Big Fish Page #11

AMOS:

Sorry, kid. I don’t do charity.

58.

EDWARD:

I’ll work night and day, and you won’thave to pay me. You just have to tellme who she is.

Amos takes a long look at him. Ultimately, there’s no way he

can say no. He shrugs. What the hell.

AMOS:

Every month you work for me, I’ll tellyou one thing about her. That’s myfinal offer.

Edward shakes Amos’s hand before he can retract the offer.

We move into a MONTAGE:

INT. BIG TOP CENTER RING - NIGHT

CLOSE ON Edward, smiling nervously. His head is tilted to

the side, and as we PULL BACK, we see why: he’s holding itin a MASSIVE LION’s open mouth. The beast’s sharp teeth arejust poking his skin. If the lion so much as flinches,

Edward is dead.

The CROWD applauds, which makes the lion antsy. Which makes

Edward antsier.

EDWARD (V.O.)

From that moment on, I did everythingMr. Calloway asked, and a lot of thingshe didn’t. I’d go three days withoutstopping to eat, and four days withoutsleeping.

EXT. THE HYDRA - DAY

His eyes droopy from lack of sleep, Edward mans the whirlingamusement park ride.

EDWARD (V.O.)

The only thing that kept me going wasthe promise of meeting the girl whowould be my wife.

Nodding off, Edward falls backward, into the path of thespinning arms. One of the Hydra cars hits him square in thegut, throwing him up and away, sailing 200 feet through theair.

EXT. FIELD - DAY

Edward chases a costumed pig, tripping over tent cords,

falling in the mud.

59.

His hunt leads him through the back of a tent, where he’sunwittingly stepped in front of a line of motorized birds.

To the left, CUSTOMERS are shooting with rifles. He dodgesfour SHOTS that knock down the birds around him.

He catches his breath, lucky.

Then a half-blind OLD WOMAN pulls her trigger, hitting him inthe shoulder.

EXT. BEHIND A TENT - DAY

Karl the Giant bandages Edward’s arm as well as he can. Amos

is walking past.

EDWARD:

Mr. Calloway! It’s been a month today.

Amos stops, looks at the young man. Finally...

AMOS:

This girl, the love of your life. Her

favorite flower is daffodils.

He walks away. We PUSH IN on Edward, enraptured by theconcept.

EDWARD:

Daffodils.

(to Karl)

Daffodils!

INT. STABLES - DAY

Edward shovels sh*t in the nastiest stables you’ve ever seen.

But all he can think about is...

EDWARD:

(to himself)

Daffodils!

The wonder of it. He goes back to shoveling, a smile on hisface.

EDWARD (V.O.)(cont’d)

True to his word, every month Amoswould tell me something new about thewoman of my dreams.

INT. A DARK PLACE - NIGHT

CLOSE ON Edward, lost in quiet reverie, pondering his latestbit of information.

60.

EDWARD:

College! She’s going to college!

A sudden EXPLOSION as Edward is shot...

INT. BIG TOP - NIGHT [CONTINUOUS]

...out of a giant cannon.

INT. STABLES - NIGHT

Under a full moon, Edward feeds the animals.

EDWARD:

(to himself)

Music! She likes music. I like music

too!

EDWARD (V.O.)

Over the months, I learned a lot aboutthe woman I was going to marry, but nother name, and not where to find her.

That time had come. I couldn’t wait

any longer.

EXT. AMOS CALLOWAY’S TRAILER - NIGHT

Under a full moon, Edward walks up to the battered camper,

and is about to knock when he notices it’s rocking. A lot.

Not just that, there’s MOANING coming from inside.

But Edward KNOCKS anyway.

EDWARD:

Mr. Calloway! It’s Edward Bloom. I

need to talk to you.

Suddenly, the rocking and moaning stop. A beat, then thedoor handle begins to RATTLE. It seems to be stuck.

Edward turns the knob.

Suddenly, the door BURSTS OPEN. Edward is knocked down by amassive black dog, biggest you’ve ever seen. It has greenglowing eyes and a lick of fire for a tongue.

Edward wrestles with the beast, its mouth snapping at histhroat. Blocking with an arm, Edward tries to push himselffree, but the creature’s hands -- it has hands instead ofpaws -- hold on tight.

Entwined, they roll across the dirt. The other nearbyCARNIES scatter for cover. Mr. Soggybottom pulls a revolverout of his clown suit. Loads a silver bullet.

61.

Edward finally succeeds in throwing the beast off. He rolls

to his feet.

The hell hound squares back on its haunches, GROWLING, readyfor another leap. Mr. Soggybottom sheds a clown tear, aimingthe revolver at the dog.

At the last moment...

EDWARD (cont’d)

No, wait!

Edward moves just as Mr. Soggybottom FIRES. The bullet

catches Edward in the shoulder, knocking him down.

The carnies GASP.

Licking its chops, the dog approaches the helpless Edward,

who feels the ground around him, looking for some kind of

weapon. He finds only a small stick. He waves it at the

dog, ready to strike it.

Like magic, the dog’s whole demeanor changes. It bounces

excitedly, ready to play fetch.

Seeing an opportunity, Edward throws the stick as far as he

can. The dog bounds after it,

SMASHING DOWN THREE CARS.

It returns a beat later with the flaming stick, which itdrops at Edward’s feet. Its tail whips back and forth.

EDWARD (V.O.) (cont'd)

It was that night I discovered thatmost things you consider evil or wickedare simply lonely, and lacking in thesocial niceties.

Edward throws the stick again. The dog takes off in a newdirection.

TRANSITION TO:

EXT. FIELD - PRE-DAWN

Exhausted from playing fetch all night, Edward throws thestick into the woods. The still-spry dog goes after it.

It’s gone for a long time, long enough that Edward becomesconcerned.

He follows it into the woods.

62.

INT. WOODS - DAWN

Amos Calloway stands up behind a bush, buck naked and hairy.

He still has the stick in his mouth, which he takes out asEdward approaches.

AMOS:

Didn’t kill anything, did I?

EDWARD:

A few rabbits, but I think one of themwas already dead.

AMOS:

That would explain the indigestion.

Edward tosses him his jacket to cover his privates.

AMOS (cont’d)

I was wrong about you kid. You may nothave much, but what you got, you got alot of. You could get any girl.

EDWARD:

There’s only one I want.

A beat.

AMOS:

Her name is Sandra Templeton. She’s

going to Auburn. The semester’s almost

over, so you better hurry.

EDWARD:

Thank you.

AMOS:

Good luck, kid.

Edward walks away. Then starts running. He has to get thereas soon as possible.

Amos sits down and scratches his ear with his foot.

EXT. BIG TOP - DAY

Edward shakes Karl’s giant hand. They hug.

EDWARD (V.O.)

After saying my goodbyes, I hoppedthree trains to get to Auburn thatafternoon.

63.

EXT. AUBURN UNIVERSITY - DAY

We DESCEND ON the main quad, to find Edward Bloom dunking hishead in the fountain.

He changes out of his grubby shirt into a new one, just outof the package. It’s the mid-1960’s, but by the conservativedress of the passing STUDENTS, it could be any era.

EXT. SORORITY HOUSE - DAY

Edward stands with a bouquet of daffodils in front of a half-

open door. Through the crack we can see the edge of a YOUNGWOMAN, talking in hushed tones with another girl we can’t

see.

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