Scene 22 - Ocean

(Carol in car, driving north on Highway 1, along the California coastline, between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Four girls are in car, all asleep. Carol is looking at roadway. Suddenly she snaps her head left as she sees Bruce's car, parking along the beach.)

(Close up of Carol's eyes, full of rage, from rear view mirror.)

(We see Bruce's car pulling off of road, into parking spot, from Carol's perspective.)

(Carol tracking Bruce's car with her eyes, seen from side of car. At end of this head motion Carol is virtually looking out of her side window, since her car is now adjacent to Bruce's.)

(Carol's perspective of Bruce's car as her car passes.)

(Carol looking ahead, now furious. She accelerates. Girls still asleep.)

(Inside Bruce's car. We see Bruce turning off engine. Everything is quiet, peaceful. We can hear the ocean.)

(Mary lying back against seat, resting her head on back of seat. Her eyes are closed. She's smiling.)

Bruce: Why are you smiling?

(Mary nods forward in a sluggish fashion.)

Mary: Ocean. (She slowly opens her eyes, looking at Bruce like she is coming out of a deep sleep.) Where's that place you said you were from?

Bruce: Ohio?

Mary: (Thoughtful) No...

Bruce: Cleveland?

Mary: Uh... no...

Bruce: Lake Erie?

Mary: ...No...

Bruce: The Midwest?

Mary: ...Uh... Unh unh...

Bruce: We're running out of choices, Mary.

Mary: You know. Sounds like, sounds like a comic book.

Bruce: (Thoughful) You mean Atlanta?

Mary: Yeah, that place.

Bruce: I'm not from Atlanta. My parents moved there after I grew up.

Mary: Oh. Do you miss... do you miss where you grew up? Cleveland?

Bruce: Um. Sure. I mean it will always be familiar. But, no, I can't say I'd ever want to go back and live there. For one thing it's way too cold.

Mary: I remember all that snow. Back there. Back when I lived there. Michigan. One night we were walking home from gymnastics practice. All that snow. But then, you know there was this really bright star.

Bruce: Bright star?

Mary: Yeah, a really bright star. I just stared at it. I felt funny.

Bruce: Was it a planet?

Mary: No! It was a star. A bright star. It was kind of weird. I remember it really well. Don't know why. But it looked closer than the other ones.

Bruce: Could have been a planet. Could have been Saturn or Mars, or maybe Jupiter...

Mary: No! I said it was a star, didn't I? A bright, twinkly star.

Bruce: Which star?

Mary: Not sure. But it was really really bright. The brightest one. There were lots of other bright ones out, but this one, this one was the brightest. Blue and shiny.

Bruce: Sirius?

Mary: Yes! (Exasperated. She didn't get it.) It was this really bright star. And it was kind of like, well, you know, the weather. On the one hand it's really cold, but you have all those bright stars. Pretty. (Looks at Bruce) are the stars brighter where it's cold?

Bruce: well, the winter stars are brighter than the summer ones. So when it's colder, you might notice them more. Then, too, there's the question of youth.

Mary: Youth?

Bruce: Youth. (Pause) When you're younger, things look bigger, brighter, bolder...

Mary: (In thought, visualizing, looking out of the windshield) When I was young...

Bruce: You are young, Dear.

Mary: Well, when I was younger, then, Dear, back when we lived in Michigan. We used to go to the lake in the summer.

Bruce: Which lake?

Mary: (In mock annoyance) Lake Michigan.

Bruce: Sorry.

Mary: Anyway, (going back into previous state of introspection) we used to go to the lake, see? And I had some friends there. And there were so many trees. I remember all those trees.

(Shot of trees in wind. Sunny day, crisp sky.)

Mary: But mostly it was the water that I remember. so much water. Water. I mean you couldn't even see across it. It was kind of like this, like the ocean out here. Only the ocean's even a lot bigger. And it's... different. (Pause) I like water. (She looks at him.) You like water?

Bruce: (Quietly) Uh huh.

Mary: Yeah. Me too. I like water. There's a lot of water in the world.

Bruce: Uh huh.

(The last two lines of dialogue are heard with slight echo to a long disance shot of light catching the waves of the ocean, sound of seagulls)

(There's a long pause. Mary pulls down her head band over her eyes, smiles, peers under it, looking at Bruce.)

Mary: And I like you.

Bruce: And I like you.

Mary: I said it first.

Bruce: Uh huh.

Mary: Do you believe in heaven?

Bruce: Heaven?

Mary: Yeah, heaven. You know, angels and stuff.

Bruce: Cherubim and Seraphim?

Mary: Whatever. You'd think there would be water there, but everybody flies around, so I guess they wouldn't have much water, since nobody would ever swim in it.

Bruce: There's water right here, and we're not swimming in it.

(Mary thinks about this, then she looks down at the space between her and Bruce on the seat. One get the idea from this that they are now holding hands.)

Mary: (Suddenly) What cities have you lived in?

Bruce: (Recollecting. He says the following very slowly.) Let's see. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago... (Pause) St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, San Francisco... (we see Mary part of the time Bruce is saying this. The list she finds strangely intriguing.)

Mary: Wow, so many places. Where did you like living best?

Bruce: This place.

Mary: What a nice thing to say.

(Mary and Bruce look at each other a spell.)

Mary: Sometimes when I close my eyes I see this picture of myself.

Bruce: What kind of a picture?

Mary: Kind of an image. An after-image, I guess, 'cause it's after I close my eyes. (Pause) A negative image, arms outstrethced, reaching out into space.

(There's a long pause as Bruce and Mary look at each other. Mary looks and behaves as if she has just made confession and a great weight has been lifted from her. She sits expectantly, leaning forward slightly. We hear the sound of the ocean in the background, but nothing else. Finally, Bruce leans forward and the two begin to pivot their heads to position themselves to kiss. A fade begins at the onset of this motion. They lean together smoothly. The fade completes as their lips touch.)