Datasets:

AIRI-NLP

/

quality_counter_new_1536

like 0

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

encore

How many times the word 'encore' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

values

How many times the word 'values' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

s'occuper

How many times the word 's'occuper' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

mr.

How many times the word 'mr.' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

past

How many times the word 'past' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

fun

How many times the word 'fun' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

did

How many times the word 'did' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

s'envole

How many times the word 's'envole' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

pretty

How many times the word 'pretty' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

embrace

How many times the word 'embrace' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

oh

How many times the word 'oh' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

michael

How many times the word 'michael' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

trouves

How many times the word 'trouves' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

l

How many times the word 'l' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

being

How many times the word 'being' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

serait

How many times the word 'serait' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

about

How many times the word 'about' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

was

How many times the word 'was' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

mort

How many times the word 'mort' appears in the text?

CONTROL STATION/CHAMBER DOOR -- LATER 48 TIGHT ON CATFISH'S hands... closing values... spinning the wheel on the chamber hatch. CUT WIDER as it cracks open with a virgin's sigh and swings aside. CATFISH Y'all'er done to a turn and ready to serve. Everybody okay? The SEALs nod peremptorily and shoulder their gear. Lindsey exists first, followed by Monk, Wilhite, and Schoenick. Coffey bends to relatch the small equipment case. He is alone for one moment in the chamber. He raises his hand and stares at it. The fingertips are trembling the slightest bit. He clenches them into a fist and walks out. INT. CORRIDOR 49 As Lindsey emerges into the main corridor of the rig, she bumps into a large, dark mass. LINDSEY Hey, was there a wall here before? I don't remember a wall here. Oh, Jammer! Hi. The 'wall' grins down to her. JAMMER Howdy, there, little lady. Coffey emerges behind them and, ignoring Lindsey, faces Jammer. COFFEY (to Jammer) Show us the dive prep area. We need to check out your gear. Jammer scowls, turns and leads the SEALs in the sub-bay. Catfish and Lindsey exchange a look. LINDSEY Those guys are about a much fun as a tax audit. CUT TO: INT. COMMAND MODULE 50 TIGHT ON HIPPY, bathed in the light of the sonar display. He is making kissing sounds at Beany, who has his inquisitive nose right up to Hippy's lips. LINDSEY Hippy, you're going to give that rat a disease. WIDER, as Hippy and Bud to see Lindsey leaning in the doorway. She and Bud size each other up. He opts for a jovial approach, his eyes wary. BUD Well, well. Mrs. Brigman. LINDSEY Not for long. Lindsey crossed past him, her eyes scanning the banks of equipment, almost unconsciously checking, checking... getting the pulse of her big iron baby. BUD You never did like being called that, did you? LINDSEY Not even when it meant something. (looking through the front port) Is that One Night up in Flatbed? BUD Who else? Lindsey leans past Bud to the gooseneck mike on the console. LINSEY Hi, One Night, it's Lindsey. INT. FLATBED 51 One Night mimes a puking motion, finger down her throat. Then she replies with sickening sweetness... ONE NIGHT Oh, hi, Lindsey. INT. COMMAND MODULE 52 Lindsey fives the sonar shack the once-over. She tweaks some knobs. BUD I can't believe you were dumb enough to come down. Now you're stuck here for the storm... dumb, hot-rod... dumb. LINDSEY Look, I didn't come down here to fight. She crosses past Bud and exits into the corridor. Bud bolts out of the chair to follow her and Hippy scrambles in to take over. INT. CORRIDOR/LADDER-WELL/LEVEL ONE LANDING 53 Bud catches up with Lindsey in the corridor, and through the following keeps pace with here as she make here inspection. BUD Then why'd you come down? She stops abruptly to look at a leaky pipe. He almost slams into her. She moves on, climbing down the ladder to the lower level. LINDSEY You need me. Nobody knows the systems on this rig better than I do. What is something was to go wrong after the Explorer clears off? What would have you done? BUD Wow, you're right! Us poor dumb ol' boys might've had to think for ourselves. Coulda been a disaster. On the lower level landing, Lindsey opens a hatch into one of the machine rooms. ROAR OF PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS. INT. MACHINE ROOM 54 Lindsey enters and moves expertly through the dark labyrinth of pipes and roaring machinery. Her eyes rove constantly over fittings, gauges, circuit panels. BUD (yelling) You wanna know what I think? LINDSEY Not particularly. Jeez, look where this is set! Morons. She scowls at a pressure gauge and turn a valve minutely. BUD I think you were worried about me. LINDSEY That must be it. Lindsey's on the move again, and Bud scrambles through the pipes to keep up. BUD No, I think you were. Come on, admit it. LINDSEY I was worried about the rig. I've got over four years invested in this project. BUD Oh, yeah, right... and you only had three years with me. She looks up at him. LINDSEY You've got to have priorities. CUT TO: INT. BUD'S ROOM 55 Darkness. The door opens and Bud snaps on the light. BUD My bunk's the only one I can guarantee won't be occupied. You can grab a couple hours before we get there. Lindsey slips past him into his tiny state-room, the only private bunk on the rig. Rank had its privileges. His hand on the door is just level with her eyes. She notices his wedding ring, a massive band of pure titanium (something your fiancee might have picked out if she had a degree from M.I.T.). LINDSEY What are you still wearing that for? BUD I don't know. Divorce ain't final. Forgot to take it off. Bud stays in the doorway. Lindsey takes a heaps of Bud's cloths off the narrow bunk. Start unconsciously straightening the room. LINDSEY I haven't worn mine in months. BUD Yeah, what's-his-name wouldn't like it. The Suit. LINDSEY Do you always have to call him that? The Suit? It makes you sound like such a hick. His name is Michael. Lindsey takes off her borrowed tennies and socks. Bud eyes her, sounding too causal. BUD So what about "Michael" then... Mr. Brooks Brothers... Mr. BMW. You still seeing him? LINDSEY No, I haven't seen him in a few weeks. BUD What happened? LINDSEY Bud, why are you doing this? It's not part of you life any more. BUD I'll tell you what happened... you woke up one day and realized the guy never made you laugh. LINDSEY You're right, Bud. It was just that simple. Aren't you clever? You should get your own show... Ask Dr. Bud, advice to the lovelorn from three hundred fathoms. She closes the watertight door, forcing him out. Locks it. She turns and throws her shoe hard against the far wall. LINDSEY AAAARRRGGH! She flops down on the bed, sitting... staring at the wall. Her armor is gone. She looks small and vulnerable. A long beat. She reaches over to the tiny sink. Amid the clutter is a bottle of Bud's aftershave. She unscrews it and takes a sniff. Catches herself. Tosses it. LINDSEY Shit. INT. QUARTERS/HEAD 56 Bud barges into the tiny head and puts some soap on his ring finger. He pulls the ring off roughly and throws it into the toilet. He reaches forward to flush. Can't do it. Now really pissed off at himself, he reaches into the toilet bowl, wrist deep in the chemical-blue water, and salvages the ring. He puts it on and washes his hands. The right hand stays faintly blue no matter how hard he scrubs. BUD Shit. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE 57 The platform is stopped, hovering in place. Like a great spacecraft setting down on a barren planet, the rig settles into the bottom ooze. Flatbed releases its tow lines and heads back to its berth inside. CUT TO: INT. SUB-BAY 58 CLOSE ON A PHOTOGRAPH, actually a computer-composited down-looking scan from a towed LIDAR (laser imaging sonar) rig. It shows a faint, blurry outline of the Montana lying on her side on a ledge part-way down the canyon wall. There is no detail. A finger points to a flat ledge nearby. An "X" has been put on with a grease pencil. COFFEY (V.O.) This is us. We're just on the edge of the Cayman Trough. The Montana is here, on its side, 300 meters away and 70 meters below us. We think she slid down the wall, and lodged against this outcropping. CUT WIDE, showing the rig crew gathered around a worktable in the sub-bay. The divers, Bud, Catfish, Sonny, Finler, Jammer, and the four SEALs have their dry-suits on. The pre-dive briefing. Lindsey, One Night, and Hippy will crew the submersibles. Wilhite is going around clipping DOSIMETER BADGES on everybody. SONNY This tells us how much radiation we get? HIPPY Hey, whoah... I can't handle no radiation, man. Forget it! Include me out. CATFISH Hippy, you pussy. HIPPY What good's the money if your dick drops off in six months? COFFEY We'll take reading as we go. If the reactor's breached or the warheads have released radioactive debris, we'll back away. Simple. BUD Okay... Hippy's not going... McWhirter, you can run Little Geek. Bud pats the top of a small ROV, sitting next to its larger brother, Big Geek. HIPPY No way! No way! He can't fly an ROV worth shit. I'll go. Shit! COFFEY (to all) On the dive, you will do absolutely nothing without direct orders from me, and you will follow my instructions without discussion. Is this clear? Alright, I want everyone finished prep and ready to get wet in fifteen minutes. The rig crew disperses, picking up helmets and diving gear. Some are studying the diagrams of the Montana's interior layout. Bud takes Coffey aside as the others prepare. BUD Look, it's three AM. These guys are running on bad coffee and four hours sleep. You better start cutting them some slack. COFFEY I can't afford slack, Brigman. BUD Hey, you come on my rig, you don't talk to me, you start ordering my guys around. It won't work. You gotta know how to handle these people... we have a certain way of doing things here. COFFEY I'm not interested in your way of doing things. Just get your team ready to dive. End of discussion. Coffey is walking away. Burning, Bud crosses to his gear locker. Picks up his helmet. Finler is suiting out next to him. FINLER Hey, you know your hand is blue? BUD Shut up and get your gear on. NEARBY, Monk comes over to pick his helmet up off the worktable. Hippy points to the heavy equipment case that says F.B.S. DEEP SUIT/MARK IV. HIPPY I've been meaning to ask you what this thing is. Mink opens the case and shows them an unfamiliar diving suit, what looks like a space helmet, and a large backpack. MONK Fluid breathing system. We just got them. We use it if we need to go really deep. HIPPY How deep? MONK Deep. (shrugs) It's classified... you know. Anyway, you breathe liquid, so you can't be compressed. Pressure doesn't get to you. Catfish is grappling with the concept. CATFISH You're saying you get liquid in your lungs? MONK Oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Monk take a clear plastic box full of O-rings off the shelf and dumps them out. He opens a valve on the backpack and allows some of the fluid inside it to drain into the box. Then he take Beany by the tail off Hippy's shoulder. HIPPY Hey! MONK Check this out. He drops Beany in the box and, before Hippy can protest, closes the lid. Beany is forced under the surface. He struggled for a second, and bubbles come out of his mouth. Then he casually swims around in there, completely submerged... breathing liquid. Catfish and the others stare into the box, amazed. MONK See? He's diggin' it. Monk takes Beany out and hold him by the tail for a few seconds to drain his lungs. Then hands him back to Hippy. The rat is annoyed, but otherwise alright. CATFISH This is no bullshit hands down the goddamnedest thing I ever saw. CUT TO: EXT. DEEPCORE/DROPOFF 59 Three sets of moving lights move outward from Deepcore. Cab One and Three, with Lindsey and Hippy at the controls respectively, and One Night in the Flatbed. Lindsey is in the lead. She approaches the cliff-like drop-off and starts to descend. LINDSEY Com-check, everybody. Flatbed, you on line? ONE NIGHT Ten-four, Lindsey, read you loud and clear. LINDSEY Cab Three? HIPPY Cab Three, check. Right behind you. LINDSEY (V.O.) What's you depth, Cab Three? HIPPY 1840... 50... 60... 70... LINDSEY Going over the wall. Coming to bearing 065. Everybody stay tight and in sight. ONE NIGHT Starting out descent. Divers, how're you doing? EXT. FLATBED 60 Eight divers ride the back of Flatbed like itinerant workers on the way to the fields. Bud and his civilian crew, Catfish, Finler, and Jammer... sit across from the SEALs. They are in their gear and breathing from umbilical hooked in Flatbed's low-pressure manifold. BUD Okay so far. JAMMER How deep's the drop-off here? CATFISH This here's the bottomless pit, baby. Two and a half miles straight down. COFFEY Knock off the chatter. Cab One, you getting anything? INT./EXT. CAB ONE 61 Lindsey consults her array of instruments. COFFEY Cab One, do you see it yet? LINDSEY The magnetometer is pegged. Side-scan is showing a big return, but I don't see anything yet. Are you sure you got the depth right on this? BUD (V.O., filtered) You should be almost to it, ace. She turns the submersible and... The spotlight flares back from the great brass screw of the Montana. It dwarfs Cab One, FILLING FRAME. LINDSEY Uh, yeah, roger that... uh, found it. EXT. MONTANA/SUBMERSIBLES 62 Cab One maneuvers along the flank of the enormous sub, while Flatbed and Cab Three move above it. Wilhite take readings with a hand-held neutron counter. COFFEY Cab One, radiation readings? LINDSEY Neutron counter's not showing very much. COFFEY Wilhite, anything? WILHITE Negative. Nominal. COFFEY Just continue forward along the hull. LINDSEY Copy that, continuing forward. You just want me to get shots of everything, right? COFFEY Roger, document as much as you can, but keep moving. We're on a tight timeline. LINDSEY Copy that. The great black hull of the Montana recedes into the darkness beyond the puny beams of their lights. It seems bigger than the Titanic and just as eerie in its final resting place. On it side, the sub's top deck becomes a wall along which the tiny submersibles are moving. Ahead, in the lights, is a white painted circle. COFFEY That's the midship hatch. You see it, Cab Three? HIPPY Roger, I see it. BUD Just get around so your lights are on the hatch. HIPPY Check. Then I just hang with these guys, right? COFFEY Right. ONE NIGHT How do you want me? COFFEY Just hold above it. Alright, A team. Wilhite, Schoenick, and Monk unhook their short whip-umbilicals from the central manifold and roll off the side of Flatbed. They maneuver down toward the sub's hatch. Hippy guides Cab Three in closer to the hatch area. INT. CAB THREE 63 Hippy turns to Perry back in the lockout chamber, ready to launch Little Geek. The ROV has a handheld neutron-counter gripped in its manipulator arm. MONK (V.O.) Stand by on the ROV. HIPPY Perry, stand by on the ROV. (to Little Geek) Sorry about this, little buddy. Better you than me, know what I mean? Hippy nods and Perry drops Little Geek through the hatch into the water and feed out a length of tether. Hippy picks up the control box and watches the video screen, guiding the ROV toward the Montana's hatch. EXT. MONTANA HATCH AREA 64 The three SEALs have unlatched the deck cover and revealed the hatch. They open the out hatch and Monk swims down into to narrow escape trunk. He bangs on the inner hatch with a wrench, listening carefully with his helmet pressed against it. MONK It's flooded. Alright, I'm opening her up. Straining hard in the confined space, he get the lower hatch open, then swims backs out immediately. He gestures to Hippy, via Little Geek's vision, and Hippy flies the ROV into the hatch. EXT./INT. CAB ONE/MISSLE DECK 65 Meanwhile Cab One and Flatbed have proceeded forward along the hull. Beyond Lindsey's front port, the great hatches of the Trident missile tubes roll toward us in procession. Several of the hatch covers have been forced partway open by the warping of the hull. COFFEY (V.O.) Radiation is nominal. The warheads must still be intact. LINDSEY How many are there? COFFEY (V.O.) 24 Trident missiles. Eight MIRVs per missile. LINDSEY That's 192 warheads... And how powerful are they? SCHOENICK Your MIRV is a tactical nuke, 50 kilotons nominal yield. Say times time Hiroshima. LINDSEY (V.O.) Jesus Christ... this is World War Three in a can. COFFEY (V.O.) Let's knock off the chatter, please. INT. CAB THREE 66 TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN -- LITTLE GEEK'S CAMERA. Passing through a hatch, into a large grotto filled with pipes and machinery. The engine room. MONK (V.O.) Getting a reading? HIPPY It's twitching but it's below the line you said was safe. EXT. MONTANA MIDSHIP HATCH 67 Monk moves into the opening. MONK Alright. Let's get in there. Wilhite and Schoenick follow him through the escape trunk, into the dark corridor beyond. EXT. MONTANA/BOW SECTION 68 Out of the darkness ahead emerges the trailing edge of the sail, big as a five-story building. Far below her, Flatbed moves along the edge of the ledge which supports the vast sub. Its lights, and Lindsey's strobes, reveal the tremendous damage to the forward section as they pass the sail. The torn and twisted hull looms above Flatbed as it sets down. Coffey indicated an enormous rent where the bow section is almost torn away from the rest of the hull. COFFEY We'll go in through that large breach. BUD Let's go, guys. Bud's team leaves Flatbed, swimming forward. The opening is a black mouth in their lights. Coffey moves inside. Bud attaches one end of an orange nylon line to a piece of pipe and moves into the wreck behind him. BUD Take it slow, stay on the line, and stay in sight. Watch for hatches that could close on you, or any loose equipment that could fall. Jammer, Catfish, Finler, and Sonny follow him inside. INT. MONTANA/FORWARD BERTHING SECTION 69 They find themselves in the forward berthing compartment with its rows of bunks. The room is twisted and disheveled, with bedding hanging from the bunks like the lolling tongues of dead dogs. Papers float in gentle eddying currents, letters, pages from paperback novels, photos of girlfriends. Bud pays out the line and follows Coffey forward. As they pass sealed doors, Coffey pounds with a tool, listening. All flooded. INT. ENGINE ROOM 70 Monk leads his team along a corridor, following Little Geek's tether. Through a hatch into the engine room. Their lights play over flooded machinery. INT. COMPANIONWAY/CONTROL ROOM AND ATTACK CENTER 71 From the berthing Coffey's team swims up a companionway towards the attack center. He pulls at a buckled watertight door. COFFEY It's jammed. Give me a hand. Jammer and Bud squeeze in around Coffey. Together they wrench the door open on its squealing hinges. It give way suddenly, flying open. The suction pulls SOMETHING THROUGH. It slams Bud's shoulder. He turns. A FACE... RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He jerks back, gasping. Face to face with Barnes, the sonarman. The ensign seems unmarked, merely dismayed at his own mortality, judging from his wide eyes and mouth. Coffey reaches past Bud and pushes the ensign's body out of the way. COFFEY Alright, let's keep moving. We knew we were going to see this. They enter the control room. Their lights play over the high-tech wreckage. Floating debris and bodies make shifting shadows on the walls as they swirl in the currents. A languid, weightless waltz. They move through the carnage. Their lights pick out tableaux... the planesman still strapped in his chair, someone jammed into the ceiling pipes, hanging down. Dead faces, pale in the lights. Still. We see only glimpses. Coffey locates the captain's body and rolls it over. Removes the missile arming key which hangs on a chain around the dead man's neck. Moves on. All business. Bud turns back to his guys. Checking them. He notices Jammer is breathing so rapidly he's fogging his helmet. Catfish, Finler, and Sonny aren't much better. A wave a panic seems imminent. BUD How you guys doing? SONNY I'm alright, I'm dealing. CATFISH Triple time sounds like a lotta money, Bud. It ain't. I'm sorry... BUD We're here now. Let's get her done. We see Bud working, calming them, talking them through it. He's sweating rivers in his helmet, not looking too steady. His projection of calm to the others is his own salvation. Coffey pauses in the doorway to the communications room. COFFEY This part I do alone. Brigman, take you men and continue aft. Split up into two teams of two. Let's get moving... we head back in fourteen minutes. Bud leads his team into a narrow corridor. INT. CORRIDOR/ROOMS 72 They search the rooms along the corridor with their lights until they come to a vertical hatch, open. a pit of darkness below. BUD Okay, Cat, Lew, Sonny. You guys stay on this deck. Hook you line onto mine. Any problem, you tug my line. Two pulls. Jammer, you're with me. Bud drops down through the hatch to the level below, followed by Jammer, who barely fits through. Catfish hooks his safety line onto Bud's with a carabiner and move along the corridor with the others. EXT./INT. CAB ONE 73 Lindsey circles the hull, documenting, photographing. Her strobes sear the darkness, give glimpses of the dead leviathan's form as her tiny submersible circles it like a bee. INT. COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 74 Working from a plastic card, Coffey spins the dial on the wall safe and opens it. He removes several plastic binders... the code books. He also grabs handfuls of classified documents and orders, and a set of missile arming keys, all which he places in a pouch at his waist. INT. CORRIDOR 75 Bud leads Jammer through a long, claustrophobically narrow corridor, tapping on the walls and hatches periodically. After he taps, he waits a few moments. There are no answering taps. They open doors and shine their lights into the rooms. The are bodies, but they seem anonymous. Crumpled shapes in khaki or blue. They undog and open a hatch. Beyond it is the largest chamber of the sub, the... INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 76 The missile compartment is the large gallery a hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet high, with two rows of vertical launch tubes, 24 in all. The chamber is divided into three levels by a floor of open steel grillwork. JAMMER Where are we? BUD Missile compartment. Those are the launch tubes. They sweep their lights around the chamber. Jammer turns... his beam illuminating a body just beyond the door. A coveralled seaman turning slowly in the eddying current. Small albino crabs crawl slowly over the man's face. One scuttles out of his gaping mouth. JAMMER Lord Almighty. BUD Hey, you okay? Bud goes to him. Gets up close to his face. Sees that he's not. That he's hyperventilating. Fighting nausea. Bud grabs him by the shoulders. BUD Deep and slow, big guy. Deep and slow. Just breathe easy. JAMMER I... they're all dead, Bud. They're all dead. I thought... some of them... you know... BUD I'm taking you back out. JAMMER No! I'm okay now. I just don't... I can't go any further in. Bud sees that the big diver's breathing has stabilized. He looks at his watch. Checker Jammer's pressure gauges. BUD Okay, Jammer. No problem. You stay right here. I have to go there to the end... you'll see my lights. We'll stay in voice contact. Just hold onto the rope. Five more minutes. Okay? JAMMER Yeah, okay. Okay. He moves off through the center aisle of the gallery swimming between the huge cylinders. He pays out the lifeline as he goes. INT. COM-ROOM 77 Coffey is working rapidly and efficiently, moving from one rack of electronics gear to the next, setting thermite grenades at vital points. As the thermite ignites, it generates an intense arc-bright light and tremendous heat. The circuit chasses melt. Coffey works calmly in the infernal glare. INT. MISSLE COMPARTMENT 78 Bed negotiates his way through the tangle of wreckage near the far end of the missile compartment. He goes down a stairwell to the lower level. A HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Jammer loses sight of Bud's dive-lights. He starts to get nervous. Suddenly his own lights begin to DIM, flickering lower and lower. They become little orange candles, the filament barely glowing. The darkness closes in. JAMMER Bud? BUD?! You readin' me? BUD?!! BUD, at the same moment, is fiddling with the connector cables on his helmet lights, which are dimming and flickering. He hears nothing from his helmet transceiver. JAMMER, smacks the side of his helmet. Shakes the transceiver on his belt. Nothing... just static. Then even the static dies. Panic time. He grabs the safety line and pulls twice. Hard. It is snagged on a sharp metal edge ten feet from him. He pulls twice more, harder, hauling the thing. The line severs. Jammer stared at the frayed and floating toward him. His eyes bug. He looks all around in the darkness. Can't see Bud. Can't decide what to do. We can see hysteria revving up inside him like a flywheel. Then he becomes aware of a faint radiance flickering over the walls. It is a cold and ethereal light, unlike the warm-white of their dive lights. It grows brighter. He turns slowly toward it. The glow is moving beneath the steel grill of the deck, sending shafts of cold light flickering upward hypnotically, coming toward him. JAMMER Bud? Is that you? C.U. JAMMER, shielding his eyes, staring into the radiant source. Guess what, Jammer? It's not Bud. In the brightest center of the glow, SOMETHING is moving, a figure casting strange inhuman shadow across the walls. Jammer blinks against the glare, his face registering total, outright astonishment melting into terror. The glare pulses subtly, hypnotically. The shifting shadow falls across Jammer. He finally snaps out of his fixity... Screaming and gulping air he spins away and starts clawing hand over hand through the treacherous wreckage. His harness catches on a twisted pipe. He struggles, totally out of control... the big man reduced to a blind panic. Jammer heaves forward with all his adrenalized strength. He tears free of the entangling debris. Launches like a torpedo... slamming his backpack full force into the top sill of the hatchway. His tri-mix regulator takes the full brunt of the impact. ON BUD, swimming furiously back toward Jammer's position. The strange radiance is gone. His dive light flare back to full brightness. BUD Jammer? Answer me, buddy, JAMMER?! He reaches Jammer only to find him thrashing violently in place. A seizure. Bud grapples with him. BUD Hang on, big guy. Hand on! Catfish, Sonny, and Finler arrive from the corridor a moment later. They leap into the fray. BUD He's convulsing! CATFISH It's his mixture! Too much oxygen! Then they're all yelling at once, grappling with the big man, struggling with the valves on his breathing gear. FINLER Crank it down, man! We're gonna losing him... BUD SHIT, it's stuck... goddamnit! SONNY You got it?! You got it? BUD Yeah, yeah... yeah. It's turning. Jammer's convulsion ends. He goes limp. BUD We gotta get him out of here. Come on! (to Jammer) Hang on, buddy. They drag Jammer's slack form into the corridor, hauling their way rapidly back along the lifeline. INT./EXT. CAB ONE & MONTANA SAIL 79 Lindsey is approaching the monolith of the sail, maneuvering to clear the horizontal diving plane. Then her lights go dim and her thrusters loose power. Suddenly a bright corona breaks around the bulk of the sail and SOMETHING appears right in front of her, a glowing object moving like a bat out of hell right at her! It is slightly smaller than submersible and we only get a glimpse. What we think we see in the diffuse glow is a translucent ovoid, open at the front with a spinning vortex of light inside... like some hallucinatory jet engine. And it's hauling ass. Lindsey jinks left. The object jogs right. She fights the control as her sub slews around, slamming broadside into the sail. K-BAM! Her power comes back up. Righting Can One, she spins to look through the aft viewport in time to see the object racing away in a broad arc. It pulls a high-G turn and dives straight down. We see the object zip behind Flatbed. One Night can't see it. The thing spirals down into the darkness like a hit-and-run drunk, diving along the wall into the abyss until it is lost to view. HOLD ON Lindsey excited, amazed... dazed. Her hands are shaking. Suddenly Bud's voice blares out over the open frequency. BUD (V.O.) CAB ONE! CAB ONE! Meet me at Flatbed! This is a diver emergency!! Do you copy? Lindsey?! She has a hard time focusing on what he's saying. Finally... LINDSEY Copy you, Bud. On my way. CUT TO: INT. DEEPCORE INFIRMARY -- AN HOUR LATER 80 Jammer is unconscious on a folding cot set up in the tiny cubicle of the infirmary. Monk, who is cross-trained as a medic as well as a demolitions man, has hung an IV of something. Bud and the SEAL are in the room, the others hovering outside. BUD Whattya think? MONK I'm a medic, which is mostly about patching holes. This type of thing... there's not much I can do. The coma could last hours or days. Bud, torn by guilt, gazes at the big man lying pathetically on the cot. CUT TO: INT. CONSOLE MODULE 81 The SEALs, minus Monk, are all gathered inside, debriefing with DeMarco via closed-circuit video. DEMARCO (video) Did any of you see it? COFFEY Negative. But there was definitely a Russian bogey. The Brigman woman saw it. DEMARCO CINCLANTFLT's gonna go apeshit. Two Russian attack subs, a Tango and Victor, have been tracked within fifty miles of here... and now we don't know what the hell they are. Okay, I don't have any choice. I'm confirming you to go to Phase

bunk

How many times the word 'bunk' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

route

How many times the word 'route' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

pass

How many times the word 'pass' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

front

How many times the word 'front' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

steep

How many times the word 'steep' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

turn

How many times the word 'turn' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

tidings

How many times the word 'tidings' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

suspected

How many times the word 'suspected' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

fullness

How many times the word 'fullness' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

speaking

How many times the word 'speaking' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

lorsque

How many times the word 'lorsque' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

fifteen

How many times the word 'fifteen' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

steaming

How many times the word 'steaming' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

avant

How many times the word 'avant' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

song

How many times the word 'song' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

left

How many times the word 'left' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

finds

How many times the word 'finds' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

longer

How many times the word 'longer' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

fit

How many times the word 'fit' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

ball

How many times the word 'ball' appears in the text?

CRISTINA (small accent) Just try it on. 41. FLOR (improvement each time) Just try it on...just try it on.. She's got it. NARRATOR Our culture embraces fullness in a woman. You, the women of the admissions committee, as intelligent as you are, have no idea how casual and complete such acceptance is back home, in the land of the size 16 bikini. 56 EXT. BUS STOP - NORTH VALLEY - PRE-DAWN 56 Flor is the only one waiting. An empty bus stops and she gets on. 57 EXT. STREET - NEAR BUS STOP - HIGH SHOT - FIRST LIGHT 57 As we see Deborah cross Sunset Blvd., overtake and pass two UCLA men running at a good clip as Flor's bus stops. CLOSE ON FLOR.. As she strides purposefully up the street. NARRATOR This is one of the cultural differences between us which I wish to explore academically at Princeton. American women, I believe, actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight. 58 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - EXTREME EARLY MORNING 58 The house asleep. Flor walks carefully up the steps. NARRATOR ....a desire for the comfort of fullness. 59 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - FIRST LIGHT 59 Bernie asleep on the bed...Kleenex abounds...the solid sleep earned by a few hours of sobbing. She looks touchingly pretty and decidedly round. Flor looks for, finds and carries out the new clothes Deborah had given her daughter. NARRATOR And, when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation allowed to rule... 42. 60 EXT. STREET - STEEP INCLINE 60 ANGLE ON DEBORAH & KILLER HILL: Two young athletic men and one woman considerably ahead of her on the steep incline. DEBORAH Left..left.. ON RUNNERS. They turn and look confused at Deborah who is so far behind them she has no need to pass..They turn away. Deborah struggles to turn it on and does so...huffing to just behind them where she utters one more strained: DEBORAH (CONT'D) Left. And then passes. NARRATOR ...dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous, such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food, motherhood..all that is good in life. 61 INT. CLASKY MAID'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING. 61 Flor at work on a sewing machine..opening seams, moving buttons, even steaming where the buttons have been changed..etc. 62 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - MORNING 62 Flor is in the room...having put the altered clothes back in place..Bernie's alarm clock rings..She wakes and sees Flor. BERNICE Hey..buenas dias, Flor.. Flor holds up the new clothes and indicates that they are beautiful. BERNICE (CONT'D) (ruefully) Yes..Well, taste she has.. Bernie starts her morning routine..her back to us when: FLOR (damn good English) Just try it on. 43. Bernie, though her back is to us, does a "take" then turns grinning. BERNICE Hey!!!! When did you learn to... FLOR (cutting her off) Just try it on.. BERNICE Too tight..it doesn't fit. Flor clearly doesn't understand.. FLOR Just try it on..Hey?! Flor extends a blouse and skirt. FLOR (CONT'D) Just.. BERNICE Okay. I'll show you.. She steps behind a closet door to try the clothes on, muttering pessimistically before she does so. CAMERA STAYS ON FLOR.. BERNICE (O.C.) (CONT'D) Lovely way to start the day. World's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence and uses it to watch me grrrrunt my way into... And then....silence...Bernie, open mouthed, steps out wearing the clothes which fit like a glove. Flor beams..then laughs at Bernie's reaction as she keeps checking the waist and looks into the mirror. INTO MIRROR. To see Bernie in the foreground as Flor looks on..nods approval and leaves. ON BERNIE.. The fit of the clothes is as mystifying as it is nice..she picks up another shirt..checks the size tag and then studies it a bit. CLOSE UP SHIRT.. As Bernie's fingers find the barely visible holes where the buttons have previously been. 44. 63 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY 63 Flor at work..Chum, ball in mouth, comes to her and nudges her. FLOR (to dog) Lo siento. No. Chum, momentarily depressed, walks away..Bernie enters. She is a bit overwhelmed -- her voice breaking a bit even with one word. BERNICE Hey.. Flor turns..Bernie moves to embrace her. 64 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 64 As John comes down the stairs..He looks apprehensive..From the den comes the sound of singing..it stops him from going out the front door as he turns to check it out. 65 INT. DEN - DAY.. 65 John finds Evelyn and Georgie in their night clothes. They are singing an old song...something like "LUSH LIFE" - something preposterous for a nine year-old boy..but you can't knock the quality of the voices..world class. They see him and stop. EVELYN Every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs. That way the nightmares have a purpose. GEORGIE But I don't have to sing it for anyone. JOHN Right. You're clear on that.. GEORGIE How many did you sell of this song? EVELYN (embarrassed in front of John) He likes to know that stuff. JOHN (to Georgie) She was huge. 45. EVELYN Seventy-six thousand..which is great for a jazz album. They resume harmonizing. As John leaves, the song lyric making some comment on: 66 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 66 As John, growing tense, walks toward the front gate..Chum proffers a ball and accepts defeat as he bends down to pick up the New York Times. John's body chemistry launches a surprise attack...anxiety and dread...He takes his newspaper to a wire bench in the front driveway..He finds the section..opens to the page..and just like that his life changes forevermore. 67 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY. 67 John enters..Georgie is going up the stairs..Flor putting out breakfast food. EVELYN You okay? JOHN (strangely) I am okay. (to Flor) Deborah around? FLOR She run. John nods and heads upstairs. 67A 67A INT. CLASKY HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY He looks in Bernie's room. She is loading her backpack for school.. JOHN Hey, honey. BERNICE What's wrong? JOHN No..nothing...just that.. Georgie enters the scene.. GEORGIE A kid offered me a trade..Let me show you. JOHN Yeah.. 46. He starts to follow him to his room. BERNICE Dad!!! He can wait. JOHN No..It's okay.. BERNICE Let him wait..Yours is obviously important. GEORGIE You don't even know how important the trade is.. JOHN Let me just do Georgie.... Here. He hands her the newspaper... 68 INT. CLASKY HOUSE - GEORGIE'S ROOM 68 We MOVE with John and Georgie to Georgie's room where he goes to his collectibles..He holds up a card.. GEORGIE He says he'll give me any three silvers for him. JOHN I don't know...This is the one you started with..You really want to give up your first card? Note: this is an involved discussion on both their parts..NOTHING in John thinks it is trivial. GEORGIE I know..that's why I needed you. JOHN ..this is your favorite.. GEORGIE I think he'd go higher. JOHN But it's not numbers..it's..... They are interrupted by a never quite heard before sound of exultation.. 69 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 69 Flor and Evelyn jolted..they exit to follow the sound.. 47. 70 INT. BERNIE'S ROOM - DAY 70 As they enter holding the paper. She has been smacked in the heart by gleeful and prideful emotions...It is disorienting for her to experience the rush of pleasure. JOHN For God's sake..why did you... BERNICE WHY?!!? CRAZY FATHER, WHY?!? Why aren't YOU screaming?.. JOHN I'm getting there..just the stunned thing has to get dealt with... BERNICE (reading from newspaper) John Clasky, who at 25 made his mark on the New York restaurant scene when JAMMED lived up to and survived its silly name, has re- emerged as a young and confident veteran taking chances with his combinations in so subtle a manner.." GEORGIE If he gave me six... JOHN (catching her excitement) Wait a minute, your sister's talking. Evelyn indicates to Flor that the good news is about John..and so she studies him a bit.. BERNICE "...beginning with the succession of appetizers, each one with its own stunning and fully realized agenda, is constantly yet casually daring." (emotional and earnest aside) Ah, Dad...this is so great... (to others) Now here's the thing... She tears up...Evelyn rubs Bernie's back..looks at Flor and taps her heart...Flor indicates she should leave and does. Bernice continues reading with a lovely sense of mission and moment. John is taken with his daughter's delivery. 48. BERNICE (CONT'D) "Eating at this perfect smaller, passionate restaurant inspires one's own abandonment of caution. To wit: John Clasky is the best chef in the United States." JOHN (genuinely enthusiastic) Look how great you read it. BERNICE (massive irony) Perfect, Dad. Evelyn and Bernice hug him.. EVELYN John..John...Oh, my God you even look different to me.... JOHN What are you talking about? BERNICE I wonder what mom will do? 71 INT. BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON 71 Deborah is ripping John's clothes off..buttons fly..shreds of cloth..John is laughing - happy. JOHN What is this? DEBORAH I don't know. She rips at her own clothes and then exclaims in passion. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Oooohhch! 72 EXT. NORTH VALLEY - DAY. 72 Flor walks to the news stand - as if to buy something -- changes her mind and LEAVES THE FRAME only to RETURN A HALF- BEAT LATER where she reads to the dealer from a note. FLOR (heavily accented) New York Times.. 73 INT. FLOR'S APT. - NIGHT... 73 Cristina, standing, translating the review into Spanish for her mother...as she comes to the last sentence. 49. CRISTINA Wow..."John Clasky es el mejor chef en Los Estados Unidos.. FLOR (easily) Ah, bravo... 74 INT. CLASKY MASTER BEDROOM - DAY. 74 The Claskys are engaged in sex. John's brief sounds are exuberant..they shift position so that Deborah is on top BRINGING DEBORAH INTO A CLOSE SINGLE. Suddenly her smile fades - she hits the skids. DEBORAH Oh, damn it --- what am I going to do? Everything seems so surely pointless... ON JOHN. This IS WEIRD. And then the small, distinctive sound of Deb's climax...then, in a relatively small voice. DEBORAH'S VOICE Okay here...okay there...good, good, good. She falls off him...an arm across her eyes, lying on her back down the bed from him... ON JOHN. Puzzling over what just happened..a few false starts forming his thought...then finally..hesitantly... JOHN Hey, Deb? DEBORAH (from the vortex of depression) Yeah? He scoots to her side. JOHN You know, I guess I got used to you getting a little blue after intercourse...But DURING..?? DEBORAH Something else I do wrong. She grabs something and starts walking toward the bedroom. 50. JOHN You've gotta stop walking away. DEBORAH (turning) If I stay, I will say awful things to you that I might not even mean..You pick. JOHN See ya. She exits to the bathroom. 75 INT. JOHN'S CAR - DAY. 75 Very upset as he drives. Then comes to the red light at the end of the street and sees Flor walking with others. An awkward beat as he waits for the light to change and they acknowledge each other..the light remains red..she confers with another woman. FLOR (to woman) Yo le la cr tica buena. The woman tells Flor how to say it in English. FLOR (CONT'D) (parroting woman) I read your good review. He nods..still the light doesn't change. FLOR (CONT'D) It's nice. The light changes. JOHN Not so far...How you doing? The light has changed - cars are beeping..she is about to let him go off but realizes he will wait for her answer. FLOR I do fine. He nods and drives off. 76 INT. RESTAURANT - DAY 76 As he enters....the phone is going off the hook..As he passes the maitre d's desk. Their conversation is strangely hushed and very, very quick. 51. VICTOR Should I stop answering? We're booked for two months solid. JOHN No, no, no, no, no....I want to keep some walk-in business..I want this to stay neighborhood. VICTOR Impossible. There would be riots..You should hear the desperation in their voices..Best day of my life. JOHN We'll serve a full menu at the bar then. VICTOR Then where do I put the people waiting for a table? It won't work. JOHN Do this for me. VICTOR There's no way. JOHN Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face. VICTOR Huh? JOHN Yeah..you're right...that was an unusual way for me to make myself understood..But you'll do the bar thing? VICTOR Yes, of course, John.. 77 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY 77 PETER I need to talk to you. JOHN Ah, man..Okay. They walk into the cooling room. 52. 78 INT. RESTAURANT - COOLING ROOM - DAY 78 Again there is a kind of strange rapidity to the conversation sparked by John.. JOHN What's up? What's wrong? PETER I've gotten a fantastic offer for my own place..Everybody wants to back me since the paper came out. JOHN What's your reaction? PETER Honestly? Because I've had this very unusual reaction. JOHN Yeah. PETER I've had a hard on almost all day and it won't go away. Like I'm riding on the back seat of a bus with bad shocks and every other passenger is a gorgeous woman with a yellow sports top whose leaning over. It's like every dream I ever had and some even I didn't have the balls to dream.. JOHN So you're considering taking it?... (he looks at him) Okay, here's the thing. I can't lose you and still keep the hours I'm keeping. I can't do my life unless I can hold onto you. (sudden thought) I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position. 79 INT. CLASKY BEDROOM - NIGHT 79 As John and Deborah lay next to each other. DEBORAH So you gave away twenty percent of the restaurant without talking to me about it. JOHN Yeah. If I didn't do it - I'd have been coming home just to sleep. 53. DEBORAH (trying to make livid more attractive) Remember the other day when you asked me the perfect response to something I said?...I'm asking you now..what would you like my response to be to your giving away twenty percent of the business without asking me? JOHN (with great enthusiasm) "You're ma man!" DEBORAH Okay! So that would be??? JOHN My dream response from you, yes. DEBORAH (measured) I'm not quite there..Actually, I just had this flash that the reason women in the old days used to faint was to avoid doing acts of violence against men. (a beat then) And I was all worried about figuring out the timing just to talk to you about renting a place for the summer. JOHN Well, I think you got your timing. 80 EXT. CLASKY HOUSE - DAY 80 A man is parked at the gate in an open convertible..He is great looking...We HEAR Deborah's excited voice over the gate speaker... DEBORAH Be right out... 81 EXT. CLASKY DRIVEWAY - DAY.. 81 As Deborah calls behind her as she opens the door... DEBORAH (CONT'D) Mom, you want to come?..the realtor's here..Okay, see you later. She clicks the gate open and walks to the man..perfect 40 year old great looking surfer sort..Deborah does the very slightest of "takes" at his looks..As she gets in.. 54. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hi. REALTOR I'm Mike..there's one great rental that just came on..so we're starting at the top.. As they pull away... 82 EXT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY.. 82 Deborah's hair whips across her face...it's bothersome. DEBORAH I'll never be one of those girls whose hair blows perfectly in a convertible. REALTOR Move your seat forward.. Puzzled, she uses the electric lever and the seat budges forward.. REALTOR (CONT'D) A little more..just..good. The Realtor uses his switches and raises his window a bit..her window a bit less and monkeys the position of the half windows in back...Deborah turns around checking out the odd tweaking and then faces forward. Her hair blows perfectly and beautifully behind her... DEBORAH Oh, you must be trouble. On his small laugh... 83 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 83 As they move toward the house...seeing the beach beyond. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Gorgeous, huh..Pretty, fabulous, beautiful. What word is the same in Spanish? FLOR Fabuloso. DEBORAH (taking it as a compliment) Thanks. 55. 84 INT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 84 As Deborah, Flor and Evelyn enter. They carry boxes of stuff. DEBORAH (CONT'D) I don't care if it's a rental..this place is getting a fixing. She leads Flor to a small bedroom. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to Flor with gestures) This will be yours.. Flor doesn't understand..certainly doesn't want to. EVELYN Did you ask her if she could live in? DEBORAH Come on...there's no buses from her to here. There's no question. Double come on... Deborah uses her hand as if weighing something momentous like the law vs. the bible then with heavy sarcasm. DEBORAH (CONT'D) The Barrio - Carbon Beach..The Barrio - Carbon Beach. What to do? (to Flor) Don't worry. I'm putting nicer stuff in here too. When Flor gives no indication of anything - just standing, somewhat stupefied..Deborah takes her by the hand and leads her out. 85 EXT. CLASKY - BEACH RENTAL - DAY 85 As they move through a little courtyard area toward the street. DEBORAH You must learn English. Why won't she learn English? I'm going to have to learn, "you must learn English," in Spanish. EVELYN I think Flor is perfect and we should do all we can to keep her from changing. DEBORAH Gee, you took the words right out of my mouthay. 56. 86 EXT. PCH - DAY 86 As she leads Flor along the highway side of Carbon Beach - passing houses until she sees a Hispanic man washing someone's car in a driveway. Evelyn is many steps back. DEBORAH Oh, good. Do you speak English? HISPANIC MAN Yes, I do. DEBORAH Would you translate for me? He looks at Flor..my God. HISPANIC MAN Sure...forever. He speaks to her in Spanish..a lavish, poetic compliment. Flor, in full control, says, in Spanish.."Would you please just find out what she wants." Evelyn joins them. DEBORAH Wait till I say something before you start in.. (he looks at her) I rented a house here for the summer and now she must sleep at the house because of the bus schedule. He translates along with Deborah's speech. ON FLOR. Stricken. She turns to Deborah. FLOR No.. Sorry. DEBORAH What? Why? Flor talks briefly in Spanish. HISPANIC MAN She can't because of her daughter. DEBORAH You have a daughter? You have a whole daughter you haven't mentioned..How old? FLOR Twelve. 57. DEBORAH (to Evelyn) It's a little crazy that I don't know that. The man translates. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (to man) Don't translate asides. The man says in Spanish to Flor.."You work for her?"--Flor answers, "just tell her that I can't live here." Deborah doesn't like that the man has initiated more conversation. DEBORAH (CONT'D) Hey! HISPANIC MAN She can't live here. Her daughter. DEBORAH Okay.. (beat then big decision) Her daughter can also live with us for the summer.. The man tells Flor..she answers directly to Deborah.. FLOR (big decision) No, sorry. DEBORAH Why? The man asks Flor who speaks in Spanish.. HISPANIC MAN I don't know. She just doesn't want to. DEBORAH Will you please just tell me what she said. HISPANIC MAN She said, "I just don't want to." EVELYN If she didn't tell us about her child she has to have a deep sense of privacy. We can figure out how she can still live at home. Hell, I don't mind driving her at night. 58. DEBORAH Let's spare the world you on the roads. (to Flor) Well, what do we do? The Hispanic man translates the last sentence. Deborah and Flor stare at each other..Deborah's next words are somber and have enough body language to transcend the need for translation...the jig is up. DEBORAH (CONT'D) (big decision) I'm sorry, my friend, this is what I need. It's just for the summer. I don't want to lose you. But .... Flor indicates there is no need to translate. A beat. FLOR (enormous decision) Yo vivo aqu . HISPANIC MAN She'll live here. The man says something in Spanish to Flor as she starts to walk away and she is thrown enough by the statement to actually stumble as she looks back at him...then, before Deborah can admonish him. HISPANIC MAN (CONT'D) I said, "God protect you from that boss." 87 EXT. FLOR'S APT. COMPLEX - DAY 87 As Cristina, trying to suppress her grin, skips quickly down the stairs moving towards a truck from John's restaurant. Flor follows tight lipped - resolved. They each carry many clothes on wire hangers. A group of girls on the balcony literally cheer Cristina on. BALCONY GIRLS (accented) MAL-----I------BU! Cristina grins hugely back at them. 88 INT. MALIBU TUNNEL - DAY 88 The two women in the truck and then.. 89 INT. TRUCK - DAY. 89 As the truck leaves the tunnel and all is cliffs, sand, and waves..Cristina taking it in, unaware that her mother's eyes never leave her. 59. She gasps frequently..MAJOR GIANT ORGANIC GASPS OF WONDER AND PLEASURE..This is awe as an active physical exercise. The MOVING SHOT dramatizes the crossroads of the mother-daughter relationship as the TWO SHOT finds Flor becoming first blurred then lost as we focus on Cristina exclaiming over each new sight. NARRATOR (over this incidental dialogue) The first time one sees natural beauty which is owned by others confounds the senses.. I had never imagined the word "money" could be associated with anything but the anxiety of not having enough. I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich. 90 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - STREET SIDE - DAY 90 The truck in the driveway..the women walking through a front door into a court yard. 91 EXT. CLASKY BEACH HOUSE - BEACH SIDE - DAY 91 Georgie, in a swim suit, talking to CHUM in the manner of people trying to excite dogs. GEORGIE Who wants to go swimming?..Yes, who wants to go swimming? The dog goes crazy with excitement -- then, droll for a nine year old, Georgie turns to his grandmother (who is sunning herself and reading) and addresses her in precisely the same way. Evelyn has a drink in hand.. GEORGIE (CONT'D) (to grandmother) Who wants to go swimming?..Huh.. EVELYN Not now..But I promise I'll go in the summer after next. John enters the scene.. JOHN You want to go swimming? GEORGIE Oh yeah, you're off. JOHN What do you think, wet suits? 60. GEORGIE Wet suits are for wimps.. JOHN Yeah, you're right..let me get mine.. Georgie laughs.. GEORGIE (to Dad) You're good. 92 INT./EXT. HALLWAY / PATIO - DAY 92 Behind Flor and Cristina as they move toward the Claskys and their destiny....Flor behind her daughter. REVERSE - CLOSE ON CRISTINA. As her eyes pop on seeing the Clasky beach house. VERY CLOSE ON DEBORAH As her eyes pop on seeing the stunning twelve year-old enter her home, haloed by the sun. Again, Flor less distinct in the background. Bernice, just outside the open patio door, is putting on a shirt over her bathing suit as she looks at Cristina and emits a small, prescient moan. DEBORAH (to Flor) Look at this child..Flor, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy.... Flor looks to her daughter for some understanding of what Deborah said.. FLOR Que? Cristina is as nonplussed by the remark as her mother. JOHN Hi. I'm John..It's good to see you. (to Flor indicating Cristina) Great.. DEBORAH (to Cristina) Hi. This is my daughter, Bernice..I'm Deborah..And out there...are Georgie and. 61. As she turns to gesture toward her mother and son, Evelyn has almost reached them .. EVELYN I'm so glad to meet you. I'm a fan of your mother's. CRISTINA I'm Cristina. As all acknowledge each other Deborah tugs at Bernie's top which is half tucked in. BERNICE (kidding around but right on) No comparisons, please, no comparisons. Evelyn shoves her granddaughter for the self- deprecation..Flor says something to her daughter in Spanish. CRISTINA My mother says it's best if we get out of the way and put our things away. JOHN Have you ever been to the beach here? CRISTINA I've never been anyplace but Mexico and Texas.....before today. John goes to a big toy box and opens it up..it is filled with beach paddles, Frisbees and boogie boards. JOHN Here's the most important place in the house..grab this stuff whenever you want. CRISTINA (delighted) Thank you..thank you so much. DEBORAH Very little accent? FLOR (suspiciously) Que? CRISTINA (to Flor) Sin acento. 62. Her mom, not crazy about the lack of accent to begin with, nods. CRISTINA (CONT'D) (to Deborah) Thank you..there's an A.P. total fluency class where they work you pretty hard at sounding American. Flor doesn't want her daughter to have an extended conversation with Deborah of which she doesn't understand a word. FLOR Cristina.. DEBORAH Right. Settle in.. CRISTINA Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. 93 INT. MAID'S ROOM - AFTERNOON 93 Deborah has re-decorated the room with casual brilliance...Flor is tense..distraught...her daughter giddy...excited over the sheets, the tv, the pile of towels..a chaise..She goes to work on her mother to go swimming....wanting her to appreciate the fun element of being here...the spirit of the kid such that Flor relents.... 94 EXT. BEACH - EVENING 94 Flor and Cristina, two sea nymphs, lit by the floodlights from the beach homes. OTHER ANGLE. John and Georgie in the waves..body surfing...they get to shore...John sees the two females..dashing in the water in their bathing suits..He remains hidden in a very shallow wave as they run in...then once they are in he starts taking off his wet suit hurriedly... ON JOHN.. As he suffers the cold -- Georgie enjoying every moment. 95 EXT. CLASKY BEACH RENTAL - DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT 95 Wave lights still shining..On a dune sits Cristina, looking out. 96 INT. MASTER BEDROOM 96 As Deborah steps out on the deck and sees Cristina. 63. DEBORAH (in a loud whisper) Hey, Cristina...hey...hey..What are you doing up? Cristina looks around -- then up.. CRISTINA Oh, hi..so beautiful..I was just excited. DEBORAH I know..Would you believe I had to talk my husband into this? (no reply/then more pointedly) Would you believe I had to talk my husband into it?...do you hear me? CRISTINA Yes...I just .. (awash..a shy laugh) I didn't know what to say? DEBORAH (still calling down) Do you want to come with me? -- I'm going to the flea market. CRISTINA I don't know what that... DEBORAH It's the Rose Bowl... miles, actual miles, of great things for sale for God's sake...We can have brunch in Pasadena. CRISTINA I don't want to wake my mother so early. DEBORAH I'll leave her a note...I'll 97 INT. FLOR'S ROOM - MORNING - TWO HOURS LATER 97 As Flor wakes..looks around. FLOR Cristina? She goes to Cristina's bed...atop the bed is a note. She picks it up. INSERT..THE NOTE Dear Flor, 64. I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. LOVE, DEBORAH With great energy born of bottled fury, Flor begins to go through her daughter's things...finding her backpack and extracting a Spanish/English dictionary. INSERT DICTIONARY. As her finger points to: "Steal...robar" And then she flips some pages feverishly..Her finger indicating: "daughter .... hija" 98 EXT. PCH - EARLY AFTERNOON. 98 DEBORAH (CONT'D) Stop thanking me. I love having the company. CRISTINA It was an adventure which I'll remember. DEBORAH Your English is genius. Do you dream in Spanish or English? CRISTINA Just recently I've had a dream in English. DEBORAH What was it? CRISTINA I am so sorry. I -- uh..I'd ..I uh, can't tell ..This is so uncomfortable. DEBORAH You could have just said you didn't remember. CRISTINA I, uh, guess so..but I do. DEBORAH Look who's sensational. 65. 99 EXT. CLASKY RENTED BEACH HOUSE - DAY. 99 Evelyn is sitting on the patio making sangria..Flor enters. She is pissed. EVELYN What's wrong? She shows her the letter. Evelyn reads it and hands it back..She is about to offer something..Flor waves it off and enters the house..John comes in from the beach with his kids..boogie boards...Evelyn hands him the letter.. EVELYN (CONT'D) She's wild-eyed over this.. John moves after Flor as Bernie reads the letter.. BERNICE Aw, shit.. (then quickly) Sorry about the word, Georgie. GEORGIE It's okay. BERNICE You want to know what happened? GEORGIE No thank you. 100 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 100 John enters.. JOHN Hey, Flor.. She turns.. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm sorry..very sorry.. He indicates his watch -- then holds his fingers together. JOHN (CONT'D) They should be back soon.. Flor starts to cry. She sits in a chair..He sits not far from her. JOHN (CONT'D) Hey, Flor.. Embarrassed, she says, in Spanish, to please leave her alone..she turns from him..He walks to the wet bar and gets a bottle of water...pours some..Her crying soft in the 66. background...He walks to her, sits near her and offers her the glass of water which she takes. JOHN (CONT'D) Deborah made a mistake. I understand how you feel...Do you understand me at all, generally? Is simp tico the word? He pats her on the back..She looks at him.. CLOSE ON FLOR.. Is he coming on?.. HER POV.. His kind eyes. FULL SHOT.. This is real eye contact..two vaguely humiliated people finding real company for an instant. Without thought, she duplicates his gesture and pats his back. FLOR Simp tico, yes. And when he seeks to add another pat, he misses, because she is out of her chair..(This is as intimate as John has been with another woman since he was married..) He calls out to stop her. JOHN Un momento, huh? She stops and turns to him. JOHN (CONT'D) I'm really sorry this is happening. I just want you to know that.

chum

How many times the word 'chum' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

vial

How many times the word 'vial' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

playing

How many times the word 'playing' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

manage

How many times the word 'manage' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

cut

How many times the word 'cut' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

wo

How many times the word 'wo' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

laughs

How many times the word 'laughs' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

clamp

How many times the word 'clamp' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

faint

How many times the word 'faint' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

height

How many times the word 'height' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

train

How many times the word 'train' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

started

How many times the word 'started' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

destin

How many times the word 'destin' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

catches

How many times the word 'catches' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

motion

How many times the word 'motion' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

toward

How many times the word 'toward' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

studies

How many times the word 'studies' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

mpeg

How many times the word 'mpeg' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

meurt

How many times the word 'meurt' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

swing

How many times the word 'swing' appears in the text?

Caesar. There's also a CAMCORDER on a tripod. WILL Here's the hard part: you can't put a larger block on top of a smaller one. Caesar studies the puzzle. WILL (CONT'D) Understand? 26. Caesar's already started. He methodically begins moving blocks from one pole to another, pausing, backtracking, getting it right, never a bigger one on top of a smaller... Will watches, increasingly amazed, as he re-creates the tower on a different pole. It's easy for him. Finished, Caesar looks up at him. Will fumbles in his pocket, HANDS CAESAR SOME M&MS. WILL (CONT'D) (STUNNED) He did it in fifteen moves. IRENA What's the best score? WILL Fifteen. Will looks over at Walter, who's staring at the wall. IRENA (AMAZED) I wonder where he gets such talent? WILL (eyes on Walter) It was passed down from his mother. INT. WILL'S STUDY - NIGHT Will uploads the MPEG video of Caesar doing the puzzle and prepares to record an AUDIO ATTACHMENT. WILL (into computer mic) At age two Caesar appears to exceed his mother's aptitude. He signs over three hundred words. He exhibits no visible side effects from the therapy... INT. GARAGE - NIGHT Will flips on a light. Enters. Closes the door behind him. Taking a key from his pocket he approaches a SMALL, PADLOCKED REFRIGERATOR and unlocks it. Opens the door. Inside-WE SEE: THE SINGLE VIAL OF ADV 112. 27. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Will sits on the edge of the sofa, the VIAL of 112 in his hand. He's deep in agonized thought. Finally he takes a SYRINGE and FILLS IT WITH THE GREEN LIQUID. Then he stands, walks to a closed door. INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT The opening door sends a wash of light into the dark room. Walter's in bed. He opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness. WILL (syringe in hand) Dad. I've got something that's going to make you better. Will closes the door behind him. WE HEAR A RHYTHMIC SQUEAKING NOISE as we... CUT TO: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The movement of a SWING. Caesar's strapped in it, and WE NOTICE IMMEDIATELY THAT HE'S GROWN OLDER. SUPER: TWO YEARS LATER Caesar's features are more mature. He appears more like a "little boy" - and his EYES HAVE TURNED A DEEP GREEN. Back and forth Caesar goes, as high as he can manage. At the height of his forward motion, he peers down into the neighbor's yard where, for just an instant, HE CAN SEE TODD PLAYING BALL WITH ALICE AND ANOTHER KID. At the height of his backward motion he catches another glimpse. Caesar pumps his legs, eager to get a better look... INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will's making sandwiches, his eye on Caesar through the window. WILL (to someone offscreen) You want turkey or ham? 28. VOICE (O.S.) Ham! INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY WE FIND WALTER just sitting down on the piano bench. He begins playing a competent version of "CLAIR DE LUNE." INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will pauses, listening to the MUSIC. He moves to the doorway to watch his father. The happiness - the relief - is clear on his face. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY SQUEAK.SQUEAK of the SWING, the PIANO FAINT from out here. Caesar studies the harness that's keeping him in the swing. There's a clamp on either side and a clamp on the back. He undoes the one on his right side. CLICK. Then the left side. CLICK. Caesar wriggles the harness around so that he can reach the clamp on his back with his long chimpanzee arms. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Will returns to his sandwich making. It takes him a moment to notice that CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE SWING. The color drains from his face. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Caesar stands at the edge of the yard, unsure what to do next. All three kids - Todd, Alice and Todd's buddy - have stopped playing to stare at him. Caesar spots a BALL lying on the grass. He picks it up and tosses it to Todd's Buddy. The Boy catches it, throws it back to Caesar. TODD'S BUDDY Check it. He wants to play. Thrilled at the contact, Caesar throws the ball to Todd. But Todd has an idea, and the idea makes him smile. Alice doesn't have a good feeling. She watches as her brother throws the ball to his Buddy OVER CAESAR'S HEAD. 29. TODD Monkey in the middle. Todd's Buddy LAUGHS. Caesar LAUGHS too, although he's not sure what's funny. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter walk down the street looking for Caesar. WALTER Caesar! WILL He won't go far. WALTER You don't know that. WILL I do, Dad. INT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Todd and his buddy throw the ball over Caesar's head, while Caesar jumps to try and catch it. TODD AND FRIEND Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle... Caesar's having fun, unaware that the game has become keep- away from him. Until he NOTICES ALICE'S EXPRESSION - SHE FEELS SORRY FOR HIM. THEN, IN A STOMACH-LURCHING MOMENT CAESAR REALIZES WHAT'S GOING ON: HE'S THE BUTT OF A JOKE. They're making fun of him. "MONKEY", "MONKEY", "MONKEY"... The chanted words ring in Caesar's ears. He drops his arms and walks over to Todd, stepping close, hot rage escaping from his nostrils. Todd tries to laugh it off, but the fear's plain on his face. Alice runs inside. EXT. STREET - DAY Will and Walter search down the street. Then they hear it: HUNSIKER'S YELL. Will runs for the neighbor's house. 30. EXT. HUNSIKER BACK YARD - DAY Hunsiker approaches Caesar with a raised bat. The terrified chimp backs toward his fence. HUNSIKER Hah! Hah - Will JUMPS INTO THE YARD AND PUTS HIMSELF BETWEEN HUNSIKER AND CAESAR. Caesar cowers behind him. WILL Hold on - it's okay - he's harmless! HUNSIKER Your monkey came onto my property! Threatened my kids! By now Caesar has climbed into Will's arms, burying his head in. his neck. Will backs toward the gate. WILL It won't happen again... HUNSIKER Damn right it won't happen again! I'll press charges if it does! Will holds Caesar close and hurries home. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY STEWART What does he do for fun? Will's brought Caesar in for a check-up. He's a little thrown by the question. WILL Well we've got puzzles, games, a swing set... STEWART My guess is he needs more. More exercise, more space. WILL We'll work on that. Stewart continues examining Caesar. Will watches her listen to his heart. Closing her eyes for a moment, listening. 31. He gets up his nerve. WILL (CONT'D) What about you? (BEAT) What do you do for fun? She opens her eyes, looks at him. He thinks she doesn't understand the question. WILL (CONT'D) How about dinner and a movie? Stewart pulls the stethoscope from her ears. STEWART I'm sorry, did you say something? He starts to try again - but the moment's gone. WILL No - nothing. Caesar meets Will's eyes, obviously disappointed. Stewart lingers a moment, certain she's missed something - but Will doesn't say more. EXT. MUIR WOODS, ESTABLISHING - DAY From high above, WE PASS OVER the Golden Gate Bridge, the link between the bustling city and a huge, green FOREST. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Caesar - driving with Walter and Will -- looks out the window, extremely excited. EXT. PARKING LOT, MUIR WOODS - DAY As Caesar scrambles out of the truck, WILL HOOKS A HARNESS TO HIS COLLAR and helps Walter from the car. The chimp looks around at the SOARING TREES. What is this place? The three of them head into the forest, Caesar tugging at the leash. WALTER Take him off the leash. WILL There's a place up ahead. 32. EXT. PARK/CLEARING - DAY They've walked deep into the park. No people here. Will kneels next to Caesar. WILL Don't go far. Stay where I can see you. Will takes OFF CAESAR'S HARNESS. The chimpanzee runs, begins flying from tree to tree. Will watches, nervous. But it's gratifying to see Caesar so happy. The CHIMP DISAPPEARS around a corner. A moment passes, then another. The men follow... and discover CAESAR STANDING IN A GROVE OF TREES. WILL (CONT'D) (YELLING) Remember - stay where I can see you - if you got lost in these woods I'd never find you. BUT CAESAR BARELY HEARS HIM. HE'S UTTERLY CAPTIVATED. THE SPOT IS BEAUTIFUL, WITH GREEN, LUSH BRANCHES JOINING TO FORM A CANOPY OVERHEAD. WALTER Go ahead. Climb! The men sit down on a log, watching as Caesar swings from the branches. Free, elated. An animal in his element. Caesar begins climbing a redwood. Our view of him is obscured by the leaves. As his dark form ascends, Will and Walter become smaller and smaller down below. SUPER: THREE YEARS LATER RUSTLING LEAVES whisper Caesar upward. He moves with an easy grace, exhilarated by the freedom. At the TOP of the giant redwood CAESAR EMERGES THROUGH THE LEAVES - AND WE SEE THAT HE'S GROWN, FILLED OUT - THE CHIMP EQUIVALENT OF A FULL-BLOWN TEENAGER. HIS DISTINCTIVE LOOKS ARE MORE PRONOUNCED NOW: EYES A DEEP GREEN, FEATURES SOMEWHAT LESS SIMIAN, PERHAPS MORE HUMAN... Caesar looks across the bay to San Francisco, looks north at the mountains. Then down to Will below. Will's pointing to his watch. 33. CLOSE ON A HARNESS. Will has it waiting as Caesar lands beside him on the forest floor. Will attaches the harness and they walk together. Caesar's much taller now - over five feet. WILL Sorry to rush you - got to get home and check on Walter. They approach a WOMAN with a LARGE DOG on a leash - a GREAT DANE. The dog BARKS, lunging menacingly. The Woman struggles to control him. WOMAN (INCREDULOUS) Is that a chimpanzee? WILL Don't worry - he's harmless. Very sweet. The big dog keeps BARKING. Annoyed, Caesar finally turns and gives him a LARGE, CHIMPANZEE SNARL, BARING HIS TEETH. The Great Dane immediately WHIMPERS - terrified - and pulls the Woman away. WILL (CONT'D) Guess he had it coming. Caesar watches as the Woman walks off with the dog, HIS GAZE LINGERING ON THE LEASH. THEN HIS EYES MOVE TO HIS OWN LEASH. Is he a pet too? EXT. ZOO - DAY Will drives up, Caesar in tow. The ZOO'S BEING RENOVATED - machinery everywhere. INT. STEWART'S OFFICE - DAY Will leads Caesar inside the examination room - and finds himself face to face with a YOUNG MALE VETERINARIAN. WILL Where's Dr. Stewart? S VETERINARIAN She doesn't work here anymore. 34. Doesn't work here anymore? WILL Do you know where she went? VETERINARIAN I'm sorry - I don't. Will's deeply disappointed. EXT. ZOO - DAY Disoriented because of the construction, Will makes a wrong turn as he leads Caesar to the car. They find themselves in front of THE PRIMATE ENCLOSURE. Caesar goes rigid, staring at a DOZEN CHIMPS in the branches of the trees - behind bars. They stare back at him. One CHIMP, a GRIZZLED OLD MALE, STEPS FORWARD - OMINOUS. HE LOOKS AT CAESAR AS IF LOOKING INTO HIS SOUL. Caesar's transfixed. Will looks back and forth between the chimps and Caesar. Neither makes a sound. WILL Come on. As Will drags Caesar off, the apes in the enclosure climb higher in the tree to watch. Suddenly they ALL BEGIN TO SCREAM IN A DEAFENING CHATTER. INT. ATTIC - DAY Caesar stands at the vent watching the neighborhood TEENAGERS walk home from school. One BOY walks with a blonde teenage GIRL, books clutched to her chest. Caesar watches the Boy flirt with her. The girl smiles, flirts back. One of the younger Kids runs by, bopping the Boy on the head. The BOY SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER and returns to the girl. Caesar's fascinated by these antics. He wants to be with these teens. He wants to be one of them. 35. INT. BATHROOM - DAY Caesar stands in front of a FULL LENGTH MIRROR, shirtless. He stands up straight, like a human. Tries to imitate their posture, their gait. BUT FROM THE MIRROR A CHIMPANZEE STARES BACK AT HIM. A CHIMPANZEE WITH GREEN EYES. THERE'S A PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ON HIS SHOULDER - JUST LIKE ALPHA'S. He runs two fingers down the length of it. INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Caesar, Walter and Will sit at the dinner table. There's tension here, but we can't place it yet. Then WE SEE that WALTER IS STRUGGLING TO EAT BECAUSE HE'S USING THE WRONG END OF THE SPOON. He clutches the utensil, staring at it. WILL Turn it around, Dad. You're using the wrong end. Walter looks at Will, uncomprehending. With care and compassion, Caesar reaches over and helps the old man, adjusting the spoon. Will watches. Heartbroken. INT. LAB - DAY A MOUSE runs through a MAZE. It reaches a fork in the path, leading to two different plastic objects, one green, one orange. The mouse hesitates, confused. He backs away from the cone. A LAB TECH makes a note. Will and Jacobs stand behind him, reading the number results on a monitor. Will's obviously discouraged. WILL The drug's not staying ahead of the disease. 0 36. JACOBS But we're still making progress, right? Will tries to tamp down the frustration he's sure is written all over his face. WILL Sure. At this pace we'll get to trials by the time Hell freezes over. Jacobs - embarrassed in front of the Tech - pulls him aside. JACOBS This isn't graduate school - there's a procedure we have to adhere to. WILL It'll take forever. I need to start developing a primate version now. Jacobs looks at Will. He's known him a long time. JACOBS How's your father? Haven't seen him in a while. WILL This isn't about him. JACOBS He's worse, isn't he? Will wants to tell Jacobs the truth - he's tempted to tell him about Caesar, about Walter's treatment - but he can't. WILL (EVASIVE) He's fine. WE HEAR A PERSISTENT C SHARP COMING FROM A DISTANT PIANO. It's a familiar, baleful SOUND that continues over the following... INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Will sits in front of the computer, looking at a file crammed with MPEGs of Caesar doing puzzles and games. 37. WILL (into computer mic) Caesar continues to maintain a high level of cognition. But Walter's disease has caught up to the neurogenesis treatment. Nearly all initial improvement has been erased... Will stops recording. KICKS his desk in frustration. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter sits at the piano, hitting his one note. Caesar passes him, heads for Will's study. INT. WILL'S STUDY - DAY Caesar enters, finds Will at the desk, head in hands. Will senses his presence. Looks up. CAESAR Who Caesar. WILL What do you mean? CAESAR Who. With effort, Will pulls himself from his own thoughts and tries to understand what Caesar wants from him. CAESAR (CONT'D) Who. WILL Caesar is an ape. (SIGNING) A chimpanzee. CAESAR No "what". "Who". Will is taken aback - beginning to realize the intellectual leap Caesar's taken. WILL Are you asking about your identity? That's abstract thought, Caesar. Caesar couldn't care less about 'abstract thought.' 38. CAESAR Walter Will father. Will Caesar father? Will looks at the chimp - sees the intensity, the pain on his face. How to begin to answer? WILL (O.S.) This is where you were born. It's the place where I work. INT. MOVING CAR/PARKED CAR - DAY Will and Caesar are PARKED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GEN-SYS LAB GROUNDS, its buildings visible through the fencing. WILL I never knew your father, but your mother came to live here. This is where you were born. CAESAR Caesar mother? WILL She was very very smart. And she passed that onto you through her blood. Caesar strains for a better view. Undoes his seatbelt. CAESAR Caesar go. Caesar see. Will locks the car door. WILL She's not here anymore. I'm sorry, Caesar - she died. That's when I brought you home to live with me and Walter. Caesar's getting worked up - he wants out of the car. CAESAR Caesar mother... Will grows concerned. WILL No. This is a bad place for you, Caesar. We're going to go now. 39. As Will pulls away Caesar strains for a last glimpse, twisting around to look out the back window. VOICE (O.S.) Let's see if we can find something for you on the TV... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Walter has a new HOME AIDE - a pale, hard-looking older woman. He sits on the sofa staring at the TV's moving images as she changes channels. The Aide settles on a news show covering preparations for a SPACE LAUNCH. ASTRONAUTS wave to the PRESS CORPS as they board a SHUTTLE. TV REPORTER The Icarus crew is led by Commander Colonel George Taylor. This is his fifth space mission... INT. ATTIC - DAY CLOSE ON a crude drawing of an ape. Caesar sits on the floor, working on its details. As he draws the white birthmark - like a falling star - WE REALIZE it's a self- portrait. EXT. BACK YARD - DAY The Home Aide lights herself a cigarette, sits down on a deck chair. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY TV's still blaring, but the sofa's empty. REVEAL Walter, standing in the middle of the room, confused. As if he's not sure where he is. Abruptly he turns and heads across the room... and OUT THE FRONT DOOR. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter pauses on the porch, blinking in the sun. The street ahead of him is quiet. No one around. Walter wanders down the front path. When he arrives at the sidewalk he keeps on going, STEPPING OUT INTO THE STREET. 0 40. He's immediately startled by a SUDDEN HONK, the SOUND of SQUEALING BRAKES, and a car fishtailing out of control. The car SMASHES into a nearby tree. INT. ATTIC - DAY Hearing the CRASH, Caesar jumps to his feet, rushes to the vent. He sees Hunsiker emerge from the smashed car, unhurt. Caesar watches as Hunsiker inspects the ruined front fender, then turns to YELL at someone. That's when Walter comes into Caesar's view. He's in the street, afraid, disoriented - while Hunsiker rages, jabbing a threatening finger towards Walter's chest. In a flash Caesar's down the attic stairs. EXT. STREET - DAY Walter backs up as Hunsiker approaches, still jabbing the menacing finger. HUNSIKER Look at the front of my car you stupid, stupid old man! You should be locked up! Your son's going to pay for that damage - CAESAR EXPLODES OUT THE DOOR. No time for anybody to react. The chimpanzee BODY SLAMS HUNSIKER to the ground. WALTER Caesar... Straddling Hunsiker, teeth bared, Caesar pounds him with his fists. HUNSIKER Help! Get him off - WALTER Caesar... no... Stop! Walter grabs Caesar by the shoulders, tries to pull him back. But Caesar's too carried away by his rage - he shrugs the old man off his back. Then he grabs one of Hunsiker's hands and BITES OFF THE "JABBING" POINTER FINGER. 41. HUNSIKER Aaaaaaaah! Walter struggles to his feet and grabs Caesar again. A PULSE OF HUNSIKER'S BLOOD STREAKS ACROSS HIS NECK. WALTER Caesar! Caesar hesitates. Blood dripping down his chin, he looks over his shoulder and meets Walter's eyes. WALTER (CONT'D) Please stop. Hunsiker uses the distraction. He scrabbles to his feet and sprints for his house. CAESAR CATCHES A GLIMPSE. ANIMAL INSTINCT TAKES OVER - IT'S TOO BIG TO FIGHT. He races after Hunsiker. WALTER FALLS TO THE GROUND. HIS HEAD HITS THE PAVEMENT, stunning him. EXT. HUNSIKER'S HOUSE - DAY Just as Hunsiker's about to reach his front door, Caesar flies from behind - his feet hitting the door - and lands to block Hunsiker's entrance. White with terror, Hunsiker - clutching his bleeding hand to his chest - takes off running down the sidewalk. EXT. STREET - DAY Hunsiker runs for his life. He looks over his shoulder - Caesar's galloping behind, in hot pursuit. He tries to speed up - can't go any faster. Again he glances over his shoulder - Caesar's closing in. Breath coming hard, Hunsiker sprints, scrambles, desperate to escape. He looks over his shoulder-but this time CAESAR HAS DISAPPEARED. HE'S NOT ANYWHERE, UP OR DOWN THE STREET. Unsure where to go, half-stumbling, Hunsiker keeps running. Then, OUT OF NOWHERE, CAESAR SWINGS DOWN FROM A TREE. HE LANDS SQUARELY IN FRONT OF HUNSIKER, BLOCKING HIS PATH. Hunsiker backs up, changes direction, runs across the street. 0 42. Enjoying the chase, taking his time, Caesar grabs a tree branch and swings from tree to tree. with one giant jump, he makes it to the top of a tree across the street, tracking Hunsiker like prey. Hunsiker's running out of steam. Caesar swings down in front of him and KICKS him in the chest, sending him flying. Calmly he stands over Hunsiker, who cowers. HUNSIKER Please no... Caesar pounds his chest, YELLING in triumph. But then he sees something across the street that abruptly pulls him out of his euphoria: WALTER - STRUGGLING, BLOODY - BEING HELPED TO HIS FEET. He looks down at Hunsiker, cringing. All at once CAESAR REALIZES WHAT HE'S DONE. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Will's car drives down a two-lane highway. REPORTER (V.0.) .chimpanzee named Caesar, terrorizing the quiet family enclave and mauling neighbor Douglas Hunsiker, a pilot for Global Airlines. INT. JACOBS' LIVING ROOM - DAY Jacobs watches the evening NEWS. REPORTER The defense claimed the chimp was merely trying to protect its owner from perceived aggression. FOOTAGE OF WILL LEAVING A COURTHOUSE, avoiding News Crews. Jacobs sits forward, turns up the volume. REPORTER (CONT'D) The chimpanzee's distraught owner, Wilson Rodman, has raised the animal since he was an infant. (MORE) 43. REPORTER (CONT'D) He pleaded to keep Caesar at home, citing the ape's remarkable intelligence. Will and a chimpanzee? Jacobs stares at the TV, dumbfounded. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will and Caesar drive. Caesar's dressed up - khaki pants and a Polo shirt. WILL We're visiting a place called "The Ranch". They have animals. CAESAR Real animals? WILL You bet. Apes. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans... Caesar GRUNTS, excited. WILL (CONT'D) It'll be good. You'll like it very much. Caesar looks at Will, picking up on something. CAESAR Will sad? WILL What? No, I'm fine. EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As Will pulls into the entrance, Caesar's glued to the window. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY They pull into a CLEARING. Ahead is a new world - CONCRETE AND STEEL BUILDINGS set incongruously into the bucolic countryside. A HOUSE/OFFICE, a LIVING QUARTERS, a HORSE PADDOCK - all cold, efficient structures. CAESAR Where animals? 44. Will sees the PRIMATE CAGES in the distance, next to a GIANT RED METAL ATRIUM. WILL Inside, I think... EXT. THE RANCH - DAY As they climb from the car, MR. LANDON, 50's, emerges from the office. DODGE, 20's, hangs back. WILL You must be Mr. Landon. (SHAKING HANDS) This is Caesar. MR. LANDON Nice to meet you, Caesar. This is Dodge, helps me run the place. WILL I've been telling Caesar about the animals you have here. How much fun it is. MR. LANDON Yes, we have a big play center where the chimpanzees like to climb. (TO CAESAR) Want to see the play center? Caesar nods. Absolutely. EXT. CAGED ATRIUM - DAY A HUGE CAGED STRUCTURE, the size of a gymnasium. Inside are climbing constructions, ropes, toys, and, in the middle, a LARGE TREE, reaching up through the top bars. A CAGED-IN BRIDGE leads to a row of DARK DENS. But for now... it's empty. No apes in sight. Caesar approaches with will and Mr. Landon. MR. LANDON What do you think, Caesar? Want to give it a try? Trying to mask his growing dread, Will removes Caesar's harness. 45. WILL Go ahead. He watches Caesar - unsuspecting - move through AN OPEN, GATE- LIKE SLIDING DOOR. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar scampers up the ledges and leaps to a bar. He swings from bar to bar, then hits the ground and runs for the tree. EXT. OUTSIDE CAGED ATRIUM - DAY Will can barely watch AS DODGE ROLLS THE SLIDING DOOR CLOSED, LOCKING IT. He braces himself. EXT. ATRIUM - DAY Caesar joyfully climbs the sprawling tree until he HITS THE TOP OF THE CAGE. Branches continue through spaces in the bars, but HE'S REACHED... A DEAD END. CAESAR TURNS, FINDS WILL'BELOW. What he reads in Will's eyes gives him a sudden, sharp sense of dread. HE LOOKS TO THE CAGE ENTRANCE, SEES THAT THE GATE IS LOCKED. HE'S LOCKED IN. TRAPPED. Caesar SHRIEKS, speeds down the tree. Other SHRIEKS join in. EXCITED APE NOISES - coming from UNSEEN, CAGED APES - fills the atrium. The STRANGE ANIMAL VOICES FUEL CAESAR'S PANIC. He runs to the gate, tries to shake it open. WILL It's okay, Caesar. It's going to be okay... The words are for him as much as Caesar. WILL (CONT'D) You're going to live here for a while. This is what the Judge says we have to do. 0 46. WHAT? Caesar can't believe what he's hearing! He frantically signs, desperate, pleading. The SHRIEKS of the UNSEEN APES continue, feeding Will's apprehension. Caesar doesn't belong here. It takes every bit of restraint he has not to take Caesar out, to run... WILL (CONT'D) They'll take good care of you here. DODGE That's about it for visiting hours. Will shoots him a look of daggers. MR. LANDON What Dodge means is, in our experience, longer you drag out the leave-taking, harder it is. On both of you. Caesar WHIMPERS, tries to bend the bars apart. When this doesn't work, he tries prying them open with his teeth. WILL I'm sorry to trick you this way, but you would never have agreed. I was afraid they'd hurt you if they forced you - MR. LANDON He'll be fine. Will gives Caesar a last, long look. The pain in his eyes is matched only by Caesar's. WE STAY WITH CAESAR as Will forces himself to walk away. Caesar's SHRIEKS build. The SURROUNDING APES chime in...a CACOPHONY OF PRIMAL ENERGY. CAESAR HURTLES HIS BODY AGAINST THE CAGE. DODGE Caesar. Hey. I can get you out. Dodge stands at the end of the atrium, BECKONING. DODGE (CONT'D) This way. 47. Caesar follows Dodge to the far end of the play area, then through the CAGED-IN BRIDGE. Will's almost out of sight. Caesar can see that he's nearly reached the car. He GRUNTS with stress as he follows the bridge into... INT. CHIMPANZEE HOUSE - DAY .the Chimpanzee House - and stops in his tracks. This is the source of the APE NOISE. It has an open, indoor area in the center, bordered by cages of CHIMPANZEES. Caesar's TAKEN ABACK BY THE LOUD, DARK FORMS POUNDING AROUND THEIR CAGES. DODGE Caesar - over here. Dodge stands at a cage door. Caesar sprints for it, as for salvation-but AS SOON AS HE CROSSES THE THRESHOLD, HE REALIZES IT'S A DEAD END. He turns, but DODGE SHUTS THE DOOR IN HIS FACE AND LOCKS IT. CAESAR FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A 10' BY 10' CAGE. DODGE (CONT'D) Stupid monkey. FOR A MOMENT CAESAR'S IN SHOCK, HIS MIND UNABLE TO PROCESS THE BETRAYAL. Then he begins frantically grabbing at the bars, jumping to the ceiling, searching for a way out. To his left: the faces of THREE HUGE, AGITATED CHIMPANZEES pound the concrete floor, YELLING at him. To his right: THREE MORE CHIMPANZEES. Caesar lets out a PRIMAL, BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM. WE FOLLOW THE SCREAM as it spreads out over the property... EXT. MOVING CAR - DAY .and finds the Will's car, driving down the winding road, away from the Ranch. INT. MOVING CAR - DAY Will keeps driving, TEARS streaming down his face. 0 48. INT. CAESAR'S CAGE -- LATER Time has passed. Long shadows of late afternoon. Caesar sits on a bed of twigs and straw in a corner of the cage, heavy head resting on his arms. He slowly becomes conscious of a RHYTHMIC SCRAPING NOISE, followed by a LOUD BANG. He looks up. In the cage next door, Caesar sees a strapping, MUSCULAR CHIMP, JET BLACK, WITH A LONG SCAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FOREHEAD ACROSS HIS NOSE, PAST HIS MOUTH AND CHIN. This is ROCKET. He shoves a PLASTIC 'PLAY REFRIGERATOR' across the cage floor... then SLAMS IT AGAINST THE WALL. He repeats this movement over and over - all the time with a challenging eye to Caesar. SCRAPE AGAINST CONCRETE... BAM! SCRAPE... BAM! A terrifying display of power and dominance. DODGE (O.S.) Okay, assholes. Dinner time. Rocket - slowly and deliberately, with a last threatening look to Caesar - moves off. Caesar crawls to the edge of his cage and peers out. Dodge and another animal wrangler, RODNEY, move from cage to cage, SHOVELING PRIMATE CHOW INTO TROUGHS. Rodney tosses in an occasional rotted vegetable. The APES enthusiastically receive the food. Dodge shovels food into Caesar's trough. Caesar stares down at the wet- looking dog food. DODGE (CONT'D) Mmmm mmm. Grade A primate chow. Bet you don't get none of that in the suburbs. Caesar reaches into the disgusting goop and THROWS A HANDFUL IN DODGE'S FACE. The apes SCREAM with LAUGHTER. Rodney looks away so Dodge doesn't see him laughing too. 49. DODGE (CONT'D) Think that's funny? That funny to you, you hairy prick? Caesar stares at Dodge... then SHOOTS HIM THE FINGER. RODNEY Look at that! Infuriated, Dodge grabs a hose, drags it to Caesar's cage. DODGE One thing you can count on: Long as there are humans on this earth, you'll always be a monkey in a cage. The BURST from the HOSE sends Caesar flying backwards. Pinned into a corner, he curls himself into a ball, using his back as a shield.

soeur

How many times the word 'soeur' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

half

How many times the word 'half' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

apartment

How many times the word 'apartment' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

morrow

How many times the word 'morrow' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

spoken

How many times the word 'spoken' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

prepared

How many times the word 'prepared' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

bid

How many times the word 'bid' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

yourself

How many times the word 'yourself' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

course

How many times the word 'course' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

world

How many times the word 'world' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

forgive

How many times the word 'forgive' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

beseeching

How many times the word 'beseeching' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

willing

How many times the word 'willing' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

cher

How many times the word 'cher' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

dessus

How many times the word 'dessus' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

way

How many times the word 'way' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

mourir

How many times the word 'mourir' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

seniors

How many times the word 'seniors' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

night

How many times the word 'night' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

feeling

How many times the word 'feeling' appears in the text?

Catherine, gravely, is helping me to tie the cow up faster to her stake, for I find that last night when she put her head out of window and lowed, she alarmed the whole village; and--we shall be suspected of sorcery among the heretics, if they do not discover the cause of the apparition, or lose our cow if they do. Relieve yourself of that fear, said the Abbess, somewhat ironically; the person to whom she is now sold, comes for the animal presently. Good night, then, my poor companion, said Catherine, patting the animal's shoulders; I hope thou hast fallen into kind hands, for my happiest hours of late have been spent in tending thee--I would I had been born to no better task! Now, out upon thee, mean-spirited wench! said the Abbess; is that a speech worthy of the name of Seyton, or of the mouth of a sister of this house, treading the path of election--and to be spoken before a stranger youth, too?--Go to my oratory, minion--there read your Hours till I come thither, when I will read you such a lecture as shall make you prize the blessings which you possess. Catherine was about to withdraw in silence, casting a half sorrowful half comic glance at Roland Graeme, which seemed to say-- You see to what your untimely visit has exposed me, when, suddenly changing her mind, she came forward to the page, and extended her hand as she bid him good evening. Their palms had pressed each other ere the astonished matron could interfere, and Catherine had time to say-- Forgive me, mother; it is long since we have seen a face that looked with kindness on us. Since these disorders have broken up our peaceful retreat, all has been gloom and malignity. I bid this youth kindly farewell, because he has come hither in kindness, and because the odds are great, that we may never again meet in this world. I guess better than he, that the schemes on which you are rushing are too mighty for your management, and that you are now setting the stone a-rolling, which must surely crush you in its descent. I bid fare-well, she added, to my fellow-victim! This was spoken with a tone of deep and serious feeling, altogether different from the usual levity of Catherine's manner, and plainly showed, that beneath the giddiness of extreme youth and total inexperience, there lurked in her bosom a deeper power of sense and feeling, than her conduct had hitherto expressed. The Abbess remained a moment silent after she had left the room. The proposed rebuke died on her tongue, and she appeared struck with the deep and foreboding, tone in which her niece had spoken her good-even. She led the way in silence to the apartment which they had formerly occupied, and where there was prepared a small refection, as the Abbess termed it, consisting of milk and barley-bread. Magdalen Graeme, summoned to take share in this collation, appeared from an adjoining apartment, but Catherine was seen no more. There was little said during the hasty meal, and after it was finished, Roland Graeme was dismissed to the nearest cell, where some preparations had been made for his repose. The strange circumstances in which he found himself, had their usual effect in preventing slumber from hastily descending on him, and he could distinctly hear, by a low but earnest murmuring in the apartment which he had left, that the matrons continued in deep consultation to a late hour. As they separated he heard the Abbess distinctly express herself thus: In a word, my sister, I venerate your character and the authority with which my Superiors have invested you; yet it seems to me, that, ere entering on this perilous course, we should consult some of the Fathers of the Church. And how and where are we to find a faithful Bishop or Abbot at whom to ask counsel? The faithful Eustatius is no more--he is withdrawn from a world of evil, and from the tyranny of heretics. May Heaven and our Lady assoilzie him of his sins, and abridge the penance of his mortal infirmities!--Where shall we find another, with whom to take counsel? Heaven will provide for the Church, said the Abbess; and the faithful fathers who yet are suffered to remain in the house of Kennaquhair, will proceed to elect an Abbot. They will not suffer the staff to fall down, or the mitre to be unfilled, for the threats of heresy. That will I learn to-morrow, said Magdalen Graeme; yet who now takes the office of an hour, save to partake with the spoilers in their work of plunder?--to-morrow will tell us if one of the thousand saints who are sprung from the House of Saint Mary's continues to look down on it in its misery.--Farewell, my sister--we meet at Edinburgh. Benedicito! answered the Abbess, and they parted. To Kennaquhair and to Edinburgh we bend our way. thought Roland Graeme. That information have I purchased by a sleepless hour--it suits well with my purpose. At Kennaquhair I shall see Father Ambrose;--at Edinburgh I shall find the means of shaping my own course through this bustling world, without burdening my affectionate relation--at Edinburgh, too, I shall see again the witching novice, with her blue eyes and her provoking smile. --He fell asleep, and it was to dream of Catherine Seyton. Chapter the Thirteenth. What, Dagon up again!--I thought we had hurl'd him Down on the threshold, never more to rise. Bring wedge and axe; and, neighbours, lend your hands And rive the idol into winter fagots! ATHELSTANE, OR THE CONVERTED DANE. Roland Graeme slept long and sound, and the sun was high over the horizon, when the voice of his companion summoned him to resume their pilgrimage; and when, hastily arranging his dress, he went to attend her call, the enthusiastic matron stood already at the threshold, prepared for her journey. There was in all the deportment of this remarkable woman, a promptitude of execution, and a sternness of perseverance, founded on the fanaticism which she nursed so deeply, and which seemed to absorb all the ordinary purposes and feelings of mortality. One only human affection gleamed through her enthusiastic energies, like the broken glimpses of the sun through the rising clouds of a storm. It was her maternal fondness for her grandson--a fondness carried almost to the verge of dotage, in circumstances where the Catholic religion was not concerned, but which gave way instantly when it chanced either to thwart or come in contact with the more settled purpose of her soul, and the more devoted duty of her life. Her life she would willingly have laid down to save the earthly object of her affection; but that object itself she was ready to hazard, and would have been willing to sacrifice, could the restoration of the Church of Rome have been purchased with his blood. Her discourse by the way, excepting on the few occasions in which her extreme love of her grandson found opportunity to display itself in anxiety for his health and accommodation, turned entirely on the duty of raising up the fallen honours of the Church, and replacing a Catholic sovereign on the throne. There were times at which she hinted, though very obscurely and distantly, that she herself was foredoomed by Heaven to perform a part in this important task; and that she had more than mere human warranty for the zeal with which she engaged in it. But on this subject she expressed herself in such general language, that it was not easy to decide whether she made any actual pretensions to a direct and supernatural call, like the celebrated Elizabeth Barton, commonly called the Nun of Kent; [Footnote: A fanatic nun, called the Holy Maid of Kent, who pretended to the gift of prophecy and power of miracles. Having denounced the doom of speedy death against Henry VIII. for his marriage with Anne Boleyn, the prophetess was attainted in Parliament, and executed with her accomplices. Her imposture was for a time so successful, that even Sir Thomas More was disposed to be a believer.] or whether she dwelt upon the general duty which was incumbent on all Catholics of the time, and the pressure of which she felt in an extraordinary degree. Yet though Magdalen Graeme gave no direct intimation of her pretensions to be considered as something beyond the ordinary class of mortals, the demeanour of one or two persons amongst the travellers whom they occasionally met, as they entered the more fertile and populous part of the valley, seemed to indicate their belief in her superior attributes. It is true, that two clowns, who drove before them a herd of cattle--one or two village wenches, who seemed bound for some merry-making--a strolling soldier, in a rusted morion, and a wandering student, as his threadbare black cloak and his satchel of books proclaimed him--passed our travellers without observation, or with a look of contempt; and, moreover, that two or three children, attracted by the appearance of a dress so nearly resembling that of a pilgrim, joined in hooting and calling Out upon the mass-monger! But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy--casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them--hastily crossed themselves--bent their knee to Sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her--kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique--received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; and then starting up, and again looking timidly round to see that they had been unobserved, hastily resumed their journey. Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized Sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. You see, she said, my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church's lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there is left a remnant. It is true, my mother, said Roland Graeme; but methinks they are of a quality which can help us but little. See you not all those who wear steel at their side, and bear marks of better quality, ruffle past us as they would past the meanest beggars? for those who give us any marks of sympathy, are the poorest of the poor, and most outcast of the needy, who have neither bread to share with us, nor swords to defend us, nor skill to use them if they had. That poor wretch that last kneeled to you with such deep devotion, and who seemed emaciated by the touch of some wasting disease within, and the grasp of poverty without--that pale, shivering, miserable caitiff, how can he aid the great schemes you meditate? Much, my son, said the Matron, with more mildness than the page perhaps expected. When that pious son of the church returns from the shrine of Saint Ringan, whither he now travels by my counsel, and by the aid of good Catholics,--when he returns, healed, of his wasting malady, high in health, and strong in limb, will not the glory of his faithfulness, and its miraculous reward, speak louder in the ears of this besotted people of Scotland, than the din which is weekly made in a thousand heretical pulpits? Ay, but, mother, I fear the Saint's hand is out. It is long since we have heard of a miracle performed at St. Ringan's. The matron made a dead pause, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, asked, Art thou so unhappy as to doubt the power of the blessed Saint? Nay, mother, the youth hastened to reply, I believe as the Holy Church commands, and doubt not Saint Ringan's power of healing; but, be it said with reverence, he hath not of late showed the inclination. And has this land deserved it? said the Catholic matron, advancing hastily while she spoke, until she attained the summit of a rising ground, over which the path led, and then standing again still. Here, she said, stood the Cross, the limits of the Halidome of Saint Mary's--here--on this eminence--from which the eye of the holy pilgrim might first catch a view of that ancient monastery, the light of the land, the abode of Saints, and the grave of monarchs--Where is now that emblem of our faith? It lies on the earth--a shapeless block, from which the broken fragments have been carried off, for the meanest uses, till now no semblance of its original form remains. Look towards the east, my son, where the sun was wont to glitter on stately spires--from which crosses and bells have now been hurled, as if the land had been invaded once more by barbarous heathens.--Look at yonder battlements, of which we can, even at this distance, descry the partial demolition; and ask if this land can expect from the blessed saints, whose shrines and whose images have been profaned, any other miracles but those of vengeance? How long, she exclaimed, looking upward, How long shall it be delayed? She paused, and then resumed with enthusiastic rapidity, Yes, my son, all on earth is but for a period--joy and grief, triumph and desolation, succeed each other like cloud and sunshine;--the vineyard shall not be forever trodden down, the gaps shall be amended, and the fruitful branches once more dressed and trimmed. Even this day--ay, even this hour, I trust to hear news of importance. Dally not--let us on--time is brief, and judgment is certain. She resumed the path which led to the Abbey--a path which, in ancient times, was carefully marked out by posts and rails, to assist the pilgrim in his journey--these were now torn up and destroyed. A half-hour's walk placed them in front of the once splendid Monastery, which, although the church was as yet entire, had not escaped the fury of the times. The long range of cells and of apartments for the use of the brethren, which occupied two sides of the great square, were almost entirely ruinous, the interior having been consumed by fire, which only the massive architecture of the outward walls had enabled them to resist. The Abbot's house, which formed the third side of the square, was, though injured, still inhabited, and afforded refuge to the few brethren, who yet, rather by connivance than by actual authority,--were permitted to remain at Kennaquhair. Their stately offices--their pleasant gardens--the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house. The church itself was less injured than the other buildings of the Monastery. But the images which had been placed in the numerous niches of its columns and buttresses, having all fallen under the charge of idolatry, to which the superstitious devotion of the Papists had justly exposed them, had been broken and thrown down, without much regard to the preservation of the rich and airy canopies and pedestals on which they were placed; nor, if the devastation had stopped short at this point, could we have considered the preservation of these monuments of antiquity as an object to be put in the balance with the introduction of the reformed worship. Our pilgrims saw the demolition of these sacred and venerable representations of saints and angels--for as sacred and venerable they had been taught to consider them--with very different feelings. The antiquary may be permitted to regret the necessity of the action, but to Magdalen Graeme it seemed a deed of impiety, deserving the instant vengeance of heaven,--a sentiment in which her relative joined for the moment as cordially as herself. Neither, however, gave vent to their feelings in words, and uplifted hands and eyes formed their only mode of expressing them. The page was about to approach the great eastern gate of the church, but was prevented by his guide. That gate, she said, has long been blockaded, that the heretical rabble may not know there still exist among the brethren of Saint Mary's men who dare worship where their predecessors prayed while alive, and were interred when dead--follow me this way, my son. Roland Graeme followed accordingly; and Magdalen, casting a hasty glance to see whether they were observed, (for she had learned caution from the danger of the times,) commanded her grandson to knock at a little wicket which she pointed out to him. But knock gently, she added, with a motion expressive of caution. After a little space, during which no answer was returned, she signed to Roland to repeat his summons for admission; and the door at length partially opening, discovered a glimpse of the thin and timid porter, by whom the duty was performed, skulking from the observation of those who stood without; but endeavouring at the same time to gain a sight of them without being himself seen. How different from the proud consciousness of dignity with which the porter of ancient days offered his important brow, and his goodly person, to the pilgrims who repaired to Kennaquhair! His solemn _Intrate, mei filii,_ was exchanged for a tremulous You cannot enter now--the brethren are in their chambers. But, when Magdalen Graeme asked, in an under tone of voice, Hast thou forgotten me, my brother? he changed his apologetic refusal to Enter, my honoured sister, enter speedily, for evil eyes are upon us. They entered accordingly, and having waited until the porter had, with jealous haste, barred and bolted the wicket, were conducted by him through several dark and winding passages. As they walked slowly on, he spoke to the matron in a subdued voice, as if he feared to trust the very walls with the avowal which he communicated. Our Fathers are assembled in the Chapter-house, worthy sister--yes, in the Chapter-house--for the election of an Abbott.--Ah, Benedicite! there must be no ringing of bells--no high mass--no opening of the great gates now, that the people might see and venerate their spiritual Father! Our Fathers must hide themselves rather like robbers who choose a leader, than godly priests who elect a mitred Abbot. Regard not that, my brother, answered Magdalen Graeme; the first successors of Saint Peter himself were elected, not in sunshine, but in tempests--not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of heathen Rome--they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musketry, and the display of artificial fire--no, my brother--but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Praetors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. From such adversity was the Church once raised, and by such will it now be purified.--And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as _he_ shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation. On whom, my brother, will the choice fall? On whom can it fall--or, alas! who would dare to reply to the call, save the worthy pupil of the Sainted Eustatius--the good and valiant Father Ambrose? I know it, said Magdalen; my heart told me long ere your lips had uttered his name. Stand forth, courageous champion, and man the fatal breach!--Rise, bold and experienced pilot, and seize the helm while the tempest rages!--Turn back the battle, brave raiser of the fallen standard!--Wield crook and slang, noble shepherd of a scattered flock! I pray you, hush, my sister! said the porter, opening a door which led into the great church, the brethren will be presently here to celebrate their election with a solemn mass--I must marshal them the way to the high altar--all the offices of this venerable house have now devolved on one poor decrepit old man. He left the church, and Magdalen and Roland remained alone in that great vaulted space, whose style of rich, yet chaste architecture, referred its origin to the early part of the fourteenth century, the best period of Gothic building. But the niches were stripped of their images in the inside as well as the outside of the church; and in the pell-mell havoc, the tombs of warriors and of princes had been included in the demolition of the idolatrous shrines. Lances and swords of antique size, which had hung over the tombs of mighty warriors of former days, lay now strewed among relics, with which the devotion of pilgrims had graced those of their peculiar saints; and the fragments of the knights and dames, which had once lain recumbent, or kneeled in an attitude of devotion, where their mortal relics were reposed, were mingled with those of the saints and angels of the Gothic chisel, which the hand of violence had sent headlong from their stations. The most fatal symptom of the whole appeared to be, that, though this violence had now been committed for many months, the Fathers had lost so totally all heart and resolution, that they had not adventured even upon clearing away the rubbish, or restoring the church to some decent degree of order. This might have been done without much labour. But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and, sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible. Two or three of the more aged brethren had sunk under the pressure of the times, and the ruins had been partly cleared away to permit their interment. One stone had been laid over Father Nicholas, which recorded of him in special, that he had taken the vows during the incumbency of Abbot Ingelram, the period to which his memory so frequently recurred. Another flag-stone, yet more recently deposited, covered the body of Philip the Sacristan, eminent for his aquatic excursion with the phantom of Avenel, and a third, the most recent of all, bore the outline of a mitre, and the words _Hic jacet Eustatius Abbas_; for no one dared to add a word of commendation in favour of his learning, and strenuous zeal for the Roman Catholic faith. Magdalen Graeme looked at and perused the brief records of these monuments successively, and paused over that of Father Eustace. In a good hour for thyself, she said, but oh! in an evil hour for the Church, wert thou called from us. Let thy spirit be with us, holy man--encourage thy successor to tread in thy footsteps--give him thy bold and inventive capacity, thy zeal and thy discretion--even _thy_ piety exceeds not his. As she spoke, a side door, which closed a passage from the Abbot's house into the church, was thrown open, that the Fathers might enter the choir, and conduct to the high altar the Superior whom they had elected. In former times, this was one of the most splendid of the many pageants which the hierarchy of Rome had devised to attract the veneration of the faithful. The period during which the Abbacy remained vacant, was a state of mourning, or, as their emblematical phrase expressed it, of widowhood; a melancholy term, which was changed into rejoicing and triumph when a new Superior was chosen. When the folding doors were on such solemn occasions thrown open, and the new Abbot appeared on the threshold in full-blown dignity, with ring and mitre, and dalmatique and crosier, his hoary standard-bearers and his juvenile dispensers of incense preceding him, and the venerable train of monks behind him, with all besides which could announce the supreme authority to which he was now raised, his appearance was a signal for the magnificent _jubilate_ to rise from the organ and music-loft, and to be joined by the corresponding bursts of Alleluiah from the whole assembled congregation. Now all was changed. In the midst of rubbish and desolation, seven or eight old men, bent and shaken as much by grief and fear as by age, shrouded hastily in the proscribed dress of their order, wandered like a procession of spectres, from the door which had been thrown open, up through the encumbered passage, to the high altar, there to instal their elected Superior a chief of ruins. It was like a band of bewildered travellers choosing a chief in the wilderness of Arabia; or a shipwrecked crew electing a captain upon the barren island on which fate has thrown them. They who, in peaceful times, are most ambitious of authority among others, shrink from the competition at such eventful periods, when neither ease nor parade attend the possession of it, and when it gives only a painful pre-eminence both in danger and in labour, and exposes the ill-fated chieftain to the murmurs of his discontented associates, as well as to the first assault of the common enemy. But he on whom the office of the Abbot of Saint Mary's was now conferred, had a mind fitted for the situation to which he was called. Bold and enthusiastic, yet generous and forgiving--wise and skilful, yet zealous and prompt--he wanted but a better cause than the support of a decaying superstition, to have raised him to the rank of a truly great man. But as the end crowns the work, it also forms the rule by which it must be ultimately judged; and those who, with sincerity and generosity, fight and fall in an evil cause, posterity can only compassionate as victims of a generous but fatal error. Amongst these, we must rank Ambrosius, the last Abbot of Kennaqubair, whose designs must be condemned, as their success would have riveted on Scotland the chains of antiquated superstition and spiritual tyranny; but whose talents commanded respect, and whose virtues, even from the enemies of his faith, extorted esteem. The bearing of the new Abbot served of itself to dignify a ceremonial which was deprived of all other attributes of grandeur. Conscious of the peril in which they stood, and recalling, doubtless, the better days they had seen, there hung over his brethren an appearance of mingled terror, and grief, and shame, which induced them to hurry over the office in which they were engaged, as something at once degrading and dangerous. But not so Father Ambrose. His features, indeed, expressed a deep melancholy, as he walked up the centre aisle, amid the ruin of things which he considered as holy, but his brow was undejected, and his step firm and solemn. He seemed to think that the dominion which he was about to receive, depended in no sort upon the external circumstances under which it was conferred; and if a mind so firm was accessible to sorrow or fear, it was not on his own account, but on that of the Church to which he had devoted himself. At length he stood on the broken steps of the high altar, barefooted, as was the rule, and holding in his hand his pastoral staff, for the gemmed ring and jewelled mitre had become secular spoils. No obedient vassals came, man after man, to make their homage, and to offer the tribute which should provide their spiritual Superior with palfrey and trappings. No Bishop assisted at the solemnity, to receive into the higher ranks of the Church nobility a dignitary, whose voice in the legislature was as potential as his own. With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage. Mass was then hastily performed, but in such precipitation as if it had been hurried over rather to satisfy the scruples of a few youths, who were impatient to set out on a hunting party, than as if it made the most solemn part of a solemn ordination. The officiating priest faltered as he spoke the service, and often looked around, as if he expected to be interrupted in the midst of his office; and the brethren listened to that which, short as it was, they wished yet more abridged.[Footnote: In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience.] These symptoms of alarm increased as the ceremony proceeded, and, as it seemed, were not caused by mere apprehension alone; for, amid the pauses of the hymn, there were heard without sounds of a very different sort, beginning faintly and at a distance, but at length approaching close to the exterior of the church, and stunning with dissonant clamour those engaged in the service. The winding of horns, blown with no regard to harmony or concert; the jangling of bells, the thumping of drums, the squeaking of bagpipes, and the clash of cymbals--the shouts of a multitude, now as in laughter, now as in anger--the shrill tones of female voices, and of those of children, mingling

discourse

How many times the word 'discourse' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

s

How many times the word 's' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

l

How many times the word 'l' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

clenching

How many times the word 'clenching' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

drop

How many times the word 'drop' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

cradle

How many times the word 'cradle' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

script

How many times the word 'script' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

dark

How many times the word 'dark' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

scripts

How many times the word 'scripts' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

library

How many times the word 'library' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

room

How many times the word 'room' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

solid

How many times the word 'solid' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

var

How many times the word 'var' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

seinfeld

How many times the word 'seinfeld' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

gaq

How many times the word 'gaq' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

swear

How many times the word 'swear' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

newspapers

How many times the word 'newspapers' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

feet

How many times the word 'feet' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

sudden

How many times the word 'sudden' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

closet

How many times the word 'closet' appears in the text?

Clerks Script at IMSDb. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-3785444-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) The web's largest movie script resource! Search IMSDb Alphabetical # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Genre Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Drama Family Fantasy Film-Noir Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Short Thriller War Western Sponsor TV Transcripts Futurama Seinfeld South Park Stargate SG-1 Lost The 4400 International French scripts Movie Software Rip from DVD Rip Blu-Ray Latest Comments Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith10/10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens10/10 Batman Begins9/10 Collateral10/10 Jackie Brown8/10 Movie Chat Message Yell ! ALL SCRIPTS if (window!= top) top.location.href=location.href // --> "CLERKS" by Kevin Smith "Clerks." by Kevin Smith INT: BEDROOM. EARLY-MORNING HOURS A DOG sleeps on a neatly made bed. A CLOCK reads twenty to six. A SHELF OF BOOKS holds such classics as Dante's Inferno, Beyond Good and Evil, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Dark Knight Returns. A FRAMED DIPLOMA, dusty and unkempt, hangs askew on the wall. A snapshot of a girl is stuck in the corner, and a bra weighs one end down. A PHONE sits quietly atop a bundle of laundry. It suddenly explodes with a resounding ring-once, twice, three times. A CLOSET DOOR swings open, and a half-clad figure falls out. THE PHONE rings yet again, and a hand falls upon the receiver, yanking it off the trash can, O.C. THE RUMPLED FIGURE lays with his back to the camera, phone in hand. FIGURE (groggily) Hello...What?...No, I don't work today...I'm playing hockey at two. THE DOG yawns and shakes its head. FIGURE (O.C.) Why don't you call Randal?... Because I'm fucking tired....I just closed last night.... (deep sigh) Jesus...What time are you going to come in?...Twelve...Be there be twelve?...Swear... A PICTURE OF A GIRL leans against a trophy. The picture is decorated with a Play-Doh beard and mustache. FIGURE (O.C.) Swear you'll be in by twelve and I'll do it....Twelve...Twelve or I walk. THE PHONE RECEIVER slams into the cradle. THE RUMPLED FIGURE slowly sits up and remains motionless. He musses his hair and stands. THE DOG stands and wags its tail. A hand pats its head. The Rumpled Figure lays down on the bed. We now see his face. It is the face of DANTE and this is Dante's room; this is Dante's life. DANTE grabs the dog and wrestles it. DANTE Next time, I get the bed. 2. He releases the dog and sits up. DANTE (exhausted) Shit. CUT TO: INT: BATHROOM. MINUTES LATER A steaming shower fills the room. The dog licks water from the toilet. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. MINUTES LATER A towel-dressed DANTE opens the fridge and peers inside. He grabs a half-empty gallon of milk and closes the door. CUT TO: INT: KITCHEN. SECONDS LATER Chocolate milk mix is heaped into a tumbler. One scoop, two scoops, three scoops, four scoops. CUT TO: INT: BEDROOM. A MINUTE LATER DANTE gulps his breakfast while feeling inside the closet for some clothes. Some chocolate milk spills on the floor. THE DOG laps at the small puddle of chocolate milk. CUT TO: INT: HALLWAY. MINUTES LATER DANTE'S feet are hastily covered. A hand grabs keys from atop a VCR. CUT TO: EXT: DRIVEWAY. MINUTES LATER A car backs out of the driveway and speeds down the street. CUT TO: 3. EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The car pulls up, with a screech. Feet descend to the ground from the open door. Keys jam into a lock and pop it open. CUT TO: DANTE lifts the metal shutter revealing the door. He opens it and grabs two bundles of papers, throwing them inside the store. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A very dark room barely lit by the daylight. Suddenly, the lights flick on, revealing the glorious interior of the convenience store. THE CAT looks at DANTE as he passes the camera quickly. THE PAPER BUNDLE is snapped open with a knife. Newspapers slam into the appropriate racks. One rack remains empty. A coffee filter is placed in a metal pot. Ground coffee follows, and the mix is shoved into place in the coffeemaker. The switch is flicked and the machine comes to life. The empty newspaper rack with the heading ASBURY PARK PRESS seems out of place among all the other stacks of papers. DANTE rubs his chin and stares, puzzled. He rolls his eyes as it occurs to him. DANTE Shit. The register pops open, and a hand extracts a quarter. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING POV: NEWSPAPER MACHINE Through murky glass and thin metal grating, we see DANTE approach. He stops and drops a quarter in the slot. He pulls the door down, finally allowing us a clear view as he reaches toward the camera. DANTE pulls a stack of newspapers from the Asbury Park Press vending machine. He struggles to hold them all in one hand as he lets the door slam shut. He turns to walk away, but the sound of the quarter dropping into the change slot stops him. He takes a step back to grab the coin. CUT TO: 4. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The papers drop into the once-empty rack with a resounding flop. The quarter drops back into the register drawer. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE tries to jam the key into the window shutter lock. He looks down at it. DANTE Shit! The lock is gummed up with gum or something hard and obtrusive like gum, preventing the key from being inserted. DANTE looks around and kicks the shutter angrily. The car trunk pops open and a hand reaches inside, pulling out a folded white sheet. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING A can of shoe polish is grabbed from the shelf. DANTE dips his fingers into the shoe polish and writes large letters on the unfurled sheet, leaning on the cooler. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING DANTE stands on a garbage can and tucks a corner of the sheet under the awning. He jumps down. The banner reads I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE OPEN. The door sign shifts from CLOSED to OPEN. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. MORNING The clock reads 6:20. DANTE leans behind the counter, the morning routine completed. He stares ahead, catatonic, then drops his head in his hands. The day has begun. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY The store, with its makeshift banner looming in the dim morning hour, just after dawn. A car drives by. CUT TO: 5. INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY DANTE waits on a customer (ACTIVIST) buying coffee. DANTE Thanks. Have a good one. ACTIVIST Do you mind if I drink this here? DANTE Sure. Go ahead. The ACTIVIST leans on a briefcase and drinks his coffee. Another CUSTOMER leans in the door. CUSTOMER Are you open? DANTE Yeah. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure? ACTIVIST Are you sure? CUSTOMER Am I sure about what? ACTIVIST Do you really want to buy those cigarettes? CUSTOMER Are you serious? ACTIVIST How long have you been smoking? CUSTOMER (to DANTE) What is this, a poll? DANTE Beats me. 6. ACTIVIST How long have you been a smoker? CUSTOMER Since I was thirteen. The ACTIVIST lifts his briefcase onto the counter. He opens it and extracts a sickly-looking lung model. ACTIVIST I'd say you're about nineteen, twenty, am I right? CUSTOMER What the hell is that? ACTIVIST That's your lung. By this time, your lung looks like this. CUSTOMER You're shittin' me. ACTIVIST You think I'm shitting you... The ACTIVIST hands him something from the briefcase. CUSTOMER What's this? ACTIVIST It's a trach ring. It's what they install in your throat when throat cancer takes your voice box. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man. CUSTOMER (drops ring) Unnhh! ACTIVIST (picks up the ring) He smoked until the day he died. Used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way. DANTE Excuse me, but... 7. ACTIVIST This is where you're heading. A cruddy lung, smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that? CUSTOMER Well, if it's already too late... ACTIVIST It's never too late. Give those cigarettes back now, and buy some gum instead. (grabs nearby pack, reads) Here. Chewlies Gum. Try this. CUSTOMER It's not the same. ACTIVIST It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it certainly beats this. Hands him a picture. CUSTOMER Jesus! ACTIVIST It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung. Keep it. CUSTOMER (to DANTE) I'll just take the gum. DANTE Fifty-five. ACTIVIST You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work. The CUSTOMER exits. DANTE Maybe you should take that coffee outside. ACTIVIST No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks. 8. DANTE If you're going to drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you'd not bother the customers. ACTIVIST Okay. I'm sorry about that. Another CUSTOMER comes up to the counter. CUSTOMER Pack of cigarettes. (looks at model) What's that? ACTIVIST This? How long have you been smoking? CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A blank wall. JAY steps into the frame, followed by SILENT BOB. JAY pulls off his coat and swings it into the arms of SILENT BOB. JAY then throws down with a makeshift slam dance, spinning his arm and fake-hitting SILENT BOB. JAY WE NEED SOME TITS AND ASS! YEAH! SILENT BOB lights a smoke. JAY I feel good today, Silent Bob. We're gonna make some money! And then you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to that party and get some pussy! I'm gonna fuck this bitch, that bitch... (Blue Velvet Hopper) I'LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOVES! SILENT BOB points to something off-screen. JAY (to O.C.) What you looking at?! I'll kick your fucking ass! (to SILENT BOB) Doesn't that motherfucker still owe me ten bucks? SILENT BOB nods. 9. JAY Tonight, you and me are going off that fucker's head, and take out his fucking soul! Remind me if he tries to buy something from us, to cut it with leafs and twigs...or fucking shit in the motherfucker's bag! Some girls walk past. JAY smiles at them. JAY Wa sup sluts? (to SILENT BOB) Damn Silent Bob! You one rude motherfucker! But you're cute as hell. (slowly drops to knees) I wanna go down on you, and suckle you. (makes blow job neck-jerks) And then, I wanna line up three more guys, and make like a circus seal... JAY makes blow job faces down an imaginary line of guys, looking quite like a performing seal. He throws a little humming sound behind each nod. He then hops up quickly. JAY Ewwww! You fucking faggot! I fucking hate guys! (yelling) I LOVE WOMEN! (calmer) Neh. A GUY comes up to them. GUY You selling? JAY (all business) I got hits, hash, weed, and later on I'll have 'shrooms. We take cash, or stolen MasterCard and Visa. CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A SMALL CROWD gathers around the ACTIVIST as he orates. It has become something of a rally. 10. ACTIVIST You're spending what? Twenty, thirty dollars a week on cigarettes. LISTENER 1 Forty. LISTENER 2 Fifty-three. ACTIVIST Fifty-three dollars. Would you pay someone that much money every week to kill you? Because that's what you're doing now, by paying for the so-called privilege to smoke! LISTENER 3 We all gotta go sometime... ACTIVIST It's that kind of mentality that allows this cancer-producing industry to thrive. Of course we're all going to die someday, but do we have to pay for it? Do we have to actually throw hard-earned dollars on a counter and say, "Please, please, Mister Merchant of Death, sir; please sell me something that will give me bad breath, stink up my clothes, and fry my lungs." LISTENER 1 It's not that easy to quit. ACTIVIST Of course it's not; not when you have people like this mindless cretin so happy and willing to sell you nails for your coffin! DANTE Hey, now wait a sec... ACTIVIST Now he's going to launch into his rap about how he's just doing his job; following orders. (MORE) 11. ACTIVIST (CONT'D) Friends, let me tell you about another bunch of hate mongers that were just following orders: they were called Nazis, and they practically wiped a nation of people from the Earth...just like cigarettes are doing now! Cigarette smoking is the new Holocaust, and those that partake in the practice of smoking or sell the wares that promote it are the Nazis of the nineties! He doesn't care how many people die from it! He smiles as you pay for your cancer sticks and says, "Have a nice day." DANTE I think you'd better leave now. ACTIVIST You want me to leave? Why? Because somebody is telling it like it is? Somebody's giving these fine people a wake-up call?! DANTE You're loitering in here, and causing a disturbance. ACTIVIST You're the disturbance, pal! And here... (slaps a dollar on the counter) I'm buying some...what's this?...Chewlie's Gum. There. I'm no longer loitering. I'm a customer, a customer engaged in a discussion with other customers. LISTENER 2 (to DANTE) Yeah, now shut up so he can speak! ACTIVIST Oh, he's scared now! He sees the threat we present! He smells the changes coming, and the loss of sales when the nonsmokers finally demand satisfaction. We demand the right to breathe cleaner air! 12. LISTENER 3 Yeah! ACTIVIST We'd rather chew our gum than embrace slow death! Let's abolish this heinous practice of sucking poison, and if it means ruffling the feathers of a convenience store idiot, then so be it! DANTE That's it, everybody out. ACTIVIST We're not moving! We have a right, a constitutional right, to assemble and be heard! DANTE Yeah, but not in here. ACTIVIST What better place than this? To stamp it out, you gotta start at the source! DANTE Like I'm responsible for all the smokers! ACTIVIST The ones in this town, yes! You encourage their growth, their habit. You're the source in this area, and we're going to shut you down for good! For good, cancer-merchant! The small crowd begins to chant and jeer in DANTE's face. CROWD Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! Cancer merchant! VERONICA enters and surveys the mess. The CROWD throws cigarettes at DANTE, pelting him in the face. Suddenly, a loud blast is heard, and white powder explodes over the throng. Everyone turns to face... VERONICA as she stands in one of the freezer cases, holding a fire extinguisher. VERONICA Who's leading this mob? 13. The CROWD looks among themselves. Someone points to O.C. SOMEONE That guy. The ACTIVIST carries his briefcase surreptitiously toward the door. VERONICA (O.C.) Freeze. VERONICA jumps off the freezer case, training the nozzle of the extinguisher on the ACTIVIST. VERONICA Let's see some credentials. He reaches into his briefcase. She pokes the extinguisher nozzle at him, warningly. VERONICA Slowly... He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. She reads it. VERONICA You're a Chewlie's Gum representative? He nods. VERONICA And you're stirring up all this antismoking sentiment to...what?...sell more gum? He nods again. VERONICA (through gritted teeth) Get out of here. He quickly flees. She blasts him with more chemical as he exits. VERONICA (to the crowd) And you people: Don't you have jobs to go to? Get out of here and go commute. The CROWD sheepishly exits, one by one, offering apologetic glances. DANTE tries to regain his composure. 14. VERONICA watches the crowd disperse, disgusted. VERONICA You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Easily led automatons. Try thinking for yourself before you pelt and innocent man with cigarettes. The last of the crowd exits. VERONICA sets the fire extinguisher down next to DANTE. DANTE is sitting on the floor, head in his folded arms. VERONICA It looked like Tiananmen Square in here for a second. DANTE is silent. VERONICA "Thank you, Veronica; you saved me from an extremely ugly mob scene." DANTE remains silent. VERONICA (sits beside him) Okay, champ. What's wrong? DANTE lifts his head and shoots her a disgusted look. VERONICA All right, stupid question. But don't you think you're taking this a bit too hard? DANTE Too hard?! I don't have enough indignities in my life-people start throwing cigarettes at me! VERONICA At least they weren't lit. DANTE I hate this fucking place. VERONICA Then quit. You should be going to school anyway... DANTE Please, Veronica. Last thing I need is a lecture at this point. 15. VERONICA All I'm saying is that if you're unhappy you should leave. DANTE I'm not even supposed to be here today! VERONICA I know. I stopped by your house and your mom said you left at like six or something. DANTE The guy got sick and couldn't come in. VERONICA Don't you have a hockey game at two? DANTE Yes! And I'm going to play like shit because I didn't get a good night's sleep! VERONICA Why did you agree to come in then? DANTE I'm only here until twelve, then I'm gone. The boss is coming in. VERONICA Why don't you open the shutters and get some sunlight in here? DANTE Somebody jammed the locks with gum. VERONICA You're kidding. DANTE Bunch of savages in this town. VERONICA You look bushed. What time did you get to bed? DANTE I don't know-like two-thirty, three. VERONICA What were you doing up so late? 16. DANTE (skirting) Hunhh? Nothing. VERONICA (persistent) What were you doing? DANTE Nothing! Jesus! I gotta fight with you now? VERONICA Who's fighting? Why are you so defensive? DANTE Who's defensive? Just...Would you just hug me?! All right? Your boyfriend was accosted by an angry mob, and he needs to be hugged. She stares at him. DANTE What? What is that? VERONICA She called you, didn't she? DANTE Oh, be real! Would you...Would you please hug me? I just went through a very traumatic experience and I haven't been having the best day so far. Now come on. VERONICA stares at him. DANTE What? What's with that look?! I wasn't talking to anyone, especially her! Look at you, being all sort of...I don't know...stand-offish. VERONICA looks away. DANTE Fine. You don't trust me, don't hug me. I see how it is. All right Pissy-pants, you just go on being suspicious and quiet. I don't even want to hug you at this point. 17. VERONICA looks back at him. DANTE (pleadingly) Give you a dollar? CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A NOTE on the counter next to a small pile of money reads: PLEASE LEAVE MONEY ON THE COUNTER. TAKE CHANGE WHEN APPLICABLE. BE HONEST. DANTE and VERONICA are slumped on the floor, behind the counter. VERONICA holds DANTE in her arms, his head on her chest. Change is heard hitting the counter. DANTE (to O.C. customer) Thanks. The door is heard opening and closing-a customer leaving. VERONICA How much money did you leave up there? DANTE Like three dollars in mixed change and a couple of singles. People only get the paper of coffee this time of morning. VERONICA You're trusting. DANTE Why do you say that? VERONICA How do you know they're taking the right amount of change? Or even paying for what they take? DANTE Theoretically, people see money on the counter and nobody around, they think they're being watched. VERONICA Honesty through paranoia. Why do you smell like shoe polish? 18. DANTE I had to use shoe polish to make that sign. The smell won't come off. VERONICA Do you think anyone can see us down here? DANTE Why? You wanna have sex or something? VERONICA (sarcastic) Ooh! Can we?! DANTE Really? VERONICA I was kidding. DANTE Yeah, right. You can't get enough of me. VERONICA Typically male point of view. DANTE How do you figure? VERONICA You show some bedroom proficiency, and you think you're gods. What about what we do for you? DANTE Women? Women, as lovers, are all basically the same: they just have to be there. VERONICA "Be there?" DANTE Making a male climax is not all that challenging: insert somewhere close and preferably moist; thrust; repeat. VERONICA How flattering. 19. DANTE Now, making a woman cum...therein lies a challenge. VERONICA Oh, you think so? DANTE A girl makes a guy cum, it's standard. A guy makes a girl cum, it's talent. VERONICA And I actually date you? DANTE Something wrong? VERONICA I'm insulted. Believe me, Don Juan, it takes more than that to get a guy off. Just "being there"-as you put it-is not enough. DANTE I touched a nerve. VERONICA I'm astonished to hear you trivialize my role in our sex life. DANTE It wasn't directed at you. I was making a broad generalization. VERONICA You were making a generalization about "broads!" DANTE These are my opinions based on my experiences with the few women who were good enough to sleep with me. VERONICA How many? DANTE How many what? VERONICA How many girls have you slept with? 20. DANTE How many different girls? Didn't we already have this discussion once? VERONICA We might have; I don't remember. How many? DANTE Including you? VERONICA It better be up to and including me. DANTE (pause to count) Twelve. VERONICA You've slept with twelve different girls? DANTE Including you; yes. Pause. She slaps him. DANTE What the hell was that for? VERONICA You're a pig. DANTE Why'd you hit me? VERONICA Do you know how many different men I've had sex with? DANTE Do I get to hit you after you tell me? VERONICA Three. DANTE Three? VERONICA Three including you. 21. DANTE You've only had sex with three different people? VERONICA I'm not the pig you are. DANTE Who? VERONICA You! DANTE No; who were the three, besides me? VERONICA John Franson and Rob Stanslyk. DANTE (with true admiration) Wow. That's great. That's something to be proud of. VERONICA I am. And that's why you should feel like a pig. You men make me sick. You'll sleep with anything that says yes. DANTE Animal, vegetable, or mineral. VERONICA Vegetable meaning paraplegic. DANTE They put up the least amount of struggle. VERONICA After dropping a bombshell like that, you owe me. Big. DANTE All right. Name it. VERONICA I want you to come with me on Monday. DANTE Where? 22. VERONICA To school. There's a seminar about getting back into a scholastic program after a lapse in enrollment. DANTE Can't we ever have a discussion without that coming up? VERONICA It's important to me, Dante. You have so much potential that just goes to waste in this pit. I wish you'd go back to school. DANTE Jesus, would you stop? You make my head hurt when you talk about this. VERONICA stands, letting DANTE'S head hit the floor. DANTE Shit! Why are we getting up? VERONICA Unlike you, I have a class in forty-five minutes. A handsome young man (WILLAM) is standing at the counter. VERONICA reacts to him. VERONICA (surprised) Willam! WILLAM Ronnie! How are you? You work here now? VERONICA (locks arms with DANTE) No, I'm just visiting my man. (to DANTE) Dante, this is Willam Black. (to WILLAM) This is Dante Hicks, my boyfriend. DANTE How are you? Just the soda? WILLAM And a pack of cigarettes. (to VERONICA; paying) Are you still going to Seton Hall? 23. VERONICA No, I transferred into Monmouth this year. I was tired of missing him. (squeezes DANTE'S arm) WILLAM Do you still talk to Sylvan? VERONICA I just talked to her on Monday. We still hang out on weekends. WILLAM (leaving) That's cool. Well-you two lovebirds take it easy, all right? VERONICA I will. Take it easy. WILLAM Bye. (exits) VERONICA Bye (to DANTE) That was Snowball. DANTE Why do you call him that? VERONICA Sylvan made it up. It's a blow job thing. DANTE What do you mean? VERONICA After he gets a blow job, he likes to have the cum spit back into his mouth while kissing. It's called snowballing. DANTE He requested this? VERONICA He gets off on it. 24. DANTE Sylvan can be talked into anything. VERONICA Why do you say that? DANTE Like you said-she snowballed him. VERONICA Sylvan? No; I snowballed him. DANTE Yeah, right. VERONICA I'm serious... A moment of silence as DANTE'S chuckles fade to comprehension. DANTE You sucked that guy's dick? VERONICA Yeah. How do you think I know he liked... DANTE (panicky) But...but you said you only had sex with three guys! You never mentioned him! VERONICA That's because I never had sex with him! DANTE You sucked his dick! VERONICA We went out a few times. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around. DANTE (massive panic attack) Oh my God! Why did you tell me you only slept with three guys? VERONICA Because I did only sleep with three guys! That doesn't mean I didn't just go with people. 25. DANTE Oh my God-I feel so nauseous... VERONICA I'm sorry, Dante. I thought you understood. DANTE I did understand! I understand that you slept with three different guys, and that's all you said. VERONICA Please calm down. DANTE How many? VERONICA Dante... DANTE How many dicks have you sucked?! VERONICA Let it go... DANTE HOW MANY? VERONICA All right! Shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak like this when you told me how many girls you fucked. DANTE This is different. This is important. How many?! She counts silently, using fingers as marks. DANTE waits on a customer in the interim. VERONICA stops counting. DANTE Well...? VERONICA (half-mumbled) Something like thirty-six. DANTE WHAT? SOMETHING LIKE THIRTY-SIX? 26. VERONICA Lower your voice! DANTE What the hell is that anyway, "something like thirty-six?" Does that include me? VERONICA Um. Thirty-seven. DANTE I'M THIRTY-SEVEN? VERONICA (walking away) I'm going to class. DANTE Thirty-seven?! (to CUSTOMER) My girlfriend sucked thirty-seven dicks! CUSTOMER In a row? DANTE chases VERONICA down and grabs her by the door. DANTE Hey! Where are you going?! VERONICA Hey listen, jerk! Until today you never even knew how many guys I'd slept with, because you never even asked. And then you act all nonchalant about fucking twelve different girls. Well, I never had sex with twelve different guys! DANTE No, but you sucked enough dick! VERONICA Yeah, I went down on a few guys... DANTE A few? 27. VERONICA ...And one of those guys was you! The last one, I might add, which-if you're too stupid to comprehend- means that I've been faithful to you since we met! All the other guys I went with before I met you, so, if you want to have a complex about it, go ahead! But don't look at me like I'm the town whore, because you were plenty busy yourself, before you met me! DANTE (a bit more rational) Well...why did you have to suck their dicks? Why didn't you just sleep with them, like any decent person?! VERONICA Because going down it's a big deal! I used to like a guy, we'd make out, and sooner or later I'd go down on him. But I only had sex with the guys I loved. DANTE I feel sick. VERONICA (holds him) I love you. Don't feel sick. DANTE Every time I kiss you now I'm going to taste thirty-six other guys. VERONICA violently lets go of him. VERONICA I'm going to school. Maybe later you'll be a bit more rational. DANTE (pause) Thirty-seven. I just can't... VERONICA Goodbye, Dante. She exits in a huff. DANTE stands there in silence for a moment. Then he swings the door open and yells out. 28. DANTE Try not to suck any more dicks on your way through the parking lot! Two men who were walking in the opposite direction outside double back and head in the direction. VERONICA went. DANTE HEY! HEY, YOU! GET BACK HERE! CUT TO: INT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY A videocassette encased in the customary black box flips repeatedly, held by an impatient grasp. The IMPATIENT CUSTOMER glares at DANTE. Dante studies a copy of Paradise Lost, making a strong attempt at not noticing the glare. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (pissed off) I thought that place was supposed to be opened at eleven o'clock? It's twenty after! DANTE I called his house twice already. He should be here soon. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER It's not like it's a demanding job. I'd like to get paid to sit on my ass and watch TV. The other day I walked in there and that sonofabitch was sleeping. DANTE I'm sure he wasn't sleeping. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER You calling me a liar? DANTE No; he was probably just resting his eyes. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER What the hell is that? Resting his eyes! It's not like he's some goddamned air traffic controller! DANTE Actually, that's his night job. 29. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER Such a wiseass. But go ahead. Crack wise. That's why you're jockeying a register in some fucking local convenience store instead of doing an honest day's work. (tosses tape on counter) I got no more time to bullshit around waiting for that sonofabitch. You make sure this gets back. The number's eight-twelve-Wynarski. And I wanted to get a damn movie, too. DANTE If you'll just tell me the title of your rental choice, I'll have him hold it for you. IMPATIENT CUSTOMER (storming out) Don't hurt yourself. I'm going to Big Choice Video instead. He storms out. Dante lifts a ring of keys from the counter. DANTE (in a whisper) You forgot your keys. The half-filled trash can swallows the ring of keys. CUT TO: EXT: CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY Another VIDEO-ANXIOUS CUSTOMER leans against the video store door. A hapless RANDAL drifts

text

How many times the word 'text' appears in the text?