Bloomington

The Day Everything Changes

Scene 22 (Catherine's Birthday) (Where everything Changes)

Catherine is getting ready to blow her candles out, while they are eating breakfast.

Jackie: Did you make a wish?

Catherine: (Smiles) I did.

Jackie: - What did you wish for?

Catherine: - I can't tell you!

Jackie: Let's hurry up and eat because I have a surprise for you.

Catherine: Another one? (Jackie tries to eat some of the cake with her fork and Catherine stops her) Ahh!

Jackie: Yes, but this is a top-secret surprise in a top-secret government location. You see, I'm going to be testing the Mahoney Principle for Reducing Fear.

Catherine: Is this retribution for the library thing?

Jackie: (teasing Catherine) Absolutely not. ( Jackie laughs)

The principle states that fear can be greatly reduced by knowledge of the inner-workings of that, which is feared. Such as, if a child is afraid of monsters you should take them to the set of a horror film. Once they see how the monster's made they will cease to be afraid of them. Trust me, I've seen it happen.

Catherine: What journal was that published in?

Jackie: None. Mahoney is my mother's maiden name. I totally made it up.

Catherine: Very cute.

Jackie: (pulls out a blindfold from her pocket) Oh, and you're going to need to wear... this.

Catherine: Why?

Jackie: Because if you see it beforehand you might try to run away. And we can't have that now, can we?

(Jackie gets up and moves behind Catherine) OK, close your eyes.

C'mon, close them.

(Jackie puts the blindfold on Catherine's eyes, and waves her hand to test)

- Can you see?

Catherine:- No.

(Jackie and Catherine go to a private airport when Jackie's plane it. But of course at this point only Jackie knows.)

Jackie: All right, copilot Stark, let's get started on our checklist.

Catherine: What checklist?

Jackie: (takes the blindfold off) C'mon, I'll show you.

(Points to the tires) Tires. You wanna make sure they're all inflated properly.

This is the propeller... Make sure it's nice and smooth.

No nicks or bumps or anything like that.

(asks Catherine) - Check?

Catherine: - Check.

Jackie: That's the engine. See any dead squirrels?

Catherine: (with a scared expression on her face) Dead squirrels?

Jackie: Sometimes little animals like to crawl in there and make homes.

Catherine: Oh... Nope, no little animals.

Jackie: Great.

Pitot tube...

(Catherine is still near the engine) Catherine... Pitot tube.

Catherine: How do you spell that?

Jackie: (Jackie walks towards Catherine, grabs her hand to reassure her that nothing is going to happen.) P-i-t-o-t.

It measures pressure and air speed. Just wanna make sure it's free and clear and nothing blocking it.

Catherine: (walks towards Jackie, and looks closely to the pitot tube) No, no dead squirrels.

Jackie: Wings... Aileron, flaps.

(Jackie goes inside the plane to turn on the Master Flaps) Master on.

Flaps are coming down.

You wanna make sure your flaps are fully extended.

Catherine: What do they do?

Jackie: They make the plane go slower.

Catherine: Why would you want it to go slower?

Jackie: You'd have a hard time landing if you didn't slow down a little bit.

Catherine: Oh, of course.

Jackie: This is an elevator; it pitches the plane up and down.

- See?

Catherine: - Well, then check!

Jackie: (takes Catherine' s hand and pulls her to the other side of the plane) And this...is the co-pilot seat.

Catherine: ( in the phase of having a panic attack) Pretty...

Are we done?

Jackie: Don't you want to see the controls? It's more comfortable than it looks, I promise.

Catherine: OK, fine.

(Catherine sits in the co-pilots seat; Jackie locks her in and goes on the other side of the plane to sit in the pilots seat.)

Catherine is slowly falling in love with Jackie. Everyday they spend together is another day where Catherine feels free. For her this is different. It is the first time she has worn her heart on her sleeves, and it is hoping that it won't get crushed.

Jackie: - You in?

Catherine: (having doubts) - Uh-huh

(Jackie puts the headset on Catherine)

Jackie: - Cute.

Catherine: - Thank you.

Jackie: OK, let me turn the fuel pump switch on, make sure we have positive fuel flow.

Catherine: (Scared) Why do we need fuel?

Jackie: Switch off.

-Ready?

Catherine: For what?

Jackie: For your first flight lesson.

Catherine: Now?

Jackie: (grabs Catherine's hand, brings it up to her lips and kissed her hand softly) Do you trust our pre-flight check?

Catherine: OK.

Jackie: - Yeah?

Catherine: - Yeah.

Jackie: OK.

Catherine: OK.

Jackie: - Ready?

Catherine: - Yes, yes.

Jackie: Here we go. (And the plane flies away)