Departure Page #3

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we could not catch the wind

And I would smile at you and hope

that one day upon the ropes

You'd learn to live and cope

with the love you couldn't show

At the bottom of the oak

where you oh, so softly spoke

Though you've been lucky all your life

You'll never catch the wind

I know all is said and done

And we don't talk and oh, not once

do I regret I fill my lungs

With every single song I've sung

We were never meant to end,

how I even thought to think it

Now it's beating at my limbs,

I'll never catch the wind

Raise a glass, my dear, my love

Every time you think of love

And the frustration you will hide

And you've been lucky all your life

But you'll never catch the wind

Raise a glass, my dear, my love

Every time you think of love

And the frustration you will hide

And you've been lucky all your life,

I've been so lucky all my life

Raise a glass, my dear, my love

To the pain we rose above

And the frustration you will hide

And you've been lucky all your life,

I've been so lucky all my life

We've been so lucky all our lives

But we'll never

Catch

The wind

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

- I'm nearly finished.

- [CLMENT, IN FRENCH] It's me.

Hello, mermaid.

- Sorry.

- It's nothing.

When I said your French was sh*t,

I was joking.

It's not bad.

- [CLMENT, IN FRENCH] The leaves...

- BEA:
Say again.

The leaves... falling leaves.

BEA:
Feuilles...

Anyway, that was why we liked it,

the colours in autumn.

- Yeah.

- We only come in the summer.

Once you started school, yes,

but we first saw the house in autumn.

to holiday to visit my aunt.

- BEA:
Does she live in the village?

- Yeah, all her life.

- BEA:
Oh, it's a nice village.

- CLMENT:
Mm.

We don't... We never got to know anyone.

Yeah.

Let's open another bottle of wine.

Clment can choose.

- OK, cool.

- Yeah? They're... They're next door.

Take an expensive one.

They're wrapped in paper.

- Won't Dad mind?

- Well, someone's got to drink it.

You're drunk.

Let's go away tomorrow, shall we?

Would you like that?

- To Lagrasse?

- Can Clment come?

- Yes, if he wants to.

- Have you been?

- BEA:
It's very pretty.

- No, I don't think so.

They have proper ice cream, like Italy.

Yeah, we can pretend to be on holiday.

- Before we collect your father.

- (CORK POPS)

- Oh.

- We're picking up Dad?

Yes, but we'll pass the airport

on the way home.

Why didn't you tell me?

That was the moment.

It was in Lagrasse that time.

The bridge, the sun...

Autumn.

And then finding this house

in the forest,

that was the French dream.

It was then.

Why is Dad coming?

Oh, because he wants to sign some things

for the sale. Then it's done.

Good riddance.

It's a holiday house. It was a project

to keep the marriage together.

- Mum...

- Some people have sex.

We bought houses.

- I was better at that.

- Mum, for f***'s sake.

Elliot, you've drunk too much.

You just say things.

It's not appropriate.

- BEA:
We're on holiday.

- Well, no, we're not.

We're in France.

French people talk about these things.

- Or is that only in Paris?

- CLMENT:
I don't know.

ELLIOT:
You're being vulgar.

I thought you liked carrots.

(CHURCH BELL RINGS)

Wait a moment.

We'll see you on the bridge.

Which bridge?

I think they were supposed

to be up there.

There are steps?

No, no, we have to go back the same way.

Oh.

(BOTH LAUGH)

(CLMENT WHOOPS, ECHOING)

- (WHOOPS)

- (BEA LAUGHS)

- CLMENT:
Whoa!

- BEA:
Whoo-oo!

CLMENT:
C'est a, oui.

BEA:
Whoo-oo!

My father says that you can know

the quality of a bridge

if it has a good echo.

If the echo is net or pure, pas flou.

- Pure.

- Mm.

And all the time my mother shout at us

for dinner or not to be bad, but...

she shouted two times or more.

Because we cannot hear or

because we didn't want to stop playing.

And she shouts twice, like an echo.

And my father laughed and he says,

"She is un vote, un arc, parfait."

She's perfect.

C'est idiot mais...

- BEA:
How is yours?

- CLMENT:
Good.

(ROAR OF AEROPLANE ENGINES)

You put up the notice for the sale?

Bea?

I did it.

And you've been helping?

He's been all over it.

PHILIP:
Sounds like

there's nothing left to do.

Please stop the car.

Stop the car. Just...

- What's wrong with you?

- Sorry.

("RUSALKA" BY DVOK)

What is it?

- It's good.

- It's Rusalka.

- You've seen it?

- Yes.

With Mum?

No, not with Mum.

(FRONT DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES)

(BEA CLIMBS STAIRS)

ELLIOT:
Mum?

I'm in the bath.

Did you see it?

BEA:
What?

The deer.

Where you got out, it's where

we hit something when we arrived.

Oh.

- ELLIOT:
Did you?

- No, Elliot, I didn't.

I wasn't looking.

I just... wanted to walk.

What's happening?

- Mum?

- Yes?

Can I come in?

(ELLIOT DESCENDS STAIRS)

Maybe I'll go and look for him.

I could do with a walk.

Haven't you walked enough today?

(FRONT DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES)

(TOOLS CLATTER)

(ENGINE FAILS TO START)

- Monsieur.

- Merci.

I'm sorry about your mother.

It's easy to forget what you want,

Elliot, out of life, out of...

You put things away.

There are circumstances

where that can happen.

- It's not always your fault.

- I know.

No. That goes in there.

Certain things you push away

don't really go away.

Your mother has given up things

and maybe she didn't need to.

She's not happy.

Is this about Mum?

No.

- We were having a conversation.

- Who was it about, then?

- Did you do the attic?

- It wasn't about Elliot, was it?

The attic?

You said leave it to you.

(SIGHS)

PHILIP:
Did you enjoy the wine?

Come on.

What will you do with the bike

when you fix it?

- [IN FRENCH] I'll go to Paris.

Is that kind of bike allowed

on the motorway?

Do you think you can know things

before you know them?

CLMENT:
Like what?

Don't know.

Something good or bad,

I don't think it matters, but it's...

like the air changes

or something inside of you.

CLMENT:
Maybe.

ELLIOT:
What are you doing?

Clment!

Clment?

Clment!

You f***ing twat! You f***ing twat!

Why did you do that?

Why did you do that?

It's allowed.

- Whoo!

- You're gonna get cold. Get...

CLMENT:
What is a twat?

ELLIOT:
I don't know.

Something to do with a nun.

Oopla!

When I was little...

the hot tap broke on the kitchen sink...

and very hot water sprayed over Mum.

There was steam.

It must have been boiling.

She wouldn't stop.

She just kept trying

to put the tap back on.

It was like there was something strange

in the house;

Not Mum, but a wild animal.

I was frightened.

I begged her to stop. I was crying.

And she fainted.

So I ran outside to get help

and a neighbour came with a spanner,

a tool to turn the tap off with.

Mum was sat at the table

holding her hand by the wrist.

Her face was so white.

I'd forgotten, but...

now I remember.

I remember the density of the air.

Like we were underwater.

And this feeling

that something was broken.

Not the taps.

Something else.

was going to happen?

What?

You said you can know something

before it happens.

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