Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Page #11

STAN:

It's stopped.

MARY:

What?

STAN:

Listen, it's not erasing.

He makes his way, naked, to the computer screen.

STAN (CONT'D)

It's not erasing. He's off the screen.

MARY:

Where?

STAN:

I don't know. He's not on the map.

Stan tries to break through his marijuana haze. He fiddles

nervously with the equipment.

STAN (CONT'D)

I don't know what to do! I don't know

what to do! Crap. Crap...

MARY:

Well, what should we do?

STAN:

I don't know! I just said that!

MARY:

Sor-ry

(beat)

We have to do something. He can't wake

up half done.

STAN:

Sh*t!

He jerks the joystick spastically. Mary, also naked, gets up

and looks over his shoulder at the screen.

MARY:

(definitely)

We should call Howard.

Stan turns and looks at her. He's stoned and trying to

understand her motivation.

STAN:

No way. I can handle this.

MARY:

This guy's only half cooked. There's no

time to f*** around, Stan.

Stan tries to think. He paces. Mary watches him. Finally:

STAN:

(without making eye contact)

Okay.

He dials the phone, waits.

STAN (CONT'D)

Hello, Howard?

INT. MIERZWIAK'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

The room is dark. A groggy Mierzwiak is in bed on the phone.

His wife lies beside him, eyes open, listening.

MIERZWIAK:

Stan? What's going on?

STAN'S VOICE

The guy we're doing? He's disappeared

from the map. I can't find him anywhere.

MIERZWIAK:

Okay, what happened right before he

disappeared?

STAN'S VOICE

I was away from the monitor for a second.

I had it on automatic. I had to go pee.

MIERZWIAK:

Well, where was Patrick?

STAN'S VOICE

He went home sick.

MIERZWIAK:

Jesus. All right, what's the address.

STAN'S VOICE

1062 Sherman Drive. Apartment 1E,

Rockville Center.

Mierzwiak writes it down on a bedside not pad. He hangs up.

INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Stan hangs up the phone, looks at Mary.

MARY:

He's coming?

STAN:

You better go.

MARY:

Hell no.

She starts getting dressed.

MARY (CONT'D)

Sh*t, I'm so stoned. I don't want him to

see me stoned. Stop being stoned, Mary!

She hurries into the bathroom with her bag.

MARY (CONT'D) (O.S.) (CONT'D)

God, I look like sh*t! God!

Mary slams the bathroom door. Stan puts his head in his

hands.

INT. KITCHEN - DAY

Joel and Clementine are in the playpen. Joel's oversized

mother reaches down as she hurries by and pats Joel on the

head.

MOTHER:

How's my baby boy?

She's gone.

JOEL:

I really want her to pick me up. It's

weird how strong that desire is.

Clementine holds his hand. He looks over at her.

CLEMENTINE:

You know, we're okay. They're not

finding us. You'll remember me in the

morning. And you'll come to me and tell

me about us and we'll start over.

JOEL:

I loved you so much this day. On my bed

in your panties. I remember I thought,

how impossibly lucky am I to have you on

my bed in your panties.

She kisses him.

CLEMENTINE:

You remember what happened next?

JOEL:

I came over to the bed and you smelled so

good, like you just woke up, slightly

sweaty. And I climbed on the bed with

you and you said something like --

CLEMENTINE:

-- another rainy day. Whatever shall we

do?

He laughs. She unbuttons his pajamas. They begin to make

love. Joel's mother hurries around the kitchen. Joel stops,

looks at Clementine.

JOEL:

There's this guy!

CLEMENTINE:

What?

JOEL:

There's this guy. I heard him talking in

my apartment. He's one of the eraser

guys. And he fell for you when they were

erasing you, so he introduced himself the

next day as if he were a stranger and now

you're dating him.

CLEMENTINE:

Really? Is he cute?

JOEL:

He stole a pair of your panties while you

were being erased!

CLEMENTINE:

Gross! You must remember to tell me this

in the morning. I'm, like, so freaked

out now.

INT. CLEMENTINE'S CAR - NIGHT

It's a rust bucket. Clementine drives through the snow.

She's crying and holding Patrick's hand.

CLEMENTINE:

What's wrong with me?

PATRICK:

Nothing is wrong with you. You're the

most wonderful person I've ever met.

She glances gratefully over at him then starts to cry even

harder.

INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Stan works on trying to get the signal back. His hair is

combed and he's dressed neatly, looking professional but

still stoned. Mary is pacing nervously to and from the

window, looking out into the night. She's dressed also, and

she's wearing more make-up now. Her hair is pulled up into

some sort of style. Suddenly she freezes at the window.

MARY:

There he is. Oh my God. Oh my God. Do

I look okay?

She doesn't say anything.

MARY (CONT'D)

I'm still stoned. Are you? Crap.

She looks in the mirror.

MARY (CONT'D)

(to Joel)

Your Visine didn't do sh*t, fella.

The doorbell buzzes. Mary lunges for the door, then calms

herself before opening it. Mierzwiak, holding an equipment

bag, looks surprised.

MIERZWIAK:

Mary. What are you doing here?

STAN:

She came to help, Howard.

MARY:

I wanted to learn as much about the

procedure as possible, Howard. I think

it's important for my job...to help

comfort the clientele. You know.

Mierzwiak looks from Mary to Stan, nods, and enters. Mary

closes the door. Mierzwiak crosses to the equipment.

MIERZWIAK:

Let's get to the bottom of this. Shall

we?

He sits down in front of the computer and does some fiddling.

MIERZWIAK (CONT'D)

Odd.

He fiddles some more. Mary looks on, fascinated.

STAN:

I tried that already.

MIERZWIAK:

Did you try going through C-Gate?

STAN:

Yeah. Of course.

Mierzwiak ponders. He unzips his equipment bag, pulls out

another laptop computer and plugs it in to the system.

MIERZWIAK:

I'm going to do a Spectrum search

throughout his memory, see if anything

comes up.

Mierzwiak presses some more buttons. The program starts up.

A much more complex and detailed human brain appears on this

screen. It rotates. Eventually Mierzwiak sees a small

distant light in the brain. He zeroes in on it.

MIERZWIAK (CONT'D)

Okay, here it is. I don't know why it's

off the map like that, but --

INT. KITCHEN - DAY

Joel is being bathed in the oversized sink by his oversized

mother. Clementine sits in the water with him, laughing.

The mother doesn't seem to see her.

MOTHER:

Little baby getting awwwl cleean. Awl

clean.

JOEL:

(to Clementine)

I love getting bathed in the sink. It's

such a feeling of security.

CLEMENTINE:

(giggling)

I've never seen you happier.

The elements of the scene flash explosively away: Joel's

mother, his Huckleberry Hound doll, the details of the

kitchen, Clementine. Joel is thrown into:

INT. CAR - NIGHT

He sits with Clementine in the parked car, outside a drive-in

movie theater. The movie on the giant screen is partially

obscured by a fence. Joel and Clementine drink wine.

INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Mierzwiak looks up from the computer screen.

MIERZWIAK:

Okay, we're back in.

MARY:

That was beautiful to watch, Howard.

Like a surgeon or a concert pianist.

MIERZWIAK:

Well, thank you, Mary.

STAN:

(sighing)

You get some sleep, Howard. I'll take it

from here.

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