Whispering Hope

A Screenplay

In Memory of My Mother:

Alice Catherine Croghan Brown

All Rightes Reserved

FADE TO

1 EXT RAIN AND TRAFFIC DAY

The RAIN is lessening.

The SKY is brightening.

CLOUDS are scudding away.

SOUND: A CHIOR REHEARSES; “Whispering Hope.”

FADE TO

2 A BEAUTIFUL STONE CHURCH DAY

KID, in her early teens, clothing miss matched and quite soggy, sits on a wrought-iron love seat under a small overhang at one side of the church evidently listening to the rehearsal. Standing to hold her hand out under the rain, she decides to move along.

SOUND: “WHISPERING HOPE” continues, fading through to the end.

SOUND: TRAFFIC.

FADE TO

3 EXT A TWENTY BY TEN PICKET FENCE DAY

The second story of a two-story house can be seen above the fence. The first floor continues, East along

A BUSY STREET: two lanes of fairly heavy traffic head towards us. Two lanes headed away are separated by a

MEDIAN STRIP with Royal Palms, Banyan and other South Florida trees.

VEHICLES are from the early ’60’s and older.

KID is walking along beside the fence.

CLOUDS continue to scud away.

SOUND: “Whispering Hope,” fading.

SOUND: TRAFFIC.

SOUND: SOMEONE SOBBING and CRYING.

KID hears the sound, pauses.

BOY

(VOS)

Oh! Help me! Whoever you are! Can’t you even spare a minute to stop and listen! Who’s out there?

I can hear someone out there! Who are you?

KID

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m just walking by.

BOY

(VOS)

You didn’t disturb me.

KID

Good. Okay then-.

(Turning to continue her walk.)

BOY

(VOS)

I need somebody to talk to I’ve been praying for an angle. Didn’t you hear me?

CUT TO

4 KID STANDING IN THE CLOUDS DAY

She holds her hands out at about waist level, side by side, touching, open and facing up, in a more-or-less traditional stance.

Her wings are bright, large and multicolored.

SOUND: A THUD.

CUT TO

6 EXT KID SEATED NEAR THE FENCE DAY

She seems to have landed there. She stands and dusts off the seat of her shorts.

KID

I’m no angel-!

BOY

(VOS)

-Oh-.

KID

-Unless you agree that we all are-.

BOY

(VOS)

-No! I don’t agree. I know I’m no angel. And you don’t really believe that.

CUT TO

7 EXT THE TRAFFIC DAY

KID

(VOS)

I’m pretty sure that we’re the only angels. We have to help each other.

BOY

(VOS)

I can’t help anybody do anything! I need a real angel!

KID

(VOS)

All right then. If I go away, maybe a real one will come along.

CUT TO

8 EXT THE TWENTY BY TEN FENCE DAY

KID walks along to a gravel driveway, then a path leading beyond the fence towards the house.

THE FIRST story of the split-level house lays out for several dozen feet beyond the end of the fence.

BOY starts sobbing and crying again.

BOY

(VOS)

No! Come back! Oh, please come back! You’re still standing there!

KID stops walking. She bows her head in what might be a traditional stance of indecision, or; prayer. Reaching a decision, she walks back to a particular spot near the fence.

BOY

(VOS)

Get back here! Come on! You can hear me!

KID

(VOS)

Yes, I can hear you.

BOY

(VOS)

I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.

KID

(VOS)

And angel or not, I seem to be the only one here.

CUT TO

9 CLOUDS SCUDDING EAST DAY

Beautiful interplay, motion, light and darkness in a playful Miami sky.

BOY

(VOS)

An ambulance came and took my Mother away this morning.

SOUND: A THUD.

CUT TO

10 EXT KID SEATED NEAR THE FENCE DAY

She seems to have landed there. She stands and dusts off the seat of her shorts.

BOY

(VOS)

Aren’t you going to say anything?

KID

I thought you wanted someone to listen.

BOY

(VOS)

If you don’t say anything I won’t know you heard me!

KID

Okay-.

BOY

(VOS)

-My dad didn’t even wait to say, “Goodbye.”

CUT TO

11 EXT THE HOUSE BEHIND THE FENCE DAY

TWO ATTENDANTS carry a woman on a stretcher down a cement stairway.

Behind them the LANDING bows out, encircled by a CHERRY WOOD RAILING which flows down the stairs.

TROPICAL FRUIT trees dot a lovely lawn to our left.

DEEP YELLOW SHUTTERS show off and set off large windows.

CUT TO

12 ext the twenty by ten foot picket fence day

AN AMBULANCE pulls out of the driveway. Then traffic.

BOY

(VOS)

The first time, he went with her.

CUT TO

12 EXT TRAFFIC AND THE MERIDIAN BEYOND DAY

BOY

(VOS)

Well, no, really the very first time, he took her in his car. They want to put me in a place like that.

you can't tell anyone what I tell you, okay.

KID

Well-.

BOY

-Promise! Promise or I'm not going to talk to you!

KID

How can I make that promise? I haven't heard what you have to say yet.

CUT TO

14 EXT CLOUDS SCUDDING DAY

KID sleeps peacefully on one of the clouds.

BOY

(VOS)

Hey! Where's you go?

SOUND: A THUD.

CUT TO

15 EXT KID SEATED NEAR THE FENCE DAY

She seems to have landed there. She stands and dusts off the seat of her shorts.

KID

I'm right here. Are you going to talk to me?

BOY

(VOS)

It's my sister. But my Dad doesn't know.

KID

Hum a few bars.

BOY

(VOS)

What?

KID

It's a joke.

BOY

(VOS)

This isn't funny.

KID

Maybe not, but I thought maybe, "It's my sister, but my Dad doesn't know," was the name of a song.

BOY

(VOS)

You did not!

KID

It doesn't tell me anything.

BOY

(VOS)

You believe all things are possible, right.

16 EXT RINGS OF SATURN DAY

KID rides on the rings.

SOUND: Stars, comets colorful spots in the rings.

KID

That's right.

BOY

(VOS)

Then it is possible that my sister is fixing my mother's drinks.

SOUND: A THUD.

CUT TO

16 EXT KID SEATED NEAR THE FENCE DAY

She seems to have landed there. She stands and dusts off the seat of her shorts.

KID

How much does your mother drink?

BOY

(VOS)

Not much.

17 EXT THE TWENTY BY TEN FOOT PICKET FENCE DAY

It seems to be moving and stretching.

KID

That's what you're howling about? You're sister is fixing your mother's drinks. Do you want your

mother to drink more?

BOY

(VOS)

No. I don't mean cocktails. She's putting something into all of her drinks, ice tea, coffee, orange juice. It does something to her and she starts to act real strange.

KID

Would it help if I came back there?

BOY

(VOS)

No! No! You'd get into a lot of trouble if you came in here! No guests allowed unless my parents know ahead of time.

KID

What are they going to do? Arrest me?

BOY

(VOS)

You might be surprised.

KID

What do you want me to do?

BOY

(VOS)

Get comfortable and listen.

FADE TO

18 EXT RINGS OF SATURN DAY

KID rides on the rings.

SOUND: Stars, comets colorful spots in the rings.

SOUND: "Whispering Hope," fades very softly in.

KID moves from the rings to the stars to passing meteors and back to the rings. She finally relaxes there, laying back, one knee crossed over the other, hands behind her head.

KID

Okay.

BOY

(VOS)

My mother was a dancer.

CUT TO

19 INT A BEAUTIFUL, LARGE, OLD THEATRE NIGHT

On stage a chorus line performs on stage to a popular sixties show tune.

MOM a beautiful blond in her twenties in a unique costume, dances her solo before the line.

BOY

(VOS)

She's very beautiful, my mother. And she was a great dancer. I don't mean just good. She danced professionally and had a big following. Every now and then someone in the grocery store asks for her autograph.

She loved dancing and, she made a lot of money.

CUT TO

28 INT BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE THEATRE NIGHT

Near MOM'S dressing room.

DANCERS wander around in various stages of changing. They chat to each other and coyly acknowledge CHIEF.

CHIEF, in elegant evening clothes waits near a door which definitely has a star on it. He has dark hair and dark blue eyes and is matinee idol handsome.

BOY

(VOS)

Then she met my Dad. They fell in love and all that, but she didn't want to give up her career to have a family.

CUT TO

29 INT A BEAUTIFUL, LARGE, OLD THEATRE NIGHT

On stage a chorus line performs to a popular sixties show tune.

MOM a beautiful blond in her twenties in a unique costume, dances her solo before the line.

BOY

(VOS)

She knew people who tried to do both and she decided that when she had a family, that would be her life. Like dancing was for her then.

CUT TO

30 INT DINING AREA CORAL GABLES COUNTRY CLUB CIRCA 1960

MOM and CHIEF, in top fashion, wander comfortable through the small, posh crowd greeted by friends.

BOY

(VOS)

She didn't want to lose him They really loved each other. My Dad's an important official with this city. They agreed to wait.

CUT TO

31 EXT PATIO OF THE BILTMORE HOTEL NIGHT

LANTERNS provide romantic lighting.

Tables are arranged to create a chummy kind of privacy among the GUESTS.

COUPLES in evening dress are dancing, slowly, formally.

COUPLES at tables eat, drink, or give instructions to

Formally attired WAITERS.

MOM and CHIEF glow and flow among the dancers.

BOY

(VOS)

Oh, they moved in together and all of that, but it was ten years before they actually got married.

32 INT A BEAUTIFUL, TRADITIONAL PARLOR

MOM and CHIEF poise for photos before the hearth.

BOY

(VOS)

My sister came two years after that.

A pink bundle appears in MOM'S arms. MOM and CHIEF pose staring at the baby.

BOY

(VOS)

My sister was perfect from the moment she got here. Mom says she learned to dance in utero, That means in my mother's stomach, before she was even born.

33 INT AUDITORIUM NIGHT

Adults perform The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies. A beautiful toddler solos.

By the time she could walk, at around two, she was getting calls for jobs.

FADE TO

34 INT AUDITORIUM NIGHT

CHIEF and MOM rapt in a packed and appreciative house.

BOY

(VOS)

She had lessons and rehearsals and auditions. She danced at recitals and on stages and two or thee times she was in the Orange Bowl Parade. On a float, you know.

35 EXT ORANGE BOWL PARADE ALA 1950 NIGHT

Various scenes, local high school bands, and SISTER, a dark haired child about five, all dolled up and waving majestically from a fancy float full of beauty queens.

BOY

(VOS)

Then I came along.

KID

What's wrong with you?

BOY

I have Down's Syndrome

KID

Oh. I have no idea what that must be like.

36 EXT A TWENTY BY TEN PICKET FENCE DAY

As before.

BOY

(VOS)

No. You don't. But I am trying to tell you.

37 EXT THE TREE LINED MEDIAN DAY

Traffic headed West.

The fence and the house beyond.

KID hands and ear against the fence, tries to be patient and listen.

BOY

(VOS)

I think he hated me as soon as I was born, And I understand. I'm ugly. I have a gigantic head-.

KID

(Pounding the fence.)

It has to be gigantic to hold all of your brains!

BOY

(VOS)

No! That's not it. I'm serious! I m ugly! And if that's not enough, all I actually do is sit in a wheel chair. When I'm not in my bed.

My mom, she reads to me. She taught me how to read. And sometimes we play chess.

38 INT AN OLD FASHIONED LIBRARY DAY

Walls lined with BOOKS.

A plush, checkered rug is centered in the room.

A LIFE-SIZED chess-set is on the rug.

BOY and KID ride the KNIGHTS.

KID

Chess! Wow. I don't play very well.

BOY

That's okay, neither do I.

BEAUTIFUL, LARGER-THAN-LIFE CHESS PIECES move around very gracefully, as to the young people's bidding.

BOY

But I can move my right arm, and if I really concentrate I can pick up the pieces. My mom's willing to try, why shouldn't I?

SOUND: Two short bleeps of a siren.

CUT TO

39 EXT THE BUSY STREET DAY

Just down the street police car has it's swirling, colored lights on, the police car works it's way towards us through the busy traffic.

BOY

(VOS)

What is it? What's going on?

KID

(VOS)

There's a cop car down aways.

BOY

(VOS)

Was that a siren.

KID

(VOS)

Yeah, warning the cars to get out of its way, I guess.

Don't worry, they won't hurt us.

BOY

(VOS)

Hah!

The police car pulls partially off of the street moving very quickly and at an angle along the verge near the fence. Traffic slows, the two lanes merging to get passed the rider's-side-rear tire, still in the road.

SOUND: Two short bleeps of a siren.

DRIVER

(VOS, on speaker)

Clear the area.

KID

(To boy.)

Am I supposed to levitate?

Two uniformed officers rush out o the car towards kid.

KID

I am so glad you're here! There's a kid back there who really needs help.

DRIVER

Yeah! Yeah! I'm sure! You hear that, Mickey, there's a kid back there ' needs our help!

The officers grab KID by the arms and slam her, backwards, against he fence.

KID

(Calling out.)

Speak now, or forever hold you peace!

MICKEY

That's a hell of a high sign.

KID

High sign?

DRIVER

Yeah, we know, you're trying to warn your partner.

KID

Partner.

MICKEY

There is no boy back there, he took off the minute he heard the siren.

DRIVER

The first time!

MICKEY

I told you not to use it-.

DRIVER

We got this one. She'll lead us to the other.

KID

What?

MICKEY

Just get in the car.

The officers pull KID towards the car.

KID

You arrest people for talking to fences?

DRIVER

Oh! Hard dee harr harr!

DRIVER trips KID. Just before her face hits the ground, they pull her back up by her arms.

KID

This is police brutality.

MICKEY

We're brutal.

DRIVER

You brute!

MICKEY trips KID. Just before her face hits the ground, they pull her back up by her arms.

KID

People can see you!

DRIVER

Oh! People can see us!

MICKEY

They don't seem very impressed.

DRIVER rushes to the side of the road and fusses with his tie, then bows to the passing traffic.

DRIVER

Is that better?

MICKEY

Get in the car.

KID

Aren't you going to do anything to help that kid?

MICKEY

There is no kid.

DRIVER

He's long gone.

KID

He's not going anywhere! The kid other side of that fence is sitting in the grass in a wheelchair.

DRIVER

What's this?

MICKEY

What do you know about a boy in a wheelchair?

KID

An ambulance came and took his mother away this morning-

An UNMARKED CAR pulls up quickly, slightly more off the road than the "black and white."

MICKEY

Here's the boss!

As CHIEF gets out of his UNMARKED CAR, DRIVER and MICKEY pull KID towards him.

KID

-His dad had already gone to work, after they took his mother his sister went to spend the day with friends. Then the housekeeper put him out there and went to her boyfriend's-.

DRIVER

You been hanging around here long enough to know all of that?

KID

The boy behind the fence told me-!

DRIVER trips KID. Just before her face hits the ground, they pull her back up by her arms.

DRIVER

(To CHIEF.)

This is worse than we thought. She knows your wife went to the hospital this morning-.

CHIEF

-Where's Beth-.

MICKEY

Your daughter is evidently out with friends-.

CHIEF

Beth should have heard this ruckus by now and been out here.

CHIEF moves along the sidewalk towards the house.

DRIVER

What do we do with this.

CHIEF

(Still walking.)

Bring her, let her get a look at the boy she says was talking to her from behind this fence.

The officers pull, push and drag KID along the sidewalk, tripping her again as they clear the fence.

CUT TO

40 EXT THE HOUSE BEHIND THE FENCE DAY

CHIEF moves towards the stairs.

Beyond him the LANDING bows out, encircled by a CHERRY WOOD RAILING which flows down the stairs.

DEEP YELLOW SHUTTERS show off and set off large windows.

MICKEY and DRIVER pull KID up by her arms again, just before her face hits the

ground. Hurting, tired and very sad, she starts to sing, leaving off only to answer direct questions.

KID

(Singing.)

Soft as the voice of an angel-.

MICKEY

You know the trouble with you?

KID

(Speaking.)

I have no respect for authority?

(Continues to sing.)

DRIVER

Can we teach her some respect for authority?

MICKEY

Hey, Chief, can we teach this one some respect for authority?

CHIEF

I'm going into the house.

MICKEY holds KID, both arms behind her back. DRIVE clasps his hands together and draws them back preparing to swing. KID keeps singing.

BOY

(VOS)

No! Dad! I did it! I told her those things!

CHIEF rushes down the stairs and towards BOY'S voice.

KID stops singing.

SOUND: MUSIC; "Whispering Hope" cheats in very softly, building to the end.

CUT TO

41 ANGLE OF FENCES IN A SIDE YARD DAY

BOY sits in his wheelchair in the grass near the corner of the yard where the wooden fence along the front of the house meets the chain-link fence on the side.

CHIEF runs to BOY.

CHIEF

Son! You can speak?

BOY

Yeah, Dad! I can-.

CHIEF

-What are you doing out here?

CHIEF kneels to put his arms around his son.

BOY

Dad, I can explain! And I will, but first you have to let her go! She didn't do anything!

CHIEF

Are you sure.

BOY

She didn't do anything but listen.

CUT TO

42 EXT A BUSY STREET DAY

Two lanes of fairly heavy traffic merge to make it around a POLICE CAR parked with its driver's-side tire jutting into the far lane. An UNMARKED CAR is nestled more carefully in behind it.

Beyond the cars A TWENTY BY TEN PICKET FENCE. The second story of a two-story house can be seen above the fence.

BOY

(VOS)

Dad, I know you're busy! And I'm ugly! And it might be better if I went to one of those places like where mom went-

CHIEF

(VOS)

-No, son, we love you. Your place is here with us.

DRIVER

(VOS)

That kid is twelve, this is the first time he's heard him talk?

SOUND: MUSIC; "Whispering Hope" swells.

CUT TO

43 A BEAUTIFUL STONE CHURCH DAY

A wrought-iron love seat vacant under a small overhang.

THE END