Storm of the Century (42 page)

173 EXTERIOR: RESUME MIKE--DAY.

He stands where he is, BAGS SAGGING IN HIS ARMS, thunderstruck. His mouth opens and closes soundlessly . . . and then, at last, a whisper comes out. . .

Rah . . . Rah . . . Ralphie . . . Ralphie? RALPHIE!

174 EXTERIOR: LINOGE AND RALPHIE--DAY.

They are beyond the deli. Almost to the corner. They stop. And look back.

175 EXTERIOR: RESUME MIKE--DAY.

He drops the bags from his arms--stuff inside smashes--and RUNS.

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176 EXTERIOR: LINOGE AND RALPHIE--DAY.

RALPHIE’S mouth opens; he HISSES LIKE A SNAKE. His good looks are gone in an instant, as the FANGS beneath his lips are revealed. His eyes DARKEN and become BLACK, shot through with WRITHING RED LINES. He raises hands that are hooked into talons, as if to claw MIKE’S face open.

LINOGE puts an arm around his shoulders and (without taking his eyes away from MIKE) urges RALPHIE to turn. Then they sweep around the corner together.

177 EXTERIOR: RESUME MIKE--DAY.

He stops outside the deli, his face filled with DISMAY and SICKENED HORROR. Pedestrians stream around him, some looking at him curiously, but MIKE takes no notice.

Ralphie!

He dashes for the corner and goes around.

178 EXTERIOR: MIKE--DAY.

He comes to a stop, eyes searching.

179 EXTERIOR: THE STREET, FROM MIKE’S POINT OF VIEW--DAY.

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People come and go on the sidewalks, or dart across the street, or hail taxis, or get newspapers from curbside vending machines. There is no man in a gray topcoat. There is no boy in an Oakland As jacket.

180 EXTERIOR: RESUME MIKE.

LINOGE (voice-over)

He’ll come to love me. (pause) He’ll come to call me Father.

MIKE slumps against the wall and closes his eyes. From beneath one of those closed lids, a single tear slips. A YOUNG WOMAN comes around the corner and looks at him with cautious sympathy.

Mister, are you all right?

(doesn’t open his eyes)

Yes. I just need a minute.

You dropped your groceries. Some of it’s probably okay, but some of the stuff broke.

MIKE now opens his eyes and does his best to smile at her.

Ayuh, some of the stuff broke. I heard it.

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(smiling)

What kind of accent is that?

The kind you learn on the other side of the world.

What happened? Did you trip?

I thought I saw someone I knew, and I just kind of ... lost my grip for a second there.

He looks down the street one more time. He reached the corner seconds after LINOGE and RALPHIE

turned it, they should be right there, but they’re not . . . and MIKE isn’t really surprised.

I could help you pick up the stuff that’s still okay, if you wanted. Look, I got this.

She reaches into her coat pocket and brings out a crumpled-up net shopping bag. She holds it out to him, smiling tentatively.

That would be very kind.

They go around the corner together.

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181 EXTERIOR: MIKE AND THE YOUNG WOMAN, A HIGH ANGLE--DAY.

As they approach his car and the spilled groceries, we see them from above . . . then BOOM HIGHER

YET, TURNING AND LOSING THEM. Now we see the bright blue sky and water of San Francisco Bay, with the bridge spanning it like a dream that has begun to rust a little around the edges.

There are swooping gulls . . . we track one of them . . . we:

DISSOLVE TO:

182 EXTERIOR: SWOOPING GULL--DAY.

We follow it, then BOOM DOWN to discover Little Tall Island, and the town hall. There’s a car parked at the curb. Three people walk toward the cupola that holds the plaques and the memorial bell. One--a WOMAN--walks ahead of the other two.

MIKE (voice-over)

I could have written Molly and told her. I thought about it ... I even prayed about it. When every choice hurts, how do you tell which one’s the right one? In the end, I kept silent. Sometimes, mostly late at night when I can’t sleep, I think that was wrong. But in daylight, I know better.

183 EXTERIOR: THE CUPOLA ON THE TOWN HALL LAWN--DAY.

MOLLY approaches it slowly. In her hands she has a bouquet of flowers. Her face is serene and sad and quite beautiful. Behind her, HATCH and PIPPA stand at the edge of the grass, HATCH with his arm around his daughter’s shoulders.

MOLLY kneels at the base of the plaque commemorating those lost in the Storm of the Century. She puts her flowers at the base of this plaque. She is crying a little now. She kisses her fingers, then presses them to her son’s name.

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She gets up and walks back to where HATCH and PIPPA wait. HATCH puts his arms around her and hugs her.

184 EXTERIOR: LITTLE TALL ISLAND, LONG--DAY.

MIKE (voice-over)

In daylight I know better.

FADE TO BLACK.