The Ray Bradbury Theater (1985–1992): Season 3, Episode 10 - Hail and Farewell - full transcript
A 12-year-old boy discovers that he can't grow up.
[music playing]
RAY BRADBURY: People ask,
where do you get your ideas?
Well, right here.
All this is mine.
I'll never starve here.
I'm Ray Bradbury.
And this is--
Here lie my first
magic sets, given
to me when I was
10 years old, when
I thought that by magic I could
control the world around me.
My parents gave me sweaters
and socks for Christmas.
I rebelled.
I wanted to stay young-- a kid
with a magic set-- forever.
I wish somehow I could
smoke the proper cigars
to stunt my growth.
Out of those Christmases
and my secret desire
to scrunch down and be
10 years old forever,
the story that follows was born.
Tag!
I won!
You cheated.
You always win, you runt.
You cheated a minute!
Took a shortcut,
you little cheat!
Know something?
I don't like you.
All A's in school all the time.
Beat us at tag.
All A's.
You're a creep.
Look at me when I'm
talking to you, boy!
Look at me when
I'm talking to you.
Hear what I said?
Hey, creep!
Hi.
You new in school?
Never seen you before.
I'm Willie.
Charlotte.
I bet that's your
mother's name too.
How'd you know that?
Just did.
CHARLOTTE'S MOM:
Charlotte, there you are.
Who's that?
Mom, this is Willie.
CHARLOTTE'S MOM: Hello.
Willie, did you say?
Did you ever--
No.
WILLIE (VOICEOVER):
Once, a long time ago.
I was in love with you.
What?
Once, I was--
Hi ya, creep.
Come here!
[boys yelling]
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): It's the
time of going away again.
The hands of all the
clocks in this town
have moved around
for everyone but me.
Folks are sensing they should
be seeing a summer in me,
and I will only
ever be in spring.
[knocking on door]
It's all so sudden,
you just leaving.
Mom, you know I've got to.
Where will you go,
you, just a boy of 12?
Mom, I'm not 12.
Right?
Gosh, look at this.
Where's the funeral?
I'm not dying.
I'm just going away.
That was taken in 1985.
That one in 1982.
'76.
'70.
'67.
1963.
Can't be.
All these pictures had to
be taken in the last year.
No, Dad, that was
taken 25 years back.
13 years back.
Three years back.
But you haven't changed.
That's what I've been
trying to tell you.
You just wouldn't believe.
JOHN: Who are all these people?
WILLIE: My other folks.
My other moms and dads.
I've seen photographs of
flying saucers real and clear
as high noon.
You could have rigged these up.
WILLIE: Dad, look at me.
Am I telling the truth?
Yeah.
Sure.
Now we're going to be
part of your past too?
EMMA: And now you're leaving us?
Willie, why?
Why?
Because if I stay three
or six months, they'd guess.
They'd find out
what I really am.
But they're your
school chums, Willie.
They'd never hurt you.
How long since you
were a little girl, Mom?
Huh?
Huh, Mom?
You've forgotten.
No, no, I've got to
go before they get me.
You've got to admit, it's
been a great three years, huh?
Has it really
been three years?
It seems like noon
yesterday we saw
you wandering around out there.
Willie, how did you
know where to come?
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): Simple as
reading birth announcements
and funeral notices.
"Walter Arnold Webley, son
of Emma and John Webley,
died Friday, age 12.
Services Monday at noon."
Newspapers every day full of
lost people and empty houses.
[knocking]
Hi.
My name is Willie.
I think I'm lost.
JOHN: Cookie?
WILLIE: Thanks.
EMMA: There you go.
Thank you.
(VOICEOVER) But I
always wanted to have
just one set of parents.
I want to stay on
forever with you.
When my parents died, I was
taken to an orphan's home.
CHARLOTTE'S MOM: Willie.
Willie, where are you going?
[car door closes]
[car door closes]
[car engine turns on]
[kids yelling]
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): Everyone
grew up except for me.
That's when I first found out.
Tops.
I choose first.
Joe, you.
- Phil.
- Tom.
Douglas, on my side.
BOY 1: Roger.
BOY 2: John.
All right.
BOY 1: George, get over here.
Hey, what about me?
[in unison] You take him.
No, you.
I don't want him.
You take him.
BOY 1: You take him.
BOY 2: No.
He's a runt.
Been here two years.
Look it-- a squirt.
He hasn't grown an inch.
A toadstool.
Nah, know what he is?
He's a pygmy.
BOYS: [in unison] Yeah!
BOY 1: All right, let's play.
Do you mind?
WILLIE: (VOICEOVER):
So I ran away.
Yes, sir, son.
Glad we met.
You belong with us.
Yeah, it sounds great, but--
You need a place
to stay, right?
Sure, but--
Well then, you've
got to meet my friends.
They'll check you out.
Here.
OK, gang.
Attention!
Say hello to the new
member of our show, Willie!
What do you think?
Pretty great, [inaudible].
The world's oldest kid.
He ain't going to
get any bigger.
Sure, but he
don't look like what
people call midgets or dwarfs.
We never use those words.
We're little people.
But you don't look like us.
I mean, you don't look like
one of us little folks.
He's just a boy.
CIRCUS MAN: Come on,
gang, he needs a home.
CIRCUS WOMAN: Nobody would
believe he was one of us.
They'd think he was lying.
CIRCUS MAN: Well, sorry kid.
I guess there just ain't
no place for you anywhere.
WILLIE (VOICEOVER):
I looked like a boy.
I sounded like a boy.
I might as well
go on being a boy.
There's no use fighting it.
What'll it be?
Well?
Well--
He'll have the same as me.
This is better than
butter pecan, isn't it?
Yeah.
That was my favorite
for a long time.
I loved butter pecan.
I think this is better.
You know what we should do?
We should eat the cherry.
I was going to say that.
Cheers.
Now what?
OLD WOMAN: He's been
gone some 30 years now.
My husband just last week.
Hard enough, a house
without a husband.
Terrible, a house
without a child.
I look at all the
faces passing by,
and I think what a shame all
those flowers have to be cut.
All those bright fires put out.
What a shame they
have to grow tall
and wrinkle up and gray
out in blizzards like me.
They're so eager for everything.
I guess that's what I
miss most in older folks--
the eagerness, the brightness.
Wouldn't it be nice if children
could stay young forever?
What if they could stay
beautiful and small for keeps?
Yeah.
Willie, you got
something to say?
Hmm?
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): I'm
a boy, I told myself.
I have to live in
a boy's world--
read boys' books,
play boys' games,
cut myself off from
everything else.
Can't be both.
Got to be only one thing--
young.
OLD WOMAN: [inaudible]
Night, night.
Good night.
What about these?
What's the game?
OK, ready?
One, two, three.
Goodbye.
It's me that's supposed to go.
No.
Forgive me.
It's been a grand two years.
Yes.
Willie, how do you do it?
Me?
Old forever.
You, forever young.
Oh.
Oh, Willie.
Make someone happy.
Hmm?
I will.
I will.
I will.
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): So I did.
We planned on driving
you to the station.
You couldn't stand that.
Neither could I. Bye, Emma.
Bye, John.
BOY: Hey, Willie.
Hey, Willie.
Here's your hat.
What's your hurry?
How come you look like
you're running away?
Maybe I'm taking a vacation.
Got time for a few fastballs?
Catch.
Hey.
What's going on?
You've been lousy all year.
How come you got good so fast?
Give it.
Know what I think?
You better get out of town.
Why?
I don't know.
I don't like you.
You-- you're a--
A what?
A squirt?
A pygmy?
No.
No.
Something-- something else.
[train horn blows]
Something else.
WILLIE (VOICEOVER):
Once, a long time ago--
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): I
was in love with you.
CHARLOTTE'S MOM
(VOICEOVER): Was?
Willie.
Charlotte.
[train horn blows]
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): Been a
child for over 40 years now.
It's a living, as they say.
When you make
other people happy,
you almost feel happy too.
I've got my job to do.
I do it.
[sighs]
[doorbell ringing]
Hi.
My name is Willie.
I think I'm lost.
[music playing]
RAY BRADBURY: People ask,
where do you get your ideas?
Well, right here.
All this is mine.
I'll never starve here.
I'm Ray Bradbury.
And this is--
Here lie my first
magic sets, given
to me when I was
10 years old, when
I thought that by magic I could
control the world around me.
My parents gave me sweaters
and socks for Christmas.
I rebelled.
I wanted to stay young-- a kid
with a magic set-- forever.
I wish somehow I could
smoke the proper cigars
to stunt my growth.
Out of those Christmases
and my secret desire
to scrunch down and be
10 years old forever,
the story that follows was born.
Tag!
I won!
You cheated.
You always win, you runt.
You cheated a minute!
Took a shortcut,
you little cheat!
Know something?
I don't like you.
All A's in school all the time.
Beat us at tag.
All A's.
You're a creep.
Look at me when I'm
talking to you, boy!
Look at me when
I'm talking to you.
Hear what I said?
Hey, creep!
Hi.
You new in school?
Never seen you before.
I'm Willie.
Charlotte.
I bet that's your
mother's name too.
How'd you know that?
Just did.
CHARLOTTE'S MOM:
Charlotte, there you are.
Who's that?
Mom, this is Willie.
CHARLOTTE'S MOM: Hello.
Willie, did you say?
Did you ever--
No.
WILLIE (VOICEOVER):
Once, a long time ago.
I was in love with you.
What?
Once, I was--
Hi ya, creep.
Come here!
[boys yelling]
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): It's the
time of going away again.
The hands of all the
clocks in this town
have moved around
for everyone but me.
Folks are sensing they should
be seeing a summer in me,
and I will only
ever be in spring.
[knocking on door]
It's all so sudden,
you just leaving.
Mom, you know I've got to.
Where will you go,
you, just a boy of 12?
Mom, I'm not 12.
Right?
Gosh, look at this.
Where's the funeral?
I'm not dying.
I'm just going away.
That was taken in 1985.
That one in 1982.
'76.
'70.
'67.
1963.
Can't be.
All these pictures had to
be taken in the last year.
No, Dad, that was
taken 25 years back.
13 years back.
Three years back.
But you haven't changed.
That's what I've been
trying to tell you.
You just wouldn't believe.
JOHN: Who are all these people?
WILLIE: My other folks.
My other moms and dads.
I've seen photographs of
flying saucers real and clear
as high noon.
You could have rigged these up.
WILLIE: Dad, look at me.
Am I telling the truth?
Yeah.
Sure.
Now we're going to be
part of your past too?
EMMA: And now you're leaving us?
Willie, why?
Why?
Because if I stay three
or six months, they'd guess.
They'd find out
what I really am.
But they're your
school chums, Willie.
They'd never hurt you.
How long since you
were a little girl, Mom?
Huh?
Huh, Mom?
You've forgotten.
No, no, I've got to
go before they get me.
You've got to admit, it's
been a great three years, huh?
Has it really
been three years?
It seems like noon
yesterday we saw
you wandering around out there.
Willie, how did you
know where to come?
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): Simple as
reading birth announcements
and funeral notices.
"Walter Arnold Webley, son
of Emma and John Webley,
died Friday, age 12.
Services Monday at noon."
Newspapers every day full of
lost people and empty houses.
[knocking]
Hi.
My name is Willie.
I think I'm lost.
JOHN: Cookie?
WILLIE: Thanks.
EMMA: There you go.
Thank you.
(VOICEOVER) But I
always wanted to have
just one set of parents.
I want to stay on
forever with you.
When my parents died, I was
taken to an orphan's home.
CHARLOTTE'S MOM: Willie.
Willie, where are you going?
[car door closes]
[car door closes]
[car engine turns on]
[kids yelling]
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): Everyone
grew up except for me.
That's when I first found out.
Tops.
I choose first.
Joe, you.
- Phil.
- Tom.
Douglas, on my side.
BOY 1: Roger.
BOY 2: John.
All right.
BOY 1: George, get over here.
Hey, what about me?
[in unison] You take him.
No, you.
I don't want him.
You take him.
BOY 1: You take him.
BOY 2: No.
He's a runt.
Been here two years.
Look it-- a squirt.
He hasn't grown an inch.
A toadstool.
Nah, know what he is?
He's a pygmy.
BOYS: [in unison] Yeah!
BOY 1: All right, let's play.
Do you mind?
WILLIE: (VOICEOVER):
So I ran away.
Yes, sir, son.
Glad we met.
You belong with us.
Yeah, it sounds great, but--
You need a place
to stay, right?
Sure, but--
Well then, you've
got to meet my friends.
They'll check you out.
Here.
OK, gang.
Attention!
Say hello to the new
member of our show, Willie!
What do you think?
Pretty great, [inaudible].
The world's oldest kid.
He ain't going to
get any bigger.
Sure, but he
don't look like what
people call midgets or dwarfs.
We never use those words.
We're little people.
But you don't look like us.
I mean, you don't look like
one of us little folks.
He's just a boy.
CIRCUS MAN: Come on,
gang, he needs a home.
CIRCUS WOMAN: Nobody would
believe he was one of us.
They'd think he was lying.
CIRCUS MAN: Well, sorry kid.
I guess there just ain't
no place for you anywhere.
WILLIE (VOICEOVER):
I looked like a boy.
I sounded like a boy.
I might as well
go on being a boy.
There's no use fighting it.
What'll it be?
Well?
Well--
He'll have the same as me.
This is better than
butter pecan, isn't it?
Yeah.
That was my favorite
for a long time.
I loved butter pecan.
I think this is better.
You know what we should do?
We should eat the cherry.
I was going to say that.
Cheers.
Now what?
OLD WOMAN: He's been
gone some 30 years now.
My husband just last week.
Hard enough, a house
without a husband.
Terrible, a house
without a child.
I look at all the
faces passing by,
and I think what a shame all
those flowers have to be cut.
All those bright fires put out.
What a shame they
have to grow tall
and wrinkle up and gray
out in blizzards like me.
They're so eager for everything.
I guess that's what I
miss most in older folks--
the eagerness, the brightness.
Wouldn't it be nice if children
could stay young forever?
What if they could stay
beautiful and small for keeps?
Yeah.
Willie, you got
something to say?
Hmm?
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): I'm
a boy, I told myself.
I have to live in
a boy's world--
read boys' books,
play boys' games,
cut myself off from
everything else.
Can't be both.
Got to be only one thing--
young.
OLD WOMAN: [inaudible]
Night, night.
Good night.
What about these?
What's the game?
OK, ready?
One, two, three.
Goodbye.
It's me that's supposed to go.
No.
Forgive me.
It's been a grand two years.
Yes.
Willie, how do you do it?
Me?
Old forever.
You, forever young.
Oh.
Oh, Willie.
Make someone happy.
Hmm?
I will.
I will.
I will.
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): So I did.
We planned on driving
you to the station.
You couldn't stand that.
Neither could I. Bye, Emma.
Bye, John.
BOY: Hey, Willie.
Hey, Willie.
Here's your hat.
What's your hurry?
How come you look like
you're running away?
Maybe I'm taking a vacation.
Got time for a few fastballs?
Catch.
Hey.
What's going on?
You've been lousy all year.
How come you got good so fast?
Give it.
Know what I think?
You better get out of town.
Why?
I don't know.
I don't like you.
You-- you're a--
A what?
A squirt?
A pygmy?
No.
No.
Something-- something else.
[train horn blows]
Something else.
WILLIE (VOICEOVER):
Once, a long time ago--
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): I
was in love with you.
CHARLOTTE'S MOM
(VOICEOVER): Was?
Willie.
Charlotte.
[train horn blows]
WILLIE (VOICEOVER): Been a
child for over 40 years now.
It's a living, as they say.
When you make
other people happy,
you almost feel happy too.
I've got my job to do.
I do it.
[sighs]
[doorbell ringing]
Hi.
My name is Willie.
I think I'm lost.
[music playing]