The Tale Page #9
- TV-MA
- Year:
- 2018
- 114 min
- 1,210 Views
in a few minutes.
- ( clock ticking )
Young Jennifer:
Just a few hours later,
my stomachache
was completely gone.
My body had told me what
my mind refused to accept.
I'm tired.
So tired.
Tired in ways
that I'm afraid.
The fear is a fear
of a broken dream.
I have made a decision.
Mother:
Go get your father.
It's time for dinner.
- Girl:
Okay, Mom.- Grandmother:
Harold?Mother:
Wait, Harold...
( indistinct chattering )
( line out ringing )
Bill:
Hello?
Hello? Bill?
Jenny!
I'm so happy you called.
I was worried sick.
Jenny? Are you--
are you there?
Yes, I'm here.
Did you go on...
with Jane and Iris
without me?
No, no.
None of us wanted to.
We all agreed,
we want to wait for you.
So, don't worry.
We will pick another weekend.
I don't want
to see you anymore.
Wait. It--
Is it your parents?
Because if it is,
I can talk to them.
They don't-- They don't
understand you the way that--
that I do.
And if you don't want
to do a weekend,
we don't have to.
I don't want
to see you anymore.
But Jenny...
( scoffs )
Jenny...
please.
I love you.
( sniffles )
I need you.
We can work everything out.
Please just...
please don't leave me.
I'm gonna hang up now.
Don't hang up, wait, wait--
Mother:
Jenny?Jenny, dinner!
( dialing )
Gramercy residence.
Jane speaking.
Hello.
It's Jenny.
I'm coming to pick up
my horse this weekend.
Fine.
( family chattering )
Stupid girl.
Stupid, stupid girl.
Mother:
Where's your father?
Young Jenny:
"We had a dream.
"A beautiful dream.
"We were going to fill the
emptiness in each of our souls
with love from the other."
Adult Jennifer:
What happened
with you and Bill?
Why'd you leave him?
Me leave him?
You don't know?
You were just
the beginning, Jenny.
There were so many others.
I tried to keep up,
but I'm old.
I'm old.
Young Jennifer:
"But as so many dreams,
reality does not hold true."
Adult Jennifer:
I couldn't ask for help.
I was waiting for you
to save me.
Somehow in my mind,
it couldn't be anybody else.
It had to be you.
Why didn't you?
No one saved me.
Young Jennifer:
"The pretty colors and ribbons
"I had decorated
Bill and Mrs. G with
"disintegrated,
"and they were left naked.
"The overwhelming
pain of weakness.
"The sickening fact of someone
"who once seemed
so strong.
Only to find that the strength
is only in their words."
Teacher:
Thank you, Jenny.
That's quite a powerful story.
Do you mind telling us
where you got it from?
Oh...
I made it up.
That's what I thought.
You see, class,
fiction allows us
to live things far outside
our own experiences...
( accordion playing )
Oh.
Mom, don't stop.
Oh, that's one of
my favorite memories.
In the summers,
after the ice cream truck,
all the kids
gathered around.
Listened to you play.
I don't have it
in my fingers anymore.
I failed.
I didn't want it
to be true.
I told myself
it couldn't be true.
I failed at the one thing
Protect her child.
I am so sorry.
Adult Jennifer:
You lied to me.
You told me it was a good thing
all these years.
And it was.
I got an A.
An A? You think that matters?
That doesn't make it good.
You want me to be
some pathetic victim.
Well, you know what?
I'm not.
I've got something
no one else does.
I'm the teacher now.
Not just some invisible kid.
You'll never get married.
I don't want
to get married.
Have you not been
listening to me?
You'll never have children.
I hate children.
I don't want to have children.
I'm sure of that.
But I know one thing.
He loved me.
He cried.
He cried,
didn't you see?
And for years...
he's gonna send me cards.
Bill:
Dear Jenny, how was
your graduation?
Please give my best
to your folks.
Dear Jenny, with all
the trouble in Israel...
...I read about you
in the newspaper today...
...I hope you return
to your running.
Dear Jenny, I am so proud
of your growing career.
Dear Jenny, you were always
such a natural.
You see?
I'm not the victim
of this story.
I'm the hero.
He fell apart, not me.
Adult Jennifer:
You couldn't even think
that their lives
That there would
be others.
You froze them in time,
didn't you?
But you know,
he's still alive,
and I'm gonna go
see him now.
No.
Emcee:
For his lifetime dedication
to the youth of Alexandria,
we would like to award
William P. Allens
this plaque of civic
excellence.
( applause )
Bill:
Thank you all.Thank you very much.
- I'm actually deeply touched.
- I'm here for you.
And this could not
have been done, obviously,
without you,
without your support,
the youth of this region,
they've learned
to persevere.
They've learned to strive
to excellence
as a measure of your focus,
your concern, your support.
- ( applause )
- Thank you.
Thank you.
( indistinct chatter )
- Hello.
- Hi.
I don't believe we've met.
I'm Jennifer.
Hmm.
How do you know William?
Uh, he was my
running coach.
Of course.
My husband is just
completely flattered
that so many of his
former students
- have come out to honor him.
- Husband?
Yeah. Would... would you
like to meet him?
Uh, say hello, yeah.
It's been a long time, so...
Okay.
Bill:
How are you feeling?
- Really well.
- Ah, good, that's good.
You're the best.
You're the best one we have.
- I'm not kidding.
- Hi, Bill.
Hey. Boy, your hair.
Such curls.
Looks beautiful.
Has anybody ever seen
such beautiful hair, huh?
Miss...?
Do you-- It's Jenny.
- Jen...
- Jenny Fox.
Um...
Jenny.
Well, I never expected
to see you here
in a million years.
Yeah, it's been difficult
getting a hold of you.
Jenny.
Well, I have the pit bull
Marge here.
- Jennifer:
Yeah, we met.- You got one of those?
No, no, I never got married.
You told me that was
selling out, remember?
You got me.
You got me with that one.
Yes, I remember that.
So how long has it been
exactly, what...
Time just flies away,
doesn't it?
Yeah, in a blink.
Blink.
And one wrong blink and you're
headed down the wrong path.
Excuse me, but how do you guys
know each other?
Bill was my coach.
Remember?
Bill:
Sure.
We had a good time--
When I was 13, right?
Yeah.
Natural athlete.
I used to love to watch you tuck
your shoulder into a turn and--
Pretty good in bed too, right?
Pardon me?
You know what I said.
You know what happened,
and so do I.
Bill:
I don't know what you--
what do you mean?
I wanted you to know I hated
every minute of it.
I don't have any idea
what you're talking about.
No? You don't remember me puking
every time we had sex?
And you would tell me maybe
it was because I was pregnant.
But that would be hard, because
I hadn't even got my period yet.
Remember that? Huh?
A 13-year-old kid?
- None of this is true.
- What happened to you
that you would do that to me?
- None of this is true.
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"The Tale" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 23 Jan. 2025. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_tale_21442>.
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