Coraline Page #3

Coraline, SNATCHES it from his GLOVED HANDS.

CORALINE:

(enraged)

IT’S A DOWSING ROD!

Coraline smacks Wybie.

WYBIE:

Ow!

CORALINE:

And I DON’T LIKE BEING STALKED, not by

PSYCHO-NERDS OR THEIR CATS!

He crouches, nervous, to scratch the cat behind his ears.

WYBIE:

He’s not really my cat; he’s kinda feral

– you know, wild? Of course, I do feed

him every night and sometimes he’ll come

in my window ‘n bring me little dead

things.

The cat PURRS like a diesel.

CORALINE:

(tough)

Look, I’m from Pontiac.

WYBIE:

Huh?

CORALINE:

MICHIGAN? And if I’m a “water witch”,

then--

(points stick, stomps foot)

--where’s the secret WELL?

WYBIE:

You stomp too hard and you’ll fall in it!

Coraline reacts, hops out of the springy circle. The boy

scrapes at the ground, revealing a CIRCULAR COVERING

made of WOODEN PLANKS. He wedges a fallen branch under

one side, and, using a rock for the fulcrum, pries up the

covering.

WYBIE (CONT'D)

See? Supposed to be so deep if you fell

to the bottom and looked up, you’d see a

sky full of stars in the middle of the

day.

CORALINE:

(softens)

Huh.

Her frown RELAXES and the black cat tilts his head,

noticing her change in tone. He steps off the branch, and

the well cover thumps in place.

WYBIE:

Surprised she let you move in...

Jerks his head toward the pink house in distance.

WYBIE (CONT'D)

... my Gramma. She owns the “Pink Palace”

(indicates house in distance)

Won’t rent to people with kids.

CORALINE:

What do you mean?

WYBIE:

(suddenly worried)

Uh... I’m not supposed to talk about it.

Changing the subject, he lifts a gloved hand to shake.

WYBIE (CONT'D)

I’m Wybie, Wybie Lovat.

CORALINE:

(skeptical)

Wybie?

WYBIE:

Short for Wyborne. Not my idea, of

course. What’d you get saddled with?

CORALINE:

I wasn’t saddled with anything. It’s

Coraline.

WYBIE:

Caroline what?

CORALINE:

Coraline. Coraline Jones.

WYBIE:

(confused, not hearing it)

Hmmm... It’s not real scientific, but I

heard an ordinary name, like Caroline --

Her face goes as DARK as the rain clouds above.

WYBIE (CONT'D)

-- can lead people to have ordinary

expectations about a person-

WYBIE'S GRANDMOTHER (O.C.)

(calling from afar)

Wyborne!

CORALINE:

I think I heard someone calling you,

Wyborne.

WYBIE:

What? I didn’t hear anything-

CORALINE:

Oh, I definitely heard someone, Why-wereyou-

born.

A distant dinner bell clangs.

WYBIE'S GRANDMOTHER (O.C.)

Wyborne!

WYBIE:

(under his breath, nervous)

Grandma!

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