Read Dreamsongs - Volume II for Free Online Page A

in
school.
     
    DENISE
     
    You were. I
remember it distinctly. I was there with you, remember?
     
    JEFF
     
    I left out the part
about the school being in Canada.
     
    DENISE
     
    It’s none of his
business anyway.
     
    JEFF
     
    That’s what I said.
I just feel...
    (beat, hesitant)
    I don’t know.
Guilty. Like I did something wrong. Dumb, huh?
     
    He opens the oven, pokes at the roast with
a long fork.
     
    JEFF
     
    Well, it didn’t
moo. It think it’s done.
     
    CUT TO
    INT. - DINING ROOM
     
    Denise is filling bowls of salad as Jeff
carries the roast out on a platter. Megan has not yet reappeared. Denise goes
to the stairs to call.
     
    DENISE
     
    Megan! Come on
down, Hon, dinner’s ready.
     
    A beat, then a DOOR CLOSES upstairs and
Megan comes down. Denise takes her by the hand, frowns.
     
    DENISE
     
    Megan, you didn’t
wash up.
     
    MEGAN
     
    The man was
upstairs, Mommy. He talked to me.
     
    DENISE
     
    (put upon)
    Honestly. Come on,
let’s get you scrubbed up for dinner.
     
    We TRACK with them as they go up the stairs
and into the bathroom. Kneeling, Denise takes a facecloth and begins to wash a
dirty spot off of Megan’s face.
     
    DENISE
     
    Honey,
it’s okay to play pretend, but you shouldn’t try to blame someone else when you
forget to do something.
     
    MEGAN
     
    It’s not pretend,
Mommy.
     
    DENISE
     
    There, that’s a
little better.
     
    She puts down the washcloth, looks at Megan’s
reflection in the mirror, smiles. We move in TIGHT on the mirror as Denise’s
eyes rise. Behind them, the open bathroom door is reflected, and outside in the
hallway, sitting in his wheelchair, is the Vet. Denise spins around, and off
her shocked reaction we
     
    CUT TO
    DINING ROOM
     
    Jeff grabs a baked potato, winces as it
burns his fingers, tosses it onto a plate, and then reacts as we HEAR Denise
scream O.S. He’s up like a shot, running for the stairs.
     
    ANGLE ON JEFF
     
    on the staircase, as he almost runs into
Denise coming down.
     
    JEFF
     
    What’s wrong?
     
    DENISE
     
    (frantic)
    Where is he? Did he
come past you?
     
    JEFF
     
    (confused)
    What? Come past me?
Who?
     
     
    DENISE
     
    The man in the
wheelchair.
    (impatient, off Jeff’s confusion)
    He
was there, in the mirror ... I mean, he was in the hall, but I saw him in the
mirror, and then ... he must have come by you!
     
    JEFF
     
    (baffled)
    A man in a wheelchair ?
     
    He takes Denise by the shoulders, tries to
calm her down.
     
    JEFF
     
    (continued)
    I
think I would have noticed a man in a wheelchair, honey. Besides, how the hell
could anyone get a chair down these stairs?
     
    Denise gapes at the narrow steps, realizes
that Jeff is right. But she knows she saw the Vet; she’s totally lost.
     
    DENISE
     
    He was there, I
tell you. If he didn’t come down—
    (whirls, scared he’s still up there)
     
    Megan appears at the top of the stairs,
calm, unafraid.
     
    MEGAN
     
    He’s gone, Mommy.
     
    Denise wraps her in a tight hug.
     
    MEGAN
     
    Don’t be scared,
Mommy. He’s a nice man.
     
    ANGLE ON JEFF
     
    as he watches wife
and daughter embrace.
     
    JEFF
     
    There is no way anyone could have gotten out of this house.
    What the hell is
going on here?
    (starts up stairs)
    Whatever it is, I’m
going to find out.
     
    JEFF’S POINT OF VIEW
     
    As he moves upstairs, down the carpeted
hall, slamming open doors, peering into the rooms, finding nothing. Bathroom,
linen closet, Megan’s room, the master bedroom and bath; all empty.
     
    ANGLE ON JEFF
     
    Standing in his bedroom, looking angry,
disgusted. He starts back out into the hall, takes a few steps ... and stops
dead outside the bathroom. He drops to one knee, reaches out.
     
    CLOSE ON CARPET
     
    As Jeff traces the clear, unmistakable
track of a wheelchair tire in the thick shag carpet.
     
    JEFF
     
    What the ...
     
    SMASH CUT TO
    CLOSE ON MUDDY GROUND
     
    Matching shot, the motion of Jeff’s fingers
CONTINUOUS from the last shot, but now the