The Big Blue Page #6

They keep on pumping for a while, then...

UNCLE LOUIS:

I've seen them.

UNCLE LOUIS goes on. JACQUES doesn't budge.

UNCLE LOUIS:

Don't you want to know where?

JACQUES looks at the bottom to watch his father.

He doesn't answer.

UNDERWATER - JACQUES' FATHER

He moves along slowly in his cumbersome diving suit. He

is working the top of a rock outcrop on the sea floor. He

sees a sponge, hooks it; puts it in a bag that's attached

to a life line from the boat fastened to his waist. He

moves on.

INT. BOAT - JACQUES AND LOUIS PUMPING

They keep up the rhythm. Sitting on a rock at a distance,

ENZO watches them. UNCLE LOUIS is bored stiff.

UNCLE LOUIS:

Why don't you ask me?

JACQUES:

What?

UNCLE LOUIS:

Where I saw the mermaids?! Why

don't you ever ask any question?

I'm always the one asking the

question! We're sitting here like

two stones and I'm taking to myself.

Ask me something, Goddamnit!

JACQUES calmly looks over at him, slows down his pumping

and almost serenely asks him:

JACQUES:

(in a completely

flat tone)

Why did my mother leave?

UNCLE LOUIS seems disturbed by the question. A beat.

UNCLE LOUIS:

(ill at ease)

Come on now, pump!

UNDERWATER - JACQUES' FATHER

He is walking with difficulty at the bottom. His bag is

full of sponges. He seems to be having trouble breathing.

EXT. BOAT - JACQUES AND LOUIS

JACQUES and LOUIS are pumping silently. UNCLE LOUIS feels

obliged to answer JACQUES' question.

UNCLE LOUIS finally breaks the silence and explains:

UNCLE LOUIS:

Your mother didn't leave. She

went back to America, that's all.

It's her home. She's allergic to

this Island. She likes

refrigerators and machines that

clean the floor... so one day she

left. Woman are like that,

unpredictable, like the sea.

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