SCRIPT

CONCORD, MA/ AFTERNOON

June, 1837

Henry approaches his hometown of

CONCORD, MA, population 2,000. Much

commotion, horses, wagons, coaches,

commerce. Some people wave to him.

Some children, including ELLEN

SEWALL, 16, her brother, EDMUND, 10

and LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, 6, are

playing "crack-the-whip."

ELLEN

Henry David! Welcome back.

HENRY

Ellen! Are you here for the summer?

ELLEN

Yes! Aunt Lucy is arriving tomorrow.

Mr. Alcott was here earlier. He said Louisa May could play

here till lunchtime.

EDMUND

Henry! Crack the whip!

LOUISA MAY

Yes! Crack the whip! Crack the whip!

HENRY

All Right, Just one swing, Louisa May.

Henry grabs Ellen around the waist

and Edmund, Louisa May and other

kid(s) join hands with them,

forming a long line. Louisa May is

on the far end and begins to run in

a circle with Henry at the center.

Henry holds on and then "cracks the

whip" as Edmund and the others go

flying away. Henry and Ellen are

left holding hands.

LOUISA MAY

(Jumping up) Do it again! Do it again!

HENRY

Not today, Louisa May.

ELLEN

Henry! Are you throwing a huckleberry party, again, this

year?

HENRY

Yes! On Louisa Mays birthday.

The children cheer. Henry grabs his

bag and approaches Jack's wagon.

ELLEN

Thanks, Henry! (She hugs him)

EXTERIOR/ THOREAU'S HOME EARLY AFTERNOON

Henry approaches the Thoreau

boarding home. Henry sees his

younger sister, SOFIA,19 and older

brother, JOHN,23 and waves to them.

JOHN

It's Henry!

When Sofia sees Henry, she yells

into front door:

SOFIA

Mother! Henry is home!

INTERIOR KITCHEN MORNING

Henry with his mother. She is

holding some linens.

CYNTHIA

Take these to your old room before Lucy Brown gets here.

Sofia will make the bed but please be careful with these.

She hands linens to him.

CYNTHIA

Edmund is upstairs with you and John. Oh! And please change

the curtains for me in your window. The old ones are quite

tattered..

She places a pair of bulky curtains

on top of the linens. Henry takes

them and heads to his old room and

enters.

INTERIOR BEDROOM MORNING

Henry enters his old room. Lucy is

in the midst of changing her

clothes.

LUCY

OH!

Henry, taken by surprise, drops the

curtains on the floor.

HENRY

Mrs. Brown? Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know you were here!

As he struggles to catch the

curtains, he drops half of the

linens. Lucy is trying to cover

herself but not doing a very good

job. Henry is still struggling with

curtains and linens.

HENRY

I'm sorry.

Someone walks by in the hallway.

LUCY

Please close the door behind you!

He closes the door, without

leaving.

HENRY

I'm supposed to hang these curtains.

Lucy looks out the window and sees

Henry's father outside. She tries

to close the old curtains but

thecurtain rod falls to the floor.

Henry throws the linens on the bed

and tries to help Lucy with the

curtain rod. When he looks out, he

sees his father still standing

there looking quite confused. Henry

waves to his father and reaches for

the new curtains but accidentally

grabs Lucy's dress and tries to

hang it on the curtain rod.

Someone knocks on the bedroom door.

LUCY AND HENRY

Yes?

Henry goes to the door and opens

it, still holding Lucy's

dress. SOFIA is there, looking

shocked.

HENRY

I'm hanging Mrs. Brown's curtains.

Sofia looks at the dress in his

hands and he realizes that the

curtains are still on the bed.

HENRY

Sorry.

He hands the dress to Sofia and

goes back to the window, picking up

the new curtains on the way. He

tries to quickly remove the old

curtains from the curtain rod but

nearly knocks Lucy in the face with

rod.

HENRY, LUCY AND SOFIA

Oh!

He drops the rod.

HENRY

So sorry.

He picks up the curtain rod and

proceeds to struggle with

getting the old curtains off and

the new ones on. Finally,he hangs

the rod up, over the window. His

father is still standing outside.

Henry waves to him and then goes to

Sofia,takes the dress from her and

brings it to Lucy.

HENRY (CONT'D)

Welcome back, Mrs. Brown.

LUCY

It's good to be back.

Henry leaves, closing the door behind him. Sofia is left

standing there, very confused.