Marlowe Page #11

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LOUISE:

Come on boys, we can talk

about irony over fried,

baloney sandwiches with home

made potato salad and –

something licious for Marlowe.

The three walk out of the barn arm in arm and race into the

house.

INT. THE BARN – LATE AFTERNOON

The Edison Desk is being lowered on ropes with Louise on the

bottom giving directions.

LOUISE:

Lower, lower, just a little

lower, we’re almost there.

Cole is straining with the rope and Lloyd not much better

when a crack came bounding out of the beam

LLOYD:

Get out of the way Louise.

The beam broke and the desk bounded down a few feet and

crashed on the hard ground.

The rope jumps out of Cole’s hands and Lloyd just let’s it

go and then turns and runs for the stairs.

They all stand and look at the broken piece scattered on the

floor.

Suddenly Marlow’s ears stand up and he instantly runs down

Cole’s body and over to the desk where he stands looking

deep into a fracture in the wood.

Louise cried as Lloyd tried to hold her and comfort her.

Lloyd looks down and realizes that Marlowe is on the floor

and not moving.

LLOYD:

Cole! What is that mouse up to?

COLE:

Marlowe.

Answered Cole in a controlled voice.

LLOYD:

What’s he doin son?

Cole got down on his knees and tried to see what Marlowe

could see but it was too dark.

COLE:

We need a light dad.

Lloyd lets go of Louise and takes a few steps across the

barn to a cabinet and brings back a flash light.

Cole turs on the light, shakes it a few times to get it

brighter and then he aims it at the break in the wood and

they all looked in.

COLE:

What is it dad?

LLOYD:

It’s – it’s a – stamp, Cole. Here,

let me see the light.

Lloyd gets down as far as he can and looks way into the

darkness.

LLOYD:

My God, you are truly real and

you have some crazy sense of humor

LOUISE:

Lloyd you be careful of how you

speak about our Lord. What kind

of a stamp is down there?”

Lloyd adjusts the light a bit and takes one more look and

begins to laugh.

LLOYD:

The most valuable stamp in the

world Louise is stuffed in the

middle of this desk and is more

valuable than our entire

neighborhood around us.

COLE:

Really dad, I just thought they

were worth pennies.

LOUISE:

What are you saying Lloyd?

LLOYD:

I believe the stamp I am

looking at is worth millions.

Cole and Louise both make a sound but no words came out.

Lloyd turned to Marlowe and looks at him for the longest

time. Finally, slowly, Lloyd reaches out his arm and

extends his hand down to Marlowe.

Marlowe looks at Cole and then he looks at the hand. He

looks at Cole one more time and then he calmly jumps up into

Lloyd’s hand.

Lloyd stands up fully without taking his eyes off the

animal.

LLOYD:

I – don’t know exactly who – you

are or – where you came from and

as much as I laughed quietly as

Cole’s notion that you are an

alien – I am now – or what I

mean is that – you are with us

Marlowe and we take you into our

family and will protect you as

long as you choose to stay with

us, so help me God.

LOUISE:

Amen.

Marlowe could feel that something good happened so he hopped

up to Lloyd’s shoulder.

Lloyd turned his head so he could see the mouse and then he

turned his head toward the house and walked in that

direction.

He took his sons hand with one hand and Louise hand with the

other and the family walked out of the barn, out of debt,

out of fear and into a world that no one could have possibly

imagined.

INT. THE HOUSE – DAY

Cole looked at the rows of stamps, all placed on linen

squares Louise cut out of some really expensive fabric.

They were all covered with thin plastic sheets the size of

his school notebook paper. Also on the table were books

about stamps, magnifying glass and tweezers and latex gloves

and special little lights to see the incredible detail.

Cole leaned over the table carefully and looked down at a

blue stamp. He slowly sounded out the words as he read the

note next to the stamp.

COLE:

The U.S. Franklin Z-Grill was

published on 1867. This is the

rarest of all postage stamps in

US. Only found 2 pieces that

remain. In 1988, 1 cent Z-Grill

stamp sold for $ 930,000.00.

Cole picks up a magnifying glass to see it more clearly. He

slowly leans closer to the stamp.

STAMP BUYER ONE:

You be careful what you’re doing

son. You know how much that one

square inch of paper is worth?

COLE:

Nine three 0 0 0 0 dollars.

All the men surrounding Lloyd turn around and

stare at Cole who carefully withdraws to a

position further away from the $930,000.00

stamp.

Everyone else turns back to their conversation

except Lloyd who looks at his son in a new

light, in a new way.

Lloyd leaves the group and walks to his son. He checks in

Cole’s shirt pocket to make sure that Marlowe is not there.

LLOYD:

I’m very proud of you Cole –

and you’re friend.

COLE:

Marlowe

Cole answers a little tired of his dad’s mistake.

LLOYD:

Marlowe, of course. Cole, you

have to understand that it is

going to take me a long time

to – address the mouse as

Marlowe but I will, I will I

promise.

Lloyd gives Cole a tight hug and then returns to the men

talking stamps.

Cole returns to the table to look at a safe distance at the

beautifully made stamps worth more than Cole can imagine.

Then he noticed the red stamp with an upside down airplane

printed in blue.

Cole scoots over closer to this stamp

and just laughs and laughs until one of

the men walks up next to Cole and

whispers.

That is called a mistake because the

plane is upside down and that mistake

makes this stamp worth a little over a

half million dollars. What do you think

about that?

The man walked back to the circle of men and Cole went on

admiring the beautiful colors and designs in all the

beautiful stamps.

Then Cole recognized the face on one of the stamps. It was a

black stamp with the face of Abraham Lincoln in the center.

Cole moved a little closer and recognized

Mr. Lincoln’s face.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN at Find your stamps value or Worth of stamps or Online catalogue of Stamps

COLE:

Hey dad, it’s the face of President Lincoln.

I learned about him in school.

Several men walk over to Cole and a large,

fat man, smoking a cigar looks down at the

stamp and then at Cole.

STAMP BUYER THREE

That stamp right there son was issued in

1867 and sold for fifteen cents.

The buyer leans over without getting his cigar close to the

stamps and takes a closer look.

STAMP BUYER THREE

Now the damn things worth about

a quarter of a million. Have no

idea what it’s worth, unused,

like you see it right there.

You think that’s a lot of money

for one stamp?

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