American Fable Page #2

- No.

It happened a long time ago.

- Oh.

- No. No, no, no.

No. Wait, wait, wait..

Please. Please don't go. Hi.

What's your name?

- Gitty.

It's short for Gertrude.

- It's a beautiful name.

- I hate it.

- My name's, um..

Uh, Jonathan,

it's not a very pretty name.

Um, hey, Gitty? Uh..

I'm... I'm trapped down here.

And I haven't

I haven't eaten in... in, uh..

Oh, god, in a few days.

- Why are you in our silo?

- This is your silo?

- Yeah.

I'll go get my dad.

- No! No, no, no. No. Wait.

Wait, wait, please don't.

Please don't.

No one's supposed to know

that I'm here, okay?

Can you keep a secret?

- I'm not supposed to keep

secrets from my dad.

He'd get really mad if I did.

- Oh, yeah. No, I... I know.

I know, but you know what?

Um, sometimes if it's a friend

if it... it's someone

you can trust

and you can, you can trust me,

then it's okay.

So don't tell anyone

that I'm here. Okay?

- I don't know.

- Please.

Please, Gitty.

I... you know what?

I can, um, I can give you

anything you want.

Anyth... I can do that.

Anything you want

in the whole world.

Well, if there was one thing

that you wanted in the whole

world, wh... what would it be?

- Do you know any good stories?

- A story?

You want a story?

- Well..

My dad tells

really good stories.

- Huh..

Do you know the story

of the lion and the mouse?

- No.

- Oh, it's a very good story.

Okay, there was this lion

and, um, he lived in the jungle

and he was very, very strong

and very powerful.

And one night, he's sleeping

and, um, and a mouse comes out

of his hole

and it's very dark...

- Gitty, come on!

Come on! You're so slow.

- Hey!

Hey, Gitty, come back!

Gitty, please! I, uh..

Oh, god, I can tell it..

Better..

- and so the man lived there

for many years

paying for all the bad things

he had done.

Until one day

a Princess came and found out

his secret, and together..

Hello?

Who's there?

- What are you doing?

- Can I have a Popsicle?

May I please have a Popsicle?

- If you eat it at the table.

- Why do you do that every day?

- The metal pieces

I check at work every day

are these really fine wires

that go under the locks

on our cars.

And they're really sharp.

You want to try?

- No, thanks. I'm never gonna

work in a factory.

- Oh, yeah?

- I'm special.

- You know, Gitty..

Some people think they are

hot sh*t on a silver platter

when really, they're just

cold turd on a paper plate.

- What does that even mean, mom?

- It means special people

don't have to tell you

they're special.

- Mum..

If someone asks you

to keep a secret..

Should you keep it?

- Why do they want you

to keep a secret?

- I don't know.

I think they need a friend.

- Do you wanna keep the secret?

- Yeah.

- You should probably

keep it then.

Get over here,

let me do your hair.

- Hi, dad.

- What are you doing

in my kitchen, mister?

- Well, I'm gonna make my grandma's

rhubarb pie for the Hansens.

- Mm. You need any help?

- No, I got it all up here.

I mean, unless, Gitty,

you want to help?

- Yeah!

- Oh..

- Sorry.

Okay, now go out there

and get the butter.

Go on. Should I..

- "For I was thirsty, and you

gave me something to drink.

"I was a stranger

and you invited me in.

"I was in prison

and you came to me.

"And the king will answer them..

"Truly, I say to you,

as you did it

"to one of the least

of these my brothers

"you did it to me.

The word of our lord."

- Thanks be to god.

- Thanks be to god.

- In the name of the father,

the son

and the holy spirit, amen.

- Hi.

- Hi.

- I'm Ethel.

Hank and I just moved into town.

- Hi.

- I've been doing

the paper route

just to get an idea of the area

so if you see me,

just say hello.

Alright?

- Okay.

- Oh, um, and if you

see the police car..

It... it's, it's,

just don't mind it

because, um,

I'm just retired now

but I got to keep the cruiser,

so..

Alright. Oh, um.. Uh..

Call me if you need anything.

Alright?

- Thank you.

- Take care.

- You too.

- This is just terrible.

Penny said it was

the third suicide this season.

- I'll take it.

Here you go.

- Thank you.

- Here.

- No. No.

- Please take it.

Please, please, please.

Come on, you deserve it.

- Thank you. Thank you.

- You deserve it.

- Hey, dad.

Have you ever heard the story

about the lion and the mouse?

- Yeah, the one where the mouse

hears the lion screamin'.

He finally comes across

the lion, he's trapped in a net

some hunters got him there?

- Yeah.

- And the lion begs the mouse to set him free, right?

And the mouse is terrified

but he chews through

the net anyway

lets that lion out.

- The lion's grateful... Right?

- No, the lion turns around

and eats the mouse.

He eats his whole family.

You can never trust people to

change their true nature, Gitty.

A lion is a lion.

It's a dog-eat-dog world.

- Whoa!

Dad, look!

Can we get it, please?

- Yeah. Go on, hurry up.

- Thanks, dad.

Yes, I win!

Thank you.

- Mom, I won. Cotton candy?

- I don't think so, Gitty.

- But dad promised I could

have some if I won and I did.

- Well, I didn't think

she was gonna win.

- Dad, come on.

- Alright.

- Please, please, please,

I'm hungry.

- Okay, the sooner you finish

the sooner you can have

your cotton candy.

- Nice shooting.

- Hello.

- Hi, Vera.

- It's nice to finally

meet you all.

I've heard so much about you.

- I haven't heard anything about you.

- Ah.

- We met Vera last year

at the barn raising in Iowa.

- Oh. Oh, um, nice to meet you.

- Mom? Mom, I've finished.

- Yeah, w... why don't you guys

go get some cotton candy?

And we'll meet you all

over there.

- Come on, mom, let's go.

- Hi, um,

one cotton candy, please.

- Purple, please.

- Alright.

There you go.

- Thank you.

- That'll be two dollars.

- Okay.

- Here, mom.

- And what are we gonna do

if I get caught?

What am I gonna do?

Think about that.

She's just a friend, she's just

someone I met a while ago.

She said she could help us out.

- Well, is she giving us a loan?

- She's not giving us a loan.

- She's paying you?

- She's paying me.

- For what?

- For a job, to hold something, Sarah.

To hold a package for her, okay?

- To hold a package?

What is it, drugs?

- You don't wanna know.

Sarah, you don't wanna know

- I..

Okay, so, w... why... why us?

Why did she... how did she even choose you?

- Why us?

Why it's because

I called her, Sarah.

Because I called her when I couldn't

make the payments last spring.

That's why it's us.

- You didn't tell me, Abe.

- And what am I supposed to tell you

when something like that happens?

- You're supposed to tell me

the truth!

- How am I supposed to tell you

that we're gonna lose the farm?

And everything

that we've worked for?

How am I gonna tell you that?

- I've gotta go to work.

We'll talk about it tomorrow.

- You came back.

- Yeah, um,

I have something for you.

You should probably watch out.

- Okay.

Thank you, Gitty.

Thank you for this.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes