Marlowe Page #12

---

COLE:

Yes sir.

Cole walked away from the table and made his way up to his

room where he closed the door.

INT. COLE’S BEDROOM - DAY

He immediately lifts the roof off Marlow’s house and finds

Marlowe fast asleep on one of the beds.

He carefully replaces the roof and then climbed onto his own

bed and his old build-a-bear and snuggles himself to sleep

as bear stands guard over the domain.

INT. THE HOUSE – DAY

Weeks later, while the family packs to leave for New York

City, Cole runs to the front door and opens it.

There is a UPS package on the porch, Cole takes it.

COLE:

It was the UPS man for the

fifth time today and it’s only

ten in the morning.

LLOYD (O.S.)

Just put it over with the rest

Cole and stay guard on the door.

COLE:

Yes sir.

Cole paces back and forth, sitting every once in a while in a

chair placed in the hall just for him.

The telephone rings.

FARM HAND:

Christenson residence – who is

this? Excuse me sir but the

Christenson’s are not – who are

you again? Will you hold

please? Lloyd, it’s your

Great Uncle Mart.

LLOYD (O.S.)

Don’t have any Great Uncles

living Harley and he is not on

the list. Please just read the

lines and hang up Harley.

Harley

Yes sir.

Harley goes back to the telephone as Louise comes down stairs

with a suitcase and her bag.

She stops in the dining room where she sees Cole speaking to

Marlowe while taking a break and Harley speaking to another

person on the telephone.

LOUISE:

I never had any idea we had as

many relatives in this living

world and every single one

of them is broke with a hardship

story.

LLOYD:

And half of them aren’t even

relatives Louise – you wonder

how they found out.

COLE:

That’s pretty easy dad since our

newspaper run a front page

article with pictures and

everything.

LLOYD (O.S.)

That’s right Cole, and this is

something definitely you want to

remember.

Lloyd comes into the kitchen.

LLOYD:

As soon as you have money,

every crawling God made creature

that can talk and understand

what the dollar sign means,

wants a part of your claim and

many of them will do anything

including taking your life to

get what they believe is

honestly part theirs. That is

why we are leaving.

Harley takes another call and Cole answers the door but shuts

it almost as fast.

COLE:

More reporters’ dad.

LLOYD:

Just keep it closed Cole and

only take the mail and UPS.

Louise stands still in the dining room and looks long and

hard at each little prize and memento that she found along

the way of this life journey. Her heart skips a beat at each

piece of furniture, every photograph, each dish and candle

that is a piece of the fabric of their lives.

She strolls into the kitchen and touches the photographs on

the refrigerator that tell a history of the Christenson

family, the lives, the births, the deaths – the dogs and cats

that lived and died on this family farm.

Quickly Louise takes every picture and magnet off the

refrigerator and places them in a plastic bag which she then

hides in her day bag.

EXT. FRONT OF HOUSE – DAY

They all step out on the porch for the last time. No one

moves for a long time.

Louise finally sits down on the porch swing for one last rock

back and forth.

The van stood solemnly in the front yard with Smoker and

Miss. Penny in traveling containers in the back.

Louise stands up and walks to the steps.

Lloyd walks to her and takes her hand. Cole walks to the

other side of them and takes her other hand.

She turns once with a white handkerchief in her hands wiping

her eyes.

LOUISE:

Thank you God for this house and

farm – and all that we have

received.

LLOYD:

Amen.

COLE:

Amen.

They stepped off the porch as a group for the last time and

loaded themselves into the van.

Harley opens the front door and steps out on the porch and

waves.

LLOYD:

You take good care of that house

Harley, it’s a fine home and it

took care of us all this time.

We’ll call you when we get in

the city. Thank you Harley,

couldn’t have done this without

you.

Harley waves as the van driver pulls the van around in the

dirt drive and drives away in a cloud of dust.

Harley stands on the porch for a few minutes watching them

go.

HARLEY:

They’ll be back. Folks always come

back home.

INT. NEW YORK CITY APARTMENT

Cole looked out the window on the twenty second floor of the

apartment they bought outright. There was a hundred and

eighty degree view of New York City.

Central Park was only a few blocks to the west.

He turns and sees the hired cook and the house cleaner who

lived in the apartment with them.

Cole walks to his bedroom and sees the tiny play house that

Marlowe lives in. He passes the note on the door that says

‘No one or animals was to enter here’.

INT. NEW YORK APARTMENT – TELEVISION ROOM – NIGHT

Cole and Marlowe played on the floor of the television room

after dinner.

The news was on and Lloyd and Louise seemed very interested

in news about a virus.

NEWSCASTER:

A virus that has started on the West coast by an

older, African/American man who had just returned from South

Africa by way of South America, is leaving a trail of death

behind him that is now being investigated by the Center for

Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia.

LLOYD:

Can’t understand these people

who bring these diseases into

our country.

LOUISE:

I don’t think he realized it dear.

LLOYD:

He didn’t realize he had a hundred

and two degree temperature?

Cole listens as he plays with a train and track kit, just

Marlowe’s size and he was driving Marlowe around the carpet

with a remote control.

Marlowe sits happily on a flat car eating blanched peanuts

from Virginia.

Marlowe could see the television as he whizzed by and he

recognized the word virus when it came on the screen.

Marlowe came around again so he was passing the television

and again he picked out words like death and the numbers in

the thousands.

He could tell by the look on Lloyd and Louise face that these

were terrible things that were growing more terrible.

A bell rings and Cole stands up and kisses his parents good

night.

Marlowe jumps up his leg and climbs to his shoulder as Cole

leaves for his bedroom.

INT. COLE’S BEDROOM – NIGHT

Marlowe sits in front of the computer in doll’s pajamas.

He is staring intently into the computer screen.

CLOSEUP – The Computer Screen

The screen shows the definition of virus as it appears in

Wikipedia. His tiny eyes dated back and forth as he had

learned to read fast.

Page after page after page of information about viruses,

their history, their evolution, mutation, difference from

bacteria, treatment, prescriptions, death toll and recent new

virus species the world had not seen in the past.

Rate this script:1.7 / 3 votes