Misery Page #7

There is a long silence. PAUL doesn't move.

ANNIE:

Can't you see it's what God wants?

She's holding the can of lighter fluid in her hand as she speaks

and absentmindedly flicks a few drops of the fluid on the bed.

ANNIE:

You're so brilliant. I would think

you'd certainly be able to see that.

(More drops fall on

the bed)

We're put on this earth to help

people, Paul. Like I'm trying to help

you.

PAUL watches as the fluid continues to drop on the bed.

ANNIE:

Please let me help you.

CUT TO:

PAUL. His hands shaking. Almost robot-like, he strikes one. It

flames.

ANNIE:

You're doing the right thing, Paul.

CUT TO:

THE BARBECUE, as Paul's hand appears, drops the match on the

fluid-soaked manuscript. For a moment -- nothing --

-- and then, KABOOM, the goddam thing practically explodes and

CUT TO:

PAUL, staring, dazed, and as the flames leap higher,

CUT TO:

ANNIE, suddenly scared and startled at the heat and the size of

the flames and the full baking heat and

ANNIE:

(crying out)

Goodness!

CUT TO:

THE BARBECUE. The sound is LOUDER as the flames leap up and now

charred bits of paper begin floating upward and

CUT TO:

ANNIE, watching, as more bits of paper rise.

ANNIE:

Goodness -- Goodness -- Oh, my

gracious --

And she starts trying to catch them.

CUT TO:

A PIECE OF BURNING PAPER in midair, floating against the gauzy

curtain, and for a moment it looks like the curtain will catch

fire and

CUT TO:

ANNIE, panicked, racing out of the room, going "Goodness, heavens

to Betsy" --

CUT TO:

THE BARBECUE, and what's left of the book.

CUT TO:

PAUL, and he cannot take his eyes off the disaster.

CUT TO:

ANNIE, hurrying back in, carrying a big bucket, slopping water as

she lifts the bucket.

CUT TO:

THE LAST of the manuscript as the bucket of water is tossed onto

it -- there's hissing and steam and as the steam clears it all

looks now like a log in a brackish pond.

ANNIE:

Well, isn't that an oogy mess?

As she starts to wheel the barbecue out, suddenly there is a new

and different sound as we

CUT TO:

PAUL, head turning toward the window.

CUT TO:

ANNIE taking a step toward the window, stopping for a moment. The

sound we're hearing is a motor. A HELICOPTER MOTOR. And it's

getting louder. Annie goes to the window now, looks toward the sky

as we

CUT TO:

A HELICOPTER flying along.

CUT TO:

INSIDE THE HELICOPTER.

BUSTER and a PILOT are in the machine. Buster has a pair of

binoculars looped around his neck, a map rumpled in his lap.

BUSTER:

(pointing out)

That's the Steadman place up there.

(The pilot nods.

Buster points again)

The only other place up here is the

Wilkes farm.

Another nod. The PILOT points down. BUSTER stares through the

binoculars.

WHAT HE SEES:
ANNIE'S JEEP parked in front of her house.

CUT TO:

INSIDE THE HELICOPTER.

BUSTER:

That's no '65 Mustang. There's

nothing else out this way --

circle on back.

As the pilot starts to change direction

CUT TO:

ANNIE at the window, watching, as the helicopter turns, starts

off.

CUT TO:

PAUL, listening as the MOTOR sound recedes.

CUT TO:

ANNIE, staring out the window.

ANNIE:

I do believe the winters are getting

shorter and shorter every year.

People say it has something to do

with the ozone layer. What do you

think?

PAUL:

I don't know.

ANNIE:

Yeah, well, it's a theory. Here's

your Novril.

(she wheels the

barbecue to the

door; stops)

How does tuna casserole sound for

dinner?

PAUL:

Great.

She exits. PAUL takes the two Novril, stares at them, then

deliberately tucks them under his mattress.

DISSOLVE TO:

PAUL'S ROOM. NIGHT.

As PAUL is finishing the last of his tuna casserole. There are two

Novrils on his tray. We hear strains of TV GAME SHOW THEME MUSIC.

These sounds are not surprising. Paul has heard them before.

CUT TO:

ANNIE'S ROOM. NIGHT.

It is much smaller than Paul's and filled with religious bric-a-

brac, pictures of Paul Sheldon, and a TV on a portable stand.

Annie lies in bed, with an open bag of Cheetos resting on her

stomach and a big quart-sized plastic bottle of Coke on the

nightstand. As she munches away, she is heavily engrossed in her

favorite TV show, "The Love Connection." As Chuck Woolery extracts

the embarrassing details of a couple's romantic interlude, we

CUT TO:

Paul faintly hearing the sounds of the TV. He has now finished

eating. He takes the two Novril from under the mattress. He then

undoes the sheet, takes his fork and delicately pokes a hole in

the mattress, then stuffs all four pills back into the hole.

DISSOLVE TO:

FARMHOUSE.

Coming up to dawn.

CUT TO:

PAUL'S DOOR slowly opening.

CUT TO:

PAUL, staring at the door.

CUT TO:

WHEELS, seen from underneath the bed, being rolled around the foot

of the bed. We realize PAUL is in a wheelchair with ANNIE pushing

him.

ANNIE:

See, isn't this nice?

PAUL:

Great. I've always wanted to visit

the other side of the room.

ANNIE:

And look what I've got for you. An

electric razor so you can shave

yourself now.

PAUL:

If I knew this was gonna be the

surprise, you could've gotten me to

burn all my books.

ANNIE:

(She hands him some

Novril)

Now don't josh. This is a very big

day for you, Paul. Here. You just sit

tight, and I'll set everything up.

ANNIE exits.

CUT TO:

PAUL, quickly shoving the Novril into the mattress.

PAUL:

Set what up?

ANNIE (o-s)

That's the big surprise. Your new

studio -- after all, writers do need

a place to work.

PAUL:

Work? You mean write? What in the world

do you think I'd write?

ANNIE:

Oh, but Paul!

(flushed)

I don't think, I know! Now that you've

gotten rid of that nasty manuscript,

you can go back to doing what you're

great at --

(beat)

-- you're going to write a new novel --

your greatest achievement ever --

Misery's Return.

CUT TO:

PAUL. Stunned.

PAUL:

(after a beat)

Misery's Return?

ANNIE:

I know you didn't mean it when you

killed her, and now you'll make it

right.

CUT TO:

ANNIE:
CLOSE UP. In an almost religious fervor.

ANNIE:

Yes. It will be a book in my honor.

For saving your life and nursing you

back to health. I'll be the first

one to read it.

(beat)

Oh, Paul, you're going to make me

the envy of the whole world...

CUT TO:

PAUL.

PAUL:

You just expect me to whip something

off, that it?

ANNIE:

(nods)

I expect nothing less than your

masterpiece.

PAUL:

You do understand that this isn't the

ordinary way books get written -- I

mean, some people might actually

consider this an oddball situation.

She rolls him over to a table she has set up by the window.

ANNIE:

I have total confidence in your

brilliance -- besides, the view will

inspire you.

CUT TO:

THE WINDOW, as the wheelchair approaches it.

The sky is innocent of clouds. There's a green forest climbing the

flank of the nearest mountain. A plot of open ground between the

house and the mountain. A neat red barn where the livestock stay.

A Jeep Cherokee, maybe five years old. A Fisher plow. And no

neighbors in sight. This is a desolate place.

ANNIE (o-s)

You just inhale that. I'll be right

back.

CUT TO:

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