Sea People (1999) - full transcript
Hume Cronyn, Joan Gregson and Tegan Moss star in this dramatic fantasy about a teenage girl who wants to swim the English Channel. She soon meets an elderly couple who offer her advice, not realizing they have an different perspective on water than most people: they are, in fact, mermen and mermaids.
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AMANDA [narrating]Growing up in the town bf Rathlin '
AMANDA [narrating]you could believe that everything interesting happened somewhere else;
AMANDA [narrating]that your dreams were just... well, dreams.
AMANDA [narrating]There was a story that a kid's grandfather rescued a mermaid
AMANDA [narrating]and received strange powers in return.
AMANDA [narrating]But nobody really believed that.
AMANDA [narrating]In Rathlin, it felt like your world ended at the harbour.
AMANDA [narrating]But for one girl, everything was about to change.
AMANDA A second faster.
MRS. BUSBY Good work. Now take a shower and get yourself home.
' AMANDA Hi, mom, I'm home.
CELIAHoney, can you take this over?Your brother's made a huge mess.; !
AMANDA Yeah. Where's dad?
) ( ) CELIAHe has another job interview. Hewon't be home for supper.
AMANDA Oh, I promised to tell him how I'm doing.
CELIA How was your practice?
AMANDA Great. My coach said...oNf*}fNOO
(01:02:23:00) SEAN Oh.
CELIASean! Oh, look at you. What amess!
CELIA I've got to give you a bath. Want to have a bath?
CELIA Amanda.
CELIA Time to get up. I've got to get to work.
AMANDA Where's daddy?
CELIAGot out early. He heard about ajob.
CELIA Come on, honey. Let's go
AMANDA [sighing] Okay, okay.
AMANDA [sigh}^ Bet you never had to take care of your stupid brother.
CELIA Let's go.
AMANDA [sigh of exasperation]
SEAN [cooing]
SEAN [whining]
MR. WHITTAKERIn caverns cool when the tide's awash,I sound my conch to the watery splash.
MR. WHITTAKER From out of their grottos at evening's beam,• j
GIRL ’ [giggling]
MR. WHITTAKER The mermaids swim with locks agleam.
(01:04:17:02) (01:04:1 9:04) GIRLS [giggling]
MR. WHITTAKER They bring me coral and amber clear...
MR. WHITTAKERWell, Peter Warner. Long time no see. You didn't happen to bring your book with you by some miracle, did you?
PETER [snort] No.
MR. WHITTAKER Uh, double up with Amanda then.
MR. WHITTAKER They bring me coral and amber clear,But when the stars in heaven appear...
MR. WHITTAKERThe music ceases, they glide away,
MR. WHITTAKER And swim to their grottos across the bay.
AMANDA What'd you catch this time? Herring?
PETER How'd ya know?
AMANDA ’ 'Cause that's what you smell like.
PETER Thank you. .
MR. WHITTAKER So, what do we think of this poem? Do we have any thoughts?
MR. WHITTAKERAnyone? A little bit flowery, is it? Not too realistic, not very real?
AMANDA Well, it's not supposed to be real. It's about mermaids.
MR. WHITTAKER Right. And mermaids aren't real, are they? So why do we care?
MR. WHITTAKERCome on. This-is a fishing town people. Or at least it was. Everybody here knows stories about mermaids.
MR. WHITTAKER Amanda.
AMANDA I heard some fishermen still throw back fish for the mermaids,
AMANDA before they take their catch in.
MR. WHITTAKER Right. So the mermaids don't take the fishermen instead.
MR. WHITTAKER Otherwise, the mermaids mightfall in love with the mortal beings and drag them down to the sea with them, right?
MR. WHITTAKER Any other stories? Peter, you're a mortal being and a fisherman. What do you think?
PETERI never threw back a fish I thought I could sell.
CLASS [giggling]
MR. WHITTAKER Uh-huh. But what about your family? Any stories there?
PETER ’My family never believed in mermaids.
GIRL Whoa. Whoa.
MR. WHITTAKER Okay, well, that's Peter's take on the poem. Anybody else?
- AMANDA Why didn't you say something?
(01:06:00:25) (01:05:(02:07) PETER Say something about what?
AMANDAOh, come on, Peter. Everybody'sheard about your grandfather.
PETER Heard what? ,i !
AMANDA The rumours, that the mermaids...
PETER I didn't think you were the kind of person who listens to rumours.
PETER Okay, look, my grandfather got hooked on a long line and he went overboard.
PETER There's no such thing as mermaids, okay?
AMANDA Okay.
AMANDA Dad! How long have you been here?t ¦ 1
JAMESOh, ’ long enough. Wanna get some ice cream?
AMANDA Is everything okay, Dad?
JAMESYes. Since when was ice creamnot okay? Come on. I'll meet you outside.
ICE CREAM MAN There ya go.
- AMANDADaddy, we don't have to do this.
JAMESIt's okay. We can afford it.
AMANDAYou found a job!
JAMES [chuckle] J
AMANDA Oh, you did! Oh, you did! Where is it? Where are you going? Tell me!
JAMES Inverness.
AMANDA That's 100 miles away.
AMANDA You'll get home so late.
JAMES C'mon, let's go sit down.
JAMES It's only for six months, Amanda.
AMANDA And then what?
JAMES ;Look, I know it's gonna be rough the first few weeks, but after that. I'll try to get back on weekends, I promise.
AMANDA You'll be all alone.
JAMES No. No, I'm gonna be okay. Hey.
JAMES I'm sharing the place with a couple of guys who got laid off from the cannery.
JAMES You know, I'll be able to save some money, you know, save on the chores. -
AMANDA Daddy, you'll be living in a bachelor pad!
AMANDA I won't say good-bye to you.
AMANDA [sniffling]
CELIA Don't worry about us. We'll be okay.
CELIA You take care of yourself, okay? We're gonna miss you.
CELIA Oh, you gotta go. We'll be okay.t !
JAMES ’ Okay.
GIRL #1 What d'you got for lunch?
GIRL #2 Oh, I brought sandwiches.
AMANDA [grunt of effort]
AMANDA [grunt of effort]
AMANDA Stupid cannery
AMANDA [grunt of effort]
AMANDA [grunt of effort]
- AMANDA pONT'D) Don't." No, don't do that!
AMANDA Stop!
AMANDA Oh my God! Oh my God!
MR. McRAE Leave me.
MR. McRAE Leave me alone.
AMANDA I'm saving you.
MR. McRAE The hell you are!
AMANDA Wait!
MR. McRAE Why don't you bother somebody your own age. [Groan of* exasperation]
MR. McRAE Ah-h.
AMANDA Hey. Wait. What's wrong with you? I tried to save you.
MR. McRAE I was trying to save myself.
AMANDA But... but things could get better. There must be people who care about you.
MR. McRAEYou thought I was trying to killmyself?
AMANDA You weren't?, . i
MR. McRAE I was going for a swim.
AMANDA Oh, sure! Who does that? Who jumps off Larne Bridge into f- freezing cold water if he's not trying to k..kill himself?
MR. McRAE Well, obviously some fool teenager who thinks she's trying to save a suicidal old coot.
MR. McRAE Good Lord, you're half frozen.Here .
MR. McRAE Now, where do you live and I'll take you there.
AMANDA N-no. I can't go...
MR. McRAE C'mon. We gotta get some hot water on you.
AMANDA Wh-what about you?
MR. McRAE Well as you can see, I'm just fine.
MR. McRAE Don't you want to stick with me. Make sure I don't take a whack at killing myself again?
AMANDA I d-don't c-care wh-what you do, you... mean old m-man.[shuddering]i !
MR. McRAEOh, so she's got some backbone,eh?
MR. McRAE My wife will have a grand time fussing over you. Then the two of you can gripe at me together. Come on, get in.
MR. McRAEGet in, or I'll turn you in for throwing rocks at the cannery.
MR. McRAE[chuckling]Name's John McRae.
MR. McRAE As you can see, I got a tough old hide
MR. McRAE which allows me to swim any damn place I please.
AMANDA Sorry.
MR. McRAE Forget it. It's a lousy inlet, anyway. Water's too warm.
AMANDA Too warm?
MR. McRAE Yup.
AMANDA What's in the tank?
MR. McRAE Water. Salt water.
AMANDA | You raise fish?
MR. McRAE You could say that.
AMANDA Maybe... maybe I should just...
MR. McRAE You want to get out? Fine.
MR. McRAE -Take the blanket with you. You can leave 'em for me at Larne Bridge.
AMANDA No, no, I didn't mean...
MR. McRAE Don't explain. Now that you've found I plan to live for a while, you find me a bit less interesting. ¦
AMANDA [sigh]
MR. McRAE Bridget, get a move on!
MR. McRAE Got a half-drowned teenager here. Threw herself off Larne Bridge.
MRS. McRAE Oh!
MRS. McRAE Dear!
MRS. McRAE [humming]
AMANDA i Uh, Mb's. McRae? I think’you ought to know your husband didn't save me.
AMANDA He jumped off the bridge and I jumped in to save him.
AMANDA Isn't that dangerous for him?
MRS. McRAE Dangerous? Oh yes, absolutely. The water there is far too warm.
MRS. McRAE But what can l do? He just loves to swim.
MRS. McRAE Oh, my! A minute too long, and it just turns to mush.i !»» %
MRS. McRAE So, what kind of swimmer are you?
MR. McRAE She's a long distance swimmer.
MR. McRAE Well?
AMANDAIt's true. I swim the 1500. Howdid you know?
MR. McRAE Swimmers have a certain look, missy. You've got it.
MRS. McRAE John's also a distance man. But me, I'm a sprinter. I like to go fast.
¦ MRS. McR^Echuckling]
AMANDA [laugh of disbelief]
MR. McRAE What? You think she's too old?
AMANDA No, I...
MR. McRAELook at these!
MRS. McRAE Oh, John.
MR. McRAEShe won them in high school. Shewas regional champion.
MRS. McRAE John, that was 1926. Here. Drink your ^ea. |
MR. McRAE Oh, Bridget!
MRS. McRAE Take your bath or you'll be impossible all day.
MRS. McRAE [chuckling]
MRS. McRAE . It's good you're a distance swimmer. Distance swimmers live longer.
(01:17:(01:03) (01:17:(02:03) MR. McRAE Don't bet on that.
MRS. McRAE Amanda, tea?
MR. McRAE She 'll' hate it. ’
AMANDA Yes, please.
AMANDA Were you really regional champion?
MRS. McRAE Oh, yes. For a couple of years. Long, long ago.
AMANDA [coughing] Yuck!
MR. McRAE I told you so. Waste of good seaweed.
MR. McRAE & MRS. McRAE[chuckling]
MRS. McRAE Going ton noon now. Don't you have school teday?
AMANDA I... I didn't go.
MRS. McRAE Don't you like school?
AMANDA Well, yeah. Usually. But, you know, the cannery closed,
AMANDA and my father had to get a job in another town.
MRS. McRAE I'm sure you miss him already.
MRS. McRAE Do you have a young man?
AMANDA No. 1
MRS. McRAENo? Why I think the boys'd fall all over themselves for a girl who'd jump off Larne Bridge.
AMANDA Well... well they don't. And I don't have time for that, anyway.
AMANDA I'm going to swim the English channel before I'm 21.
MRS. McRAE Well, bless you. You should.
MRS. McRAE Mind you, nice to have someone waiting with a towel when you get out of the water.
AMANDA , Maybe." ’
MRS. McRAE Mind you, make sure he's not quite as crazy as my John.
MRS. McRAE Oh he's always been that way. Worse when he was young.
MRS. McRAE You should have seen him in the salmon moon swim.
AMANDA Salmon moon swim?
} () MRS. McRAE Oh, it's a silly old custom.
MRS. McRfE CONT'-D) ' ;All of our young men used to swim out under the full moon, into the ocean, far, far out.
MRS. McRAE Just to show off, really. John swam that year.
MRS. McRAE Oh, he looked beautiful in the moonlight. But when everyone else turned back, he just kept right on swimming.
MRS. McRAE I stood there all night. Finally he came back at dawn.
MRS. McRAEOh, he said he'd seen some amazing things out therfe.
AMANDA Mermaids?
MRS. McRAE Perhaps.
MRS. McRAE So since you're playing hooky, where would you like to be dropped?
AMANDA Uh. . .
AMANDA Right at the end of ray road,I... I guess.
CELIA Well, look who's here.
AMANDA i Hi, Mom. *
CELIA The school called.
CELIA You never showed up this morning. Why is your hair wet?
AMANDA I. . .
CELIA Amanda? You have school. You can't just swim all the time.
AMANDA But it wasn't like that. I jumped off Larne Bridge to save an old man.
CELIA And, uh, where is this old man?
AMANDAHe said he was just goijig for aswim but...
AMANDA but the water wasn't even cold for him and... and he had this weird skin that... that was...
CELIASwimming off Larne Bridge in themiddle of April. Mmmm.
CELIA Amanda, just tell me the truth.
CELIA Was there an old man with weird skin, or did you skip class to go to the pool?
AMANDAThere was an old man with weirdskin.I !
CELIA [sigh] What an imagination.
AMANDA [snort of exasperation]
CELIA Okay, go get changed.
STUDENTS [whispering, giggling in background]
AMANDA [thinking] Mrs. McRae!
AMANDA She didn't make it to the finals -
AMANDA Mrs. McRae?
AMANDA Hello? . |n i %
AMANDA Mrs. McRae?
AMANDA Hello, Mrs. McRae?
AMANDA It's me, Amanda.
AMANDA Remember?
AMANDA Mrs. McRae?
AMANDA [gasping]
AMANDA [squealing] Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh.i !i. «
AMANDA Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God... They're creatures. They're creatures!
AMANDA The tea! I drank the tea . They made me.
AMANDA But I spat it out. No! No, I swallowed it.
AMANDA Gills?
AMANDA And once a mortal being saves the life of one of these strange creatures,
AMANDA He is forever under their spell.
AMANDA One day, the -mermaids shall return...
AMANDA Mmmm... and spirit him away to their watery home at the bottom of the sea.
AMANDA Oh, no.
VOICES Amaaandaa... Amaaandaa... Amaaandaa...
CELIA Amanda!
AMANDA Can I come aboard?
PETER Sure. -
PETER CPNT'D) There." '
AMANDA So, this is your boat?
PETER Well... it's my uncle's boat, really. But, uh, I do all the navigating.
PETER Nowadays with these instruments, you could be a trained monkey and still pilot a boat, but, uh. . .
PETER You okay? You pick up a splinter or something.
PETER Hey, you okay? What...?
AMANDA Peter? . |
AMANDA Can you... tell me about him?
AMANDA Your grandfather.
PETERThat's all anybody ever wants totalk about any more.
AMANDA But is it true?
PETER Well, you know how those old fishermen spin stories.
PETER What he said was, mermaids weren't like people thought.
PETER Oh, they didn't look like fish. And they didn't live incaves under .the sea. ;
AMANDA So he saw one?
PETER Look, I don't know what he saw. It was just... my grandpa was strange.
AMANDADid he really get caught in thelong line?
PETERWell, he said he was going outfishing that day.
PETER But he didn't bring any tackle.
PETER And my dad never forgave himself for letting him go.
AMANDA ' Do you believe in...
PETER mermaids?
PETER Well, the ocean's pretty weird.
PETER Does stuff to your head when you've been out there for a while.
PETER You think...
PETER What you think you see... never mind.
AMANDAWhat? What do you see?
PETER Whatever you think you feee, it always' turns out to be a big fish.
AMANDA What're you looking at?
PETER I dunno. You just remind me of my grandfather.
AMANDA I look like an old man? Thanks.
PETER But it's not that. I mean, you just... he used to look at his hands,
PETER and look out at the water, like you do.
PETER He used to say that at hight he could hear the sea calling him.
PETER And someday, he'd have to answer.
AMANDA I have to go.
PETER Hey look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...
AMANDA I'll be late for school.
PETER Amanda! Amanda!
PETER Amanda!
PETER Oh, great!
MR. WHITAKERGood afternoon, happy students.
MR. WHITTAKER Welcome to your favourite class with your favourite teacher.
MR. WHITTAKER Now, if any of you have any gifts for me in the form of inspired prose.
MR. WHITTAKER feel free to give them to me now, or at the end of the class.
MR. WHITTAKER Amanda, the, uh, short story proposals are due today after class. You all set?
MR. WHITTAKER Good.
MR. WHITTAKER Now, these don't have to be perfect, people. I'm not looking for grammar or proper sentence structure.
MR. WHITTAKER But what I do want is the spark of imagination. The spark of imagination...
MR. WHITTAKER which brings -us back to our friend William Shakespeare.
MR. WHITTAKER Speaking of which; the pop quiz. That'3 right, everybody*, we have a pop quiz today.
AMANDA I can't go in the water.
MRS. BUSBY Why? Are you sick?
AMANDA Yeah, I... I have a stomach ache.
AMANDA I'm afraid I'll cramp up.
MRS. BUSBY Well, you've never missed a practice so you're entitled.
MRS. BUSBY Hey, is everything okay, Amanda?
AMANDA Fine. [, J
AMANDA Everything's fine.
AMANDA Except I can't go in the water. I'm sick.
MRS. BUSBY Okay.
MRS. McRAE Hello, Amanda.
AMANDA [gasp]
MRS. McRAE Fifty years since I've been back here. Certainly has changed.
MRS. McRAEAmanda, are you all right?
AMANDA ’I. . . I know what you are.
AMANDA I know exactly what you want.
MRS. McRAE DO you, dear?
AMANDAYou..you gave me that funny teathat... that made me...
AMANDA And anyway, you'll just keep calling me and calling me, until you turn me into one of you,
AMANDA and take me back to the sea and keep me there-forever.
AMANDA That's what you want, isn't it?
MRS. McRAE I wanted to give you this.
MRS. McRAE John fixed your bike. I'd have ridden it here, but I'm a little out of practice.
MRS. McRAE You're scared. I understand.
MRS. McRAE We're certainly not your averageold duffers, are we?
AMANDA [nervous laugh]
MRS. McRAEYou come back when you're ready.
AMANDA [gasping] '
CELIA Honey, your father called. Did you want to. ..?
CELIA What do you want? She's a teenager.
SEAN [cooing]
AMANDA They've got my bike, Sean.
AMANDA They know I have to come and get it. So I'll go.
AMANDA A... a... and I'll make them take back their... their spell.
AMANDA But i^ you don't see mejagain...
AMANDA you'll know... the mermaids took your sister.
AMANDA I'll be taking that bicycle, thanks.
AMANDA Backbone, huh?
AMANDA I'll show you backbone.
AMANDA Mrs. McRae?
MRS. McRAE [singing] Take time to thrive my rose of gold, in the garden of Dromore
MRS . McRAE[singing] Take heed young eaglet till your wings have feathers fit to soar.
MRS. McRAE [singing] A little rest and then the world is full of work to do.
MRS. McRAE [singing] Sing lullaloo lan, sing hushaby lullaloo.
MRS. McRAE Is that you, Amanda?
MRS. McRAE Amanda?
MR. McRAE [ groat).] ¦
MRS. McRAE John!
MRS. McRAE Amanda, can you drive?
AMANDA Uh-huh.
MRS. McRAE Take the truck to the back door. Hurry!
MRS. McRAE Quickly, Amanda.
MRS. McRAE Get it into the house. Pulli
MRS. McRAE CONT-JD) i Put the hose in the tank.
AMANDA But he'll drown.
MRS. McRAE No, he won't.
MRS. McRAE Okay, hold on tight. The water's coming. ¦
AMANDA He's not breathing.
MRS. McRAE He's holding it. It slows down the shock.
MR. McRAE Well, how does it feel to meet two real, live freaks?
MRS. McRAE Just jpu be quiet, John; McRae.
MR. McRAE Can't use Larne Bridge anymore. Water's too warm. I tried to make it to the harbour, but...
MR. McRAE - Good Lord. Look at Amanda.
MR. McRAE She's scared to death of us.
MRS. McRAENo, she's not. She's a sensiblegirl.
MR. McRAEOh, sure. Did you think the teawas drugged? Did ya?
MR. McRAE CONT^D) ;I bet you looked between your fingers and toes to see if they were webbed.
MR. McRAE [chuckling]
MR. McRAE Ma, I can't eat fish sticks anymore.
MRS. McRAE Is that what you thought? Why, bless you, Amanda, why would we ever do a thing like that?
AMANDA I'm not afraid of you...
AMANDA much.
AMANDA I'll, “uh, just be going'now.
MRS. McRAE Amanda, be a dear and get that jar of spiroris borealis from the table.
MRS. McRAEOh, my! I'm out of everything. I haven't been sea-gathering in so long.
MRS. McRAE Go on, dear. You look like you're going to burst.
AMANDA You're...
AMANDA really...
MRS. McRAE Oh, spit it out, Amandai
AMANDA ...merraards?
MRS. McRAE We prefer "sea people". The men get a little touchy about being called "maids".
MRS. McRAE The men are touchy about a lot of things. Always have been.
AMANDAYou mean there's more of you?
MRS. McRAE Oh, yes. I mean, well, there used to be thousands of us.
MRS. McRAE Now there's just John and me. Around here, at least.!
AMANDA What happened?
MRS. McRAE Oh well, we all got scattered. Some of us married land people... against the elder's wishes, of course.
AMANDAThen it's true. You take normalhumans and...
MRS. McRAE Take them? Oh, please.
MRS. McRAE Humans are always snooping around, looking for magic powers, and coral tiaras and who knows what else?
MRS. McRAE They ask us to take them with us to the sea, but we can't.
AMANDA You can't? But people say that once you're under a mermaid's spell...
MRS. McRAE People say a lot of things. But we grow up like you do.
MRS. McRAEAnd we grow old, like you do. We just need the sea. That's all. We're sea people.
AMANDAIs that why you didn't go to thestate swimming finals?
MRS. McRAE Oh, the state finals. j
MRS. McRAE Too far from the sea.
AMANDA Bet you were the best.
MRS. McRAE Yes. It's too bad. But, well, you saw Mr. McRae.
MRS. McRAE We need the ocean, like you need food or sleep.
AMANDA So... there's no magic?
MRS. McRAE Magic? Well, maybe.
} () MRS. McRAE There “Is magic in the world. And the sea is magic.
MRS. McRAEAnd it's magic when you find the right person.
AMANDAIs Mr. McRae going to be okay?
MRS. McRAE Well, he's getting older.
MRS. McRAE I'm missing a step or twomyself.
AMANDABut you threw him right overyour shoulder.
MRS. McRAE Oh yes, and don't you think I'm not feeling it right now.
AMANDA Mrs. McRae, I could help.
MRS. McRAE Amanda, this could be a very long recovery.
AMANDA Hey, remember what Mr. McRae said? I'm a distance swimmer.
AMANDA Now... where are those... sea worms?
MRS. McRAE [hearty chuckle]
MRS. BUSBY Good start, girls. Come on, keep it up.
MRS. BUSpY - ;Pick it up, girls. C'mon, keep going.
MRS. BUSBYKeep it going. Great turn. Wow! Amanda, what are they feeding you?
AMANDA Do you and Mr. McRae ever get lonely? I mean, without the other sea people?
MRS. McRAE Well, maybe, but we have our little house,
MRS. McRAE , our little salt marsh out back. And sometimes you just want to stay put.
AMANDA That's what 1 thought my family would do. Stay put.
AMANDA Then my father had to go off and... [sigh]
AMANDA I bet you don't have to worry like that.
MRS. McRAE Oh, there'd be times. John would go off fishing the Grand Banks. I'd watch the weather for storms.
AMANDA Were you scared?
MRS. McRAE Sometimes. But I'd watch the horizon, and wait for the boats,
MRS. McRAE -and sometimes I'd tell myself a little bit of sea people lore, just to keep my nerve up.
AMANDA What was it?
MRS. MCRAE Well, we like to say that all the sea people in the world are tied together by an invisible thread.
MRS. McRAE And if you're in a strange sea, and you can't find your way,
MRS. McRAE CONT1D) ¦ f why you should just give a tug on that invisible thread.
MRS. McRAE And somewhere, some other sea person is going to feel that tug,
MRS. McRAE and tug right back, and you won't be alone.
MRS. McRAEHow's that sound?
AMANDA Yeah.
AMANDA But does it work for people?
MRS. McRpi [chuckling] ;
MRS. McRAE Ahh-hh.
MRS. McRAE Ahh-hh... sometimes I wonder if we were right*to stay behind.
MRS. McRAE Be so much easier for John if there were someone else to give him back to the sea...
MRS. McRAEwhen it's time.
AMANDA Is that what happens when mermaids... when sea people... die? ; ,
MRS. McRAE Well, they say the... human part of you dies.
MRS. McRAE But the part of you that comes from the sea...
MRS. McRAEthat part of you never really dies.
MRS. McRAE It just goes on swimming, forever and ever.
AMANDA Good afternoon.
MR. McRAE Good afternoon.. i
AMANDA *Would you like some... seaweed?
MR. McRAEYou know, I hear the Japanesepeople eat seaweed all the time.
MR. McRAE Doesn't cut any ice with you, eh? [chuckling]
MR. McRAE - Well, bon appetit.
AMANDA Where did all of you come from,you sea people?
MR. McRAE Mostly from the islands, around Scotland and Ireland.i !
MR. McRAE You know... when a species becomes isolated... it evolvesdifferently.
MR. McRAE-I hear there are people around the Hebrides who are even weirder than we are.
MR. McRAE Never met any of them. Neverwanted to.
MR. McRAE I never thought you'd last this long.
AMANDA Well... you underestimated me.
MR. McRAE I did.
MR. McRAEWhen I get outta this stupid tank, I'm gonna take you fishing.
SEAN [cooing]
CELIA You're gonna have to do better than that if you want to sneak past me.
AMANDA [sigh] -
CELIA Amanda, I know you're upset your father's not here.
CELIA And I'm trying to give you some room,
CELIA but you're out so early, and you come back so late.
CELIA Is there something you want to tell me?
AMANDARemember the old man I saved?
CELIANot that again! Honey, just tellme the truth.
AMANDA I'm collecting seaweed...
AMANDA to eat.
CELIA ‘I think I like the old man with the weird skin better.
AMANDA No, no, look.
AMANDA It's really great for swimmers.
AMANDA And I'm gonna have to eat right, you know. I'm gonna swim the English channel.
AMANDA [sigh]
CELIA Amanda, no!
AMANDAIt's really great. Do you wantsome?
AMANDA fcoNT'D) You know, people in Japan eat seaweed all the time.
CELIA And you're going to get some more, now?
AMANDA It's freshest in the morning, when the tide goes out. Want to come with me?
AMANDA Well, can I go?
CELIA Go.
AMANDA Mr. McRae?
AMANDA Oh, no!i !
MR. McRAE Ta-dal
AMANDA [gasp]
MR. McRAE You're ready to go fishing?
MR. McRAE Yep, this is a good place.
MR. McRAE Bridget, would you drop the anchor, please?
MR. McRAE Amanda, will you peel back that canvas? Let's see what we've got there.
AMANDA | We forgot the equipment".
MR. McRAE Equipment? What equipment?
AMANDAThe fishing equipment, you know.
Bridget, who equipment? MR. McRAE forgot the fishing
) (} Oh! oh dear, MRS. McRAE well it wasn't me.
Me neither. MR. McRAE
Well, I know forget it. MRS. McRAE Amanda didn't
MR. McRAE Damn! No fishing equipment.
AMANDA Well, what are we gonna do?
There's only MR. McRAE one thing to do.
[gasp] AMANDA
Yowee! MR. McRAE
Mr. McRae? AMANDA
[chuckling] Whee! MRS. McRAE
AMANDA Mr. McRae? Mrs... Where are you?
Oh, yuck!| AMANDA 1
Ahhh. MR. McRAE
AMANDA Are you all right?
MR. McRAE Cod! I hate cod.
AMANDA [groan of disgust]
MR. McRAE I was looking for mackerel.
MRS. McRAE Gonna come in fishing?
AMANDA The water's freezing. I'm not a sea person. My skin's thin.
MRS. McRAE John?!, !
MR. McRAE What?
MRS. McRAE Her skin's too thin.
MR. McRAE Huh, next thing you know, she'll be telling us she can't hold her breath for a lousy 20 minutes.
MRS. McRAE Better take a look in the bow.
AMANDA Oh, wow.
AMANDA Oh. It's beautiful.
MRS. McRAE Go on, try it on.
AMANDA How do I look?
MR. McRAE Like one of us.
MR. McRAE You wanna see something that human eyes have never seen before?
MR. McRAE I'm gonna show you...
MR. McRAE where we get these.
AMANDA Is it... dangerous?
MR. McRAE Well, it's no stroll in the park.
MR. McRAE Come on, come on in.
MRS. McRAE [laughter]
MR. McRAE Oh.
MR. McRAE [soft moan]
MR. McRAE I don't know. Looks weird to me.
MR. McRAE Bridget?
MR. McRAEI hope this is important.j |
MR. McRAE You ever tried fish like this before?
MRS. McRAE Like what?
MR. McRAE Cooked!
MRS. McRAE Well, Amanda says it's good.
MR. McRAE[groan of disgust]
AMANDA You'll love it Mr. McRae.
AMANDA & MRS. McRae[chuckling & giggling) !
MR. McRAEI'm glad I did it. Now I can sayI've eaten cooked fish.
MRS. McRAE You didn't eat as much as me. I'm stuffed.
MR. McRAE You know, when I go swimming in the neighbourhood now, I'll be sort of famous.
MR. McRAE All the little mermaids will swim after me and say,
MR. McRAE "There goes old man McRae, who ate cooked fish with a human."
MR. McRAf CONT^O) ' ;And then they'll say, "What... what are they really like, Grandpa?
MR. McRAE And I'll say, "Humans? Funny you should ask.
MR. McRAE And I'll say, "Humans? Funny you should ask. One of them saved my life, once."
) (} MR. McRAE [sigh]
AMANDA I had the best time.
MR. McRAE You earned it, kid.i i*» *
AMANDA [sighs of contentment]
MR. WHITTAKER Very, very good work. Excellent work.
MS. WHITTAKERIf this works out as well as I expect it to,
MR. WHITTAKERI want you to enter it in the Regional Fiction . Contest.
MR. WHITTAKER The entry forms are on the door, okay?
AMANDA But.., t
MR. WHITTAKER But, uh, what, Amanda?
AMANDA What if some of it's true?
MR. WHITTAKER Well, Amanda, writers use facts from their real life all the time.
MR. WHITTAKER They just embellish them. The imagination is a mysterious thing.
STUDENTS [mixed chatter]
AMANDA Oh, no.
MRS. McRAE He's been this way sinck the middle of the night.
MR. McRAE Don't worry. It wasn't the fish.
MRS. McRAE Hush, John. I'm gonna go turn on the pump again.
MR. McRAE Lucky we got that trip in when we did.
MR. McRAE I hear that fishing with a dead man...
MR. McRAE huh, isn't much fun.
MRS. McRAE Amanda? There's a young man out front.!. I think he's looking for you -
AMANDA Peter?
AMANDA Did you follow me?
AMANDA Well, what are you doing here?
PETER I was worried about you.
PETER You're acting weird, and that story...
PETER you know, when we were talking on the boat.
PETER I hope I didn't say anything to make you think, you knojv, mermaids were real, because...
- MRS. McRAE Would your friend like to come in, Amanda?
PETER Uh, sure.
AMANDA Don't breathe a word to anybody.
PETER About what?
AMANDA Come on.
PETER Oh, my God!
MR. McRAE Is that... young Peter Warner?
PETER * What?
MR. McRAE You look like your grandfather.
MRS. McRAE Water's too warm.
AMANDABut you can still go out to sea.
MR. McRAEEngine's broken. Gave out after our trip.
AMANDA Peter's got a fishing boat. He could take you.
PETER No, wait. You want me...
PETER Wait, I...i >
PETER No, Amanda. Can I talk to you? Please.
PETER Look, I...
AMANDA I know it's weird. But they're just like us.
AMANDA Only he needs cold water.
But... PETER
AMANDA Please trust me. I promise I'll explain everything. If you'll just...
PETER But I'm not allowed to take the boat dut by myself. •
PETER I must be crazy but... Okay.
Thanks. AMANDA
Careful. AMANDA
Well, we're a now? PETERmile out, what
We're a mile AMANDA out .
) ( ) No wait, what PETERare you doing?
How long will AMANDAit be?
Oh, a ,couple MRS. McRAEof minutes*.*
MR. McRAE Hey! Now, that's what I callcold.
MRS. McRAE Good spot, Peter. I'd go in myself but I just did my hair.
Young Warner, here. MR. McRAE there's fish down
PETER There's no fish this close to shore. Not for 50 years.
MR. McRAE There's fish, I tell you, right below me.
MR. McRAE CONT-iD) j Mackerel. '
PETER There's no fish in here. You crazy old...
MR. McRAE Ah, ah, ah, ah. I heard that. Go check your fish finder.
PETER [sigh]
PETER He's right.
PETER There's a school 200 feet down. How did you know that?
MR. McRAE [chuckling]
PETER Haven't seen anyone with that kind tif fish sense since my grandpa...
MRS. McRAE Did he keep the necklace?
PETER Hmm? Did who?
MRS. McRAE Your grandfather. Did he keep the necklace?
MRS. McRAEThe little blue shell on a chain. ~
PETER He never took it off. Hey, wait, how did you know about that shell?
MRS. McRAE My husband's sister gavfe that necklace to your grandfather in return for a favour.
PETER Wha... what kind of favour?
MRS. McRAEThe kind of favour you just didfor us, Peter Warner.
PETER But that's just a story.
PETER Isn't it?
MR. McRAE By the sea, by the sea. By the beautiful sea.
MR. & MRS. McRAE You and me, you and me,Oh how happy we'll be.
MRS. McRAE I love to be beside the sea, Beside the sea,
MRS. McRAEBeside the seaside,By the beautiful sea.
PETER Mr. McRae?
MR. McRAE Hm-mmm?
PETER How long did you know my grandfather?
MR. McRAE Can't count the number of times we went fishing together.
MR. McRAE He was a good man with h line.
PETEK What...
PETER What did my grandfather do... for your sister?
MR. McRAE She was in the County General I.C.U. He broke her out of there,
MR. McRAEand took her back to the sea.
PETER She was sick?
MR. McRAE Hm-mm.
PETERAnd..4 and did the sea make herbetter? '
MR. McRAE No. But it was time for her to go back, and she knew it.
MR. McRAE So she gave your grandfather her shell.
MR. McRAE Like this one, see?
MR. McRAE This necklace is our last tie to the land.
MR. McRAE If you take it off, nothing to keep you here.
MR. MCRAJS Your grandfather did my sister a great service.
MR. McRAE So she gave her shell to him.
PETER If you're a mermaid, where areyour fins?
MR. McRAE Fins? Fins? Oh. [chuckling]
MR. McRAE You're thinking of the Florida mermaids. They have fins.
MR. McRAE [chuckling] We don't deal withthem much. Gaudy bunch.1 )
PETER Then what makes you a mermaid?
MR. McRAE Well, it's special.
MR. McRAE It's, it's, it's like a car with a turbo-charged engine. On the outside, looks just the same.
MR. McRAE But on the inside:vroom!
PETER & MR. McRAE [chuckling]
MRS. McRAE Leave that poor boy alone, John.
MRS. McRAE It's t^ime for your rest*.
MR. McRAE [sighing]
AMANDA I think he's gonna be okay.
PETER I just wish we could do something for them.
AMANDAThey need to be near cold water
PETER Yeah, well, can't...
AMANDA What?
PETERHold on. Grandpa knew a place.
AMANDA Hey, Mrs. McRae, what ijf we could -find you a new place?
MRS. McRAE Don't you think you've done enough for one day?
AMANDAIf we could move you to colderwaters, wouldn't you like that?
MRS. McRAE Don't spend any time at it. We're really gonna be fine, right here.
AMANDA See you tomorrow.
MRS. McRAE Okay, bye.
AMANDAShe visited mermaids every day.
AMANDA One day, she said, "We fcould find you a new grotto." Grotto?
AMANDA Ah, come on.
CELIA Good night, sweetie. Sleep tight.
CELIA Go to sleep now. Go to sleep. That's right. See you in the morning.
AMANDA [moaning] -
CELIAAmanda.
CELIA A hundred and two! Honey, no school for you tomorrow.< ;
CELIA I'll drop Sean off at Mrs. Potter's. And no more of that seaweed.
CELIA I'll get you a cold cloth.
AMANDA No, mom.
AMANDA It's okay. I just need to rest.
CELIAOkay, good. Good, you get somerest. Good night.
AMANDA [sigh]
PETERLet's go.
AMANDAHop'd you know about this? 1
PETER My grandfather used to take me to this place when I was a kid.
PETER Down the coast, a broken-down shack.
AMANDAAnd the water's really cold?
PETERWell, he said if I ever fell in,I'd die of hypothermia.
PETER So I guess it's just right for them, huh?
AMANDA I sure hope this land's still there.i ;
PETER ’Yeah, lucky for us, land doesn't move.
PETER What's with this fence? There used to be a shack right here.
AMANDA [sigh of frustration)
AMANDA Peter, look.
AMANDA No, land doesn't move. But it sure does change.
AMANDA We can't go back with nothing.
AMANDA What do we do now?
RED FACED, MAN So, folks. ;
PETER Yeah.
AMANDA Yes.
RED FACED MAN You have saved the best to the last,
RED FACED MAN because we've got a registered nurse on duty here at all times.
RED FACED MAN -Our dietitian can handle any... any special requirements.
RED FACED MAN Ahhh, now there's a local bridge tournament here, !
RED FACED MAN which is, well... which is really something. Uh-huh.
AMANDA The sea is beautiful around here.
RED FACED MAN Oh, yeah. Oh, beautiful. Yeah. Oh, yes.r *
RED FACED MANYou know, they... they love to sit out here on sunny days.
AMANDA What about swimming?
RED FACED MAN Swimming? Well, we have a heated pool, three whirlpools, therapeutic baths.
AMANDA Well, what about the ocean?
RED FACED MAN The ocean? Come on, young lady, I mean, senior citizens don't like cold water.
RED FACED MANNo, they... they want hot water. It's hot baths, hot tubp, hot rooms ;
RED FACED MANWell, if they can't get it hot, they'll settle for warm, but... not cold.
RED FACED MAN -They're cold enough already. No. here it's hot. Hot's what they want. Hot!
AMANDA Thank you, sir.
PETER Remind me never to get old.
AMANDA We better get back.
AMANDA Hello?i
JAMESHi, sweetheart. You okay? Momsaid you were feeling terrible.
AMANDAYeah, I'm okay, I guess. I wishyou were here.
JAMES Yeah, me too, kid. Once we get the glitches out of this line, I'll have some weekends off.
AMANDAThat'll be great. So you havingany fun up there?
JAMES Fun? Oh, yeah. After doing double shifts, fun is going to sleep.
JAMES [laugh] No, no, no, really, theres nothing here. No movies, no places to eat. ’
JAMES I mean, our idea of having a good time is standing at the window and watching the polar bear club.
AMANDA The polar bear club?
JAMES Yeah. Bunch of old codgers who throw themselves in the freezing waters.
JAMES And they swim, too.
JAMES Amanda?
AMANDA Where? Where do they swim?
JAMES , Down by Shaw Point. why?
AMANDA When?
JAMESWell, they're out there everyday between afternoon shifts.
AMANDA Dad, I gotta go. Love ya!
JAMESAmanda?
AMANDA Peter?
AMANDA Shaw Point, how long will that take?
PETER A couple of hours.
AMANDA { What time is it now?
PETER Quarter past two.
AMANDA Oh, I can't find it.
PETERIt's all right. We'll make it.
AMANDA Shaw Point, Shaw Point.
PETER It should be just up ahead.
AMANDA Wait, stop! This is it.
AMANDA Maybe we're too late. What if they've gone?i ;
PETER Hey, Amanda, look.
AMANDA It's them!
AMANDA Where'd they go?
AMANDA How'd they get there so fast?
AMANDA Hey! Wait. Please, let me talk to you. It's about the McRae's.
AMANDA Peter, look how they're swimming.
AMANDA I think we found something.
AMANDA Peter,and I drove up the coast. We evdh looked in retirement homes.
MR. McRAE I'd rather be in the lobster tank of a Chinese restaurant.
MR. McRAE At least they don't make you do arts and crafts, [weak chuckle]
AMANDA I think we found some sea people.
MR. McRAE Did you talk to them?
AMANDANo, I couldn't. They wouldn'tlet me get close enough.
MRS. McRAE John, do you think it's them?i !
MR. McRAE They were scared of you. You gotta approach them by sea.
MR. McRAE Get some rest, you two. Bridget, would you pack us a lunch?
MR. McRAE We'll leave first thing in themorning.
PETER You all set, Mr. McRae?
AMANDA Shouldn't we stay closer to shore?
PETERCan't. The rocks south of ShawPoint will tear the bottom rightout of the boat. !>» »
AMANDA Peter.
PETER Geez.
PETER It... it's just a minor problem, all right? No big deal.
AMANDA Can we fix it?
PETER There's no time to fix it? We're just gonna have to hope it holds out until Shaw Point.
AMANDA ' How is he?
MRS. McRAE I certainly hope we're doing the right thing. ,•> V *
AMANDA Peter!
PETER [grunt of frustration]
AMANDA What was that?
PETER The propeller's jammed. We're stuck. We just better drop anchor and radio the coast guard.
AMANDABut if we wait for the coastguard, we might miss them.
AMANDA I'll go check on Mr. McRae.
MRS. MCRAE Okay.
MRS. MCRKEHere let me help you.
AMANDA Mr. McRae?
MR. MCRAEI... I thought I could... revivemyself.
MR. MCRAE But I hit the water and I couldn't move,
MR. MCRAE my arms, my legs.
AMANDA Can you move now?
MR. MCRAE Just drop me, kid. There are worsetfates. i
AMANDANo. Don't you wanna see thepeople at Shaw Point?
MR. MCRAE Oh, what's the use?
AMANDANo. You wake up. You listen tome. You're not some weak, puny human.
You're... you' AMANDA re a sea person.
[groan) MR. MCRAE
AMANDA I don't care what you say. You do have magic powers.
MR. MCRAE [chuckling] Well, I've heard stories.
AMANDA Come on, Mr. McRae. Try again. We'll swim together. I won't let you sink.
John! MRS. MCRAE
Peter, follow MR. MCRAE in the skiff.
PETERAre you kidding? We don't evenknow where we are.
I know exactly MR. MCRAE where we are.
MR. MCRAE Two miles, that way.
MR. MCRAjS CONT-b):Was I wrong about the fish?
[chuckling] MR. MCRAE
Mr. McRae? Mr. are. AMANDAMcRae, there they
Mother of God. MR. MCRAE It is them.
AMANDA You made it, Mr. McRae.
SEA PERSON MAN John, good to see you.
SEA PEOPLE [mixed murmurs]
MR. MCRAE Samuel. Casey. ;
SAM John McRae. As I live and breathe.
MR. MCRAEI. . . I... I thought you weredead.
SAM [laughing]
SAM Is this young lady one of us? She looks it.
MR. MCRAENo, she's a friend. But a verygood friend at that.
SEA PERSON WOMAN) Oh, hello. Bridget!
SEA PERSON WOMAN) . j Nice to see you. ’
SAMAh.. you are as lovely as ever,Bridget.
MRS. MCRAE And you're as big a liar as ever, Sam.
MRS. MCRAE We thought we'd lost you.
SAMWe thought you were gone.
SAM Are you coming with us?
SAM We sail south with the salmon moon.
MR. MCRAE I think Bridget will be going with you, but as for me...
SAM I see. Well, it's a good thing you found us.
SAM We'd have been gone with the tide.
MRS. MCRAE Why, John McRae, when were you planning to tell me?
MR. MCRAE And would you have come?
MRS. MCRAEThank you, Samuel. Sorry we had to meet on such a sad day.
SAM A sadday for us. But a|glorious day for the sea.
SAM Are you ready, John? The tide's turning.
AMANDA Wait a minute. Ready for what?
AMANDA What's the sad day?
MR. MCRAE I have to go now, Amanda.
AMANDA Go? Go where?
MR. MCRAE Back to the sea. I kept myself alive for this moment.
AMANDA But... but you're supposed to live fyere. And... j» t
AMANDA And... and swim, and I'll see you again.
SAMIt's our promise, Amanda. He hasto keep it.
MR. MCRAE Amanda.
AMANDA [sobbing]
MR. MCRAE Amanda, look at me.
MR. MCRAE If I died back there on the land, that part of me... that...that...
MR. MCRAE isn't human would've been lost.
MR. MCRAE I never would've made it... without you.
AMANDA [sobbing]
AMANDA But I don't want you to go.
MR. MCRAE Amanda, you remember when you jumped off Larne Bridge to save me?
MR. MCRAE Even though it was freezing cold, even though you were scared stiff?-
MR. MCRAE You have to let me go now.
MR. MCRAE You've got wonderful things ahead of you.
[sobbing] AMANDA
But you won't them. AMANDA be there to see
Oh, I'll see 'em.
Time, John.
MR. MCRAE Ready.
SAMDo you want the sea to have thatnecklace.
MR. MCRAE Oh yes, the necklace.
Let's see how MR. MCRAE it looks.
MR. MCRAE Very natural.
Peter, I'll be grandfather.
Shall I give him your regards?
PETER You do that.
SAM Go then, John.
SAM And may the sea take you gladly.
SAM Bridget, you can go as far as the shallows.
ME. MCRAE [sigh]
MRS. MCRAE You know I'll be seeing you soon.
MR. MCRAE I'll Be waiting. *
AMANDAYou brought him all this way,just to let him go.
MRS. MCRAE Don't be unhappy, Amanda.
MRS. MCRAE ¦We had a grand life together.
MRS. MCRAE But he belongs to the sea. We all do.
AMANDA What will you do?
MRS. MCRAE They're my people too. I'll go with them.
AMANDA • [gasps of sorrow]
MRS. MCRAE Shhh.
MRS. MCRAE -We'll meet again. Look for me in the sea.
AMANDAThe girl told her family aboutthe McRaes.
AMANDA She didn't tell them everything.
AMANDA But she tried to put into words what they had meant to her.
AMANDA She would never forget them.
AMANDA She knew that people have to leave each other sometimes.
AMANDA And it would still make her sad.
AMANDA Then she would remember the story of the invisible thread.
AMANDA She would tug on it, and sometimes she could feel them tug back.
AMANDA She knew that some day, she would have to leave too.
AMANDA After all, she was still going to swim the English Channel.
AMANDA [narrating]It's ti-rue what they say:about sea people.
AMANDA [narrating]Once you're under their spell, they never leave you.
AMANDA [narrating]Sometimes when I look out to sea, -
AMANDA [narrating]I believe the McRaes can see me.
AMANDA [narrating]And anything seems possible.
---
AMANDA [narrating]Growing up in the town bf Rathlin '
AMANDA [narrating]you could believe that everything interesting happened somewhere else;
AMANDA [narrating]that your dreams were just... well, dreams.
AMANDA [narrating]There was a story that a kid's grandfather rescued a mermaid
AMANDA [narrating]and received strange powers in return.
AMANDA [narrating]But nobody really believed that.
AMANDA [narrating]In Rathlin, it felt like your world ended at the harbour.
AMANDA [narrating]But for one girl, everything was about to change.
AMANDA A second faster.
MRS. BUSBY Good work. Now take a shower and get yourself home.
' AMANDA Hi, mom, I'm home.
CELIAHoney, can you take this over?Your brother's made a huge mess.; !
AMANDA Yeah. Where's dad?
) ( ) CELIAHe has another job interview. Hewon't be home for supper.
AMANDA Oh, I promised to tell him how I'm doing.
CELIA How was your practice?
AMANDA Great. My coach said...oNf*}fNOO
(01:02:23:00) SEAN Oh.
CELIASean! Oh, look at you. What amess!
CELIA I've got to give you a bath. Want to have a bath?
CELIA Amanda.
CELIA Time to get up. I've got to get to work.
AMANDA Where's daddy?
CELIAGot out early. He heard about ajob.
CELIA Come on, honey. Let's go
AMANDA [sighing] Okay, okay.
AMANDA [sigh}^ Bet you never had to take care of your stupid brother.
CELIA Let's go.
AMANDA [sigh of exasperation]
SEAN [cooing]
SEAN [whining]
MR. WHITTAKERIn caverns cool when the tide's awash,I sound my conch to the watery splash.
MR. WHITTAKER From out of their grottos at evening's beam,• j
GIRL ’ [giggling]
MR. WHITTAKER The mermaids swim with locks agleam.
(01:04:17:02) (01:04:1 9:04) GIRLS [giggling]
MR. WHITTAKER They bring me coral and amber clear...
MR. WHITTAKERWell, Peter Warner. Long time no see. You didn't happen to bring your book with you by some miracle, did you?
PETER [snort] No.
MR. WHITTAKER Uh, double up with Amanda then.
MR. WHITTAKER They bring me coral and amber clear,But when the stars in heaven appear...
MR. WHITTAKERThe music ceases, they glide away,
MR. WHITTAKER And swim to their grottos across the bay.
AMANDA What'd you catch this time? Herring?
PETER How'd ya know?
AMANDA ’ 'Cause that's what you smell like.
PETER Thank you. .
MR. WHITTAKER So, what do we think of this poem? Do we have any thoughts?
MR. WHITTAKERAnyone? A little bit flowery, is it? Not too realistic, not very real?
AMANDA Well, it's not supposed to be real. It's about mermaids.
MR. WHITTAKER Right. And mermaids aren't real, are they? So why do we care?
MR. WHITTAKERCome on. This-is a fishing town people. Or at least it was. Everybody here knows stories about mermaids.
MR. WHITTAKER Amanda.
AMANDA I heard some fishermen still throw back fish for the mermaids,
AMANDA before they take their catch in.
MR. WHITTAKER Right. So the mermaids don't take the fishermen instead.
MR. WHITTAKER Otherwise, the mermaids mightfall in love with the mortal beings and drag them down to the sea with them, right?
MR. WHITTAKER Any other stories? Peter, you're a mortal being and a fisherman. What do you think?
PETERI never threw back a fish I thought I could sell.
CLASS [giggling]
MR. WHITTAKER Uh-huh. But what about your family? Any stories there?
PETER ’My family never believed in mermaids.
GIRL Whoa. Whoa.
MR. WHITTAKER Okay, well, that's Peter's take on the poem. Anybody else?
- AMANDA Why didn't you say something?
(01:06:00:25) (01:05:(02:07) PETER Say something about what?
AMANDAOh, come on, Peter. Everybody'sheard about your grandfather.
PETER Heard what? ,i !
AMANDA The rumours, that the mermaids...
PETER I didn't think you were the kind of person who listens to rumours.
PETER Okay, look, my grandfather got hooked on a long line and he went overboard.
PETER There's no such thing as mermaids, okay?
AMANDA Okay.
AMANDA Dad! How long have you been here?t ¦ 1
JAMESOh, ’ long enough. Wanna get some ice cream?
AMANDA Is everything okay, Dad?
JAMESYes. Since when was ice creamnot okay? Come on. I'll meet you outside.
ICE CREAM MAN There ya go.
- AMANDADaddy, we don't have to do this.
JAMESIt's okay. We can afford it.
AMANDAYou found a job!
JAMES [chuckle] J
AMANDA Oh, you did! Oh, you did! Where is it? Where are you going? Tell me!
JAMES Inverness.
AMANDA That's 100 miles away.
AMANDA You'll get home so late.
JAMES C'mon, let's go sit down.
JAMES It's only for six months, Amanda.
AMANDA And then what?
JAMES ;Look, I know it's gonna be rough the first few weeks, but after that. I'll try to get back on weekends, I promise.
AMANDA You'll be all alone.
JAMES No. No, I'm gonna be okay. Hey.
JAMES I'm sharing the place with a couple of guys who got laid off from the cannery.
JAMES You know, I'll be able to save some money, you know, save on the chores. -
AMANDA Daddy, you'll be living in a bachelor pad!
AMANDA I won't say good-bye to you.
AMANDA [sniffling]
CELIA Don't worry about us. We'll be okay.
CELIA You take care of yourself, okay? We're gonna miss you.
CELIA Oh, you gotta go. We'll be okay.t !
JAMES ’ Okay.
GIRL #1 What d'you got for lunch?
GIRL #2 Oh, I brought sandwiches.
AMANDA [grunt of effort]
AMANDA [grunt of effort]
AMANDA Stupid cannery
AMANDA [grunt of effort]
AMANDA [grunt of effort]
- AMANDA pONT'D) Don't." No, don't do that!
AMANDA Stop!
AMANDA Oh my God! Oh my God!
MR. McRAE Leave me.
MR. McRAE Leave me alone.
AMANDA I'm saving you.
MR. McRAE The hell you are!
AMANDA Wait!
MR. McRAE Why don't you bother somebody your own age. [Groan of* exasperation]
MR. McRAE Ah-h.
AMANDA Hey. Wait. What's wrong with you? I tried to save you.
MR. McRAE I was trying to save myself.
AMANDA But... but things could get better. There must be people who care about you.
MR. McRAEYou thought I was trying to killmyself?
AMANDA You weren't?, . i
MR. McRAE I was going for a swim.
AMANDA Oh, sure! Who does that? Who jumps off Larne Bridge into f- freezing cold water if he's not trying to k..kill himself?
MR. McRAE Well, obviously some fool teenager who thinks she's trying to save a suicidal old coot.
MR. McRAE Good Lord, you're half frozen.Here .
MR. McRAE Now, where do you live and I'll take you there.
AMANDA N-no. I can't go...
MR. McRAE C'mon. We gotta get some hot water on you.
AMANDA Wh-what about you?
MR. McRAE Well as you can see, I'm just fine.
MR. McRAE Don't you want to stick with me. Make sure I don't take a whack at killing myself again?
AMANDA I d-don't c-care wh-what you do, you... mean old m-man.[shuddering]i !
MR. McRAEOh, so she's got some backbone,eh?
MR. McRAE My wife will have a grand time fussing over you. Then the two of you can gripe at me together. Come on, get in.
MR. McRAEGet in, or I'll turn you in for throwing rocks at the cannery.
MR. McRAE[chuckling]Name's John McRae.
MR. McRAE As you can see, I got a tough old hide
MR. McRAE which allows me to swim any damn place I please.
AMANDA Sorry.
MR. McRAE Forget it. It's a lousy inlet, anyway. Water's too warm.
AMANDA Too warm?
MR. McRAE Yup.
AMANDA What's in the tank?
MR. McRAE Water. Salt water.
AMANDA | You raise fish?
MR. McRAE You could say that.
AMANDA Maybe... maybe I should just...
MR. McRAE You want to get out? Fine.
MR. McRAE -Take the blanket with you. You can leave 'em for me at Larne Bridge.
AMANDA No, no, I didn't mean...
MR. McRAE Don't explain. Now that you've found I plan to live for a while, you find me a bit less interesting. ¦
AMANDA [sigh]
MR. McRAE Bridget, get a move on!
MR. McRAE Got a half-drowned teenager here. Threw herself off Larne Bridge.
MRS. McRAE Oh!
MRS. McRAE Dear!
MRS. McRAE [humming]
AMANDA i Uh, Mb's. McRae? I think’you ought to know your husband didn't save me.
AMANDA He jumped off the bridge and I jumped in to save him.
AMANDA Isn't that dangerous for him?
MRS. McRAE Dangerous? Oh yes, absolutely. The water there is far too warm.
MRS. McRAE But what can l do? He just loves to swim.
MRS. McRAE Oh, my! A minute too long, and it just turns to mush.i !»» %
MRS. McRAE So, what kind of swimmer are you?
MR. McRAE She's a long distance swimmer.
MR. McRAE Well?
AMANDAIt's true. I swim the 1500. Howdid you know?
MR. McRAE Swimmers have a certain look, missy. You've got it.
MRS. McRAE John's also a distance man. But me, I'm a sprinter. I like to go fast.
¦ MRS. McR^Echuckling]
AMANDA [laugh of disbelief]
MR. McRAE What? You think she's too old?
AMANDA No, I...
MR. McRAELook at these!
MRS. McRAE Oh, John.
MR. McRAEShe won them in high school. Shewas regional champion.
MRS. McRAE John, that was 1926. Here. Drink your ^ea. |
MR. McRAE Oh, Bridget!
MRS. McRAE Take your bath or you'll be impossible all day.
MRS. McRAE [chuckling]
MRS. McRAE . It's good you're a distance swimmer. Distance swimmers live longer.
(01:17:(01:03) (01:17:(02:03) MR. McRAE Don't bet on that.
MRS. McRAE Amanda, tea?
MR. McRAE She 'll' hate it. ’
AMANDA Yes, please.
AMANDA Were you really regional champion?
MRS. McRAE Oh, yes. For a couple of years. Long, long ago.
AMANDA [coughing] Yuck!
MR. McRAE I told you so. Waste of good seaweed.
MR. McRAE & MRS. McRAE[chuckling]
MRS. McRAE Going ton noon now. Don't you have school teday?
AMANDA I... I didn't go.
MRS. McRAE Don't you like school?
AMANDA Well, yeah. Usually. But, you know, the cannery closed,
AMANDA and my father had to get a job in another town.
MRS. McRAE I'm sure you miss him already.
MRS. McRAE Do you have a young man?
AMANDA No. 1
MRS. McRAENo? Why I think the boys'd fall all over themselves for a girl who'd jump off Larne Bridge.
AMANDA Well... well they don't. And I don't have time for that, anyway.
AMANDA I'm going to swim the English channel before I'm 21.
MRS. McRAE Well, bless you. You should.
MRS. McRAE Mind you, nice to have someone waiting with a towel when you get out of the water.
AMANDA , Maybe." ’
MRS. McRAE Mind you, make sure he's not quite as crazy as my John.
MRS. McRAE Oh he's always been that way. Worse when he was young.
MRS. McRAE You should have seen him in the salmon moon swim.
AMANDA Salmon moon swim?
} () MRS. McRAE Oh, it's a silly old custom.
MRS. McRfE CONT'-D) ' ;All of our young men used to swim out under the full moon, into the ocean, far, far out.
MRS. McRAE Just to show off, really. John swam that year.
MRS. McRAE Oh, he looked beautiful in the moonlight. But when everyone else turned back, he just kept right on swimming.
MRS. McRAE I stood there all night. Finally he came back at dawn.
MRS. McRAEOh, he said he'd seen some amazing things out therfe.
AMANDA Mermaids?
MRS. McRAE Perhaps.
MRS. McRAE So since you're playing hooky, where would you like to be dropped?
AMANDA Uh. . .
AMANDA Right at the end of ray road,I... I guess.
CELIA Well, look who's here.
AMANDA i Hi, Mom. *
CELIA The school called.
CELIA You never showed up this morning. Why is your hair wet?
AMANDA I. . .
CELIA Amanda? You have school. You can't just swim all the time.
AMANDA But it wasn't like that. I jumped off Larne Bridge to save an old man.
CELIA And, uh, where is this old man?
AMANDAHe said he was just goijig for aswim but...
AMANDA but the water wasn't even cold for him and... and he had this weird skin that... that was...
CELIASwimming off Larne Bridge in themiddle of April. Mmmm.
CELIA Amanda, just tell me the truth.
CELIA Was there an old man with weird skin, or did you skip class to go to the pool?
AMANDAThere was an old man with weirdskin.I !
CELIA [sigh] What an imagination.
AMANDA [snort of exasperation]
CELIA Okay, go get changed.
STUDENTS [whispering, giggling in background]
AMANDA [thinking] Mrs. McRae!
AMANDA She didn't make it to the finals -
AMANDA Mrs. McRae?
AMANDA Hello? . |n i %
AMANDA Mrs. McRae?
AMANDA Hello, Mrs. McRae?
AMANDA It's me, Amanda.
AMANDA Remember?
AMANDA Mrs. McRae?
AMANDA [gasping]
AMANDA [squealing] Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh.i !i. «
AMANDA Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God... They're creatures. They're creatures!
AMANDA The tea! I drank the tea . They made me.
AMANDA But I spat it out. No! No, I swallowed it.
AMANDA Gills?
AMANDA And once a mortal being saves the life of one of these strange creatures,
AMANDA He is forever under their spell.
AMANDA One day, the -mermaids shall return...
AMANDA Mmmm... and spirit him away to their watery home at the bottom of the sea.
AMANDA Oh, no.
VOICES Amaaandaa... Amaaandaa... Amaaandaa...
CELIA Amanda!
AMANDA Can I come aboard?
PETER Sure. -
PETER CPNT'D) There." '
AMANDA So, this is your boat?
PETER Well... it's my uncle's boat, really. But, uh, I do all the navigating.
PETER Nowadays with these instruments, you could be a trained monkey and still pilot a boat, but, uh. . .
PETER You okay? You pick up a splinter or something.
PETER Hey, you okay? What...?
AMANDA Peter? . |
AMANDA Can you... tell me about him?
AMANDA Your grandfather.
PETERThat's all anybody ever wants totalk about any more.
AMANDA But is it true?
PETER Well, you know how those old fishermen spin stories.
PETER What he said was, mermaids weren't like people thought.
PETER Oh, they didn't look like fish. And they didn't live incaves under .the sea. ;
AMANDA So he saw one?
PETER Look, I don't know what he saw. It was just... my grandpa was strange.
AMANDADid he really get caught in thelong line?
PETERWell, he said he was going outfishing that day.
PETER But he didn't bring any tackle.
PETER And my dad never forgave himself for letting him go.
AMANDA ' Do you believe in...
PETER mermaids?
PETER Well, the ocean's pretty weird.
PETER Does stuff to your head when you've been out there for a while.
PETER You think...
PETER What you think you see... never mind.
AMANDAWhat? What do you see?
PETER Whatever you think you feee, it always' turns out to be a big fish.
AMANDA What're you looking at?
PETER I dunno. You just remind me of my grandfather.
AMANDA I look like an old man? Thanks.
PETER But it's not that. I mean, you just... he used to look at his hands,
PETER and look out at the water, like you do.
PETER He used to say that at hight he could hear the sea calling him.
PETER And someday, he'd have to answer.
AMANDA I have to go.
PETER Hey look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...
AMANDA I'll be late for school.
PETER Amanda! Amanda!
PETER Amanda!
PETER Oh, great!
MR. WHITAKERGood afternoon, happy students.
MR. WHITTAKER Welcome to your favourite class with your favourite teacher.
MR. WHITTAKER Now, if any of you have any gifts for me in the form of inspired prose.
MR. WHITTAKER feel free to give them to me now, or at the end of the class.
MR. WHITTAKER Amanda, the, uh, short story proposals are due today after class. You all set?
MR. WHITTAKER Good.
MR. WHITTAKER Now, these don't have to be perfect, people. I'm not looking for grammar or proper sentence structure.
MR. WHITTAKER But what I do want is the spark of imagination. The spark of imagination...
MR. WHITTAKER which brings -us back to our friend William Shakespeare.
MR. WHITTAKER Speaking of which; the pop quiz. That'3 right, everybody*, we have a pop quiz today.
AMANDA I can't go in the water.
MRS. BUSBY Why? Are you sick?
AMANDA Yeah, I... I have a stomach ache.
AMANDA I'm afraid I'll cramp up.
MRS. BUSBY Well, you've never missed a practice so you're entitled.
MRS. BUSBY Hey, is everything okay, Amanda?
AMANDA Fine. [, J
AMANDA Everything's fine.
AMANDA Except I can't go in the water. I'm sick.
MRS. BUSBY Okay.
MRS. McRAE Hello, Amanda.
AMANDA [gasp]
MRS. McRAE Fifty years since I've been back here. Certainly has changed.
MRS. McRAEAmanda, are you all right?
AMANDA ’I. . . I know what you are.
AMANDA I know exactly what you want.
MRS. McRAE DO you, dear?
AMANDAYou..you gave me that funny teathat... that made me...
AMANDA And anyway, you'll just keep calling me and calling me, until you turn me into one of you,
AMANDA and take me back to the sea and keep me there-forever.
AMANDA That's what you want, isn't it?
MRS. McRAE I wanted to give you this.
MRS. McRAE John fixed your bike. I'd have ridden it here, but I'm a little out of practice.
MRS. McRAE You're scared. I understand.
MRS. McRAE We're certainly not your averageold duffers, are we?
AMANDA [nervous laugh]
MRS. McRAEYou come back when you're ready.
AMANDA [gasping] '
CELIA Honey, your father called. Did you want to. ..?
CELIA What do you want? She's a teenager.
SEAN [cooing]
AMANDA They've got my bike, Sean.
AMANDA They know I have to come and get it. So I'll go.
AMANDA A... a... and I'll make them take back their... their spell.
AMANDA But i^ you don't see mejagain...
AMANDA you'll know... the mermaids took your sister.
AMANDA I'll be taking that bicycle, thanks.
AMANDA Backbone, huh?
AMANDA I'll show you backbone.
AMANDA Mrs. McRae?
MRS. McRAE [singing] Take time to thrive my rose of gold, in the garden of Dromore
MRS . McRAE[singing] Take heed young eaglet till your wings have feathers fit to soar.
MRS. McRAE [singing] A little rest and then the world is full of work to do.
MRS. McRAE [singing] Sing lullaloo lan, sing hushaby lullaloo.
MRS. McRAE Is that you, Amanda?
MRS. McRAE Amanda?
MR. McRAE [ groat).] ¦
MRS. McRAE John!
MRS. McRAE Amanda, can you drive?
AMANDA Uh-huh.
MRS. McRAE Take the truck to the back door. Hurry!
MRS. McRAE Quickly, Amanda.
MRS. McRAE Get it into the house. Pulli
MRS. McRAE CONT-JD) i Put the hose in the tank.
AMANDA But he'll drown.
MRS. McRAE No, he won't.
MRS. McRAE Okay, hold on tight. The water's coming. ¦
AMANDA He's not breathing.
MRS. McRAE He's holding it. It slows down the shock.
MR. McRAE Well, how does it feel to meet two real, live freaks?
MRS. McRAE Just jpu be quiet, John; McRae.
MR. McRAE Can't use Larne Bridge anymore. Water's too warm. I tried to make it to the harbour, but...
MR. McRAE - Good Lord. Look at Amanda.
MR. McRAE She's scared to death of us.
MRS. McRAENo, she's not. She's a sensiblegirl.
MR. McRAEOh, sure. Did you think the teawas drugged? Did ya?
MR. McRAE CONT^D) ;I bet you looked between your fingers and toes to see if they were webbed.
MR. McRAE [chuckling]
MR. McRAE Ma, I can't eat fish sticks anymore.
MRS. McRAE Is that what you thought? Why, bless you, Amanda, why would we ever do a thing like that?
AMANDA I'm not afraid of you...
AMANDA much.
AMANDA I'll, “uh, just be going'now.
MRS. McRAE Amanda, be a dear and get that jar of spiroris borealis from the table.
MRS. McRAEOh, my! I'm out of everything. I haven't been sea-gathering in so long.
MRS. McRAE Go on, dear. You look like you're going to burst.
AMANDA You're...
AMANDA really...
MRS. McRAE Oh, spit it out, Amandai
AMANDA ...merraards?
MRS. McRAE We prefer "sea people". The men get a little touchy about being called "maids".
MRS. McRAE The men are touchy about a lot of things. Always have been.
AMANDAYou mean there's more of you?
MRS. McRAE Oh, yes. I mean, well, there used to be thousands of us.
MRS. McRAE Now there's just John and me. Around here, at least.!
AMANDA What happened?
MRS. McRAE Oh well, we all got scattered. Some of us married land people... against the elder's wishes, of course.
AMANDAThen it's true. You take normalhumans and...
MRS. McRAE Take them? Oh, please.
MRS. McRAE Humans are always snooping around, looking for magic powers, and coral tiaras and who knows what else?
MRS. McRAE They ask us to take them with us to the sea, but we can't.
AMANDA You can't? But people say that once you're under a mermaid's spell...
MRS. McRAE People say a lot of things. But we grow up like you do.
MRS. McRAEAnd we grow old, like you do. We just need the sea. That's all. We're sea people.
AMANDAIs that why you didn't go to thestate swimming finals?
MRS. McRAE Oh, the state finals. j
MRS. McRAE Too far from the sea.
AMANDA Bet you were the best.
MRS. McRAE Yes. It's too bad. But, well, you saw Mr. McRae.
MRS. McRAE We need the ocean, like you need food or sleep.
AMANDA So... there's no magic?
MRS. McRAE Magic? Well, maybe.
} () MRS. McRAE There “Is magic in the world. And the sea is magic.
MRS. McRAEAnd it's magic when you find the right person.
AMANDAIs Mr. McRae going to be okay?
MRS. McRAE Well, he's getting older.
MRS. McRAE I'm missing a step or twomyself.
AMANDABut you threw him right overyour shoulder.
MRS. McRAE Oh yes, and don't you think I'm not feeling it right now.
AMANDA Mrs. McRae, I could help.
MRS. McRAE Amanda, this could be a very long recovery.
AMANDA Hey, remember what Mr. McRae said? I'm a distance swimmer.
AMANDA Now... where are those... sea worms?
MRS. McRAE [hearty chuckle]
MRS. BUSBY Good start, girls. Come on, keep it up.
MRS. BUSpY - ;Pick it up, girls. C'mon, keep going.
MRS. BUSBYKeep it going. Great turn. Wow! Amanda, what are they feeding you?
AMANDA Do you and Mr. McRae ever get lonely? I mean, without the other sea people?
MRS. McRAE Well, maybe, but we have our little house,
MRS. McRAE , our little salt marsh out back. And sometimes you just want to stay put.
AMANDA That's what 1 thought my family would do. Stay put.
AMANDA Then my father had to go off and... [sigh]
AMANDA I bet you don't have to worry like that.
MRS. McRAE Oh, there'd be times. John would go off fishing the Grand Banks. I'd watch the weather for storms.
AMANDA Were you scared?
MRS. McRAE Sometimes. But I'd watch the horizon, and wait for the boats,
MRS. McRAE -and sometimes I'd tell myself a little bit of sea people lore, just to keep my nerve up.
AMANDA What was it?
MRS. MCRAE Well, we like to say that all the sea people in the world are tied together by an invisible thread.
MRS. McRAE And if you're in a strange sea, and you can't find your way,
MRS. McRAE CONT1D) ¦ f why you should just give a tug on that invisible thread.
MRS. McRAE And somewhere, some other sea person is going to feel that tug,
MRS. McRAE and tug right back, and you won't be alone.
MRS. McRAEHow's that sound?
AMANDA Yeah.
AMANDA But does it work for people?
MRS. McRpi [chuckling] ;
MRS. McRAE Ahh-hh.
MRS. McRAE Ahh-hh... sometimes I wonder if we were right*to stay behind.
MRS. McRAE Be so much easier for John if there were someone else to give him back to the sea...
MRS. McRAEwhen it's time.
AMANDA Is that what happens when mermaids... when sea people... die? ; ,
MRS. McRAE Well, they say the... human part of you dies.
MRS. McRAE But the part of you that comes from the sea...
MRS. McRAEthat part of you never really dies.
MRS. McRAE It just goes on swimming, forever and ever.
AMANDA Good afternoon.
MR. McRAE Good afternoon.. i
AMANDA *Would you like some... seaweed?
MR. McRAEYou know, I hear the Japanesepeople eat seaweed all the time.
MR. McRAE Doesn't cut any ice with you, eh? [chuckling]
MR. McRAE - Well, bon appetit.
AMANDA Where did all of you come from,you sea people?
MR. McRAE Mostly from the islands, around Scotland and Ireland.i !
MR. McRAE You know... when a species becomes isolated... it evolvesdifferently.
MR. McRAE-I hear there are people around the Hebrides who are even weirder than we are.
MR. McRAE Never met any of them. Neverwanted to.
MR. McRAE I never thought you'd last this long.
AMANDA Well... you underestimated me.
MR. McRAE I did.
MR. McRAEWhen I get outta this stupid tank, I'm gonna take you fishing.
SEAN [cooing]
CELIA You're gonna have to do better than that if you want to sneak past me.
AMANDA [sigh] -
CELIA Amanda, I know you're upset your father's not here.
CELIA And I'm trying to give you some room,
CELIA but you're out so early, and you come back so late.
CELIA Is there something you want to tell me?
AMANDARemember the old man I saved?
CELIANot that again! Honey, just tellme the truth.
AMANDA I'm collecting seaweed...
AMANDA to eat.
CELIA ‘I think I like the old man with the weird skin better.
AMANDA No, no, look.
AMANDA It's really great for swimmers.
AMANDA And I'm gonna have to eat right, you know. I'm gonna swim the English channel.
AMANDA [sigh]
CELIA Amanda, no!
AMANDAIt's really great. Do you wantsome?
AMANDA fcoNT'D) You know, people in Japan eat seaweed all the time.
CELIA And you're going to get some more, now?
AMANDA It's freshest in the morning, when the tide goes out. Want to come with me?
AMANDA Well, can I go?
CELIA Go.
AMANDA Mr. McRae?
AMANDA Oh, no!i !
MR. McRAE Ta-dal
AMANDA [gasp]
MR. McRAE You're ready to go fishing?
MR. McRAE Yep, this is a good place.
MR. McRAE Bridget, would you drop the anchor, please?
MR. McRAE Amanda, will you peel back that canvas? Let's see what we've got there.
AMANDA | We forgot the equipment".
MR. McRAE Equipment? What equipment?
AMANDAThe fishing equipment, you know.
Bridget, who equipment? MR. McRAE forgot the fishing
) (} Oh! oh dear, MRS. McRAE well it wasn't me.
Me neither. MR. McRAE
Well, I know forget it. MRS. McRAE Amanda didn't
MR. McRAE Damn! No fishing equipment.
AMANDA Well, what are we gonna do?
There's only MR. McRAE one thing to do.
[gasp] AMANDA
Yowee! MR. McRAE
Mr. McRae? AMANDA
[chuckling] Whee! MRS. McRAE
AMANDA Mr. McRae? Mrs... Where are you?
Oh, yuck!| AMANDA 1
Ahhh. MR. McRAE
AMANDA Are you all right?
MR. McRAE Cod! I hate cod.
AMANDA [groan of disgust]
MR. McRAE I was looking for mackerel.
MRS. McRAE Gonna come in fishing?
AMANDA The water's freezing. I'm not a sea person. My skin's thin.
MRS. McRAE John?!, !
MR. McRAE What?
MRS. McRAE Her skin's too thin.
MR. McRAE Huh, next thing you know, she'll be telling us she can't hold her breath for a lousy 20 minutes.
MRS. McRAE Better take a look in the bow.
AMANDA Oh, wow.
AMANDA Oh. It's beautiful.
MRS. McRAE Go on, try it on.
AMANDA How do I look?
MR. McRAE Like one of us.
MR. McRAE You wanna see something that human eyes have never seen before?
MR. McRAE I'm gonna show you...
MR. McRAE where we get these.
AMANDA Is it... dangerous?
MR. McRAE Well, it's no stroll in the park.
MR. McRAE Come on, come on in.
MRS. McRAE [laughter]
MR. McRAE Oh.
MR. McRAE [soft moan]
MR. McRAE I don't know. Looks weird to me.
MR. McRAE Bridget?
MR. McRAEI hope this is important.j |
MR. McRAE You ever tried fish like this before?
MRS. McRAE Like what?
MR. McRAE Cooked!
MRS. McRAE Well, Amanda says it's good.
MR. McRAE[groan of disgust]
AMANDA You'll love it Mr. McRae.
AMANDA & MRS. McRae[chuckling & giggling) !
MR. McRAEI'm glad I did it. Now I can sayI've eaten cooked fish.
MRS. McRAE You didn't eat as much as me. I'm stuffed.
MR. McRAE You know, when I go swimming in the neighbourhood now, I'll be sort of famous.
MR. McRAE All the little mermaids will swim after me and say,
MR. McRAE "There goes old man McRae, who ate cooked fish with a human."
MR. McRAf CONT^O) ' ;And then they'll say, "What... what are they really like, Grandpa?
MR. McRAE And I'll say, "Humans? Funny you should ask.
MR. McRAE And I'll say, "Humans? Funny you should ask. One of them saved my life, once."
) (} MR. McRAE [sigh]
AMANDA I had the best time.
MR. McRAE You earned it, kid.i i*» *
AMANDA [sighs of contentment]
MR. WHITTAKER Very, very good work. Excellent work.
MS. WHITTAKERIf this works out as well as I expect it to,
MR. WHITTAKERI want you to enter it in the Regional Fiction . Contest.
MR. WHITTAKER The entry forms are on the door, okay?
AMANDA But.., t
MR. WHITTAKER But, uh, what, Amanda?
AMANDA What if some of it's true?
MR. WHITTAKER Well, Amanda, writers use facts from their real life all the time.
MR. WHITTAKER They just embellish them. The imagination is a mysterious thing.
STUDENTS [mixed chatter]
AMANDA Oh, no.
MRS. McRAE He's been this way sinck the middle of the night.
MR. McRAE Don't worry. It wasn't the fish.
MRS. McRAE Hush, John. I'm gonna go turn on the pump again.
MR. McRAE Lucky we got that trip in when we did.
MR. McRAE I hear that fishing with a dead man...
MR. McRAE huh, isn't much fun.
MRS. McRAE Amanda? There's a young man out front.!. I think he's looking for you -
AMANDA Peter?
AMANDA Did you follow me?
AMANDA Well, what are you doing here?
PETER I was worried about you.
PETER You're acting weird, and that story...
PETER you know, when we were talking on the boat.
PETER I hope I didn't say anything to make you think, you knojv, mermaids were real, because...
- MRS. McRAE Would your friend like to come in, Amanda?
PETER Uh, sure.
AMANDA Don't breathe a word to anybody.
PETER About what?
AMANDA Come on.
PETER Oh, my God!
MR. McRAE Is that... young Peter Warner?
PETER * What?
MR. McRAE You look like your grandfather.
MRS. McRAE Water's too warm.
AMANDABut you can still go out to sea.
MR. McRAEEngine's broken. Gave out after our trip.
AMANDA Peter's got a fishing boat. He could take you.
PETER No, wait. You want me...
PETER Wait, I...i >
PETER No, Amanda. Can I talk to you? Please.
PETER Look, I...
AMANDA I know it's weird. But they're just like us.
AMANDA Only he needs cold water.
But... PETER
AMANDA Please trust me. I promise I'll explain everything. If you'll just...
PETER But I'm not allowed to take the boat dut by myself. •
PETER I must be crazy but... Okay.
Thanks. AMANDA
Careful. AMANDA
Well, we're a now? PETERmile out, what
We're a mile AMANDA out .
) ( ) No wait, what PETERare you doing?
How long will AMANDAit be?
Oh, a ,couple MRS. McRAEof minutes*.*
MR. McRAE Hey! Now, that's what I callcold.
MRS. McRAE Good spot, Peter. I'd go in myself but I just did my hair.
Young Warner, here. MR. McRAE there's fish down
PETER There's no fish this close to shore. Not for 50 years.
MR. McRAE There's fish, I tell you, right below me.
MR. McRAE CONT-iD) j Mackerel. '
PETER There's no fish in here. You crazy old...
MR. McRAE Ah, ah, ah, ah. I heard that. Go check your fish finder.
PETER [sigh]
PETER He's right.
PETER There's a school 200 feet down. How did you know that?
MR. McRAE [chuckling]
PETER Haven't seen anyone with that kind tif fish sense since my grandpa...
MRS. McRAE Did he keep the necklace?
PETER Hmm? Did who?
MRS. McRAE Your grandfather. Did he keep the necklace?
MRS. McRAEThe little blue shell on a chain. ~
PETER He never took it off. Hey, wait, how did you know about that shell?
MRS. McRAE My husband's sister gavfe that necklace to your grandfather in return for a favour.
PETER Wha... what kind of favour?
MRS. McRAEThe kind of favour you just didfor us, Peter Warner.
PETER But that's just a story.
PETER Isn't it?
MR. McRAE By the sea, by the sea. By the beautiful sea.
MR. & MRS. McRAE You and me, you and me,Oh how happy we'll be.
MRS. McRAE I love to be beside the sea, Beside the sea,
MRS. McRAEBeside the seaside,By the beautiful sea.
PETER Mr. McRae?
MR. McRAE Hm-mmm?
PETER How long did you know my grandfather?
MR. McRAE Can't count the number of times we went fishing together.
MR. McRAE He was a good man with h line.
PETEK What...
PETER What did my grandfather do... for your sister?
MR. McRAE She was in the County General I.C.U. He broke her out of there,
MR. McRAEand took her back to the sea.
PETER She was sick?
MR. McRAE Hm-mm.
PETERAnd..4 and did the sea make herbetter? '
MR. McRAE No. But it was time for her to go back, and she knew it.
MR. McRAE So she gave your grandfather her shell.
MR. McRAE Like this one, see?
MR. McRAE This necklace is our last tie to the land.
MR. McRAE If you take it off, nothing to keep you here.
MR. MCRAJS Your grandfather did my sister a great service.
MR. McRAE So she gave her shell to him.
PETER If you're a mermaid, where areyour fins?
MR. McRAE Fins? Fins? Oh. [chuckling]
MR. McRAE You're thinking of the Florida mermaids. They have fins.
MR. McRAE [chuckling] We don't deal withthem much. Gaudy bunch.1 )
PETER Then what makes you a mermaid?
MR. McRAE Well, it's special.
MR. McRAE It's, it's, it's like a car with a turbo-charged engine. On the outside, looks just the same.
MR. McRAE But on the inside:vroom!
PETER & MR. McRAE [chuckling]
MRS. McRAE Leave that poor boy alone, John.
MRS. McRAE It's t^ime for your rest*.
MR. McRAE [sighing]
AMANDA I think he's gonna be okay.
PETER I just wish we could do something for them.
AMANDAThey need to be near cold water
PETER Yeah, well, can't...
AMANDA What?
PETERHold on. Grandpa knew a place.
AMANDA Hey, Mrs. McRae, what ijf we could -find you a new place?
MRS. McRAE Don't you think you've done enough for one day?
AMANDAIf we could move you to colderwaters, wouldn't you like that?
MRS. McRAE Don't spend any time at it. We're really gonna be fine, right here.
AMANDA See you tomorrow.
MRS. McRAE Okay, bye.
AMANDAShe visited mermaids every day.
AMANDA One day, she said, "We fcould find you a new grotto." Grotto?
AMANDA Ah, come on.
CELIA Good night, sweetie. Sleep tight.
CELIA Go to sleep now. Go to sleep. That's right. See you in the morning.
AMANDA [moaning] -
CELIAAmanda.
CELIA A hundred and two! Honey, no school for you tomorrow.< ;
CELIA I'll drop Sean off at Mrs. Potter's. And no more of that seaweed.
CELIA I'll get you a cold cloth.
AMANDA No, mom.
AMANDA It's okay. I just need to rest.
CELIAOkay, good. Good, you get somerest. Good night.
AMANDA [sigh]
PETERLet's go.
AMANDAHop'd you know about this? 1
PETER My grandfather used to take me to this place when I was a kid.
PETER Down the coast, a broken-down shack.
AMANDAAnd the water's really cold?
PETERWell, he said if I ever fell in,I'd die of hypothermia.
PETER So I guess it's just right for them, huh?
AMANDA I sure hope this land's still there.i ;
PETER ’Yeah, lucky for us, land doesn't move.
PETER What's with this fence? There used to be a shack right here.
AMANDA [sigh of frustration)
AMANDA Peter, look.
AMANDA No, land doesn't move. But it sure does change.
AMANDA We can't go back with nothing.
AMANDA What do we do now?
RED FACED, MAN So, folks. ;
PETER Yeah.
AMANDA Yes.
RED FACED MAN You have saved the best to the last,
RED FACED MAN because we've got a registered nurse on duty here at all times.
RED FACED MAN -Our dietitian can handle any... any special requirements.
RED FACED MAN Ahhh, now there's a local bridge tournament here, !
RED FACED MAN which is, well... which is really something. Uh-huh.
AMANDA The sea is beautiful around here.
RED FACED MAN Oh, yeah. Oh, beautiful. Yeah. Oh, yes.r *
RED FACED MANYou know, they... they love to sit out here on sunny days.
AMANDA What about swimming?
RED FACED MAN Swimming? Well, we have a heated pool, three whirlpools, therapeutic baths.
AMANDA Well, what about the ocean?
RED FACED MAN The ocean? Come on, young lady, I mean, senior citizens don't like cold water.
RED FACED MANNo, they... they want hot water. It's hot baths, hot tubp, hot rooms ;
RED FACED MANWell, if they can't get it hot, they'll settle for warm, but... not cold.
RED FACED MAN -They're cold enough already. No. here it's hot. Hot's what they want. Hot!
AMANDA Thank you, sir.
PETER Remind me never to get old.
AMANDA We better get back.
AMANDA Hello?i
JAMESHi, sweetheart. You okay? Momsaid you were feeling terrible.
AMANDAYeah, I'm okay, I guess. I wishyou were here.
JAMES Yeah, me too, kid. Once we get the glitches out of this line, I'll have some weekends off.
AMANDAThat'll be great. So you havingany fun up there?
JAMES Fun? Oh, yeah. After doing double shifts, fun is going to sleep.
JAMES [laugh] No, no, no, really, theres nothing here. No movies, no places to eat. ’
JAMES I mean, our idea of having a good time is standing at the window and watching the polar bear club.
AMANDA The polar bear club?
JAMES Yeah. Bunch of old codgers who throw themselves in the freezing waters.
JAMES And they swim, too.
JAMES Amanda?
AMANDA Where? Where do they swim?
JAMES , Down by Shaw Point. why?
AMANDA When?
JAMESWell, they're out there everyday between afternoon shifts.
AMANDA Dad, I gotta go. Love ya!
JAMESAmanda?
AMANDA Peter?
AMANDA Shaw Point, how long will that take?
PETER A couple of hours.
AMANDA { What time is it now?
PETER Quarter past two.
AMANDA Oh, I can't find it.
PETERIt's all right. We'll make it.
AMANDA Shaw Point, Shaw Point.
PETER It should be just up ahead.
AMANDA Wait, stop! This is it.
AMANDA Maybe we're too late. What if they've gone?i ;
PETER Hey, Amanda, look.
AMANDA It's them!
AMANDA Where'd they go?
AMANDA How'd they get there so fast?
AMANDA Hey! Wait. Please, let me talk to you. It's about the McRae's.
AMANDA Peter, look how they're swimming.
AMANDA I think we found something.
AMANDA Peter,and I drove up the coast. We evdh looked in retirement homes.
MR. McRAE I'd rather be in the lobster tank of a Chinese restaurant.
MR. McRAE At least they don't make you do arts and crafts, [weak chuckle]
AMANDA I think we found some sea people.
MR. McRAE Did you talk to them?
AMANDANo, I couldn't. They wouldn'tlet me get close enough.
MRS. McRAE John, do you think it's them?i !
MR. McRAE They were scared of you. You gotta approach them by sea.
MR. McRAE Get some rest, you two. Bridget, would you pack us a lunch?
MR. McRAE We'll leave first thing in themorning.
PETER You all set, Mr. McRae?
AMANDA Shouldn't we stay closer to shore?
PETERCan't. The rocks south of ShawPoint will tear the bottom rightout of the boat. !>» »
AMANDA Peter.
PETER Geez.
PETER It... it's just a minor problem, all right? No big deal.
AMANDA Can we fix it?
PETER There's no time to fix it? We're just gonna have to hope it holds out until Shaw Point.
AMANDA ' How is he?
MRS. McRAE I certainly hope we're doing the right thing. ,•> V *
AMANDA Peter!
PETER [grunt of frustration]
AMANDA What was that?
PETER The propeller's jammed. We're stuck. We just better drop anchor and radio the coast guard.
AMANDABut if we wait for the coastguard, we might miss them.
AMANDA I'll go check on Mr. McRae.
MRS. MCRAE Okay.
MRS. MCRKEHere let me help you.
AMANDA Mr. McRae?
MR. MCRAEI... I thought I could... revivemyself.
MR. MCRAE But I hit the water and I couldn't move,
MR. MCRAE my arms, my legs.
AMANDA Can you move now?
MR. MCRAE Just drop me, kid. There are worsetfates. i
AMANDANo. Don't you wanna see thepeople at Shaw Point?
MR. MCRAE Oh, what's the use?
AMANDANo. You wake up. You listen tome. You're not some weak, puny human.
You're... you' AMANDA re a sea person.
[groan) MR. MCRAE
AMANDA I don't care what you say. You do have magic powers.
MR. MCRAE [chuckling] Well, I've heard stories.
AMANDA Come on, Mr. McRae. Try again. We'll swim together. I won't let you sink.
John! MRS. MCRAE
Peter, follow MR. MCRAE in the skiff.
PETERAre you kidding? We don't evenknow where we are.
I know exactly MR. MCRAE where we are.
MR. MCRAE Two miles, that way.
MR. MCRAjS CONT-b):Was I wrong about the fish?
[chuckling] MR. MCRAE
Mr. McRae? Mr. are. AMANDAMcRae, there they
Mother of God. MR. MCRAE It is them.
AMANDA You made it, Mr. McRae.
SEA PERSON MAN John, good to see you.
SEA PEOPLE [mixed murmurs]
MR. MCRAE Samuel. Casey. ;
SAM John McRae. As I live and breathe.
MR. MCRAEI. . . I... I thought you weredead.
SAM [laughing]
SAM Is this young lady one of us? She looks it.
MR. MCRAENo, she's a friend. But a verygood friend at that.
SEA PERSON WOMAN) Oh, hello. Bridget!
SEA PERSON WOMAN) . j Nice to see you. ’
SAMAh.. you are as lovely as ever,Bridget.
MRS. MCRAE And you're as big a liar as ever, Sam.
MRS. MCRAE We thought we'd lost you.
SAMWe thought you were gone.
SAM Are you coming with us?
SAM We sail south with the salmon moon.
MR. MCRAE I think Bridget will be going with you, but as for me...
SAM I see. Well, it's a good thing you found us.
SAM We'd have been gone with the tide.
MRS. MCRAE Why, John McRae, when were you planning to tell me?
MR. MCRAE And would you have come?
MRS. MCRAEThank you, Samuel. Sorry we had to meet on such a sad day.
SAM A sadday for us. But a|glorious day for the sea.
SAM Are you ready, John? The tide's turning.
AMANDA Wait a minute. Ready for what?
AMANDA What's the sad day?
MR. MCRAE I have to go now, Amanda.
AMANDA Go? Go where?
MR. MCRAE Back to the sea. I kept myself alive for this moment.
AMANDA But... but you're supposed to live fyere. And... j» t
AMANDA And... and swim, and I'll see you again.
SAMIt's our promise, Amanda. He hasto keep it.
MR. MCRAE Amanda.
AMANDA [sobbing]
MR. MCRAE Amanda, look at me.
MR. MCRAE If I died back there on the land, that part of me... that...that...
MR. MCRAE isn't human would've been lost.
MR. MCRAE I never would've made it... without you.
AMANDA [sobbing]
AMANDA But I don't want you to go.
MR. MCRAE Amanda, you remember when you jumped off Larne Bridge to save me?
MR. MCRAE Even though it was freezing cold, even though you were scared stiff?-
MR. MCRAE You have to let me go now.
MR. MCRAE You've got wonderful things ahead of you.
[sobbing] AMANDA
But you won't them. AMANDA be there to see
Oh, I'll see 'em.
Time, John.
MR. MCRAE Ready.
SAMDo you want the sea to have thatnecklace.
MR. MCRAE Oh yes, the necklace.
Let's see how MR. MCRAE it looks.
MR. MCRAE Very natural.
Peter, I'll be grandfather.
Shall I give him your regards?
PETER You do that.
SAM Go then, John.
SAM And may the sea take you gladly.
SAM Bridget, you can go as far as the shallows.
ME. MCRAE [sigh]
MRS. MCRAE You know I'll be seeing you soon.
MR. MCRAE I'll Be waiting. *
AMANDAYou brought him all this way,just to let him go.
MRS. MCRAE Don't be unhappy, Amanda.
MRS. MCRAE ¦We had a grand life together.
MRS. MCRAE But he belongs to the sea. We all do.
AMANDA What will you do?
MRS. MCRAE They're my people too. I'll go with them.
AMANDA • [gasps of sorrow]
MRS. MCRAE Shhh.
MRS. MCRAE -We'll meet again. Look for me in the sea.
AMANDAThe girl told her family aboutthe McRaes.
AMANDA She didn't tell them everything.
AMANDA But she tried to put into words what they had meant to her.
AMANDA She would never forget them.
AMANDA She knew that people have to leave each other sometimes.
AMANDA And it would still make her sad.
AMANDA Then she would remember the story of the invisible thread.
AMANDA She would tug on it, and sometimes she could feel them tug back.
AMANDA She knew that some day, she would have to leave too.
AMANDA After all, she was still going to swim the English Channel.
AMANDA [narrating]It's ti-rue what they say:about sea people.
AMANDA [narrating]Once you're under their spell, they never leave you.
AMANDA [narrating]Sometimes when I look out to sea, -
AMANDA [narrating]I believe the McRaes can see me.
AMANDA [narrating]And anything seems possible.