October Gale Page #2

---

[DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES]

HELEN:
Sh*t.

[WHISTLING WIND]

WILL:
[COUGHING]

Aw, f***.

WILL:
I'm fine, go away.

[COUGHING]

[CLOSE THUNDER]

HELEN:
You're not from

around here, I know that.

WILL:
I'm from Calgary.

I really like your place.

It's nice.

HELEN:
It's been in--

HELEN:
It's been in my husband's

family for, I don't know...

A hundred years.

What did you do out west?

WILL:
Nothing special.

I mean, it's Calgary.

HELEN:
But--

WILL:
No, I did a

bunch of things.

I did everything.

The last thing I did

I worked in the oil

sands for a while.

But I didn't like that too much.

Needed to get out.

HELEN:
But how did

you end up here?

WILL:
My mom, she grew up

outside of Collingwood, so...

She used to take me

here when I was a kid.

HELEN:
William...

Who shot you?

WILL:
As soon as it

calms down outside

I'll be on my way, I promise.

HELEN:
Fine.

Good.

Good.

Oh, good.

Good, good, good.

HELEN:
Do you want

me to cook, John?

We could make some

fried pickles.

JAMES:
Yes.

HELEN:
You're up

for fried pickles?

JAMES:
I don't know.

HELEN:
I'm delirious.

JAMES:
A little bit.

HELEN:
I worked this

16-hour day yesterday.

16 hours.

JAMES:
You need a foot massage.

[APPROACHING MOTORBOAT]

[DOOR SLAMS SHUT]

AL:
I say your boat. I

didn't know you were up!

HELEN:
I had to open the

cottage sooner or later.

AL:
I just wanted to make

sure you're alright, you know.

A big storm's coming in, there's

thousands already out of power.

HELEN:
Oh!

AL:
They're saying

she's a big one.

WILL:
F***!

WILL:
Hey, do you

know that guy?

HELEN:
Yeah, sure. He

can give us a ride.

WILL:
Listen to me,

you cannot let him in.

HELEN:
What, why?

WILL:
Helen, if you let

him in, we are both dead.

HELEN:
What?

WILL:
Shh. Get rid of him.

HELEN:
Oh...

HELEN:
Sorry it's not fresh.

AL:
Oh, that's alright.

So, how have you been?

HELEN:
Oh, fine.

Better.

AL:
Hey, how's the

roof holding up?

HELEN:
No leaks.

AL:
Didn't take long, few days.

We got a big snowfall this

winter so I'm happy I insisted

otherwise the whole roof

could've caved right in, right?

HELEN:
I appreciate it, Al.

Thank you.

Do you want sugar?

AL:
Ah, no.

Thank you.

I didn't know you had, uh...

I didn't know you

had any visitors.

HELEN:
Oh, uh, a man.

His boat washed up

on my shore so...

AL:
Did you call the cops?

HELEN:
Well, I can't get

a signal on my cell phone

and the Pro-Line's

in the shop, so...

But I do need to

get him into town.

AL:
Oh, yeah, yeah. Sure, of course.

Of course, yeah.

HELEN:
Great.

I'm going to grab a

few things and...

I'll get him and...

AL:
Okay, but I mean, you know that

storm's coming fast, right, so...

I mean they're saying

it's going to be

bigger than last October's.

HELEN:
Help.

[RUSH OF AIR]

[TENSE MUSIC]

HELEN:
What the hell?

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

[HOWLING WIND]

HELEN:
Oh. Ah!!

HELEN:
Ah!!

[BUBBLES]

[COMPLETE SILENCE]

[EMOTIONAL SCORE]

HELEN:
Ah! Okay. Ah!

WILL:
[LAUGHING]

HELEN:
[LAUGHING]

[RAIN]

[HOWLING WIND]

[FOOTSTEPS]

[THUNDER AND RAIN]

[FOOTSTEPS]

WILL:
Oh, f***.

HELEN:
Did you hurt yourself?

WILL:
No, its fine.

It's nothing.

HELEN:
Let me see.

WILL:
It's nothing.

It's okay, doc. I promise.

HELEN:
What are you doing?

WILL:
What do you mean?

What are you doing?

What's the matter?

Huh, what?

HELEN:
What's going on?

I mean who's after you?

I've known Al for years,

I've treated his family.

Why would he strand me here?

What have you done to

make people come after you

to the middle of nowhere?

What happened?

WILL:
[SIGH]

It was an accident.

HELEN:
What?

WILL:
An accident.

A bar fight

got out of hand and um

It was my fault.

[THUNDER]

And I did all of the time.

All of the f***ing time.

But the guy's father

he's not going to stop

until he's killed me.

HELEN:
I mean, you... He's dead.

Right?

You killed him.

WILL:
I'm sorry I put you in danger.

I'm sorry.

HELEN:
This-this-this-this...

This isn't my problem.

It's not my business.

I...

Get out of my house.

WILL:
Helen, I'm

not leaving you.

HELEN:
I've had

enough of this sh*t!

Get out of my house.

WILL:
I'm not leaving you by

yourself knowing what's coming.

HELEN:
I'm not by myself.

WILL:
You're not?

Where's your husband.

HELEN:
He's gone.

WILL:
Gone? You mean dead?

HELEN:
Get out of my house.

WILL:
I'm not leaving.

HELEN:
Get out of my--

Get out of my house.

God damn you!

WILL:
Ow, f*** me!

Ah, f***. Ah!

HELEN:
Oh, God.

[PIANO SCORE]

[LIGHT RAIN]

[HOWLING WIND]

[THUNDER]

HELEN:
You regret that one?

WILL:
I regret most

of them, not that one.

Emily's my mum's name.

HELEN:
That tattoo is

not for your mother.

WILL:
I'm sorry

about your husband.

It's okay.

HELEN:
He got

caught in a storm last October

on the lake.

Went out first thing

in the morning

to buy groceries.

Never came back.

He asked me to go with him

but I was talking to

a friend on the phone.

Barely looked up.

I just said...

'Don't forget your list'.

Phone rang.

'Your husband was

in an accident.

Sorry, Mrs. Matthews.'

I stood there holding the phone

Gone.

He left me a message

asking me to call him.

I keep wondering

What-

What did he want?

I mean it's no one's

fault but his.

He shouldn't have tried

to go through the storm.

He should have waited it out.

He never would have tried

if I'd been there with him.

I could have saved him.

He would've turned back.

[SIGH]

[SNIFFLE]

WILL:
Hey.

Give me your hand.

HELEN:
We spent our

entire lives together.

And he died alone.

I'm really- I'm really sorry

I hurt you like that.

WILL:
It's fine.

HELEN:
Ohh.

[LAUGHS]

[HEAVIER RAIN]

[RUNNING WATER]

WILL:
How far is the marina?

HELEN:
45 minutes.

WILL:
Well, how far

is it in a storm?

HELEN:
Well, it's open water so

Storms out here are like

storms on the ocean.

WILL:
Alright.

So about an hour,

hour and a half then.

HELEN:
Yeah.

About that.

Or never.

WILL:
Alright.

HELEN:
Alright what?

WILL:
That guy that was here

is going to take about an hour

back to the marina, some

more time to find his boss,

then another hour

back here so we got...

Three hours, maybe less,

before they're back for me.

[TENSE SCORE]

How many bullets you got?

[DISTANT THUNDER]

WILL:
What are the

woods like back there?

Can they attack us from behind?

HELEN:
Impossible.

Sheer rock, 30 feet.

It's not going to happen

from the back.

We need to make it

difficult from the front

because once they come ashore

we're in trouble.

WILL:
Yeah, I've

seen that guy before.

HELEN:
Well, he's a local.

He's done odd jobs for

us over the years.

Always in and out of jail.

WILL:
For what?

HELEN:
Just gambling debts.

WILL:
So he knows the area.

HELEN:
He knows it well. We

come up just for the weekends

he's spent his whole life here.

[LIGHT RAIN]

WILL:
How good are

you with that thing?

HELEN:
Very good.

WILL:
Good.

HELEN:
Do you want to

make us some coffee?

WILL:
Sure.

HELEN:
Black.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote