The Sixth Sense Page #11

Beat. Malcolm's words are extra-controlled. Revealing nothing.

MALCOLM:

How often do you see them?

COLE:

All the time. They're everywhere.

(beat)

You won't tell anyone my secret,

right?

Beat.

MALCOLM:

...No.

COLE:

Will you stay here till I fall

asleep?

Malcolm nods, "Yes." Cole pulls the covers up to his chin and

turns to the window in the room. Malcolm is very still and

stares at Cole.

MALCOLM'S EYES -- slowly turn and survey the room. They find

nothing. Malcolm returns to watching Cole.

COLE'S EYES LOOK AROUND THE ROOM WARILY... WE MOVE IN ON THEM --

TILL HIS EYES FILL THE FRAME.

Beat.

And then we see what he's staring at. Through Cole's hospital

room window we see the adjacent wing of the hospital building.

Rows of hospital room windows are visible. In the windows are

patients... SOME OLD, SOME YOUNG... SOME ARE DRESSED IN MODERN

HOSPITAL GOWNS... SOME FROM DECADES PAST.

THEY STAND UNNATURALLY STILL IN THEIR WINDOWS... WATCHING,

WAITING.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET CORNER - NIGHT

Malcolm hails a cab. He steps off the sidewalk lost in his

thoughts. Steam rises from a street vent. HEADLIGHTS. A CAR

SUDDENLY EMERGES FROM THE STEAM, NARROWLY MISSING MALCOLM.

Malcolm jerks out of the way. His briefcase falls to the ground.

His tape recorder falls to the sidewalk. Beat. Malcolm reaches

down and picks it up.

MALCOLM:

Cole...

(beat)

His pathology is more severe than

initially assessed.

(beat)

He's suffering from visual

hallucinations, paranoia --

Symptoms of some kind of school age

Schizophrenia.

(beat)

Medication and hospitalization may

be required.

CLICK. Malcolm's hand with the tape recorder drops to his side.

MALCOLM:

(whispers)

I'm not helping him.

Malcolm stares into the night. He stands alone as thoughts crash

like thunder in his head.

CUT TO:

INT. CAR - NIGHT

The STREETS TURN RED as Lynn drives home from the hospital in

silence. She glances down to her right.

Cole is curled up asleep on the passenger seat, back in his

regular clothes, a tiny party hat clutched in his hand. He looks

like a four-year-old.

The sight of him exhausted and still, hits Lynn hard.

Lynn's face drowns in deep concern. She lays a hand on Cole's

head as she drives.

CUT TO:

INT. COLE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

The front door opens, Lynn carries Cole in. He's asleep on her

shoulder. She carries him down the hall to his BEDROOM.

Lynn lays Cole gently on his bed next to his German Shepherd

Puppy. Cole curls up with Sebastian.

Lynn watches the two youngsters sleep for a moment. Cole is

curled up asleep with a tiny party hat clutched in his hands. He

looks like a four-year-old. Lynn has been carrying Cole's

sweater from over her shoulder. She pulls it off and begins to

fold it. Her attention is drawn to the sweater. She fingers the

fabric of the back. IT'S RIPPED. Her eyes move to Cole. In the

middle of the back of his T-shirt are THREE SMALL TEARS. Lynn

pushes the fabric open with her fingers and sees DEEP FINGERNAIL

LIKE SCRATCHES on his skin.

Lynn looks around helplessly, fear creeping into her eyes.

CUT TO:

INT. HALL - NIGHT

Lynn emerges from Cole's room. She turns OFF THE HALL LIGHTS as

she moves into her room and closes the door.

WE HEAR LYNN PICK UP A PHONE AND DIAL. Beat.

LYNN:

Hi, this is Lynn Sear, Cole's

mother. I wonder if we could

talk about your son and his

friends keeping their goddamn

hands off my boy?

The thermostat on the wall reads seventy-eight degrees.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. HALL - NIGHT

A few hours later. The house seems threateningly still. Too

still.

CUT TO:

INT. COLE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

An unnatural silence fills each room of the house.

The thermostat on the wall now reads, fifty-two degrees.

A LIGHT TURNS ON FROM UNDER COLE'S DOOR.

The door opens a crack. Cole's tiny face peeks out. Eyes scan

the darkness.

The door opens a little bit more. Cole's knees are pressed

together. His body dances a little. Cole has to pee. He moves

cautiously into the hall.

Cole moves briskly to a door halfway down the corridor. Opens

it. Cole turns on the LIGHT IN THE BATHROOM.

He checks behind the shower curtain, before he turns his back and

pees into the toilet.

A LARGE FIGURE MOVES PAST THE DOORWAY.

Cole instantly stops peeing. His body becomes very still. He

slowly reaches for the toilet handle and flushes. He closes his

pants and turns. He doesn't come out of the bathroom at first.

He just stands there and stares into the darkness of the hall.

HIS BREATH FORMS TINY CLOUDS IN THE COLD AIR.

Beat. Cole finally steps out into the hallway. His eyes catch a

SLANT OF LIGHT now coming from the kitchen.

Cole hesitates before being drawn to the kitchen. He moves down

the hall and turns the corner -- coming to a stop in the doorway

of the kitchen.

CUT TO:

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Cole stares at the back of a person cooking food on the stove.

Cole's fear slowly fades away. Beat.

COLE:

Momma?

(beat)

Dream about daddy again?

The person turns. It's not Lynn. It's a strange woman. The

woman's face is demented. A purple gash cuts across her

forehead. ALL THE CABINETS AND DRAWERS ARE OPEN BEHIND HER.

WOMAN:

DINNER'S -- NOT -- READY!

Cole's face turns the color of ash.

WOMAN:

What are you going to do?

Cole backs up to the doorway.

WOMAN:

You can't hurt me anymore!

The woman smiles menacingly as she thrusts her wrists forward...

They've been savagely cut.

CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT

Cole turns and runs down the hall.

CUT TO:

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Cole runs across his room.

He heads right for the homemade tent seated in the corner with

the "DO NOT TOUCH" sign on it. He scurries in. His legs

disappear as the bedsheets flap closed behind him.

The crazed woman stands at the end of the hall. Doesn't come any

closer.

CUT TO:

INT. TENT - NIGHT

Cole is curled up in the tent. He lays still for a moment

reaching over and FLICKING ON A FLASHLIGHT.

The red interior of the tent gets LIP UP.

It's a striking sight. The bedsheet walls of the tent are lined

with religious pictures taped to the walls. Tiny statues of

saints surround the interior perimeter. We see the statue Cole

stole from the church is in here... This tent is a sanctuary

made by an eight-year-old to hide in.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. AUDITORIUM STAGE - AFTERNOON

THE LIGHTS IN THE GYM GO DOWN. THE SPOT LIGHT OPENS ON THE STAGE

AS THE CURTAINS MOVE TO THE SIDES...

A sign to the side of the stage reads, "The third and fourth

grade presents -- Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book."

The parents APPLAUD AS TOMMY TAMMISIMO WALKS OUT ON STAGE in a

villager's outfit.

TOMMY:

(Decent British accent)

There once was a boy, very

different than other boys. He

lived in the jungle, and he could

talk with the animals.

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