Lou Page #3

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The women give each other silly air kisses before Kaycee

jumps in her car and pulls out.

EXT. LOU’S HOUSE - NIGHT

An outdoor light illuminates POUNDING RAIN and SWAYING TREES.

As predicted, it’s a “doozy” of a storm.

INT. KITCHEN (LOU’S HOUSE) - CONTINUOUS

Lou cleans her rifle at the dining table, methodically

working the metal. She finishes and sets the firearm down,

taking a moment to massage her arthritic fingers.

She looks at Jax, resting on the floor. His fur is clean from

a bath, highlighting his muzzle that’s white with age.

LOU:

When did we get so old, huh?

Jax slowly stands, moving over to Lou. He sits again,

settling down on top of her bare feet. He’ll keep them warm.

INT. HANNAH’S KITCHEN (TRAILER) - NIGHT

Hannah cuts a roll of store bought cookie dough in her small

galley kitchen. She gives the slices to Vee, who with Mr.

Hippo’s help, sets them on a greased cooking sheet.

HANNAH:

You guys are doing a real good job.

Vee smiles, her face stained from dinner. She looks at a

plate of cookies resting on the counter, already wrapped in

cellophane.

VEE:

Can we have a cookie?

HANNAH:

Those are for Lou.

13.

VEE:

Why?

HANNAH:

Sometimes ya’ gotta kill’em with

kindness.

VEE:

Huh?

HANNAH:

Sometimes you got to be nice to

people who don’t deserve it, to get

what you want. So when you can’t

pay rent, you make cookies.

Understand?

VEE:

Yep.

HANNAH:

Good. And if you want your own

cookie, you got to take a bath

first.

VEE:

No way!

Vee jumps off her stool, running away with her toy. Hannah

smiles and finishes lining the pan with dough.

INT. LIVING ROOM (LOU’S HOUSE) - NIGHT

A minimally decorated room which could easily be mistaken for

a monastery furnished by a yard sale.

Lou sits at a desk by the window, looking down at a blank

sheet of paper. She begrudgingly puts on a pair of reading

glasses before picking up a pen. She writes.

LOU (V.O.)

I hate writing letters so I’ll keep

it short...

INT. FIREPLACE (LIVING ROOM) - MOMENTS BEFORE

Lou kneels by a raging fire, a LOCK BOX beside her. She feeds

papers and photographs from the box into the flames.

Finally, she lifts SEVERAL PASSPORTS from the box. All

brightly colored, all foreign. She throws them into the fire.

14.

LOU (V.O.)

...I’m not going to elaborate on

the “why” of it all. There’s not

much to say really. Sometime’s you

just got to know when to fold’em...

INT. BEDROOM (LOU’S HOUSE) - MOMENTS BEFORE

Again minimally decorated. Lou’s on the floor, some of the

wood floor boards have been removed. She tucks the BANK

ENVELOPES beneath them.

LOU (V.O.)

...There’s money in the upstairs

bedroom. Under the floorboards. I

hoped there’d be more. Oh, well...

She settles the floor board back into place and folds the rug

over the top.

INT. BASEMENT (LOU’S HOUSE) - MOMENTS BEFORE

Lou’s face glows in the light of an INDUSTRIAL FREEZER. She

looks down at rows of carefully packaged deer meat.

LOU (V.O.)

...There’s a lot of meat in the

freezer. I didn’t know you were a

vegetarian. You could trade it for

something. Don’t be a fool. It’s

worth a pretty penny. That’s good

meat...

Lou shuts the lid to the freezer. The wind HOWLS outside.

INT. LIVING ROOM (LOU’S HOUSE) - CURRENT

And we’re back in the living room where Lou continues putting

pen to paper.

LOU (V.O.)

...And there’s one final thing you

should know. I’d say sit down but,

knowing you, you probably already

are. So here goes. You have to make

choices in life. And if you live

long enough, sometimes the right

choices eventually become the wrong

ones. What I’m trying to say is-

Lou pauses, looking at the paper, unsure. Then she starts

writing again, fast, in case she changes her mind.

15.

INT. HANNAH’S KITCHEN (TRAILER) - NIGHT

Cookies bake in the oven. Dirty dishes soak in the sink.

HAPPY NOISE can be heard coming from the bathroom.

INT. BATHROOM (TRAILER) - CONTINUOUS

Hannah HUMS “Hey, Diddle, Diddle...” as she gives Vee a

bubble bath. She hasn’t bothered to roll up her long sleeves

and her shirt’s soaked through.

She reaches for a wash cloth and sees a RED WELT on Vee’s

back. A vestige of today’s punishment. Hannah stops humming.

HANNAH:

I’m sorry about today. In the

driveway when I spanked you.

Vee ducks into the water. She doesn’t want to talk about it.

HANNAH (CONT’D)

I made a big mistake. But I made it

‘cause I love you so much and I

don’t know what I’d do without you.

But I got to find a better way to

show that. Okay?

Hannah holds out her pinkie. Vee reaches her hand from the

bubbles. They pinkie promise as the ceiling light FLICKERS.

HANNAH (CONT’D)

Alright. Let’s get you dry before

we have flashlight fun time!

Hannah wraps Vee in a towel and lifts her from the tub.

VEE:

Watch out!

Startled, Hannah tightens her grip on Vee, who frantically

points at the ground: water’s dripping on Mr. Hippo.

SIGHING, Hannah sets Vee down and picks up the toy. She leans

out the bathroom door and gently lobs him into Vee’s room.

ANGLE ON VEE’S BED--

Mr. Hippo plops onto Vee’s pink duvet cover.

BING. BING. BING. The oven timer rings.

VEE (CONT’D)

Cookies!

16.

HANNAH:

You stay here and dry off.

Hannah exits the bathroom, moving to the kitchen. The BINGING

gets louder. The lights FLICKER. Then go out completely.

VEE (O.C.)

Mom?

HANNAH:

Sh*t.

(louder)

I’ll be right back.

Hannah pulls outs the cookies. Sets them on the counter and

grabs a flashlight. The lights flicker back on. Hannah looks

up at the fixture.

HANNAH (CONT’D)

Come on, you can do it-(

the lights stay on)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

She looks back at the cookies. Picking one up, she pops it

into her mouth. And immediately spits it out into the sink,

fanning her burnt tongue.

VEE (O.C.)

Where are you?

HANNAH:

Hold your horses!

VEE (O.C.)

I don’t have any horses!

-- CRASH. GLASS SHATTERS.

VEE (O.C.) (CONT’D)

Mommy! Mommy!

Hannah sprints back to the bathroom.

She finds Vee facing the wall in her towel, shivering. The

WINDOW HANGS FROM THE FRAME, broken by a tree branch.

HANNAH:

It’s okay, it’s just the storm--

MAN:

Hi sweetheart.

A MAN DRESSED IN BLACK steps out from behind the shower

curtain. Hannah recognizes him.

17.

She swings the FLASHLIGHT at his head. He catches it, yanks

her forward and holds a WET CLOTH over her mouth.

Hannah struggles but he holds firm, overpowering her.

MAN (CONT’D)

I like what you’ve done with your

hair. Look at the curls -- you’ll

have to tell me how they do that.

Hannah blinks, fighting to stay awake. But she can’t. Her

eyes shut and she finally goes limp. The world goes dark.

PRE-LAP:
The sound of WAVES and a FRANTIC SQUEAKING.

EXT. FRIDAY HARBOR (SAN JUAN ISLAND) - NIGHT

Boats lashed to wood docks bob manically in the storm’s grip,

making the horrible SQUEAKING SOUND.

Next to them, the choppy water GLOWS BRIGHT ORANGE reflecting

an ENORMOUS FIRE burning on shore.

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