Setting: Louis and Ramona are sitting on a huge tree stump in the clearing, very close but not touching. Louis is speaking quietly while Ramona listens innocently, looking a little more solid as the sun is a little, just a little, lower.
Louis: And so two years ago, my Dad joined the military. He's not home yet.
Ramona: You have a very strong attachment to your father?
Louis: I do. My mother treats me like I'm a little kid, and my dad... well, he listens to me. He treats me like an adult, and most of the time he either uses my ideas or we work together to make a better one. We were never wealthy, but never bone-poor, like we are now. (Sadly) My mom spends every last cent on paper to write to him, telling him we're fine, that everything is the way it was when he left, except for our growth... He still thinks we live in a house and eat three square meals a (voice breaks) day.
Ramona: (Quietly) I'm sorry, Louis, I wish I could help.
Louis: (He smiles and looks up at her face, her eyes wide with empathy) You are helping. Just talking about this makes me feel better.
Ramona: Perhaps you should hire a therapist.
Louis: We don't have the money, and I didn't need one when we did.
Ramona: Ah.
Setting: There is an awkward silence and then Louis speak again, breaking it.
Louis: And my Mom, who works at Wal*Mart, isn't making enough to feed both me and my sister even one meal a day each. (Frowns) Yesterday I gave her all of my food for the whole day. She looked so much happier afterward.
Ramona: From what I can tell, your mother really does care about you, but she's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Maybe you should tell her that a college degree might bring more money for the family. College students tend to get hired more often than not.
Louis: Do you think I haven't tried that? She's terrified of the idea that one of her children is smarter than she is. If she wasn't hard-wired to love me, she'd hate me.
Ramona: You've gained acceptance and a full two-year scholarship to Dartmouth and she doesn't already think that?
Louis: I know. I just... (Desperate) I don't know what to do. I want so badly to go to college, it almost causes me physical pain to be vetoed in my attempts at a higher future, even though the physiological part of my brain argues with that statement; I simply must go!
Ramona: Louis, you just spoke the way a forty-three-years-of-experience college professor would. You deserve to go to college. So pack up your bed sheets and drive there, enroll yourself and then live a happy life.
Louis: I can't, Ramona! It's just... I can't leave Camille. She needs me.
Ramona: (Surprised) Camille? Is that her name?
Louis: Yes, I've told you before.
Ramona: Is she seven years old?
Louis: (Eyes narrow) Almost, she's nine months away.
Ramona: Huh. I reincarnated a Camille seven years ago.
Louis: Are you telling me that my kid sister is somebody else's?
Ramona: She might not be a sister. She could be an only child, an aunt, a lonely old cat lady... We'll never really know.
Louis: Wow. (Shakes his head in wonder) It is so weird my sister isn't... MY sister, you know?
Ramona: I'm afraid I don't know. My only sister, as far as I know, is still alive somewhere.
Louis: Do you mean to tell me that she's not a reincarnation of some other girl with her name?
Ramona: Her name was April, and it's possible. Newborn souls have to start somewhere.
Louis: I guess you're right.
Ramona: You guess? (She smiles teasingly at him) Since when does the great mind of Louis Smith GUESS?
Louis: (Laughing) Aw, shut up, Ramona. You know I'm not brilliant.
Ramona: You have an eidetic memory. You remember everything from the day you were born, you have straight A's, a two-year full scholarship to Dartmouth, are graduating valedictorian and you want to be a meteorologist. How are you not brilliant?
Louis: Well, for one, it's meteorology. If I wanted to be brilliant, I could study French Literature, German History and Meteorology all in one with a Physics doctorate on the side. (He smiles in a dream-like fashion) Ah, what a dream that is.
Ramona: You see? You are brilliant! You'e amazing, Louis.
Setting: With those last few words, the atmosphere turns from friendly to romantic. Louis looks at her in shock and awe, and she blushes, ducking her head and averting her eyes. Her skin grows slowly more solid as the sun gets lower.
Louis: You really think I'm amazing?
Ramona: (Her eyes flash up to his face for a moment and then back down) Yes, I do. You're so talented, so gifted. You have every right to be walking around acting intellectually superior to everyone and yet you're so down-to-earth and kind, so light-hearted even with the trouble that's been going on in your life. You're responsible, and smart, and funny.
Louis: (Quietly) Thank you, Ramona.
Setting: There is an awkward momen where they are both looking into each others' eyes and then they realize that little swirls of snow are falling down around them. They both look up into the white, smiling.
YOU ARE READING
The Escort (the Screenplay)
Fantasia"Hello, little one. What is your name?" It is with those seven words the story begins. Ramona Spencer is an escort, a person who has died and chosen to help the reincarnation process. Louis is a normal teenager, living with his mother and sister whi...
