VOICE:

Lights Out, everybody!

THIRTEEN CHIME NOTES - WIND UP ON ELEVENTH - OUT BEHIND

G O N G

1st UNDERTAKER'S ASSISTANT:

Joe, did you turn on the lights in the chapel?

2nd UNDERTAKER'S ASSISTANT:

Yeah.

1st ASS'T:

(BITTERLY) [Makes me sick!

2nd ASS'T:

What's eatin' you?

1st ASS'T:

Oh, what the hell they want to hold services for on a day like this, anyway?

2nd ASS'T:

What do you want 'em to do - shove her in the ground without even gettin' a chance to turn on the weeps?

1st ASS'T:

Aw, nuts! Every time I gotta date --

2nd ASS'T:

(LAUGHS) You mean you had a date! Who's it this time - that waitress?

1st ASS'T:

Yeah.

2nd ASS'T:

I thought you were through with her.

1st ASS'T:

Naw.

2nd ASS'T:

Well,] Come on, we'd better get this coffin in place [before all the weepin' relatives get here].

1st ASS'T:

Yeah.

2nd ASS'T:

O.K.

SOUND:

(THUD OF COFFIN BEING SET DOWN)

2nd ASS'T:

Don't weigh much, does she?

1st ASS'T:

Must be a skinny one.

2nd ASS'T:

Didn't you see her?

1st ASS'T:

Naw!

2nd ASS'T:

[Say, you missed somethin'!] Prettiest dame we've ever had in here in a year!

1st ASS'T:

Yeah? Think I'll take a look.

SOUND:

(NOISE ON LID BEING PRIED OFF)

2nd ASS'T:

[Hey, what're you doin'?

1st ASS'T:

What do you think?]

2nd ASS'T:

Leave that cover on! Do you want Schultz to kick us outta here?

1st ASS'T:

(CHUCKLES) He won't say nothin'. [He likes to gander at the good-looking ones himself.]

SOUND:

(LID COMING OFF)

JEANIE:

(FADE IN SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH LID BEING REMOVED - PITEOUSLY) Help me! Oh, help me! Please help me!

1st ASS'T:

(IN AWED ADMIRATION) Gee, what a dame!

2nd ASS'T:

What'd I tell ya?

JEANIE:

Can't you hear me? Help me! Oh, help me!

1st ASS'T:

[Mammy!] Look at those lips! Hey, where was I when they were fixin' her up?

2nd ASS'T:

We didn't fix her up. Her mama wouldn't let us touch her. Bury her like she is, she said.

JEANIE:

Bury me! No, no, I'm not dead! I'm not dead! Can't you hear me? I'm not dead!

1st ASS'T:

Say, she looks as if she could talk, don't she?

2nd ASS'T:

Yeah, when they die of heart failure, they keep lookin' alive, don't they?

JEANIE:

I am alive! I am alive! Oh, listen to me! Listen to me!

2nd ASS'T:

[Say, this baby could have given me heart failure any day of the week!]

JEANIE:

I - I can't see, but I can hear you! [Oh, can't you hear me? I'm talking to you!] I'm not dead! [I'm alive!] Listen to me!

2nd ASS'T:

Heads up! Here comes the boss! Shut the lid!

lst ASS'T:

(SHORTLY) Yeah.

JEANIE:

(FADE WITH CLOSING OF LID) No, no! Listen to me! (MUMBLE THRU HAND - FADE OUT) Help me! Help!...

SOUND:

(LID CLOSING)

G O N G

SOUND:

(MURMUR OF CROWD IN FUNERAL CHAPEL, DOWN AND CONTINUING FAR BEHIND:)

MOTHER:

(SOBBING VEHEMENTLY - BACK SLIGHTLY)

VOICE:

That's the mother. She's taking it pretty hard, (FADE) isn't she?

MOTHER:

(IN FULL - TEARFULLY - ALMOST IN MONOTONE) My baby! My baby! Dead - dead - dead! My flesh! Oh, God in heaven, I haven't tears! Oh, baby, baby, why couldn't I have died instead of you! I'm old! You were young, so very young! God, why did you do it - why, why? Oh, no, no, I mustn't say those things! I must believe it's for the best, best for my baby - my little baby - dead - dead! (FADEOUT) Oh, why can't I die? Why can't I die and be with her?

FEMININE VOICE:

(FADE IN AT FIRST "WHY CAN'T I DIE?") Oh, yes, Irene, I know how terrible this moment must be for you - losing your only sister. Don't speak, my dear - I know how you feel.

IRENE:

(ALMOST IN MONOTONE) You fool, if you knew what I'm thinking, you'd lose that smug look on your face. I'm glad she's dead - I tell you, I'm glad! I had nothing while she was alive, and now I'll have everything! Beautiful Jeanie's dead, and she'll rot, and I'll be alive and I'll go on living! Her dresses, her jewelry, and him - she took him from me and now I'll have him back. I'm not sorry - you hear me - I'm not sorry! I'll never be sorry! (FADE) I'm glad she's dead! I'm glad!

TOM:

(FADE IN AT "I'M GLAD SHE'S DEAD" - SUBCONSCIOUS SEMI-MONOTONE) On, my Jeanie! My Jeanie! And I was going to be married to her! Oh, what'll I do without her? Oh, Jeanie, Jeanie, never to hold you in my arms - never to press you close to me! Your lips on mine, and now you're dead and I'll never, never - all these people - why can't I be here alone with you? They're mumbling and talking, but you meant nothing to them like you mean to me. Oh, Jeanie, Jeanie, why did it have to be you? That sister of yours over there looking at me now - she thinks that now you're gone that she and I - but I won't, Jeanie, I won't! I want you, Jeanie! (FADE) I want you - you --

WOMAN:

(START TO FADE IN AT "I WANT YOU, JEANIE" - THE BUSYBODY FAST-TALKING TYPE) Oh, yes, yes, of course, didn't you hear? It was her heart. She must have died during the night in her sleep. Her sister Irene told me all about it. Mrs. Haydon went to wake her up in the morning (FADE) and she knocked and knocked on the door.....

SOUND:

(FADE IN KNOCKING ON DOOR AT ABOUT FIRST "KNOCKED")

MOTHER:

Jeanie! Jeanie, darling! Get up! It's ten o'clock! (LAUGHINGLY) Oh, you sleepy head! I see where I have to come in and drag you right out of bed!

SOUND:

(OPENING DOOR)

MOTHER:

Jeanie! Will you get up? Darling, it's your wedding-day! Well, you certainly take after your father when it comes to being a deep-sleeper! (FADE OFF A LITTLE) Oh, I suppose the only way to wake you up is to let up all the shades as usual.

SOUND:

(SHADE GOING UP)

MOTHER:

Darling, look what a glorious day! Just like my own wedding day! Oh, Jeanie, this is going to be such a happy day for all of us! (LAUGHS) Oh, Jeanie, get out of bed and come here, quickly! Those robins in the oak-tree - they're teaching the young ones how to fly. (LAUGHS) Oh, isn't that adorable! Jeanie, get out of bed and come here! You're missing it all!....Jeanie Haydon, are you going to get out of the bed, or do I have to come over and pull the covers off of you?....All right, then I will!

SOUND:

(WHIP OF BED COVERS BEING PULLED BACK)

MOTHER:

There you are! Now will you get up? Oh, what a sleepy-head! On your wedding day! Jeanie, get up, we've got so much to - Jeanie. (FRIGHTENEDLY) Jeanie! Jeanie, what's the matter? Jeanie, it's mother! Open your eyes! You're so cold - you - (SCREAMS) Jeanie! (FADE) Jeanie! Irene, come here! Jeanie!

WOMAN:

(FADE IN AT "COME HERE") And they called Dr. Roberts right away, but of course he couldn't do a thing! She's been dead for hours, they say. Embolism or something scientific like that. I don't know what it was, but those doctors always put the funniest names on the simplest things. Of course I always say heart failure's the easiest way to die - you never know what's happened to you - and it's certainly much better than being sick for a long time - hospitals and operations and things like that. Oh, look, there's that poor Tom Randolph! Isn't it terrible for him - a funeral instead of a wedding! Don't look now, but that's him over there with Jeanie's sister Irene. (FADE) The poor boy - I think it's simply terrible the way she --

IRENE:

(FADE IN AT "TERRIBLE") Oh, Tommy, Tommy, don't take it so hard! Life's got to go on!

TOM:

(HE HAS BEEN CRYING) Who wants life without her? Oh, God in heaven, how could you do it? (BREAKS DOWN) Oh, Jeanie, Jeanie!

IRENE:

No, no, Tom! Everybody's watching you.

TOM:

Only two nights ago we were out driving. She was pressed so close to my side - so soft - so warm. I was telling her that we ought to put the top up. It looked like rain, (FADE) and she was laughing at me...laughing.....

SOUND:

(START FADE IN OF AUTO AT "LAUGHING")

JEANIE:

(START FADE IN LAUGHINGLY AT "LAUGHING") Oh, Tommy, Tommy! You're like an old woman!

TOM:

But it is going to rain!

JEANIE:

Then let it rain!

TOM:

But, darling, you'll get wet!

JEANIE:

I dry out very easily.

TOM:

There - see that drop on the windshield?

SOUND:

(AUTO STOPPING)

JEANIE:

What are you stopping for?

TOM:

If you think I'm going to let you get soaked to the skin, you're crazy.

JEANIE:

(LAUGHINGLY) Tommy Randolph, I bet you'll turn into one of those men who walk around under big green umbrellas every time it sprinkles!

TOM:

(GOODNATUREDLY) You keep on talking like that and I'll turn into one of those men who beat their wives.

JEANIE:

Oh, will you? Then the wedding's off - (CHUCKLES) over my dead body.

TOM:

(SHARPLY) Don't say that!

JEANIE:

What's the matter?

TOM:

Don't - don't talk about death - even in fun!

JEANIE:

(LAUGHINGLY) Oh, Tommy, don't be such a baby! I'm perfectly healthy.

TOM:

If anything ever happened to you --

JEANIE:

Of all the morbid idiots! Our wedding day's only two days off!

TOM:

That's just it, Jeanie - I love you go much - I --

JEANIE:

Oh, Tommy!

TOM:

Say you love me!

JEANIE:

You know I do. Oh, Tommy, I'm going to live a long, long time for you....

TOM:

Sweet....

JEANIE:

We're going to have so much love and so much happiness. Hold me tight (FADE) I'll never leave you - never.

TOM:

(FADEIN AT FIRST "NEVER" - SOBBING) "Never", she said. I'll never leave you - never! And now she's in that box up there, and they're going to bury her in the ground. (BREAKS DOWN) Oh, my God! (CRIES)

IRENE:

Shh! Oh, Tommy, you've got to control yourself! They're opening the casket. We've got to go up there with mother. It's our last chance to see dear Jeanie. (FADE) Come, Tommy.

SOUND:

(HUSHED MURMUR OF CROWD AROUND CASKET)

VOICE 1:

(CLICKING TONGUE) Tch, tch, tch! Such a young girl!

VOICE 2:

Doesn't she look natural?

VOICE 3:

You could think she was sleeping.

VOICE 1:

To die so young.

JEANIE:

(FADEIN FAST) I heard you! I heard you! I'm not dead! I'm not dead!

VOICE 2:

If she could speak...

JEANIE:

Who said that? I heard you! I can speak! Listen to me!

VOICE 3:

Rest in peace.

JEANIE:

I'm not dead! I'm trying to tell you! I'm not dead! Somebody - somebody answer me - listen to me! I'm not dead! I'm not dead!

VOICE:

Stand aside - her sister.

JEANIE:

My sister! Someone said my sister! Oh, Irene - Irene, come quickly! Make them take me out of here! (TEARFULLY) Make them take me out of here!

IRENE:

(TEARFULLY) Jeanie.

JEANIE:

Yes, yes, Irene, I hear you! Oh, can't you hear me? I can't open my eyes, but I hear you, Irene, believe me, I hear you!

IRENE:

(IN SEMI-MONOTONE) Her face - prettier than mine. They'll shut the lid of the coffin and no one'll ever see that face again. He won't see. He cries for her, but he'll forget. Everyone forgets. And I'll be there.

JEANIE:

Oh, Irene, Irene, why don't you speak again? I - I can't hear anything. I'm so tired. My - my head. I - I can't move.

IRENE:

They fixed her hair nice, and the rouge on her cheeks. It almost looks as if she were sleeping. I'll have to wear black. I'll fix my hair nice, too. Her green dress - if I let it out a little, it'll look nice on me. I'll have all her dresses - everything. Everybody's watching me. I'm not crying. I'd better start. (STARTS WEEPING) Oh, Jeanie! Jeanie!

JEANIE:

Irene! I hear you again! I hear you! Make them let me out of here! (UP) Make them let me out!

WOMAN:

Come, Irene, take my arm. Yes, yes, my dear (FADE) we know what a terrible loss this has been to you, but you must be brave - very brave.....

JEANIE:

Irene! Irene, don't let them take you away from me! (UP) Irene! Oh, isn't there somebody can hear me? Listen - I'm not dead! I'm not dead!

TOM:

(WEEPILY) Oh, Jeanie!

JEANIE:

Tom!

TOM:

Oh, Jeanie, I love you!

JEANIE:

Oh, Tom, you've come! I've been waiting for you! Tom, you hear me, don't you?

TOM:

(SUBCONSCIOUS SEMI-MONOTONE) Oh, my darling, why did you die? Why did you die? If you could only talk to me! If I could only speak to you again!

JEANIE:

Tom! Tom, why don't you speak again? You're standing over me - I know you are! Why don't you say something? Say that you hear me!

TOM:

(SUBCONSCIOUS SEMI-MONOTONE) Your lips - I want to kiss them, but I'm afraid - they're cold - I knew them when they were warm. I held you tight to me.

JEANIE:

(PITEOUSLY) Tom! Tom, speak to me!

TOM:

(SUBCONSCIOUS SEMI-MONOTONE) If I could only talk to you once again. Oh, Jeanie, Jeanie, I love you! Tonight you'd have been my bride. I'd have had you in my arms! Oh, Jeanie, now you're dead and I've got no-one! You'll be underneath the ground tonight - the white softness of you underneath the ground! (BREAKS DOWN INTO TEARS)

JEANIE:

Tom, I hear you crying now! No, no, Tom, don't cry! Listen to me! In the name of heaven, listen to me! I'm talking to you, Tom!

MOTHER:

(IN FAST) Tom, don't cry. Let me have a last look at my baby.

JEANIE:

Mother!

MOTHER:

Oh, my baby, my baby!

JEANIE:

Mother, you hear me!

MOTHER:

My beautiful Jeanie.

JEANIE:

Mother, you do hear me, don't you? Answer me!

MOTHER:

I don't blame God. He was good. She went without pain.

JEANIE:

Mother! Mother, you don't hear me! Mother! Mother, I'm talking to you!

MOTHER:

She would have been such a lovely bride.

JEANIE:

(A LITTLE MORE CALMLY) I - I mustn't shout. No one seems to hear me when I shout. I'll - I'll have to talk quietly. Remember, mother? You always told me to talk quietly. It was lady-like you said. Mother - mother, I'm talking to you. Mother, please - please answer me!

VOICE:

This way, Mrs. Haydon.

MOTHER:

No, no! Not yet!

JEANIE:

No, no, mother! Don't! Don't let them take you from me!

MOTHER:

She'll be away from me so very long. I want just a little while longer with her.

JEANIE:

(BROKENLY) Mother. Mother, I felt your tear on me. On my cheek. Mother, I felt your tear.

MOTHER:

My tear just dropped on my baby's cheek. She never liked to see me cry. I'm sorry, baby. You never liked to see me cry.

JEANIE:

Mother - mother, I'm going crazy here in the dark! Oh, mother, listen to me - listen carefully! I can't move - I can't breathe! I feel nothing - I see nothing, and yet I hear you! You see, mother, I can't be dead - I hear you! I can't be dead! The dead don't hear!

MOTHER:

It's as if she wasn't dead.

JEANIE:

(BUILDING UP EMOTIONALLY) I'm not dead, mother - I'm not! That's what I'm trying to tell you! You, mother! You've got to hear me! You're the only one that's left! Mother, listen to me - I'm alive! They can't close the coffin on me! I'm alive! Mother, mother, tell them to take me out! I'm living! You can't bury the living! You bury the dead, and I'm not dead! I'll wake up in the grave, mother - I'll wake up in the dark and I'll try to get out, and there'll be walls all around me! You've got to hear me, mother!

VOICE:

The minister is waiting, Mrs. Haydon.

MOTHER:

Yes.

JEANIE:

No, no, mother! I don't need a minister! I need you! I need you! You've got to help me! You've got to listen to me! You've got to hear me! Mother! Mother! Hear me! Mother!

UNDERTAKER:

We'll close the lid.

MOTHER:

Goodbye, my baby.

JEANIE:

(HYSTERICALLY) No, no, mother! Don't go! Don't let them shut the lid on me! No, no, mother! I don't want to be alone! I'm in the dark! Mother! (MUMBLING THRU HAND) Mother, listen to me! (FADE) Mother!

SOUND:

(LID BEING CLOSED ON COFFIN)

G O N G

SOUND:

(AUTO ENGINE, DOWN AND CONTINUING FAR BEHIND)

1st UNDERTAKER'S ASSISTANT:

Hey, slow up, Joe. This is a funeral - not a race!

2nd ASS'T:

O.K.! Pretty nice line followin' us, ain't it?

1st ASS'T:

Yeah.

2nd ASS'T:

[Still sore about not keepin' your date, ain't ya?

1st ASS'T:

What do you think? I've been tryin' to sell that dame a bill o' goods for six weeks - we was supposed to go on a picnic out to the forest preserves today.

2nd ASS'T:

Picnic, eh?

1st ASS'T:

Yeah, I said picnic!

2nd ASS'T:

Well, that's another name for it.]

1st ASS'T:

Of all the screwy times to have a funeral!

2nd ASS'T:

Well, the dame's dead. They gotta bury her, don't they? [Gee, I'd like to have known her when she was alive!

1st ASS'T:

Huh! I'll betcha she was a touch-me-not! Lotta good it does her now.]

2nd ASS'T:

Yeah.

1st ASS'T:

It's a swell day, all right. That's the only good part about this lousy job.

2nd ASS'T:

Yeah. You sure get plenty of fresh air riding out to the cemeteries. [Say --

1st ASS'T:

What?

2nd ASS'T:

You told your girl what you do?

1st ASS'T:

You think I'm nuts?]

2nd ASS'T:

(LAUGHS) [Funny thing about dames - you could think we was poison or something just because we work for an undertaker.

1st ASS'T:

Me, I never tell 'em! Not until afterwards.

2nd ASS'T:

Yeah, that's the smartest way.] Say, did you pipe the guy she was goin' to marry?

1st ASS'T:

Who was goin' to marry?

2nd ASS'T:

The dame - the one we're drivin'!

1st ASS'T:

Was she goin' to get married?

2nd ASS'T:

Yeah. Today.

1st ASS'T:

Go on!

2nd ASS'T:

I'm not bullin' ya! I heard 'em talkin' about it. She was supposed to marry that tall guy with the little mustache.

1st ASS'T:

Oh, I saw him! Say, he was sure doin' some fancy bawlin'!

2nd ASS'T:

Yeah. He's in the car right behind us. That's a tough break - almost gettin' a honey like that and then havin' her kick off on the day before the weddin'! It'd be different if it happened afterwards, but like this - (FADE) sure is tough on him --

TOM:

(FADEIN AT "SURE" - CRYING)

IRENE:

(SOOTHINGLY) Oh, Tommy, I can't stand seeing you like this! You've always been so strong!

TOM:

(BROKENLY) Jeanie!

IRENE:

Jeanie's not unhappy, Tommy. She died so peacefully - no pain - there ought to be so much consolation for you in that.

TOM:

(BITTERLY - TEARFULLY) Consolation....

IRENE:

Oh, Tom, we're so young - we've got so much to live for - I'm lonely, too, Tom - I -- Oh, Tommy, Tommy, put your head here. Dear Tommy. (FADE) Poor, dear Tommy.

MOTHER:

(FADEIN AT "POOR") It's nice - it's nice the way Irene is consoling poor Tommy. I'm old, and I've lost so many - mother, father, my sister, Henry - it's an old familiar ache to me, but they've never known this pain. To put someone you've loved beneath the ground - (FADE) deeper and deeper and deeper beneath the ground.

SOUND:

(FADEIN SHOVELS DIGGING IN GROUND - START AT "DEEPER AND DEEPER")

1st GRAVEDIGGER:

(ITALIAN) Hurry upa, Rico! The bossa he say they goin' to be here righta way.

2nd DIGGER:

(ITALIAN - BACK SLIGHTLY) Whassamatter you? What ya think I am - a steama-shovel?

1st DIGGER:

Don't talk so much! Digga the hole!

2nd DIGGER:

(VEHEMENTLY - BACK SLIGHTLY) Say, who you t'inka you are - Il duce? Come on, get down here and digga yourself!

1st DIGGER:

O.K.

SOUND:

(DULL THUD AS GRAVEDIGGER JUMPS DOWN INTO GRAVE)

2nd DIGGER:

(IN FULL) Son-of-gun! All the time tella me what to do!

SOUND:

(TWO SHOVELS DIGGING)

1st DIGGER:

Hay, whassa matter you? You throw dirt in my face!

2nd DIGGER:

My shovel, she slip!

1st DIGGER:

Yeah?

2nd DIGGER:

The ground - she's wet today.

1st DIGGER:

Yeah.

2nd DIGGER:

That crazy boss - whassamatter with him? All the time make us digga the grave the last minoot!

1st DIGGER:

Oh, he just forget all the time, that's all.

2nd DIGGER:

[Wassamatter] - that new blonde - she make him forget, eh?

1st DIGGER:

Whata you t'ink? [Yesterday the boss he show me her pict' in de suit for de bathing. Mama mia, what I see!]

SOUND:

(FUNERAL CORTEGE FADING IN, FAR BACK)

2nd DIGGER:

Hey, here they come now!

lst DIGGER:

Son-of-a-gun, we ain't t'rough yet!

2nd DIGGER:

Whassamatter w'it you? It's deep enough! Let's get outta here. (FADE) What the hell - how much you wanna dig - alla way back to Italia?

SOUND:

(PEOPLE CRYING)

MOTHER:

(SUBCONSCIOUS SEMI-MONOTONE) Everyone cries, and I have no more tears. I should cry. I can't. The sky is so blue here. If I keep my eyes up, I won't see the open grave. I did the same thing when Henry was buried. If I had money, I'd have him brought here, too. Then we could all be together. How long has he been dead - let me think - ten, eleven years. I've almost forgotten. Forgotten when my Henry died. We forget everything. The minister's going to speak. He looks so sad. He liked Jeanie too. They all liked Jeanie. I won't look down - the open grave - I'll watch the sky. (FADE) Pretty blue sky.......

MINISTER:

(FADEIN SLOWLY, STARTING AT "THEY ALL LIKED") Today is a day of sorrow; a day when we look at each other through our tears; a day when a chair is empty, a sweet voice is hushed. Jeanie Haydon lives with us only in our thoughts, and in the affection which will move our souls until the last pulse of our own life is throbbed. Now who shall help us bear the sorrow? (FADE) And what wisdom shall enable us to see things beautiful even in the hour of death? (FADE VERY FAR BACK BEHIND TOM'S FOLLOWING SPEECH, SO THAT ONLY THE IMPORT OF THE FOLLOWING WORDS IS BARELY UNDERSTOOD) The secret of our strength lies in this: that for twenty years the whole short lifetime of this dear child - we gave her our love; and in giving her our love we made ourselves stronger. For in all the wide world, in land and ocean, in the immeasurable air and starry sky, there is nothing so wonderful, nothing so noble, nothing so mighty, as Love.

TOM:

(FADEIN AT "BEAUTIFUL EVEN IN THE HOUR OF DEATH" - TEARFULLY) Wisdom - beauty - what's he talking about? How can I be wise? What's beautiful about this? They'll put her in that hole in the ground - they'll cover her with that pile of sticky mud. (FADE) Oh, God in heaven, what's beautiful about it - what's beautiful?

MINISTER:

(FADE BACK IN AT "OH, GOD IN HEAVEN") To love a fellow creature even for a day makes our nature more fine and pure; but to love a child, a Man, a woman, for many days, for months, for years - this it is which builds up the better of our being, and teaches us the highest wisdom, and assists us in meeting the gloom and the grief and the bitterness of sickness and farewells. For love is of the very essence of the human heart; and when we are deprived of the friend, or child, or sister we love (FADE AS BEFORE - KEEP TALKING FAR BEHIND IRENE'S FOLLOWING SPEECH) our inner soul seems rent in twain, and life is only a part of what was, and the world is dull and grey, as if it were to be clad in twilight forevermore. And if love be so strong to grieve, 1t can also be strong to grasp what neither death nor time can remove from our hearts. Neither death nor time can steal from us the memory of this dear child.

IRENE:

(FADEIN AT "OUR INNER SOUL SEEMS RENT IN TWAIN") Love - love - what's he talking about? I don't feel love! I feel relief! She was in my way, and now she's not going to be in my way! I'll never be the ugly sister again - never, never! I know what I'm thinking is terrible! I can't help it! I'm not getting younger! Tom'll be alone - he's standing next to me now! I feel him close by me! He'll love me - he'll forget her! Everyone forgets! I'll be there! (FADE) He'll love me! He'll love me!

MINISTER:

(START TO FADEIN AT FIRST "HE'LL LOVE ME.") There is no sorer trial than that of loneliness. We think with profound pity of the desolation of the man or woman who dies alone. Our beloved Jeanie Haydon died alone; she was taken from us suddenly, and there was no time in her sickness for her to look up into eyes that gazed into hers with affection. (FADEOUT SLOWLY BEHIND MOTHER'S SPEECH) But here, at last, we surround her as with a circle of love and tenderness. We join our sorrows together, we are comrades in the bitterness of tears; we find society in our suffering.....

MOTHER:

(START TO FADEIN AT "THERE WAS NO TIME" - SUBCONSCIOUS SEMI-MONOTONE) It's true - it's true what he's saying. She did die alone. If I could only have been there - if I could only have held her hand - she was always so afraid of the dark. Always. She loved the sun - yes, and she loved the rain, too, but she hated the night. I remember when we were fitting her wedding-dress. (FADE) We were talking about just that.

JEANIE:

Mother, don't you think the veil ought to be a little lower on this side?

MOTHER:

No, Jeanie, I think that we've got it just right.

JEANIE:

Oh, isn't the sun warm?

MOTHER:

Too warm for this time of the year.

JEANIE:

It never can get too warm for me.

MOTHER:

Humph! I always did say you should have been born in the Orient or Hawaii or someplace like that. I never did see anyone who was more of a sun-worshipper than you are.

JEANIE:

(LAUGHING) But I love the rain, too, mother. I'd like to live someplace where it rained half the day, and the sun just blazed the rest of the time, and it never got dark!

MOTHER:

(SERIOUS) Jean, did you tell Tom you're afraid of the dark?

JEANIE:

(RATHER SUBDUED) No.

MOTHER:

Don't you think you'd better? He might think you're a terrible baby.

JEANIE:

Oh, mother, please don't tease me about it!

MOTHER:

I'm not teasing you, dear. You're just that way, that's all. I guess you'll never change - Doctor Roberts once told me that children usually outgrow fear of the dark, but you never did.

JEANIE:

I don't care! I always want to be in the light! I hate the dark! (FADE) I hate it, and I'll always hate it!

MOTHER:

(FADEIN SEMI-MONOTONE AT FIRST "I HATE THE DARK") Oh, Jeanie, Jeanie! Now you're in the dark and I can't help you! I can't help you! Oh, my baby, my baby!

MINISTER:

(START TO FADEIN SLOWLY AT FIRST "I CAN'T HELP YOU") We join our sorrows together; and though we carry this dear child to the quiet earth, we shall not bury our love. We commit our beloved to the keeping of the mother earth which bears us all. (TALK THRU FOLLOWING SPEECH) We cherish the memory of her sweet character, and --

JEANIE:

(MUFFLED, THROUGH HAND) No, no! Mother! Help me! Mother!

MOTHER:

(SCREAMS)

SOUND:

(CROWD MURMUR)

VOICE 1:

What's happened?

VOICE 2:

It's her mother!

MOTHER:

Jeanie! I heard you! I heard you, Jeanie! You spoke to me!

IRENE:

(IN FAST) Mother! Mother, what is it? Mother, what's the matter with you?

MOTHER:

Jeanie! She spoke to me! She spoke to me from her coffin! She's not dead! She's alive in her coffin!

TOM:

(IN FAST) Mrs. Haydon! What is it? What's the matter?

MOTHER:

Tom, I heard her! Jeanie's not dead! She's alive in the coffin! She's alive, I tell you!

IRENE:

Tom, she's hysterical! She doesn't know what she's saying!

MOTHER:

(HYSTERICALLY) No, I heard her, I tell you! I heard her! Jeanie, my baby! I'm coming to you! (FADE SLIGHTLY) I'm coming!

VOICE:

Keep her away from the coffin!

MINISTER:

My dear Mrs. Haydon, I beg of you! I know the depth of your grief, but you must console yourself that -

MOTHER:

No, no! She's alive! Open the coffin! Open the coffin!

VOICE 1:

It's hysteria!

VOICE 2:

She's crazy with grief!

VOICE 3:

Open the coffin and let her see the child's dead!

IRENE:

No, no, you can't open it! You can't open it!

MOTHER:

(TEARFULLY) Let me see my baby! Let me see my baby! Open the coffin! She'll die in there! Open the coffin!

TOM:

Undertaker, do as she says! Open the coffin!

MINISTER:

Yes, yes, it would be best.

UNDERTAKER:

Just as you say. Open it up, Joe.

2nd ASS'T:

Yeah.

MOTHER:

Jeanie, my baby, I heard you! I'm coming, baby! Open it! Open it quickly!

SOUND:

(COFFIN LID OPENING)

JEANIE:

(FADEIN WITH OPENING OF COFFIN - IN ECSTASY OF HAPPINESS) Mother! Mother, you heard me! You heard me!

MOTHER:

Jeanie! Jeanie, my baby - my baby! Speak to me! Open your eyes! Speak to me again! It's mother!

JEANIE:

Mother, I can't open my eyes! I'm alive, mother! I'm alive!

MOTHER:

Jeanie! Say something! Say something!

JEANIE:

Oh, mother I am speaking to you! Listen to me, mother! Listen to me!

IRENE:

She's dead, mother. Can't you see she's dead?

JEANIE:

No, no, don't listen to her, mother! Listen to me! I'm not dead! I'm not dead!

MOTHER:

My baby, my baby! Oh, speak to me!

MINISTER:

Please, Mrs. Haydon.

JEANIE:

No, no, mother, don't let them take you away! Don't listen to them! I can't move! I can't move, but I'm alive inside! I'm alive, mother! I'm alive!

TOM:

(FADEIN FAST) The doctor! Here's Doctor Roberts!

JEANIE:

The doctor! Oh, God in heaven, the doctor!

DOCTOR:

(IN FAST) What is it, Mrs. Haydon? You must control yourself!

MOTHER:

I heard her, doctor! I heard her! She called to me! She called to me!

DOCTOR:

I'm sorry, Mrs. Haydon. You must control yourself. Your child is dead!

JEANIE:

No, no! I'm not dead! I'm alive! I'm alive!

TOM:

(TEARFULLY) Come, mother. Please.

MOTHER:

(FADE WITH TOM, WEEPING HEAVILY)

JEANIE:

(SHRIEKS) Tom! Don't take her away! Don't leave me! Don't leave me!

IRENE:

You can close the coffin now.

JEANIE:

(UP MADLY - HYSTERICALLY) No, no! Help me! Irene! Tom! Mother! Mother, you! Come back to me, mother! Don't let them bury me! They bury the dead, and I'm alive! I'm alive inside, I tell you! I'll wake up in the dark! Mother! Mother, hear me! I'm afraid of the dark! I'm afraid!

UNDERTAKER:

Put the lid back on, Joe.

SOUND:

(LID OF COFFIN BEING PUT BACK ON)

JEANIE:

(PLEADING PITEOUSLY - FADING BACK AND MUFFLED TOWARD END OF SPEECH As COFFIN LID GOES ON) Mother! Mother, I'm afraid! Mother, help me! Mother! (FADEOUT) Mother! Mother, I'm afraid!

MINISTER:

Mr. Undertaker, you'd better lower the casket at once.

UNDERTAKER:

Yes, reverend. Go ahead, boys - lower it.

SOUND:

(CASKET BEING LOWERED IN GRAVE)

MINISTER:

We commit our beloved to the keeping of the mother earth which bears us all. We thank the Lord that she lived - (FADEOUT) and we cherish the memory of her words and deeds and character.

2nd UNDERTAKER'S ASSISTANT:

(SOFTLY - IN CLOSE - IN AWE) Gosh, Joe! She did look alive!....

G O N G