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By Savannah Haze Date: 2001 Jun 20 Comment on this Work [[2001.06.20.15.31.3417]] |
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SCENE FIVE (past, continuation of last scene) (Allie and Michael are walking through a park. She seems to be keeping a distance but ever so often, she reaches out and touches his arm almost as if out of habit. They come to a bench and the music fades as they sit down. Both are silent during an almost awkward moment. Finally, Michael looks at Allie who will not meet his eyes.) MICHAEL "You haven't changed at all." ALLIE "My therapist seems to think so." MICHAEL "No, no, I mean you... what I see out here. God, Allie, you're even more beautiful than you used to be." ALLIE "If you say so..." (Michael turns her face toward him and looks in her eyes.) MICHAEL "You're beautiful, Allie. Just say 'thank you.'" ALLIE (softly) "Thank you." (They continue to look at each other until Allie looks away. She's struggling to hold up the "wall.") ALLIE "I'm giving you the chance you wanted. I don't have long to listen so get started." MICHAEL (somewhat unnerved by this sudden shift) "Where do I begin?" ALLIE "How about with what possessed you to walk out and never come back?" MCHAEL "But I am back, I'm here." ALLIE "Are you going to make excuses or be honest with me?" MICHAEL "I couldn't come back." ALLIE "I'll bite, Michael. Why couldn't you come back?" MICHAEL "It's hard to explain, Allie." ALLIE "You've had three years to figure it out. Tell me, Michael. I may not deserve much in this life, but I deserve to know why you left." MCHAEL "For the same reason that I walked out in the first place. I was selfish. At the time I wrote it off as doing the best thing for you, but I was selfish. I felt I was doing so much and trying so hard to be there for you and you wouldn't let me be..." ALLIE "You're starting to blame me." MICHAEL "No, listen to me. You couldn't let me, or maybe you were right not to. Maybe something told you that you shouldn't let me help. (tears come to Michael's eyes) My idea of helping was to make you forget your problems and your hurt. There were times that I wished you would pretend to be happy when you weren't, just so I wouldn't have to deal with it. And deep down, I think you knew I felt that way. Allie, there was never a time that I said, "What will it take to fix this?" I would hold you and play the part of your protector but I never tried to help you actually get through your problems because..." ALLIE "Michael, stop..." MICHAEL "Because deep down I thought I was the problem. And when you stopped saying that you loved me, I felt I was living on borrowed time with you. So I put it off on you, I made you feel responsible. I left because I wanted to hurt you first. As much as I loved you, I was too selfish to stay and wait for an outcome. Even if there was a chance it would be a good one." ALLIE "But why didn't you ever contact me? Did you even think about me? You could have called or written, something. You just disappeared." MICHAEL "I was never far away. I kept up with you through people on campus. And I would sit across the street in the café and watch you come home sometimes. After I left, it seemed that you got better. I wasn't going to come back and ruin that." ALLIE "But I wanted you to come back, Michael. I prayed you would come back. Everyday I would walk in the door and hope you would be sitting there. Then one day I realized you weren't coming back. By then I had graduated, so I left the apartment and all the memories and moved back close to my parents. And once I convinced myself that I deserved a life of my own, I tried to get on with it." MICHAEL "I'm sorry, ba...Allie. I wanted to come back; I even came to the apartment once. But my pride wouldn't let me. Partly because I didn't want to admit I had been wrong and partly because I was afraid you wouldn't want me anymore." ALLIE "Then why now? Why did you find me now?" MICHAEL "Closure. Pride cost me everything I loved. It's time that I controlled my life. I need to make things right, at least the best that I can. I'm not proud anymore, just alone. It's hard to be alone, but it's even harder when you're alone with guilt and regret. I'll never forgive myself for hurting you, but I thought if I could convince you to forgive me, I'd find a little peace." (Allie turns from Michael and faces the front. He drops his head, emotionally exhausted) ALLIE "Thank you." (Michael lifts his head and looks at her) ALLIE "I never hated you, Michael. (She turns to him) And I..." (Allie touches his cheek.) ALLIE "I never stopped loving you." (Michael takes her hand and kisses her palm. They move closer together and begin to talk. Their bodies are relaxed. There are time-lapse scenes of them in different discussions during the voice over. In some her head is in lying in his lap, others he's standing in front of her, etc.) ALLIE'S VOICE "Michael and I spent the rest of the day putting the past to rest. It hurt to tear open the old wounds, but we had to heal them correctly. We talked until it grew dark. We talked about our college days. How we met, the first time we made love, our trip out West. We talked about what we had been doing during the three years we'd been apart and how our lives had changed. He cried, I cried. And in the end, we found ourselves in the place we had always seemed to end up--each others' arms. (Scene ends with Allie leaned against Michael, his arms around her, his face buried in her hair. They are at peace.) |