Oddball Page #5

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Hey, look confident.

Not too confident.

Hang on, what are you doing?

You need to invite her in.

(TRILLS)

That's better.

(GRUNTS)

Bingo. Ha! Job done.

Alright, mate.

I'll leave you with it,

alright?

See you tomorrow. Ugh!

- (BARKS)

- Ah, stay. Stay! Sit down.

I'll be back. You'll be right.

- (ODDBALL WHINES)

- Uh-uh. Stay. Just wait there.

This is your job now.

Stay there. That's right. Good.

Hang on. Oh, oh, oh!

- Ow!

- (THUDS)

I'm alright.

Stay where you are.

(GROANS)

(GROANS)

(SIGHS)

Alright, Betty, let's go home.

(CHIRPS QUIETLY)

(TRILLS)

(SNARLS)

(ODDBALL BARKS)

(BARKS)

(BARKS)

(CHIRPS)

- Oddy, where are you, mate?

- (ODDBALL GRUNTS)

(GROANS)

This isn't going to work,

is it?

Did you have a dust-up

with a fox, mate?

Well, spin me frisbee.

(LAUGHS) Oh.

Looks like we're in business.

See you tomorrow, Jack.

Have a good one, Swampy.

(BARKS)

Alright, I'm ready.

Where are we?

Hey, Em, when you met Bradley,

like... how did you know

that he was the one?

15? We haven't lost any?

Nup. I wouldn't go

getting too excited.

There's probably

a couple of nomads in there.

WOW! Ha!

They're not laying eggs, so...

Great. Good chat.

We're still holding at 15! Oh!

(SWAMPY LAUGHS)

Alright. Seatbelt.

Oh, a dashboard dance first.

Yes!

(ENGINE STARTS)

EMILY:
'Bye!

You know,

we should do this more often.

I know Bradley has been

hanging around a lot lately.

You two been

getting on alright?

He's not awful.

- (GIGGLES)

- (CHUCKLES)

So, no fox attacks

in the past few nights, huh?

Yeah. But try not to get

your hopes up, okay?

'Cause it might

just be a fluke.

Oh, it's no fluke.

Everything's gonna be fine.

Maybe, but we should talk about

what will happen

if the sanctuary does close.

You know,

keep our options open.

But you can't just give up.

Breeding season's soon, right?

Well, I'm not giving up.

I'm just... I'm not

ruling anything out.

Sweetheart...

If Bradley's projects

in town go well,

then... he might have some

opportunities with his company.

And those might be

opportunities for us too.

Wait, you mean

like... moving away?

It's a possibility.

But what about the penguins?

And Grandad?

Sometimes you just

have to trust that

maybe I know some things

that you don't.

Maybe I know

some things you don't.

Like...?

Like what? Livvie, what?

(CLUCKS, SINGS))

Oddball protecting penguins?

Uh... yep.

Is he out there now?

Sorry.

Yep.

Show me.

(PENGUINS CHIRP)

EMILY:
You realise if anyone

finds out, Oddball's done for?

I mean, you barely escaped

the judge last time.

Yeah, I know.

And that it could all amount

to nothing, anyway.

SWAMPY AND OLIVIA: Uh, yep.

Why now, Dad?

Well, because

they're just little fellas.

They needed a hand.

That's it?

Well, yeah.

(CLEARS THROAT) Plus...

when family's

in a bit of strife...

you got to, you know,

help out, don't ya?

Alright, no rabblerousing

with the government people.

Okay, Dad?

Leave the higher-ups to me.

But first, we're gonna need

Bradley's help.

Bradley? No, we can do this

without the circus clown.

I mean, I wouldn't trust

that man with...

- Dad, listen to me.

- OLIVIA:
Grandad!

- What?

- She's in.

She's what? She's in?

She is?

Oh, good. No, no. Great!

- Dad?

- What?

- My way.

- Yes, love.

Of course. Your way.

Yeah. Uh-huh.

BRADLEY:
Oddball on the island?

I can't believe

this is happening.

EMILY:
(LAUGHS) I know. It's...

I mean, it... it's incredible.

It really works.

And... and penguin numbers

are finally holding steady,

and right before

breeding season.

We just need Oddball to keep

doing what he's doing and...

- BRADLEY:
Wow.

- So I thought that perhaps,

if a certain tourism expert

could help us

sway the judge, then...

- Emily. Hi.

- Oh. Jack.

- Jack?

- Jack!

Sorry, I couldn't find anyone

to trade shifts with me,

but I'm gonna be back

out on the island

- as soon as I'm off here.

- Okay. Um...

Wow, you look really different.

Jack. Hey! Bradley Slater.

Can you get us

a bottle of shiraz, please?

JACK:
Yeah, alright. Yep.

Um, wow. That was a bit rude.

I'm sorry. I have something

I need to tell you.

- Okay.

- Um...

I know how much

the penguins mean to you.

Um, but...

the council are backing

Rich's whale watching centre

on Middle Island.

Once everybody realised

that the island was

becoming uninhabited...

Uh, What?

You didn't think to tell me

anything during all of this?

I wanted to wait

until it was final.

- Final?

- Final?

Right, I've heard

enough of this rubbish.

- OLIVIA:
Grandad, no!

- I knew we couldn't trust him.

Stop! You can't just

barge in like this. Stop!

The sanctuary's been going

downhill for a while.

At least this will give it

something to replace it

that's honourable, and we can

think about our future.

SWAMPY:
Stop right there!

What is this I hear

about some whale watching

thing on Middle Island?!

- Dad...

- Mr Marsh...

Listen, you clown,

Middle Island is home

to those penguins

and it's where they belong.

- (FEEDBACK SCREECHES)

- Oh! Ow!

WOMAN:
What was that?

- Ugh! What is this?

- It's a two-way.

He doesn't care about

the penguins, he's just trying

to feather his own nest, and

he wants you and Livvie in it.

EMILY:
Right, that's enough,

from both of you.

We'll catch a taxi.

Come on. Come on.

Ahh...

You know, if you had one ounce

of feelings for her...

I care about Emily very much,

thank you.

Then help us prove that

Oddball's fair dinkum.

- (SIGHS) And if his dinkum...

- (JACK POURS WINE)

proves fair?

Jack.

Then the whale watching

centre will go away

and I'll be out of a job.

- Could you sit down, please?

- Sorry.

(CHICKENS CLUCKING)

(BICYCLE BELL RINGS)

(RINGS BELL)

(MAYOR SIGHS)

This Oddball solution of yours

really works?

Like scrambled eggs on toast.

MAYOR:
So, Emily came

to see me about Oddball.

People are looking to council

for something special

to bring in jobs and money,

hence the whales.

This might be my undoing

as a mayor,

but the penguins

have always felt special to me.

The one thing Judge Burns

loves more than his bike

is the law.

When I point out how exposed

the entire whale development is

on account of being approved

before the sanctuary

was legally available,

he'll walk Oddball

on that island himself

in his rush for due diligence.

- Huh.

- (MAGPIES WARBLE)

You're a clever egg,

aren't you?

I didn't become mayor

for nothing.

We'll keep that dog

on the island.

But be warned,

when they're forced

to put their plans on hold,

our approval ratings might

be in for a bit of a hammering.

Oh, that's my

strategic advantage.

- No-one approves of me, anyway.

- (LAUGHS)

(CHUCKLES)

I don't mind you.

This is a major setback.

- This... this is major.

- Don't put this on me.

You were the one

that convinced me

to keep that dog around

in the first place.

My office,

they think I'm a flip-flopper,

'cause it's penguins

and then it's whales

and then it's whales

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