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Mom and Pop Culture | January 2005

No Mother is an Island

By Lizbeth Finn-Arnold

EXT. SECLUDED ISLAND BEACH — DAY

A serene and beautiful island paradise — a long stretch of white, sandy beaches, an aqua sky, rolling waves.

A WOMAN, in her mid-thirties, somewhat attractive, yet extremely unkempt, appears to be stranded — a castaway.

The WOMAN sits in the sand, scribbling frantically on a piece of ripped notebook paper. With her lipstick she writes her S.O.S., which reads:

IS ANYONE OUT THERE? I’M HERE! I’M ALIVE.
TELL THEM THAT I’M NOT DEAD!

The Woman finishes the note, and places it in an empty Diet Coke bottle, and then seals it with a makeshift cork (i.e. a tampon). She rises and tosses the bottle into the ocean.

As the CAMERA PULLS BACK, the waves engulf the bottle and the vast ocean appears to go on and on for as far as the eye can see.

CLOSE-UP on Woman, as a single tear rolls down her cheek.
FADE OUT:

EXT. SECLUDED ISLAND BEACH – NIGHT

The Woman sits on the darkened beach, warmed by a blazing bonfire.

The waves ROAR along the beach. The Woman shivers. But something in the waves catches her attention.

She slowly rises, and then begins to run to the shoreline. She plunges into the water and reaches for the emerald green bottle in the surf. There is a message inside the bottle.

Soaking wet, the Woman hurries back to the fire, her heart pounding. She smashes the bottle on a rock and retrieves the note, which reads:

I JUST FOUND YOUR MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE.
YOU’RE NOT ALONE; I’M HERE TOO.

The Woman wipes a tear from her cheek and looks up and out over the vast ocean.

She turns over the message and continues to read:

P.S. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS OUT HERE, TOO.
WE UNDERSTAND.

The woman turns around back towards the fire and now we see that she ISN’T ALONE on the island. Her BABY BOY and TODDLER DAUGHTER are playing in the sand. The Woman rushes up to them and embraces them lovingly.

WOMAN
We’re going to make it. We’re going
to survive this place . . .

She WEEPS.

FADE OUT:

EXT. UNITED STATES COAST GUARD SHIP — DAY

Wrapped in warm blankets, the Woman sips hot tea on the deck of the Coast Guard ship. She looks up at her kind rescuer, a handsome young COAST GUARDSMAN.

WOMAN
Thank you so much for saving us.

COAST GUARDSMAN
Oh, well, about that. You really saved yourself. If you hadn’t
kept writing those notes, we might never have found you.
Most of us assumed that you were dead.

WOMAN
And what about the others? Have you found the others?

CUE: DRAMATIC MUSIC

COAST GUARDSMAN
What others?

WOMAN
The ones who wrote back and kept my spirit
afloat when I felt so alone . Without their voices,
and words of encouragement, I surely would
have died . . .

COAST GUARDSMAN
Perhaps they will be all right, wherever they are.

CUE: TRIUMPHANT AND HOPEFUL MUSIC

The Woman puts down her tea cup and goes to the edge of the ship. She looks into the orange glow of the glorious sunset and the light it casts on the swirling ocean below. She looks over at her beautiful children. And she smiles.

WOMAN
Yes, perhaps they will.

FADE OUT:

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