Grandma?

Grandma takes her hands away from her mouth and she screams.

It’s wordless and furious. She screams again, stepping into

the sitting room. Conor thinks she might going to attack him

and surprisingly, puts up his fists, ready to fight-

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