Mother! Page #10

HIM:

Writing. Last night. Those

people, their pain. Their love

behind the pain. And then, you.

Us. And now, that...

(he points at her belly)

Life.

(nods to himself)

It’s come to me. I know what to

say, I have to find the words.

That’s all.

She smiles. Happy to see him inspired.

MOTHER:

Amazing. I don’t want to interrupt,

I’ll just get started on theapocalypse.

She turns to leave. HIM looks up.

HIM:

Hey. I love you.

She smiles. Turns to look at the mess and sighs. Later in

the

MASTER BATHROOM:

Mother stands before the toilet. She holds the yellow

tincture in her hand. She dumps it all into the bowl and

flushes it.

73.

She exits the frame for the first time because now it is

FIVE MONTHS LATER

Mother, five months pregnant and showing, steps into theguest bedroom, which has been converted into a

NURSERY:

She moves through the room, putting away diaper cloths andother baby paraphernalia.

Her eyes are drawn to the floor where the rotten wood hasbeen replaced with a patch of new unstained boards. After a

beat, she covers it with the carpet.

She sneaks a peak into the drawing room, where HIM writes ata makeshift desk, deep in concentration. The walls around

him are covered with calligraphy sketches and ideas. The

doorknob is on his desk. She retreats through the

GUEST BATHROOM:

Which has been painted and converted into a baby’s bathroom.

Then she enters the

KITCHEN:

She opens the fridge to make a sandwich when she feels thebaby kick. She yelps with surprise.

She pulls up her shirt. The baby elbows the inside of her

FIVE MONTH belly. Her eyes go wide.

MOTHER:

(to herself)

It moved...

(to HIM)

It moved!

She rushes to the

STAIRWELL:

To tell HIM but the drawing room is empty. Then, she spots

him standing in the

74.

OPEN DOORWAY:

Staring into the wilderness outside.

MOTHER:

What is it?

He turns and sees her. A look she’s never seen before is on

his face. Her happiness turns into concern.

Slowly he looks down at his hands. She follows his eyes. In

his hand is a page with words: the poem.

MOTHER:

(she knows)

Is that it?

She steps towards him in the

FOYER:

He barely believes it himself.

HIM:

I finished it.

MOTHER:

May I?

He hands the poem to Mother. A single sheet of paper.

She sits on the

STAIRS:

She gives him one last look and reads. Slowly, as the words

enter her we see images from

OUTSIDE:

HIM alone. He stands in a desolated field with the remnants

of his burnt home.

He reaches for someone. Mother emerges and takes his hand.

They are younger and newly in love.

She is smitten with him. And he with her.

As they clasp hands, the charred ground and the burnt house

begin to rejuvenate with new life.

75.

Back to Mother on the

STAIRS:

She starts to cry.

MOTHER:

It’s beautiful.

He holds her.

HIM:

Really? Why are you crying?

MOTHER:

It’s just a lot.

HIM:

You think it’s good?

MOTHER:

It’s perfect.

HIM:

Then? What’s going on?

She can barely ask:

MOTHER:

Am I going to lose you?

HIM:

(very serious)

Never-And

then the phone RINGS. The phone.

He goes to answer it. She’s left alone with the poem.

HIM:

Hello? Hi.

She wipes her tears and follows him into the

KITCHEN:

He is excited and on the phone.

HIM (ON PHONE)

Yes. Really? Really?

76.

MOTHER:

Who is that?

HIM (INTO PHONE)

Wait one moment, give me asecond...

(to Mother)

They loved it!

MOTHER:

Who did?

HIM (INTO PHONE)

Yeah I’ll be here. Standing by...

Are you there? Hello?

He lowers the phone, thinking a lot.

MOTHER:

Who was that?

HIM:

My publisher.

MOTHER:

She’s read it?

HIM:

Yes, of course. Why?

Mother is hurt.

The phone RINGS again. He takes the poem and answers the

phone.

HIM:

Yes? Hi again. Press? Well youknow how I feel about it... I’ll be

here, waiting.

(a beat)

The house is great...

Mother, alone again, wanders off. She walks into the

NURSERY:

And stares at the room.

She notices the traces of a blood stain on the carpet. She

feels it. Dry. Lifts the carpet. There’s nothing there but

the patched wood floor.

She exits the frame once again because when she returns it is

77.

THREE AND A HALF MONTHS LATER

Mother is extremely pregnant in the

MASTER BATHROOM:

Taking a shower. The hot water massages her baby bump. It

feels good.

Later, she throws on a robe and uses the hairbrush from her

hospital bag. At dusk, in the

KITCHEN:

Dressed in an evening gown, she takes a CAKE out of the ovenand sets it on the cooling rack. She pokes the cake with a

toothpick. It’s done.

Outside the window, from the corner of her eye, somethingrushes by.

She looks. Nothing there. She stares for a moment, just to

be sure.

The sun dips behind the distant trees. Night approaches.

She heads to the

DINING ROOM:

The table has been set for a beautiful meal. She fills the

glasses. HIM rounds down the stairs wearing a sports jacket.

HIM:

Amazing.

MOTHER:

Well, we’re celebrating. One day,

every copy sold.

He smiles and kisses her.

HIM:

You’re so beautiful.

She glows in his compliment.

MOTHER:

Make yourself comfortable. I’ll go

get everything.

HIM:

Looks delicious. Let me help you.

78.

MOTHER:

No. Sit.

HIM:

No, I’m helping.

MOTHER:

Ok, will you bring the bread in?

HIM:

All right.

Mother goes into the

PANTRY:

As the door closes, the room goes dark and she sensessomething again.

She flips on the back porch light and JUMPS:

The ZEALOT stands right by the window. Ragged and disheveled

he waves at her. He holds a BOUND COPY of the poem HIM

wrote.

ZEALOT:

No, please, can I see him?

She yelps and runs into the

DINING ROOM:

HIM isn’t there. She sees him out on the porch. A small

populace forms around him. From the

FOYER:

She listens as questions rain down on HIM from the crowd.

ZEALOT:

Excuse me, I have a question.

MOTHER:

What are you doing?

HIM turns, a big look of amazement on his face.

MOTHER:

Who are they?

79.

HIM:

(thrilled)

I don’t know.

He doesn’t but he’s excited to find out. This confuses her

more.

HIM:

(to crowd)

Please, wait.

MOTHER:

What do they want?

He comes up to her.

HIM:

I don’t know. They’ve come here to

see me.

Her face barely reacts.

HIM:

Just keep everything warm. I’ll be

right in.

She has little response.

He turns back to them and nods. The crowd rustles.

HIM:

(gesturing to Zealot)

You had a question, what is it?

The Zealot steps forward eagerly.

ZEALOT:

As I was saying, we’ve all traveleda great distance and I feel thatthese words, I feel like they werewritten for me.

HIM:

Of course they were.

Mother slowly walks back into the

NURSERY:

She paces the room, not sure what to do. Blood soaks up into

the carpet. She lifts it up. The blood stain is back.

Disturbed, she returns to the

80.

FOYER:

The crowd SOUNDS are much louder. She glimpses out the

window. There are scores of people out there.

The Zealot now seems to be in a position of authorityprotecting HIM, who is the center of attention.

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