Lion Page #17

---

-but she lets it trail off, and hang.

SAROO:

That what?

Long, sad pause.

LUCY:

That you’re chasing ghosts.

She stands, pulls on her shirt. Smiles that brittle, pained,

loving smile at him.

And his own heart is broken, because he knows he can’t do

anything but keep on with that search.

She opens the door, walks out.

INT. LIVING ROOM, BEACH HOUSE - DAY

It could be later the same day. It could be another day. Time

has blended into something amorphous. Saroo lies on his

lonely mattress. All is still; even the sea is calm. Then his

past silently weaves into his consciousness, all these

vignettes and flashbacks united in their stillness, as his

eyes flicker closed:

INT. ONE-ROOM HOME, KHANDWA - EVENING (FLASHBACK)

ON KAMLA - unmoving, sensing Saroo;

INT. DORM ROOM, LILUAH - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

ON little AMITA, lying in bed, staring.

EXT. CALCUTTA STREET - DAY (FLASHBACK)

ON CAFE GUY - his kind stare through the cafe window (as

Saroo sits on that traffic island, fantasizing non-existent

food on his rusty bent spoon -

INT. SUBWAY PLATFORM, HOWRAH STATION - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

ON WIRY BOY - just moments before he decides to offer the

cardboard, dignity and generosity - then:

INT. BEDROOM, NOOR’S ROOFTOP HOME, MORNING (FLASHBACK)

ON RAMA - his slow-moving hand along Saroo’s leg ...

RAMA:

You’re a good boy. Are you a good

boy?

(O/S AUDIO) Whimpering - a scuffle - shouts. A confusing

auditory nightmare. Beatings. Cries of anguish. Rape. Liluah.

INT. CLASSROOM, LILUAH - DAY (FLASHBACK)

ON HAUNTED BOY, swaying back and forth, rubbing his hair and

forehead, a pressure cooker about to explode. He bangs his

head against the wall, over and over.

INT. SUBWAY PLATFORM, HOWRAH STATION - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

The SOUND of Haunted Boy banging his head carries over into

screaming and sudden pandemonium, as the CHILD-SNATCHERS

arrive and the URCHINS scream and scatter and WIRY BOY is

violently grabbed and wrenched away, screaming -

INT. LIVING ROOM, BEACH HOUSE - LATER

Saroo’s eyes, still flickering. Guddu sits in the dark - it’s

dusk or dark now - watching over Saroo. Keeping his distance.

Giving Saroo space. He knows the memories are the search...

INT. LIVING ROOM, BEACH HOUSE - DAY

A knock at the door. Saroo wakes and goes to the window.

Looks down.

EXT. BEACH HOUSE - INTERCUT

John, looking up. He has a “care package” from Sue. He puts

it by the door. He waits. Nothing.

JOHN:

It’s the One Day International

tomorrow. Come over if you like.

We’ll get some beer and pizzas.

Nothing from inside the house.

INSIDE:
Saroo just stands there, pressed against the wall.

Frozen. Conflicted.

JOHN (CONT’D)

I meant to tell you - I fixed the

tiller. Why don’t we take her out,

head up the coast? Maybe see if we

can round up Mantosh.

Pause. John, listening.

JOHN (CONT’D)

Saroo, your mum’s not

Whatever he was about to say (”Your mum’s not doing so

well”), he stops it. Looks down at the care package.

JOHN (CONT’D)

Your mum’s made a nice cake for

you. Put a few other goodies in

here too.

(beat)

I think she’d love a visit.

He stands there, hoping against hope that Saroo will suddenly

appear.

JOHN (CONT’D)

Right. Take care, son.

He turns to walk away.

EXT. BEACH HOUSE - NIGHT

Saroo sits on the beach, a starry night. Watching the water -

the ghost-waves marking time like a pulse ...

INT. KITCHEN, BRIERLEY HOME - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

A night light in the kitchen illuminates Sue, standing at the

sink. Her arms hanging limp. Exhausted. Mute.

Five-year-old Saroo steps beside her. Reaches up, takes her

hand.

She snaps out of it, looks down on him. It’s all right, says

the look on his face.

A private communion. The son comforting the mother. Then, as

if remembering her duty to look after him, Sue pulls Saroo

close, cradles his head.

They stand there, a silent tableau.

INT. SUE’S ART STUDIO, BRIERLEY HOME - AFTERNOON

Concern registers on Saroo’s face as he enters the little

room. Sue sits in the weak sunlight by the window. She looks

pale and unwell, in her dressing gown, nursing a cup of tea.

Saroo doesn’t look crash-hot either - months of no sleep or

exercise have taken their toll. Two lost souls.

But she brightens at the sight of Saroo.

SAROO:

(hugging her)

I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

He sits opposite her. She holds back tears.

SUE:

John just heard, he’s been out on

the boats. Doing the lobster run.

They’re due back tomorrow.

Saroo looks at her, doesn’t want to admit what this means.

SUE (CONT’D)

So he’ll be flush for cash. And

then back on the hard stuff ...

Saroo can see in her pain how much she loves Mantosh. She

smiles bravely, her pale eyes sparkling.

SAROO:

I’m sorry you couldn’t have your

own kids.

ON SUE:
a misconception, dawning on her.

SUE:

What are you saying?

SAROO:

I mean, we weren’t blank pages,

were we? Like your own would have

been. You weren’t just adopting us,

but our pasts as well.

(beat)

And I feel like we’re killing you.

Sue smiles - still holding off the tears.

SUE:

We could have had children. We

chose not to.

ON SAROO:
shocked by this new information.

SAROO:

Wait. You could have had kids?

SUE:

Never made that public. Some things

need to stay private. Some people

would never understand why you’d

start a family like ours. We wanted

you two in our lives. We chose

that.

Saroo is moved. Listening intently.

SUE (CONT’D)

(smiles, remembering)

I think it’s one of the reasons I

fell in love with your dad.

(beat)

We both felt the world had more

than enough people in it already.

Because to have a child - that’s no

guarantee that’s going to make

things better. But to take a child

who’s suffering - like you boys

were - and to give him a chance in

the world. Well, then. Now there’s

something.

Saroo looks with wonder at his mother. What she’s given up.

Without her, where would he have ended up?

SAROO:

I bet you never imagined it would

be this hard.

SUE:

It’s not a matter of hard or easy.

There was only ever one path.

That’s how I believe things happen.

(beat)

When I was twelve, I had a vision.

Some people would call it a

breakdown ...

Saroo, completely intrigued by his mother opening up like

this - in such strange ways.

SUE (CONT’D)

You know my father was an

alcoholic. Out of control.

(MORE)

SUE (CONT’D)

All wrong. I remember I was

weeping. Or I’d wept it all out.

There were no more tears. I was

standing out the back of the house.

Looking out across this field. I

literally wanted the earth to

swallow me. There wasn’t any joy.

Life was a nightmare. And I felt

this kind of - electric current -

electric shock - jolt through me.

And there was a little brown-

skinned boy across that field. I

couldn’t even tell if it was just

my eyes playing tricks. And then he

Rate this script:4.0 / 12 votes