The Sweet Hereafter Page #8

CUT TO:

INT. CAR -- MORNING

A little girl staring innocently into the lens as a male

voice sings a lullaby to her.

It is now recognized as MITCHELL'S voice, singing to his

daughter as she is driven to the hospital.

MITCHELL:

(voice over)

It was an unforgettable drive. I

was divided into two people. One

part of me was Daddy, singing a

lullaby to his little girl.

MITCHELL:

The other part was a surgeon, ready

to cut into her throat. I waited

for the second that Zoe's breath

stopped to make that incision.

CUT TO:

INT. AIRPLANE. FIRST CLASS CABIN -- NIGHT

ALISON stares at MITCHELL as he finishes his story.

ALISON:

What happened?

MITCHELL:

Nothing. We made it to the

hospital. I didn't have to go as

far as I was prepared to. But I was

prepared to go all the way.

CUT TO:

EXT. ACCIDENT SITE -- DAY

An open sky. BILLY ANSEL'S face appears in the frame,

looking down at the camera.

ANGLE ON:

The camera is staring down at BILLY as he identifies the

bodies of his two children.

The camera is at a great height.

As BILLY walks away, the camera floats down, slowly moving

on his face.

CUT TO:

EXT. WOODS -- DAY

BILLY's P.O.V. of his wife, LYDIA, tugging a sled through

the snow. JESSICA and MASON are on either side of her.

The three figures are seen from behind, trudging their way

through the winter landscape.

This image has a ghostly quality to it. It is filmed in

slow motion.

Suddenly, a snowball enters the frame and hits LYDIA on the

back of the head. She turns around, laughing into the

camera.

CUT TO:

INT. BIDE-A-WILE MOTEL -- EVENING

EXTREME-CLOSE-UP

BILLY in his chair in Room 11 of the Bide-A-Wile. He is

alone, smoking a cigarette. A slight faraway smile on his

lips.

After a moment, the door opens. It is RISA.

They stare at each other. Silence.

RISA:

I knew you'd be here.

RISA sits on the bed. Pause.

RISA (CONT'D)

Are you going to the funeral?

Pause.

BILLY:

I stopped by the station a while

ago. I stared at the bus. I could

almost hear the kids inside. There

was a lawyer there. He told me he'd

gotten you signed up. Is that true?

RISA:

Something made this happen, Billy.

Mr. Stephens is going to find out

what it was.

BILLY:

What are you talking about? It was

an accident.

RISA:

Mr. Stephens says that someone

didn't put a right bolt in the

bus...

BILLY:

Risa, I serviced that bus. At the

garage. There's nothing wrong with

it.

RISA:

...or that the guardrail wasn't

strong enough.

BILLY:

You believe that?

RISA:

I have to.

BILLY:

Why?

RISA:

Because I have to.

BILLY:

Well I don't.

BILLY gets up to leave.

RISA:

Is it true that you gave Nicole one

of Lydia's dresses? That she was

wearing it when the bus crashed?

BILLY:

Yes.

RISA:

Why did you do that, Billy?

BILLY:

You think that caused the accident,

Risa? That it brought bad luck?

Christ, it sounds to me you're

looking for a witch doctor, not a

lawyer. Or maybe they're the same

thing.

RISA is crying. BILLY opens the door.

BILLY (CONT'D)

You know what I'm going to miss?

More than making love? It's the

nights you couldn't get away from

Wendell. It's the nights I'd sit in

that chair for an hour. Smoking

cigarettes and remembering my life

before...

BILLY stares at RISA painfully, then leaves.

CUT TO:

EXT. GAS STATION -- NIGHT

MITCHELL is videotaping the bus with a portable camcorder.

The bus is badly damaged, though essentially intact. Most

of the windows in the rear have gone. There is a ghostly

quality to this image, as though the video light is

searching through the remains of an ancient shipwreck.

MITCHELL turns off the camcorder and stands in the silent

night, absorbing the disturbing energy of the bus. He hears

a truck approaching the garage from the distance. It's

BILLY ANSEL. MITCHELL retreats to his parked car as BILLY

stops his truck in front of the bus and steps out of the

truck.

BILLY leaves his headlights on, and they cast dark shadows

over the inside passenger seats. BILLY stares at the bus a

long time. MITCHELL approaches him.

MITCHELL:

I'm here about your children, Mr.

Ansel.

BILLY takes a moment, then turns around to face MITCHELL.

The two men stare at each other.

MITCHELL (CONT'D)

My name is...

BILLY:

Mister, I don't want to know your

name.

MITCHELL:

I understand.

BILLY:

No you don't.

MITCHELL:

I can help you.

BILLY:

Not unless you can raise the dead.

MITCHELL hands BILLY a card.

MITCHELL:

Here. You may change your mind.

BILLY looks at the card.

BILLY:

Mr. Mitchell Stephens, Esquire,

would you be likely to sue me if I

was to beat you right now? Beat you

so bad that you pissed blood and

couldn't walk for a month. Because

that's what I'm about to do.

MITCHELL:

No, Mr. Ansel. I wouldn't sue you.

BILLY:

Leave us alone, Stephens. Leave the

people of this town alone. You

can't help.

MITCHELL:

You can help each other. Several

people have agreed to let me

represent them in a negligence suit.

Your case as an individual will be

stronger if I'm allowed to represent

you together as a group.

BILLY:

Case?

MITCHELL:

The Walkers have agreed. The Ottos.

Nicole Burnell's parents. It's

important to initiate proceedings

right away. Things get covered up.

People lie. That's why we have to

begin our investigation quickly.

Before the evidence disappears.

That's why I'm out here tonight.

BILLY:

I know Risa and Wendell Walker.

They wouldn't hire a goddamned

lawyer. And the Ottos wouldn't deal

with you. We're not country

bumpkins you can put a big city

hustle on. You're trying to use us.

MITCHELL:

You're angry, Mr. Ansel. You owe it

to yourself to feel that way. All

I'm saying is let me direct your

rage.

BILLY stares at MITCHELL with a cold intensity. The cell

phone in MITCHELL'S car begins to ring.

MITCHELL (CONT'D)

That's my daughter. Or it may be

the police to tell me that they've

found her dead. She's a drug

addict.

BILLY:

Why are you telling me this?

MITCHELL:

I'm telling you this because...

we've all lost our children, Mr.

Ansel.

MITCHELL:

They're dead to us. They kill each

other in the streets. They wander

comatose in shopping malls. They're

paralyzed in front of televisions.

Something terrible has happened

that's taken our children away.

It's too late. They're gone.

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