Mother! Page #4

HIM:

Careful, this is very, verydelicate. It was a gift.

MAN:

A very special gift. Is it from

you?

He looks at Mother.

MOTHER:

No.

HIM doesn’t let it out of his hands. He shows it to Man as

he cradles it.

HIM:

When I was younger, I losteverything in a fire.

MAN:

I’m sorry.

HIM:

It’s hard to imagine what that

means. Losing everything. Your

memories, your work, even yourdirty toothbrush. I didn’t even

know if I could ever create again.

Until, I found this in the ashes.

Isn’t that remarkable? It gave methe strength to start again.

He holds the crystal. Man holds his breath.

HIM:

And then, I met her.

(to Mother)

You...

(back to Man)

And she breathed life back into

every room.

He carefully sets the crystal back on the shelf. It takes a

moment for Man to remember where he is.

HIM:

She re-did all of it.

Man is still thinking about the crystal.

14.

HIM:

Every last detail.

MAN:

(waking up)

By yourself?

MOTHER:

Mmhm.

MAN:

So you’re not just a pretty face.

That’s a bit rude. Mother darkens.

MOTHER:

I just came up to say I’m going toget ready for bed.

MAN:

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-

Man coughs. The cough gets worse and doesn’t let up.

HIM:

You okay? Want some water?

MOTHER:

Are you all right?

Man waves it off and points at his empty whiskey glass.

HIM starts pouring, turns to Mother.

HIM:

I’ll be up soon.

(now to Man)

You’re sure you don’t want somewater?

She retreats.

LATER:

In the middle of the night, Mother sleeps. She reaches for

HIM, but the bed is empty.

She sits up concerned. The

15.

STUDY:

Is empty. She continues downstairs and smells cigarette

smoke. In the

GUEST BEDROOM:

She peeks into the empty room. A glass bowl filled withcigarette butts sits next to his METAL LIGHTER.

She frowns. Then, she hears coughing from the

GUEST BATHROOM:

Standing with his back to her is HIM. He gently strokes thenaked back of Man who violently coughs into the toilet.

Mother can’t believe it.

MOTHER:

Is everything all right?

HIM spins around.

HIM:

He drank too much. He’ll be fine.

She tries to get a better glimpse of Man. There’s something

on his back. An open wound maybe?

MOTHER:

What is-HIM

(strong whisper)

Give him some privacy.

The force of the words startle her. Suspiciously, she

retreats back into the

GUEST BEDROOM:

Her chest gets tight as she loses her breath. She spots the

METAL LIGHTER again.

HIM (O.S.)

Get it out. Let’s get it all out.

Passive aggressively, she SLIDES the METAL LIGHTER off thebureau into the gap behind the furniture.

16.

When she gets to the

MASTER BATHROOM:

She tries to take a full breath but she can’t fill her lungs.

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