The Passion of Darkly Noon

Hey! Hey, are you all right?

Oh, God. Help me.

You all right, man?

Hang in there.

Callie!

Callie!

Callie!

Jude!

There's a storm coming.

Callie, come over here quick.

What happened?

I don't know.

He was just laying in the road

about a mile back.

What should we do?

Let's get him in the house.

Is Clay not here?

I asked you if Clay's gone

for one of his walks again.

How long has he been gone this time?

One day?

Two?

He looks like he's walked around the world.

Callie.

It's all right.

You're safe now.

I'll look after you.

Just rest now.

Well, maybe he's gone for good.

Living out here's

driven him crazy once and for all.

You'd best start loading the truck.

You'll have to do it by yourself.

Clay's been gone for two days.

How's the patient?

Just needs some rest and food.

I wish you wouldn't joke about it, Jude.

Joke about what?

Clay not coming back.

I didn't mean anything by it.

Clay loves me.

- I know.

- He'll come back.

Always does.

Hey, when he does,

I got that new tool he ordered.

Just put it in the barn.

Barn?

Let me give you the rest of your supplies.

You should come to town to get them,

you know.

Give everyone

the satisfaction of staring at me?

Whispering and judging.

I can live without that.

Besides, I have you to fetch things for me.

I might not always

be here to get them, Callie.

That's right. You're going to get away.

That's right.

You've been saying that

as long as I've known you, Jude.

I know.

I bet you'll be saying it when you're 60.

I wanna be a writer.

I'm sure you'll tell wonderful stories, Jude.

Not living here, I won't.

Nothing ever happens to tell stories about.

What, the trees? The truck?

How the tree perceives the truck.

Does the truck perceive the tree?

At least you have a job.

Anybody to do with coffins is thriving.

I guess that's one of God's little jokes.

Does God play jokes?

All the time.

Go on. You better get out of here

before the storm sets in.

What shall I do about...

Leave him.

Leave him?

He might be a criminal or something.

I suppose he might.

That's just a chance I'll have to take.

Nursed by you.

Worth getting exhaustion for any day.

Get out of here.

Take care of yourself, Callie. See you soon.

Looked like it came from

the top of the mountain.

You're okay.

You scared me.

I'm sorry.

You shouldn't be up, really.

You should be resting still.

Where am I?

This is my home.

My name's Callie.

I live here with Clay,

the love of my life, so to speak.

He's a carpenter.

Made most everything in the house.

He makes coffins, too,

for the undertaker in town.

Clay gets in these moods.

Goes for a walk,

a walk in the dark, he calls it.

He thinks. Sorts out his problems.

He'll be back soon enough.

Everything will be all right.

There.

I hope you like it.

Our Father, who art in heaven...

May we be worthy of

the food which you have...

Amen.

Of course. Amen.

I had to burn your clothes.

They were ruined.

I'll find you something of Clay's to wear.

Did you find a Bible in the pocket?

Yeah. I didn't burn that. I've got it.

Darkly Noon. What's that?

Me.

It's your name?

It's a peculiar name, isn't it?

My ma and pa chose it.

They stuck a pin in the Bible,

and it struck the word "darkly."

You know the passage

from II Corinthians 13:12.

"For now we see each other

through a glass, darkly."

It's a primitive way to choose a name,

isn't it?

It's the way we choose our names.

It's what we believe.

- We?

- My people.

Your people?

Do you belong to

some sort of a sect or a cult?

It's not a cult.

It's the way it should be.

We live by the Bible.

All truth is in the Bible.

These your parents?

Well, we best be giving them a call.

I'm sure they're worried about you.

You can't. They're gone to heaven.

I'm sorry.

What happened to them?

We live in this small town, miles from here.

It's me, my ma, my pa,

and a whole community of people who

believe in the Bible.

Townspeople, they don't like us because...

Because you were different.

The police came.

They told us we can't stay there anymore.

We have to leave.

We can't live the way we want to.

And the townspeople came, too.

And then they surrounded us.

And they were screaming at us,

all the time calling us names,

doing everything they can

to make us surrender,

but we won't change to please them.

They cut off our food, power, water.

There's helicopters circling overhead

all day and night,

and playing music really loud.

But it's them who are wrong.

They're the heretics. God's on our side.

And then one night, there's an explosion.

There's fire, gunshots.

And they attacked us.

I saw my parents get killed.

They were shot.

Somehow I got away.

Afterwards, I started walking.

Just walking and walking.

I didn't know where I was going.

Now I got nowhere.

Don't talk like that.

Your walking brought you here.

You have this place now.

You hear me?

And you can stay here

as long as you please.

I'm sure you'll be comfortable up here.

I used to stay up here once myself.

Here's fine.

Are you sure?

Very.

Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning.

Sleep well.

If you do need anything,

you let me know, okay?

You know, I could... I could do that.

Sure you're up to it?

Yeah.

Excuse me, ma'am.

It's all right, Lee.

- Lee?

- I've been thinking.

I can't call you Darkly. I'm sorry. I just can't.

Lee's all right, isn't it?

Be careful up there.

The whole thing's falling to pieces.

Whole damn house will fall down someday,

I swear it will.

Thank you very much, kind sir.

You putting sugar in the peas?

Always have done.

Should be salt.

Now, who laid down that rule?

My ma and pa.

Lee, I wanna talk to you for a minute.

Come here.

Your ma and your pa,

your name and the Bible and

this cult?

It was the word of God.

Well, sure.

But what you have to realize is that

you were...

God's everywhere.

But not everybody worships God

with the same harshness

as your ma and your pa.

No, it's the truth.

Well, surely God meant for us

to enjoy ourselves.

To be happy.

To love.

That's not a sin, is it?

I mean, I love Clay.

God can strike me down dead

if there's something wrong with that.

Leave me alone! Do you hear me?

- It's all right.

- But... But... But...

Jesus Christ!

You're gonna kill somebody

one of these days!

You don't scare me!

Why don't you

come out in the open and shoot?

Do you hear me?

Let us live in peace!

Callie. Callie. Don't... Don't get...

It's all right. It's not meant to hurt me.

It's just meant to let me know

that you're out there!

Well, I know you're out there!

Leave me alone!

We're not hurting anybody!

Who was that? Was that Clay?

No, of course it wasn't Clay!

Why would Clay shoot at me?

Look, forget about it.

It won't happen again for a while.

Give me a smile.

That's better.

Only Clay can get this radio to work.

Clay, come home.

Good night.

Wait. Don't go.

You don't have to go.

Stay and tell me some more about

how you lived and everything.

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