The Green Mile Page #6

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PAUL:

Yeah, that's right. That's the

last we'll see of him...

FADE TO BLACK:

IN BLACKNESS, A TITLE CARD APPEARS:

"The Mouse on the Mile"

CUT TO:

INT. E BLOCK - DAY

A low, static shot. Green floor stretching before us. Harry

and Bill Dodge are at the desk b.g., doing paperwork and

filing chores. Percy is idling nearby, whistling softly and

combing his hair...

...and into this quiet shot, deep in foreground, creeps the

mouse. He starts walking the Mile as before...

...right toward Percy.

COFFEY:

stares through his bars as the mouse goes by...

PERCY:

keeps combing his hair, unaware...

DEL:

sits quietly picking his nose in his cell. The mouse appears

outside the bars, cruising inexorably up the Mile. Del turns

slowly, watches the mouse go by...

PERCY:

still grooming himself, still unaware...

THE MOUSE:

keeps coming closer. ANGLE UP to Bitterbuck peering through

his bars, watching him go by...

PERCY:

keeps working that comb--and freezes at the sound of a TINY

SQUEAK. His head swivels slowly...

...and there's the mouse. Staring at him.

That moment of eye contact reveals an enmity older than time

itself. If mice have a natural enemy, Percy is it.

PAUL:

You little son of a b*tch.

Harry and Bill glance up from their work.

HARRY:

Well, I'll be damned. There he is,

big as Billy-be-frigged. I thought

Brutal was pulling my leg.

BILL:

That's a goddamn mouse.

HARRY:

Yeah. Brute said he was in here

last night begging for food, came

right up to the desk.

BILL:

My ass. Give him some room, Percy,

see what he does.

Percy takes a few careful steps back, eyes never leaving the

mouse. (Percy's hand starts easing toward the handle of his

baton.) The mouse comes up to the desk as before.

HARRY:

Brave little bastard, gotta give

him that.

Harry breaks off a small piece of cracker and drops it. The

mouse picks it up, starts to eat. (Percy's hand inches ever

closer to his baton).

BILL:

Here, lemme try.

Bill drops a piece of cracker. The mouse ignores it

completely, keeping its beady little eyes on Harry. (Percy's

hand starts easing his baton from its holster.)

BILL:

Maybe he's full.

HARRY:

(grins)

Maybe he knows you're just a

floater. Gotta be an E Block

regular to feed the E Block mouse,

don'cha know...

Harry drops another piece--and sure enough, the mouse starts

to eat. Harry's smile fades. He and Bill trade a look.

HARRY:

I was just kidding ab--

Percy lets rip a BELLOWING WAR CRY ("Yaaaahhh!") and launches

his baton like a spear, scaring the crap out of everyone.

The mouse ducks (yes, actually ducks) and the baton sail over

his head close enough to ruffle its fur, bouncing off the

floor. Apparently remembering a pressing engagement

elsewhere, the mouse takes off in a flash toward the

restraint room.

Percy roars with frustration and takes off after it, trying

to squash it with his heavy work shoes, leaping and stomping

with great big galloping strides, missing the mouse by

inches...

...and thus is the Green Mile traversed, with Percy stomping

and hollering like a spastic flamenco dancer, the convicts

yelling at their bars, the mouse zigging and zagging like Jim

Thorpe heading for the endzone...

The mouse wins, zipping to safety under the restraint room

door. Percy pounds his fist against the door in frustration:

PERCY:

F***!

He fumbles with his keys, unlocks the door, yelling all the

while:

PERCY:

I'M GONNA RIP YOUR DISEASED HEAD

OFF, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SH*T!

OUTSIDE E BLOCK:

Paul and Brutal are arriving for work--they pause, hearing

PERCY'S YELLS drifting from the windows. The regular CONS in

the yard are drifting curiously to the fence, wondering if a

riot's brewing. Paul and Brutal take off running--

INSIDE E BLOCK:

--and rush in to find:

HARRY:

Percy met your mouse.

Harry points. Percy's down at the far end, rummaging wildly

in the restraint room, tossing sh*t out onto the Mile.

PERCY:

It's in here somewhere! I'm gonna

squish the little son of a b*tch!

He starts muscling the filing cabinet out the door, kicking

buckets out of his way. Brutal calls out to him:

BRUTAL:

Percy, we already tried that--

PERCY:

What? Whad'ja say?

BRUTAL:

I said--

Paul stops Brutal with a look--don't you dare stop him.

BRUTAL:

--uh, knock yourself out. Hope you

nail the bastard.

Paul crosses his arms and smiles, leans back against the desk

to wait...

DISSOLVE:

...and Percy hauls the last of the stuff out, exhausted. He

steps back in and looks around, unable to believe there's no

mouse cowering in the corner. Paul and the men approach,

keeping straight faces, navigating the crap in the corridor.

BRUTAL:

Gosh. Ain't in there, huh? Don't

that beat the mousie band?

Percy keeps scanning the restraint room. The others all look

to Paul, waiting for him to speak--you're the boss.

PAUL:

Percy. You want to think about

what you were doing just now.

PERCY:

(turns, glaring)

I know what I was doing. Trying to

get the mouse. You blind?

HARRY:

You also scared the living crap

out of me and Bill. And them.

He c*cks a thumb at the inmates in their cells.

PERCY:

So what? They aren't in cradle-

school, case you didn't notice...

(directed at Paul)

...although you treat them that

way half the time.

BRUTAL:

We don't scare 'em any more than

we have to, Percy. They're under

enough strain as it is.

PAUL:

Men under strain can snap. Hurt

themselves. Hurt others. That's

why our job is talking, not

yelling. You'll do better to think

of this place like an intensive

care ward in a hospital--

PERCY:

I think of it as a bucket of piss

to drown rats in. That's all.

(scans their faces)

Anybody doesn't like it can kiss

my ass. How's that sit?

Brutal steps forward, wanting to slug the little bastard.

Percy shies back, but keeps his bravado up:

PERCY:

Try it. You'll be on the bread

lines before the week is out.

PAUL:

We all know who your connections

are, Percy...

(steps close)

...but you ever threaten a man on

this block again, we're all gonna

have a go. Job be damned.

PERCY:

Big talk. You done?

PAUL:

Get all this sh*t back in the

restraint room. You're cluttering

up my Mile.

They turn and walk away, leaving Percy as we

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. E BLOCK - NIGHT

A SLOW TRACKING SHOT OF THE GREEN FLOOR takes us past a tiny

scrap of break...and then another...and then past a mousetrap

primed with a scrap of bacon...

...and we keep following a long trail of bread scraps and

mousetraps until we come to Percy, alone on the Mile,

carefully laying the last mousetrap down...

...and he scoots back against the desk to wait, crouched and

holding his breath, eyes riveted to the restraint room door

for any sign of his furry nemesis...

...and CAMERA BOOMS SLOWLY DOWN off his face, dipping down to

floor level...

...where the mouse is revealed under the desk, peering in the

same direction as Percy, wondering what the hell's so

interesting down there. It hops further out to see...

ANGLE OF PERCY FROM FLOOR LEVEL

...and the mouse enters frame, hopping out a few more steps,

mouse and man staring in the same direction.

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