A Monster Calls Page #14

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He falters.

CONOR:

Are you coming back?

DAD:

(firmly)

Yes. Yes, I am. Sunday after next,

so not even two weeks.

(beat)

Your grandma’s paying for the

ticket. Which is... fun.

Mum laughs, despite herself. She makes eyes for Dad to leave.

DaD (CONT’D)

I’m going to see about finding some

food. You want anything, sport?

ConOR

I want you to stop calling me

“sport”.

Dad laughs. Mum laughs, too, then coughs. It sounds ugly. Dad

makes his exit to let them talk.

156.

Mum pats the bed for him to sit. Conor does. She ruffles his

hair. He notices the tubes and bruises on her arm.

Mum

I know. Not my favourite way to

spend a day either.

ConOR

Are you okay? What happened this

morning?

Mum

I had a bit of a bad reaction,

sweetheart. Not what they were

hoping for.

Here it is. Here’s the bad news. But once again-

MUM (CONT’D)

(forced brightness)

But there’s one more thing they’re

going to try, a medicine that’s had

some good results.

ConoR

Why didn’t they try it before?

Mum

Well, this is something you take

when the normal stuff hasn’t worked

the way they want it to.

CONOR:

(carefully)

Does that mean it’s too late?

MUM:

(quickly, firmly)

No, Conor. Don’t think that. It’s

not too late. It’s never too late.

CONOR:

Are you sure?

MUM:

(smiling)

I believe every word I say.

CONOR:

(to himself)

“Belief is half of healing.”

MUM:

(surprised)

Well, yeah, I suppose it is.

Beat, as perhaps something important’s been left unsaid. Mum

plays with his hair again.

157.

Mum (CONT’D)

Oh, and here’s something. You know

that tree behind our house I’m

always prattling on about?

Conor freezes, comically. Mum coughs, again ugly, leans back

on the bed.

MUM (CONT’D)

Well, if you can believe it, this

drug is actually made from trees

like that.

ConOR

It is?

MuM

Yeah, I know. All this time, we

could have just chopped the damn

thing down.

(laughs)

Well, not that one. That one’s

almost like a friend.

Conor’s face shows a growing revelation. Could this be the

reason? Is it too much to hope for? He looks up at the room

clock. It’s 4.15. Clockface morphs into...

158.

98 InT. graNDMA’S guest ROOM - that night 98

...another, smaller clock on the wall of Grandma’s guest

room. Conor watches it with enormous IMPATIENCE. It ticks

through 12.06 and 45 seconds. 12.06 and 55 seconds.

ConoR

Come on, come on.

Click, 12.07. Conor THROWS back the blankets and RUNS out of

bed.

159.

99-100 ExT. grandMA’S BACK GARDEN - seconds later

99-100

Conor RUNS out into his Grandma’s back garden.

ConOR

(demanding)

Where are you?

MonSTER (O.S.)

I am here.

With a breeze tousling Conor’s hair, the Monster steps from

the darkness over his Grandma’s office in one easy motion. He

stands above Conor, huge as ever.

ConOR

So can you do it? Can you make her

better?

The Monster sighs and in what we can see is an extraordinary

action, SITS DOWN, all its weight on the roof of Grandma’s

office. The wood moans. Conor winces, but it holds.

MoNSTER

It is not up to me.

CONOR:

Why not? You said the yew tree was

a tree of healing.

MONSTER:

It is. If your mother can be

healed, the yew tree will do it.

CONOR:

Is that a yes?

MonSTER

You still don’t know why you called

me. It’s not as if I do this every

day, Conor O’Malley.

CONOR:

I didn’t call you. And even if I

did, it was obviously for my mum.

MONSTER:

Was it?

CONOR:

Why else? To listen to idiotic

stories that make no sense?

MONSTER:

It is not time yet for the Third

Tale. But soon.

(MORE)

160.

MONSTER (CONT'D)

And after that, you will tell me

your story, Conor O’Malley. You

will tell me your truth.

CONOR:

For God’s sake, not this again-

The Monster leans suddenly forward.

MOnSTER

You know of what I speak.

Conor looks up as the SOUNDS FROM HIS NIGHTMARE start. The

camera spins around him as the scene melts away. The walls of

the garden grow blacker, the sounds of screaming start to

rise, dust and debris flying around him.

ConOR

No! No, not this!

The wind rising. The distant SCREAMING is heard (”Conor!”)-

ConOR (CONT’D)

No! Please!

The garden is suddenly as it was before. Conor is shaken.

ConOR (CONT’D)

That’s not my truth. That’s just a

nightmare.

MonSTER

Nevertheless, this is what will

happen after the third tale.

The Monster stands. Grandma’s office groans in relief.

CONOR:

I want to know what’s going to

happen with my mum.

MONSTER:

Do you not know already?

The Monster steps back over Grandma’s office. It’s leaving.

CONOR:

Wait!

MONSTER:

You waste the precious time that is

given you!

CONOR:

If you’re a tree of healing, then I

need you to heal!

161.

MONSTER:

And so I shall.

A huge MURMURATION OF STARLINGS appears over the horizon and

surround the Monster. With a last look, the Monster LEAKS

AWAY into them, flying away.

Conor holds up his hands to block the flutter of wings, then

all is quiet.

162.

101-101AInT. grandma’s stairway/ TV ROOM - moments latER 101-101A

Conor has re-entered the house to go back to bed. He pauses

on the stairway because he HEARS A TV ON - and what might be

his own voice on it.

Outside his Grandma’s TV room, the TV noises are louder,

including his own muffled voice and his mum’s. He puts his

ear against the wood to try and hear. He thinks about going

in, but is too afraid to disturb Grandma.

163.

102 InT. grandma’s car/GRANDMA’S STREET - morning 102

Door slamming as Conor gets in his Grandma’s car to be driven

to school. He’s looking at his mum’s HALF-FINISHED DRAWING OF

THE HILLTOP that she left in his sketchpad. Grandma notices

it, too. Car doesn’t move. Conor looks up.

ConOR

Grandma?

GraNDMA

(coming out of a fog)

What? Oh, yes.

(beat)

Where were we going again?

CONOR:

To school.

GRANDMA:

Yes, that’s right.

She puts the car in gear. They pull out in silence.

CONOR:

Grandma? Your seatbelt?

She absentmindedly buckles it. Conor is concerned.

164.

102A

Int. Grandma’s sitting room / kitchen - DAY 102A

From the kitchen, Conor observes his grandma in the sitting

room as she wonders amid the destruction.

165.

103

ExT. schooL ENTRANCE /GRANDMA’S YARD - momentS LATER 103

Grandma drops Conor off. He walks away, watching her go with

a concerned, confused look.

166.

104 InT. physical social and education class - later 104

Conor sits at his desk, ignoring the lesson again, disturbed

about his Grandma. He sees HARRY studying him. They exchange

a look, but no words. He ignores LILY.

167.

105-105AINT./EXT. granDMA’S GUESTROOM/ BACK GARDEN - niGHT 105-105A

Conor sits in the dark in a lawn chair, wrapped in a blanket.

He checks the clock on his phone. It switches from 12.07 to

12.08. No monster.

Suddenly, a LIGHT comes on from the house, REFLECTING on the

back garden. Conor turns and looks up. His Grandma is in the

locked room.

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