Stoker

(CAR DOOR OPENS)

(CAR DOOR DINGING)

(CAR DOOR CLOSES)

INDIA:
My ears hear

what others cannot hear.

Small, faraway things people

cannot normally see

are visible to me.

These senses are the fruits

of a lifetime of longing.

Longing to be rescued.

To be completed.

Just as the skirt needs

the wind to billow,

I'm not formed by things

that are of myself alone.

I wear my father's belt

tied around my mother's blouse.

And shoes which

are from my uncle.

This is me.

Just as a flower does not

choose its color...

we are not responsible

for what we have come to be.

Only once you realize this

do you become free.

And to become adult

is to become free.

()

(BIRDS CAWING)

()

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

(ENGINE REVVING)

(CAR CRASHING)

(CAR EXPLODES)

(SIRENS WAILING)

(PHONE RINGING)

EVELYN:

Richard! No!

(SOBBING)

REVEREND:

A family man,

devoted husband

to his wife, Evelyn,

loving father

to his daughter, India.

He was a model to our town

and of what it means to be a man

who walks through the world

with openness,

honesty and integrity.

RICHARD:

India?

REVEREND:
Richard

Stoker was taken from us

by a cruel twist of fate.

RICHARD:

India?

REVEREND:
The reasons for which

are unknown and unknowable.

By an accident

nobody would have predicted.

It would have been impossible

for even an outstanding

architect,

like Richard,

to understand God's

great design.

(PLAYING SOFT MUSIC

ON PIANO)

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

EVELYN:

India?

India.

The guests will be here soon.

Can you help

Mrs. McGarrick in the kitchen?

Please?

Don't do this to me, India.

Not today.

HOUSEKEEPER 1:

When they pried open his car,

you know, his body was burned...

HOUSEKEEPER 2:
To a crisp.

Terrible accident.

Poor thing. India was

so close to her father.

Who's gonna look after her?

HOUSEKEEPER 2:

She's still got her mother.

HOUSEKEEPER 1:
Her mother look after

her? More like the other way around.

HOUSEKEEPER 2:
You know what?

This whole accident is so strange.

HOUSEKEEPER 1:
Have you heard

all the rumors floating around...?

(HOUSEKEEPERS SPEAKING

INDISTINCTLY)

You don't think he meant

to drive off the bridge?

Why did he have to go

two states away?

I don't know.

McGARRICK:
Everything all right?

HOUSEKEEPER 1:

Yes, Mrs. McGarrick.

Now I'm wondering if I kept them

in the fridge too long.

What do you think?

Was I too stingy

with the paprika?

Hmm?

(CHUCKLING)

Your deviled eggs remind me

of when I was a little girl.

Well, you may be all grown up,

but you still get eggshells

all over the floor.

Have you outgrown your shoes?

()

Did you find your

birthday present yet?

INDIA:
I found the

box, but it was empty.

Are you sure?

Did you check?

Check again.

Every year I thought

it was my father

who left me shoes

on my birthday.

But all this time, it's been...

Tell me what it opens.

How would I know?

WOMAN:

All right.

CHARLES:

That was my brother...

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

CHARLES:
You know, originally

they were part of a set of four

but then I broke one as a kid.

Now I'm seeing in this house

someone must have

let another break.

No, it wasn't me.

When we...

When we moved in,

it broke as the housekeepers

were unpacking it.

India. Come and say hello

to your Uncle Charlie.

EVELYN:

India? Come over.

CHARLES:

See you soon.

Hello, India.

Come on.

(SIGHS)

She hates to be touched.

I'm her mother.

What a curse. Hmm?

(SIGHS)

EVELYN:
You know, Charlie,

Richard used to say

that we had lost you to the rest

of the world forever.

Why, India,

you're white as a sheet.

Is something wrong?

Yes.

My father is dead.

(FOOTSTEPS ECHOING)

(FOOTSTEPS RUNNING)

(FOOTSTEPS RUNNING)

(SMALL FOOTSTEPS RUNNING)

REVEREND:

How beautiful.

Richard was so proud

of India's hunting

that he stuffed every single

thing she killed.

What a tragic waste of life.

These live particularly

deep in the forest.

They'd be very hard to catch.

I guess Richard and India

were a good team.

CHARLES:

Oh.

WOMAN (WHISPERING): It's kind

of disrespectful, him not wearing

black to his own

brother's funeral.

MAN 1:

He must have come back today

from the Middle East

or something.

WOMAN 2:
It's just part of a

dig in some old part of Istanbul?

MAN 2:
No, I think he was

digging for gold in Indonesia.

EVELYN:
I really want to thank

you for your words this morning.

Well, you and Richard

deserve every word.

(GUESTS CHATTERING)

()

The wine's good.

()

There you are.

Come and join us.

This is, uh,

Richard's brother.

MR. BLOOM:
Hello.

Good evening.

He's come back.

MRS. BLOOM:
Nice to meet you.

These are the Blooms,

good friends of ours.

Good evening.

MR. BLOOM:
I didn't know Richard

had a brother. Nice to meet you.

MRS. BLOOM:

We're sorry for your loss.

CHARLES:

How did you know Richard?

MAN 1:
Got his doctorate

from Oxford when he was 24.

MAN 2:

Stoker sure had the brains.

MAN 1:

Yeah. Just look at India.

CHARLES:

Hello, again.

(GASPS)

Do you want to know why you feel

at a disadvantage right now?

Because I didn't know

you existed until today?

Because you're standing

below me.

(CHUCKLES)

You look like my father.

I am so sorry.

It's your loss too.

Oh, um...

In about 60 seconds,

your mother's gonna tell you

that I'm gonna be

staying here for a while

but I want it to be

your decision too.

Why?

Because...

it's important to me.

(CHARLES WHISTLING)

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