A Monster Calls Page #13

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But she heads for the one last remaining display cabinet,

puts her hands behind it and takes one, two, three pushes to

send it crashing to the ground.

144.

She leans forward, gasping, ragged, her face broken with

anguish.

Then she leaves the sitting room without another word.

Conor stands there, beyond shocked.

145.

89-89A InT. grandma’s DRIVEWAY/upstairs - momenTS LATER 89-89A

Conor slowly approaches his Grandma’s loft (the locked one).

The light is on underneath the door. He can hear her in

there, weeping. He stays outside, not knowing what to do.

146.

90 InT. grandma’s guest room - the next morning 90

Conor lies awake in bed. It’s the morning after. It looks

like he hasn’t slept. He hears footsteps around the house,

then the front door slamming. He gets up.

147.

91 InT. grandma’s stairwell - momentS LATER 91

Conor comes slowly down the stairway, but the house seems to

be empty. He glances in the sitting room. Someone has made a

futile effort to clean it a bit. He heads into:

148.

92 InT. grandma’s kitchen - conTINUOUS 92

Where to his astonishment, Dad is cooking breakfast.

Dad

I know you like ‘em scrambled.

ConoR

What are you doing here?

DAD:

What do you think?

He motions for Conor to sit at the table, then dishes up two

plates, sets one in front of Conor and sits down himself.

They eat in silence, Conor just playing at his food.

Dad (CONT’D)

That was quite a mess you made.

Conor says nothing.

DAD (CONT’D)

She called me this morning. Very,

very early.

(beat, it’s not what we

expect)

Your mum’s taken a turn, Conor.

Your Grandma’s gone to hospital.

Conor looks up.

DAD (CONT’D)

We agreed I would drop you off at

school-

ConOR

School!? I want to see mum!

DAD:

It’s no place for a kid right now,

Conor. We’ll see how the day goes

and maybe we can visit for a little

while this afternoon.

Conor looks down at his breakfast, no longer hungry.

DaD (CONT’D)

Hey, remember what I said about you

being brave? Well, now’s the time

you have to do it, Con.

(nods to sitting room,

thoughtful)

I can see how upset you are.

ConOR

I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what

happened.

149.

DAD:

Worse things happen at sea.

ConOR

What do you mean? Aren’t you going

to punish me?

DaD

(sighing)

What could possibly be the point of

that, Con?

Conor looks surprised, perhaps even displeased. Dad watches

him look distraught.

Dad (CONT’D)

You know what? Maybe you don’t have

to go to school today.

150.

93 EXT. football pitch (AMUSEMENT PARK) - day - later 93

Conor and his Dad kick a football around, serious at first,

but then Conor starts to lighten up at his father’s teasing.

They laugh at their mistakes, cheer good moves. It’s a

montage of joy, a glimpse of the boy Conor actually is. Dad

is quite boyish, too. Dad scores a goal and celebrates like a

kid, hands over head, while Conor laughs.

Dad watches this closely, like he’s just realized that the

boy smiling before him is his son.

151.

94 EXT. carpark (AMUSEMENT PARK) - day - later 94

Conor sits in his Dad’s car while Dad is on a mobile phone

outside. We can’t hear Dad, but he doesn’t look very happy.

He hangs up, frustrated, gets back in the car.

ConoR

Is mum okay?

DaD

(blinks)

That was your stepmom back in LA.

And yeah, everything’s fine. Now,

we’ve got some cleaning up to do.

Conor doesn’t believe him as they pull away.

152.

95 InT. graNDMA’S SITTING ROOM - lATER 95

Conor and Dad put broken things into bin liners.

Dad

(amazed)

Gotta say, Champ, this is really

just amazingly thorough.

Conor doesn’t answer, just puts more trash in a bin liner. He

sees something, picks it up. It’s the torn image of his

nightmare drawing. He’s mesmerised by it.

Dad (o.S.) (CONT’D)

Ooh, buried treasure.

Conor turns to his father. He’s holding some old homemade

DVDs. He reads through the labels.

DAD (CONT’D)

It’s all those old home movies your

mum used to send to me of you when

I moved away. Guess your grandma

got copies, too.

He carefully sets them on the mantelpiece.

ConOR

(shy)

Why did you move away?

Dad sighs.

DAD:

You have no idea how young we were,

Con. We had all these dreams, big,

foolish ones that your grandma

didn’t approve of. And then... we

changed.

CONOR:

(beat, taking the blame)

Because mum got pregnant with me.

DAD:

(comforting)

Hey, hey, hey. You were only ever

good news. Your mum never regretted

having you. I know that for a fact.

(rueful smile)

Because she’s always saying how

much she regretted marrying me.

CONOR:

Why did she marry you then?

153.

DAD:

My devilish good looks. No, we had

a lot in common. Our lives, our

future. Your mum was amazing. Still

is.

(sighing)

But we grew apart. Your Grandma was

kind of supporting us then and

insisting we be more practical and

I... I was maybe less amazing than

I should have been. We were just so

young. Too young.

CONOR:

You didn’t get happily ever after.

DAD:

That’s life, though. Most of us

just get messily ever after.

Dad sees Conor’s torn drawing and picks it up, impressed.

Dad (CONT’D)

Even I’m happy you take after her.

(beat)

Shall we go see how things are at

the hospital?

154.

96-96A EXT./InT. hospitaL corridor - later 96-96A

Conor sits in the waiting area outside his Mum’s hospital

room. GRANDMA sits in a chair, pointedly away from Conor, not

looking at him. He doesn’t approach her.

The hospital room DOOR opens and a LAWYER steps out, putting

away some papers that Conor’s parents have clearly just

signed. DAD sees the Lawyer out the door, holds up a “one

second” finger to Conor. Closes the door.

Grandma stands as the Lawyer approaches. They clearly have

business together. Conor watches them go. Then he hears

voices arguing within the hospital room.

MuM (o.S.)

(muffled)

Bad show, Callum. Again.

Dad (o.S.)

(muffled)

You’re changing the argument,

Lizzie-

His curiosity getting the best of him, Conor rises, pushes

the door open and...

155.

97-97A InT. hosPITAL ROOM DOOR/ HOSPITAL ROOM - contINUOUS 97-97A

...they see Conor and stop, looking at him guiltily.

MuM

Hey there.

The room is filled with get-well cards and flowers. The anger

on his Mum’s face is quickly hidden behind an exhausted

smile. She’s clearly much sicker and weaker. Her voice is

heavier, as with a chest infection.

Conor pauses before entering, suspicious. He holds out the

coffee to his Dad, who takes it.

ConoR

Why is everyone yelling?

Mum gives Dad a look like “you tell him”.

DAD:

I’ve got some bad news, Con. I have

to fly back tomorrow.

CONOR:

The day after tomorrow? Why?

Dad

Remember when your step-mum called?

The baby’s sick. Probably nothing

serious, but Stephanie went a bit

crazy and took her to hospital...

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