Marlowe Page #14

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Suddenly Marlowe jumps up on the wheel and the wheel turns

the van right into a drive out area. Marlowe’s ears are

twitching.

COLE:

What is it? Why did you do that?

Marlowe looks up at Cole and then he turns and looks out the

back window.

Cole turns and looks and without warning a snow machine

chugs past them spewing out dark, diesel fumes as it sprays a

rooster’s tail of pure white snow.

Marlowe jumps up and down on the seat and points forward.

Cole looks at the truck fading in the distance and he pushes

his foot down as far as he can and the van pulls back into

the snowy road and races after the snowplow.

Cole pulls his leg up slightly and the van slows down until

it is just following the plow into a white and unknown world

for Cole.

Marlowe used his tail to point to the flashing red LED on the

map of the Satellite Locating Device on the dashboard.

COLE:

Okay, okay, I get it. That’s

us and that machine knows where

we’re going, right?

MARLOWE:

Right

Cole looks down at Marlowe and Marlowe looks up at Cole and

then he grows his big smile from ear to ear.

Cole keeps looking down at Marlowe and then the road and then

down at Marlowe again.

COLE:

You spoke. You said right.

Right?

Cole looks right at him. The smile goes away and the mouse

shapes his mouth and utters a word

MARLOWE:

Right.

Cole goes back to driving and following the snowplow and then

he starts laughing.

Marlowe tried to shape his mouth, he tried to push air

through the shape in little bursts and finally

with a few missteps – Marlowe starts laughing.

Cole looks down and watches the mouse laugh which made him

laugh even harder which in turn made Marlowe braver to

express this strange thing.

INT. THE VAN - AFTERNOON

Louise wakes up first. She is slow to come to consciousness

but finally figures out she is covered in a blanket and then

realizes that Cole is driving the van under the direction of

a field mouse

She passed back out.

Lloyd takes a long time to come too and also realizes Cole is

driving on the lap of Harley who is unconscious.

LLOYD:

Cole, Cole.

COLE:

Dad! Dad!!

LLOYD:

Don‘t let go of the wheel son.

COLE:

Dad, are you all right?

LLOYD:

I’m all right and I want you to

lift your foot off the gas and

pull over here on the side of

the road.

COLE:

Yes sir.

Cole happily follows his dad’s instructions until the van

comes to a stop.

Cole climbs off Harley’s lap while Lloyd checks him and

Louise woke up.

Lloyd messages Harley’s shoulders as he speaks to him slowly

and finally, after a long time, Harley returns to this world.

HARLEY:

What happened?

LLOYD:

We don’t know. You must have

fallen asleep is the only thing

I can figure.

COLE:

We hit a snow pile.

Everyone turns and looks at Cole as he wraps up in the

blanket next to his mom who holds him tightly.

COLE:

I had to drive out cause we

were all cold cause the door

opened I guess.

LLOYD:

What door was open?

Cole looks at his dad and points to the sliding door.

LLOYD:

So, you closed the door and then

what?

COLE:

We had to check and make sure

Smoker and Miss. Penny were all

right and then I turned on the

heat and set you guys up so you

could feel better. Then Marlowe

heard the sounds of the snow

truck so we waited until it

passed us and then Marlowe

pointed that we should drive

behind the truck while it

cleared the snow.

LLOYD:

That’s very clever Cole – very,

very clever because son, you

saved all our lives.

Lloyd gets chocked up.

LLOYD:

And you’re only twelve.

Everyone’s eyes shifted to Marlowe.

LLOYD:

That’s – very clever Marlowe,

you are – I just can’t say what

– I can’t even say what I

think because it all makes no

sense but no matter that – you

are something beyond me and all

we can say is thank you Marlowe

– whatever you are.

Marlowe let his huge grin grow across his tiny face as he

recognized what they said and he also recognized how hard

this all really was for them – since he was just a mouse.

When it was all said and done, Harley climbs back in behind

the wheel, Lloyd sits in shotgun and Louise and Cole sit in

the back seats with Marlowe.

INT. THE VAN - MORNING

Cole wakes up and he recognizes the street signs and he knows

it is only a matter of time.

The van drives off the main highway and onto the single lane

roads.

Suddenly, there it was. Their house, their barn and fields

and old machinery and junk

And there were walls – walls that had never been there before

that were high and made out of concrete block with no

openings except through a front gate that was electric and

opened for them as they were driving in.

Lloyd looks back and watches Cole for a moment.

LLOYD:

Harley did all this Cole while we

were in New York. He did it

because – because there is

something very bad happening out

there – which is why we left New York.

Cole is very aware as he looks at the huge concrete

structure.

LLOYD:

Do you know what I’m talking

about son?

COLE:

Yes, sir. The bugs.

LLOYD:

That’s right Cole – their

called a virus which I guess is

a very tiny bug, so small you

would need an electron

microscope to see them. A

microscope that would magnify

them thousands and thousands

of times larger than they are.

COLE:

Why don’t they like us?

LLOYD:

It’s not the kind of bug that

likes anything Cole. It’s a

virus and doesn’t have a brain.

COLE:

What’s it got?

Lloyd

You know, we should all talk

about this after we get into

our house and unpack our stuff

– what do you all say to that?

EXT. FRONT OF HOUSE – DAY

The van stopped and the doors all opened and Cole

was the first one out yelling and screaming and running

around like a mad man.

INT. DINING ROOM – MORNING

Cole ate breakfast at the table but ate fast so he could go

outside and explore.

LOUISE:

Eat slowly Cole and chew each bite.

LLOYD:

And Cole, when you finish you

have to sit down and talk with

your mother and me about – well

about why we have a wall and why

there are other people here now,

do you understand?

COLE:

Yes sir.

LLOYD:

And about Marlowe, you, your

mother, me and Harley are the

only ones who know about

Marlowe and that will be the

way it stays until we say

otherwise.

COLE:

I get it.

Cole looks down at Marlowe who looks up out of his pocket

home and they both seem to have an understanding about this

situation.

Cole slows down his eating and pops a few morsels into his

pocket for the ever hungry animal now living there.

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