Big Fish Page #3

EDWARD:

Zacky, turn your flashlight on!

ZACKY:

I don’t got any batteries!

Red-headed ZACKY PRICE is 10. His brother DON PRICE is 12,

and a lot bigger than the others.

DON PRICE:

Then why’d you bring it?

ZACKY:

I don’t want to be in the swamp with awitch and no flashlight.

12.

WILBUR FREELY, also 10, is the black asthmatic son of asharecropper. Redheaded RUTHIE MACKLIN, 8, is happy just tobe there.

EDWARD:

Is it true she got a glass eye?

WILBUR FREELY:

I heard she got it from Gypsies.

EDWARD:

What’s a Gypsy?

ZACKY:

Your momma’s a Gypsy.

DON PRICE:

Your momma’s a b*tch.

RUTHIE:

You shouldn’t swear. There’s ladies

present.

DON PRICE:

Sh*t.

ZACKY:

Damn.

WILBUR FREELY:

Screw.

EDWARD:

(whispering)

Turn off your flashlights! She’ll see

‘em.

MOVING UP behind the kids, we find ourselves at the gatesof...

EXT. A CREEPY OLD HOUSE - NIGHT

ADULT EDWARD (V.O.)

Now, it’s common knowledge that mosttowns of a certain size have a witch,

if only to eat misbehaving children andthe occasional puppy who wanders intoher yard. Witches use those bones to

cast spells and curses that make theland infertile.

13.

We PULL BACK, and BACK, revealing more of the Gothicallycreepy house: its broken windows, strangling vines, andeerie gargoyles half-buried in the dirt. Even bats are

afraid to fly over it.

In the moonlight, the house is especially sinister. Who

knows what is lurking in the shadows?

ADULT EDWARD (V.O.)(cont’d)

Yet of the all the witches in Alabama,

there was one who was the most feared.

For she had one glass eye, which wassaid to contain mystical powers.

We finally come to the kids, staring in through the gate.

WILBUR FREELY:

I hear if you look right at it, you cansee how you’re gonna die.

EDWARD:

That’s bull-s-h-i-t, that is. She’s

not even a real witch.

DON PRICE:

You’re so sure, why don’t you go in andget that eye? I heard she keeps it ina box on her nighttable.

Edward looks back at the spooky house.

DON PRICE (cont’d)

Or are you too scared?

EDWARD:

I’ll go in right now and get that eye.

DON PRICE:

Then do it.

EDWARD:

Fine, I will.

DON PRICE:

Fine, you do it.

EDWARD:

Fine, I’m doing it.

He hands Zacky his flashlight, then starts climbing the gate.

RUTHIE:

Edward, don’t!

14.

WILBUR FREELY:

She’ll make soap out of you!

(to Ruthie)

That’s what she does, she makes soapout of people.

Edward drops down on the far side of the gate. Truth be

told, Edward is scared, but he forges ahead anyway.

Wilbur looks to Ruthie, and they’re in complete agreement.

They get the hell out of there. Zacky would run too, but Donholds him by the collar.

EXT. APPROACHING THE HOUSE

Edward curves around the tall bushes that hide the front

door. Anything could jump out of them.

He steps on the porch. The boards SQUEAL and CREAK, but hecontinues on. A cat SCREAMS OUT from a broken wicker rocker.

Catching his breath, Edward reaches the front door.

The doorknob is ancient brass, two projections that look likehorns. Yet Edward extends his hand, reaching closer andcloser before he finally

RINGS THE DOORBELL.

Impossibly fast, the door opens, revealing an OLD WOMAN witha patch over her left eye. She looks like she’s been dead

for years, but too stubborn to lie down.

EDWARD:

(calm and straightforward)

Ma’am, my name is Edward Bloom, andthere’s some folks’d like to see your

eye.

EXT. BACK AT THE GATE - NIGHT

Zacky and Don Price wait for Edward, each moment moreconvinced he’s already dead. But suddenly, he’s back at thegate.

DON PRICE:

You get the eye?

EDWARD:

I brought it.

DON PRICE:

(dubious)

Let’s see it.

15.

The Old Woman steps out of the shadows behind Edward,

flipping up her eye patch. When their flashlight beam hitsher left eye, it shines with a hellish glow.

We RUSH IN on Zacky, who is paralyzed by what he sees.

CUT TO:

EXT. FRONT PORCH OF HOUSE - DAY

An OLD MAN -- Zacky -- stands on a wobbly stepladder,

changing a lightbulb. Suddenly, the ladder gives way and hefalls. Dead.

EXT. AT THE GATE - NIGHT

We RUSH IN on Don Price.

CUT TO:

INT. FRATERNITY HOUSE BATHROOM - DAY

Twenty-year old Don Price falls face-forward on the tile,

face mushed in the grout. Very much dead.

EXT. AT THE GATE - NIGHT

Don and Zacky both tremble with fear. The latter has tears

in his eyes.

ZACKY:

I saw how I was gonna die. I was old,

and I fell.

DON PRICE:

I wasn’t old at all.

The brothers suddenly bolt. Still standing next to the OldWoman, Edward smiles.

EXT. AT THE OLD WOMAN’S DOOR - NIGHT

Edward helps her back inside. He could leave now, but

curiosity gets the better of him.

EDWARD:

I was thinking about death and all.

About seeing how you’re gonna die.

The Old Woman turns to him slightly, still not facing him.

16.

EDWARD (cont’d)

I mean, on one hand, if dying was allyou thought about, it could kind of

screw you up. But it could kind of

help you, couldn’t it? Because you’dknow that everything else you cansurvive.

The Old Woman smiles a little, a crooked grin of brokenteeth.

EDWARD (cont’d)

I guess I’m saying, I’d like to know.

The Old Woman turns leaning her face right in front of his.

And on a silent count of one, two, three -- Edward looks intoThe Eye.

This time we don’t cut. Instead, we HOLD ON Edward as hewitnesses his death. He stares transfixed, perplexed andamused. Whatever he sees, it’s not as dire as the otherboys. His future has something strange in store.

EDWARD (cont’d)

Huh. That’s how I go?

The Old Woman nods. Still a little overwhelmed, Edward turnsand leaves.

ADULT EDWARD (V.O.)

From that moment on, I no longer feareddeath. And for that, I was as good asimmortal.

As Edward leaves, the door swings SHUT on its own.

MATCH CUT TO:

INT./EXT. BLOOM HOUSE - (PRESENT) DAY

The front door opens to reveal Will and Josephine on theporch with their bags. REVERSE to Will’s mother Sandra (53),

surprised and a little annoyed.

SANDRA:

How did you get here?

WILL:

We swam. The Atlantic, it’s not thatbig really.

SANDRA:

Ruth McHibbon offered to pick you up atthe airport.

17.

WILL:

We rented a car.

SANDRA:

(simply)

You didn’t need to do that. You justdidn’t.

A beat. Starting over...

WILL:

Hi, Mom.

He leans in and hugs her. She surrenders, squeezing her sontight. Will and his mother are cut from the same cloth --

strong-willed but practical. They’ve always been close.

SANDRA:

I’m so glad you’re here.

That hug finished, Sandra pushes past her son to her daughter-

in-law. Seeing the size of her belly -

SANDRA:

You shouldn’t have flown. But...

They hug.

JOSEPHINE:

It’s good to see you. You look

beautiful.

It’s not flattery. It’s the truth.

SANDRA:

Thank you. I’ll bet you need to -

JOSEPHINE:

Yes.

SANDRA:

Down the hall on the right. The door

sticks. You have to really pull it.

Josephine squeezes past, a smile to her husband -- be nice.

Will heads back to the rental car to retrieve luggage.

Sandra follows him.

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