KATIE
. . . so when he asked me if Polly had tested strep positive, I had to remind him she’s away at prep school . . . and God, Lois, I miss her . . .
JEFF is just passing through, on his way to the stairs.
KATIE
Will you kids please be quiet?
JEFF (glum)
They’ll be quiet. Now.
He goes up the stairs, a little dejected. KATIE looks after him for a moment, loving and worried.
KATIE
They’re squabbling again. Polly used to keep them in line, but now that she’s away at school . . . I don’t know . . . maybe sending her to Bolton wasn’t such a hot idea. Sometimes when she calls home she sounds so unhappy . . .
INT. BELA LUGOSI AS DRACULA, CU
Drac’s standing at the door of his Transylvanian castle. Someone has pasted a comic-balloon coming out of his mouth which reads: ‘Listen! My children of the night! What music they make!’
The poster is on a door but we only see this as JEFF opens it and goes into his father’s study.
INT. A PHOTOGRAPH OF KATIE, CU
THE CAMERA HOLDS, THEN PANS SLOWLY RIGHT. We pass another photo, this one of POLLY, the daughter away at school. She’s a lovely girl of sixteen or so. Past POLLY is DENNIS.. . then CONNIE . . . then JEFF.
THE CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN AND ALSO WIDENS OUT SO WE can see BILL
WEIDERMAN, a man of about forty-four. He looks tired. He’s peering into the word-processor on his desk, but his mental crystal ball must be taking the night off, because the screen is blank.
On the walls we see framed book-covers. All of them are spooky. One of the titles is Ghost Kiss.
JEFF comes up quietly behind his dad. The carpet muffles his feet. BILL sighs and shuts off the word-cruncher. A moment later JEFF claps his hands on his father’s shoulders.
JEFF
BOOGA-BOOGA!
BILL
Hi, Jeffie. He turns in his chair to look at his son, who is
disappointed.
JEFF
How come you didn’t get scared?
BILL
Scaring is my business. I’m case-hardened. Something wrong?
JEFF
Daddy, can I watch the first hour of Ghost Kiss and you tape the rest? Dennis and Connie are hogging everything.
BILL swivels to look at the book-jacket, bemused.
BILL
You sure you want to watch that, champ? It’s pretty —
JEFF
Yes!
INT. KATIE, IN THE PHONE NOOK
In this shot, we clearly see the stairs leading to her husband’s study behind her.
KATIE
I really think Jeff needs the orthodontic work but you know Bill —
The other line rings. The other light stutters.
KATIE
That’s just the other line, Bill will —
But now we see BILL and JEFF coming downstairs behind her.
BILL
Honey, where’re the blank videotapes? I can’t find any in the study and —
KATIE (to BILL)
Wait!
(to LOIS)
Gonna put you on hold a sec, Lo.
She does. Now both lines are blinking. She pushes the top one, where the new call has just come in.
KATIE
Hello, Weiderman residence.
SOUND: DESPERATE SOBBING.
SOBBING VOICE (filter)
Take . . . please take . . . t-t . . .
KATIE
Polly? Is that you? What’s wrong?
SOUND: SOBBING. It’s awful, heartbreaking.
SOBBING VOICE (filter)
Please — quick —
SOUND: SOBBING . . . Then, CLICK! A broken connection.
KATIE
Polly, calm down! Whatever it is can’t be that b —
HUM OF AN OPEN LINE
JEFF has wandered toward the TV room, hoping to find a blank tape.
BILL
Who was that?
Without looking at her husband or answering him, KATIE slams the lower button in again.
KATIE
Lois? Listen, I’ll call you back. That was Polly, and she sounded very upset. No . . . she hung up. Yes. I will. Thanks.
She hangs up.
BILL (concerned)
It was Polly?
KATIE
Crying her head off. It sounded like she was trying to say ‘Please take me home’ . . . I knew that damn school was bumming her out .
. . Why I ever let you talk me into it . . .
She’s rummaging frantically on her little phone desk. Catalogues go slithering to the floor around her stool.
KATIE
Connie did you take my address book?
CONNIE (voice)
No, Mom.
BILL pulls a battered book out of his back pocket and pages through it.
BILL
I got it. Except —
KATIE
I know, damn dorm phone is always busy. Give it to me.
BILL
Honey, calm down.
KATIE
I’ll calm down after I talk to her. She is sixteen, Bill. Sixteen-year-old girls are prone to depressive interludes. Sometimes they even k
. . . just give me the damn number!
BILL
617-555-8641
As she punches the numbers, THE CAMERA SLIDES IN TO CU.
KATIE
Come on, come on . . . don’t be busy . . . just this once . . .
SOUND: CLICKS. A pause. Then . . . the phone starts ringing.
KATIE (eyes closed)
Thank You, God.
VOICE (filter)
Hartshorn Hall, this is Frieda. If you want Christine the Sex Queen, she’s still in the shower, Arnie.
KATIE
Could you call Polly to the phone? Polly Weiderman? This is Kate Weiderman. Her mother.
VOICE (filter)
Oh, jeez! Sorry. I thought — hang on, please, Mrs. Weiderman.
SOUND: THE PHONE CLUNKS DOWN.
VOICE (filter, and very faint)
Polly? Pol? . . . Phone call! . . . It’s your mother!
INT. A WIDER ANGLE ON THE PHONE NOOK, WITH BILL
BILL
Well?
KATIE
Somebody’s getting her. I hope.
JEFF comes back in with a tape.
JEFF
I found one, Dad. Dennis hid em. As usual.
BILL
In a minute, Jeff. Go watch the tube.
JEFF
But —
BILL
I won’t forget. Now go on.
JEFF goes.
KATIE
Come on, come on, come on . . .
BILL
Calm down, Katie.
KATIE (snaps)
If you’d heard her, you wouldn’t tell me to calm down! She
sounded —
POLLY (filter, cheery voice)
Hi, mom!
KATIE
Pol? Honey? Are you all right?
POLLY (happy, bubbling voice)
Am I all right? I aced my bio exam, got a B on my French Conversational Essay, and Ronnie Hansen asked me to the Harvest Ball. I’m so all right that if one more good thing happens to me today, I’ll probably blow up like the Hindenburg.
KATIE
You didn’t just call me up, crying your head off?
We see by KATE’S face that she already knows the answer to this question.
POLLY (filter)
Heck no!
KATIE
I’m glad about your test and your date, honey. I guess it was
someone else. I’ll call you back, okay?
POLLY (filter)
‘Kay. Say hi to Dad!
KATIE
I will.
INT. THE PHONE NOOK, WIDER
BILL
She okay?
KATIE
Fine. I could have sworn it was Polly, but . . . she’s walking on air.
BILL
So it was a prank. Or someone who was crying so hard she dialed a wrong number . . . ‘through a shimmering film of tears,’ as we veteran hacks like to say.
KATIE
It was not a prank and it was not a wrong number! It was someone in my family!
BILL
Honey, you can’t know that.
KATIE
No? If Jeffie called up, just crying, would you know it was him?
BILL (struck by this)
Yeah, maybe. I guess I might.
She’s not listening. She’s punching numbers, fast.
BILL
Who you calling?
She doesn’t answer him. SOUND: PHONE RINGS TWICE. Then:
OLDER FEMALE VOICE (filter)
Hello?
KATIE
Mom? Are you . . . (She pauses) Did you call just a few seconds ago?
VOICE (filter)
No, dear . . . why?
KATIE
Oh . . . you know these phones. I was talking to Lois and I lost the other call.
VOICE (filter)
Well, it wasn’t me. Kate, I saw the prettiest dress in La Boutique today, and —
KATIE
We’ll talk about it later, Mom, okay?
VOICE (filter)
Kate, are you all right?
KATIE
I have . . . Mom, I think maybe I’ve got diarrhea. I have to go. ‘Bye.
She hangs up. BILL hangs on until she does, then he bursts into wild donkey-brays of LAUGHTER.
BILL
Oh boy . . . diarrhea . . . I gotta remember that the next time my agent calls . . . oh Katie, that was so cool —
KATIE (almost screaming)
This is not funny!
BILL stops laughing.
INT. THE TV ROOM
JEFF and DENNIS have been tussling. They stop. All three kids look toward the kitchen.
INT. THE PHONE NOOK, WITH BILL AND KATIE
KATIE
I tell you it was someone in my family and she sounded — oh, you don’t understand. I knew that voice.
BILL
But if Polly’s okay and your mom’s okay . . .
KATIE (positive)
It’s Dawn.
BILL
Come on, hon, a minute ago you were sure it was Polly.
KATIE
It had to be Dawn. I was on the phone with Lois and Mom’s okay so Dawn’s the only other one it could have been. She’s the youngest . . . I could have mistaken her for Polly . . . and she’s out there in that farmhouse alone with the baby!