The Ice Storm Page #15

INT. CAR. NIGHT

As the car slides and crashes amid Jim's and Elena's screams.

Silence.

JIM:

You okay?

ELENA:

Yeah. You?

JIM:

Yes. Well, I guess we can walk from

here.

EXT. CAR. NIGHT

Jim and Elena get out, shaky, from the car.

They pause for a moment.

The street lamp above them sizzles, but stays on.

They start to walk.

INT. LIBBETS' APARTMENT. NIGHT

Paul and Libbets, still frozen in the same position. Finally,

Paul gently pushes Libbets' head back.

It slides off his leg and, as Paul lurches forward in a

failed attempt to grab it, Libbets flops backwards, her head

hitting the carpet with a dull but decidedly loud thump.

PAUL:

Oh sh*t!

Paul gets up, looks down at her.

She snores.

He runs over to a side table and sees the clock: 11:10.

PAUL (CONT'D)

Oh sh*t oh sh*t.

He grabs his comic books and runs for the door.

INT. TAXI. NIGHT

The driver impassively inches down Park Avenue.

PAUL:

Oh sh*t oh sh*t. C'mon!

INT. GRAND CENTRAL STATION PLATFORM. NIGHT

Paul sprints down the platform just as the doors are closing.

He barely makes it into the train.

INT. TRAIN. NIGHT

Paul walks through the nearly empty train car and finds a

seat. He pulls his Fantastic Four comic book out of his coat

pocket.

INT. HALFORD KITCHEN. NIGHT

Ben makes his way to the kitchen, pours himself a cup of

coffee.

He sees himself reflected in the black glass of the cabinets.

INT. SANDY'S ROOM. NIGHT

Sandy and Wendy are sitting on the floor. He grabs his G.I.

Joe.

SANDY:

Check this out. He's supposed to

talk all kinds of stuff, but he's

like malfunctioned.

He pulls the dog tag on the doll, and G.I. Joe emits a

plastic macho voice.

G.I. JOE

Mayday! Mayday! Get this message

back to base!

SANDY:

Same thing. Again and again.

Wendy takes the doll and yanks the cord.

G.I. JOE

Mayday! Mayday! Get this message

back to base!

SANDY:

It's gonna get a lot colder

tonight, I predict. Probably a

blackout. Do you have candles in

your house?

I know where the candles are, and I

have my own flashlight. Over there.

Also, I know where every emergency

exit is on this floor.

During the course of his monologue, as Wendy looks on, Sandy

calmly ties a noose for his doll.

SANDY:

This knot's called a bowline.

He puts the noose over the doll's head, as Wendy holds him.

G.I. JOE

Mayday! Mayday!

SANDY:

Let's hang him.

Sandy drapes the noose over the edge of a dresser drawer.

G.I. Joe dangles. They both look at him in silence.

The silence continues.

WENDY:

He's dead.

SANDY:

If it wasn't raining we could take

him outside and blow him up.

WENDY:

He wouldn't blow up. He'd just get

all mangled or twisted.

She takes him down and lays him flat on the bed. And then

begins to remove his clothes.

Sandy looks on, desirous.

WENDY:

Well.

(noticing his lack of

anatomy)

It looks like someone got to his

private parts before us.

SANDY:

Communist Viet Cong.

WENDY:

They left it in the jungle.

They speak with high seriousness.

Wendy slides up on the bed where Sandy sits, a pillow on his

lap, and one by one, with exaggerated slowness, she removes

her snowboots, as if they were stiletto heels.

WENDY:

Can I get into your bed?

(pause)

With you?

Sandy begins to shake.

SANDY:

We -- we have to go to the guest

room. We can't stay in here. What

if Mikey? My parents?

WENDY:

Don't worry about them. They're at

that party, getting drunk and

falling all over each other and

making jokes about McGovern and

stuff.

Sandy begins to cry.

SANDY:

It's just -- it's just --

She takes his hand, and they walk out of the room and down

the hall, into the guest room.

INT. GUEST ROOM. NIGHT

Wendy and Sandy enter. She sees the vodka bottle on the

dresser.

WENDY:

Want a drink?

SANDY:

Vodka?

WENDY:

You never tasted the stuff?

She fills the glass to the brim and hands the bottle to

Sandy.

They clink and each toss back a sip -- Wendy almost the

entire glass.

Sandy coughs and gags, but swallows.

WENDY:

Try again.

He does.

SANDY:

It feels warm.

WENDY:

One more shot?

SANDY:

Okay.

They drink.

WENDY:

Under the covers.

Under they go, and soon every layer of clothing emerges.

WENDY:

(feeling her way)

Get 'em off.

Sandy begins to laugh, and soon Wendy joins him.

They roll around on top of each other for a while.

WENDY:

Have you ever had a nocturnal

emission?

SANDY:

Huh?

WENDY:

That's the name for when you wake

up and find this little pool of

sticky stuff, like after a sexy

dream.

Sandy shakes his head.

WENDY:

They didn't tell you this stuff

yet? What planet do you live on?

Sandy doesn't answer, but climbs back on top of her and

kisses her neck.

SANDY:

I love you.

WENDY:

That's nice. Are you drunk?

SANDY:

I don't know. How do I know?

WENDY:

I don't know either. You spin

around, when you lie down.

Sandy rolls off her and lies on his back.

SANDY (CONT'D)

I don't think I'm spinning.

They cuddle up together.

He yawns. She yawns.

EXT. SILVER MEADOW. NIGHT

Mikey walks along the edge of the empty pool in the rain. He

climbs up on the diving board and bounces lightly on it, but

then gets off and stands, looking down at the pool again.

EXT. SILVER MEADOW. NIGHT

Mikey walks across the field.

EXT. STREET. NIGHT

The storm has let up. Mikey walks along. With a running

start, he slides on the ice down a hill.

He walks back up and slides again, hollering with joy. He is

an image of a tiny yet absolute and positive freedom.

The streetlights sputter on, then off.

INT. WILLIAMS GUEST ROOM. NIGHT

Sandy and Wendy lie asleep.

EXT. STREET. NIGHT

A power line is down. It hisses and HUMS -- a humming very

much like the humming Mikey has been hearing earlier.

The humming takes on the same transcendent tonality to which

Mikey has become so accustomed at such moments.

Mikey sits down on a metal street guardrail, to ponder the

sound and the snaking coil of electricity.

A strange look of almost religious wonder overcomes his face,

as the power line connects to the guardrail.

MIKEY:

Oh sh*t.

Glued by an electrical pulse to the rail, he shakes as the

current flows through him.

After a minute, his body slumps and slides down the road.

INT. TRAIN. NIGHT

As Paul sits reading on he moving train, the lights inside

begin to sputter, and the train begins to slow. After a few

moments, the train grinds to a halt, and Paul and his few

fellow late night passengers are left in near total dark,

with only the light of an emergency exit sign above Paul's

head to light the scene.

The train is eerily silent.

EXT. HOOD CAR. NIGHT

Ben drives home.

EXT. STREET. NIGHT

An emergency vehicle, lights flashing, crawls by Ben's car.

He drives on slowly.

EXT. STREET IN FRONT OF WILLIAMS HOUSE. PRE-DAWN

Jim and Elena arrive on foot.

JIM:

You want to come in, get a cup of

coffee -- warm up? I can either

walk you home, or you could crash

in the guest room.

ELENA:

Sure. Maybe coffee.

INT. WILLIAMS KITCHEN. PRE-DAWN

JIM:

Phone's out. I hope the pipe's --

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