HALF LIFE

1. EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND.

A MAN STANDS, LATE FORTIES, WELL DRESSED, BUT IN A

SLIGHTLY STRANGE FASHION, CLOTHES SLIGHTLY OUT OF THEIR

TIME. HE WEARS AN AURA OF INFLUENCE, AND OF POWER, BUT

HE IS OBVIOUSLY ILL. HE STANDS STILL AND SILENT OUTSIDE A

/PLAYGROUND, LOOKING AT THE CHILDREN PLAYING. HIS EYES

HAVE SEARCHED BUT NOW ALIGHT UPON A SPECIFIC CHILD.

CUT TO GROUP OF CHILDREN'S P.O.V: IN THE DISTANCE, AS THEY

PLAY, MAN WATCHES THEM. RUSSELL STUART, A BOY OF NINE

NOTICES MAN IN DISTANCE. A MOMENTARY HESITATION - IS THIS

RECOGNITION? BUT HE CONTINUES PLAYING. A TEACHER

APPEARS. BLOWS WHISTLE, BREAK IS OVER. SHE NOTICES MAN

IN DISTANCE AS RUSSELL GLANCES AGAIN AT MAN. THERE IS A

GLIMMER OF RECOGNITION BUT SHE CANT PLACE HIM.

SCHOOL TEACHER: Is that your father, Russell? He's a bit early.

RUSSELL: No Miss.

SHE DISMISSES HER THOUGHT.

SCHOOL TEACHER: OK kids! Line up! Two by two!

THE CHILDREN OBEY JOYFULLY AND RE-ENTER

SCHOOL UPON TEACHERS BECKONING.

2. INT. CLASSROOM:

THE CHILDREN IN CLASS. IN THE DISTANCE, THROUGH

THE CLASS WINDOW WE, AND THE TEACHER, CAN SEE

MAN IN DISTANCE, STANDING.

3. EXT. PLAYGROUND

THE SCHOOL DAY HAS ENDED. CHILDREN ARE

CASCADING OUT OF THE SCHOOL GATE. MAN UNABLE

TO MOVE QUICKLY BUT MAKES TO SPEAK TO RUSSELL

WHO NOTICES HIM BUT RUNS PAST HIM WITH HIS

FRIENDS. MAN WATCHES HIM RECEDE INTO DISTANCE.

 MAN SMILES AND LOOKS STRANGELY WISTFUL; OH TO

YOUNG AGAIN.

4. INT. CLASSROOM

THE SCHOOL TEACHER CLEARING UP AFTER SCHOOL

NOTICES MAN IN DISTANCE. SHE LOOKS

DISCONCERTED. SHE DECIDES TO INVESTIGATE.

5. EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND

TEACHER WALKS ACROSS PLAYGROUND TOWARDS THE

GATE. SHE IS DETERMINED TO BE POLITE, EFFICIENT

BUT RESOLUTE.

TEACHER: Um, excuse me. Are you waiting for .. somebody.

NOW MUCH CLOSER WE CAN SEE HOW ILL MAN IS. HE

USED TO BE HANDSOME, BUT NOW HE IS GAUNT,

SERIOUSLY ILL, IT IS AN EFFORT TO STAND. HE SHOULD

BE IN HOSPITAL, PERHAPS HE IS DYING. BUT HE

SMILES.

MAN: No. I just wanted to see how the old school looked, in my time.

SCHOOL TEACHER.

SCHOOL TEACHER: Oh, you were here?

MAN: A long time ago. Obviously.

SCHOOL TEACHER: Oh I'm sorry. I thought you were a parent.

 Waiting for a child ...

MAN LAUGHS AND COUGHS.

SCHOOL TEACHER: (CONT) I'll look up your name in the

records, see if there's a photograph.

MAN: Russell Stuart.

SCHOOL TEACHER:

VERY SURPRISED.

We have a Russell Stuart here now!

THE MAN SMILES

6. INT. SCHOOL. NEXT DAY.

TEACHER SEES MAN THROUGH WINDOW

AGAIN IN DISTANCE, WAITING.

7. EXT. PLAYGROUND.

AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL DAY MAN STANDS

NEAR GATE AND MAKES TO TALK TO BOY AS HE

LEAVES SCHOOL, BUT TEACHER INTERVENES.

SCHOOL TEACHER: I'm sorry. I couldn't find another Russell

Stuart . When did you say you were here?

1.
THE BOY HAS RUN ON TO PLAY WITH HIS FRIENDS.

THE MAN'S CHANCE HAS GONE.

MAN: Now.
 SCHOOL TEACHER: What?

8. EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND.

NEXT DAY. OUTSIDE SCHOOL GATES POLICE

APPROACH MAN.

POLICEMAN: Excuse me sir, do you know why we're here?

MAN: Yes.

THE POLICEMEN WAIT FOR EXPLANATION. NONE IS

FORTHCOMING.

POLICEMAN: Sir?

PAUSE

Are you well?

1.
MAN: Radiation sickness.

POLICEMAN: What?

THE MAN REACHES INTO HIS JACKET TO

WITHDRAW AN IDENTITY CARD OF SORTS; BUT

IT NOT ONE THE POLICE RECOGNISE.

POLICEMAN EXAMINES IT ANYWAY.

POLICEMAN:Russell Stuart?

SCHOOL TEACHER AND BOY APPROACH FROM

PLAYGROUND.

SCHOOL TEACHER: TO BOY

 Russell do you know this man?

BOY DOUBTFULLY SHAKES HIS

HEAD. THE MAN SMILES AND SLOWLY

COLLAPSES TO HIS KNEES IN PAIN. THE TWO

OFFICERS GRASPS THE MAN'S ARMS TO STOP

HIM FALLING.

MAN: Russell, promise me, when she asks you, say yes.

TEACHER:You don't know this boy.

MAN: (TO BOY) Promise me you'll say 'yes.'

POLICEMAN: Sir?

MAN: (TO BOY) Russell, remember, Say 'Yes.'

SCHOOL TEACHER ATTEMPTS TO CLUTCH BOY'S

SHOULDER.

MAN: (CONT) Promise me you'll say yes.

THERE IS A MOMENT OF INCOMPREHENSION AND

FEAR; THE MAN HAS NOT THREATENED CHILD

IN ANY WAY BUT THERE IS AN IMPLICIT AIR OF

MENACE. MAN MOUTHS AT BOY 'SAY YES' CLOSE

UP ON BOY: HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND QUESTION

BUT AFTER A FEW MOMENTS THOUGHT HE

SUDDENLY SAYS,

RUSSELL : All right, I will. I'll say yes.

 THEN THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY THING

HAPPENS: THE MAN VANISHES. THE POLICEMEN

ARE LEFT HOLDING SPACE. THE SCHOOL TEACHER

STEPS BACK, SHOCKED. THE BOY GAZES

INTO THE SPACE THE MAN LEFT.

RUSSELL: Coool... I'll say yes.

9. INT. UNIVERSITY LABORATORY

RUSSELL STUART AS TEENAGER IN PHYSICS LAB.

WORKING ALONE ON EXPERIMENT. LECTURER ENTERS.

LECTURER: (LAUGHING) You're not still playing with uranium

238 Russell, are you!

RUSSELL: Minus 235 actually. I'm drinking heavy water.

LECTURER: Very droll.

THROUGH THE WINDOW A GIRL PASSES. THE

BOY'S EYES FOLLOW HER.

LECTURER:

NOTICING

She's a clever girl. And nice. You'd like her.

10. INT. RESEARCH DEPARTMENT.

UNIVERSITY MEETING AT RESEARCH

DEPARTMENT. BUSINESSMAN, RUSSELL (NOW

 ALMOST AS MAN AS IN BEGINNING) AND

LECTURER SIT AS BUSINESSMAN EXAMINES

FOLDER.

BUSINESSMAN: (TO RUSSELL)

A good proposal, a clever device.

LECTURER: Russell was always our best physics student.

BUSINESSMAN: How much will you need?

RUSSELL FLICKS HIS COIN.

And a bit of a businessman to boot I can see. How about

thirty, not fifty?

RUSSELL: Forty five.

BUSINESSMAN: Thirty five.

RUSSELL WAITS

Forty.

LECTURER: Million.

BUSINESSMAN : Dollars .

LECTURER: Pounds.

BUSINESSMAN Good try. We'll make it dollars.

THEY LOOK TO RUSSELL FOR CONFIRMATION.

HE FLICKS HIS COIN, WAITS FOR IT TO FALL,

EXAMINES RESULT THEN STANDS AND RUSSELL

AND THE BUSINESSMAN SHAKE HANDS.

11. INT. UNIVERSITY RESEACH DEPARTMENT

RUSSELL AS MAN IN BEGINING. HIGH TECH LAB,

LIGHTS FLASHING; SAFETY SENSORS. MAN SEES

GIRL OUTSIDE IN SAFETY AREA. HE EXITS LAB. A

DOOR RATTLES, A RADIOACTIVE VIAL CONSEQUENTLY

SHAKES. RUSSELL STUART SITS WITH GIRL. THEY ARE

CHATTING. THEY ARE OBVIOUSLY NOW INTIMATE. AND

HAPPY.

GIRL: I've got my place on the course.

RUSSELL: Oh great!

GIRL: So .. I'll be moving.

PAUSE. SHE IS WAITING FOR RESPONSE.

GIRL: I'd like it if you came with me. I'd like it...

RUSSELL:

HESITANT.

I'd like to... but I'm not ready - I'm doing important work

here.

CLOSE ON GIRL'S FACE; SHE IS VISIBLY

SADDENED: SHE MUST TAKE THIS COURSE BUT

DOESN'T WANT TO LOSE MAN.

GIRL: Please come with me?

RUSSELL: I don't know.

 GIRL: Please come away with me. Say -

RUSSELL:

FLICKING HIS COIN. IT FALLS TO THE FLOOR

I must get back to work.

SADDENED THE GIRL STANDS AND LEAVES.

RUSSELL MAKES TO KISS HER AND SHE

RELUCTANTLY ACQUIESCES. RUSSELL WATCHES

HER GO. HE RE-ENTERS LAB AND SHUTS THE

DOOR BEHIND HIMSELF. THE VIBRATION SHAKES

THE VIAL, RUSSELL ATTEMPTS TO CATCH IT

BUT INSTEAD KNOCKS IT TO THE FLOOR: IT

BREAKS. ALARMS GO OFF. THE VIAL GLOWS.

RUSSELL: Oh shit.

12. INT. UNIVERSITY LABORATORY

SCREEN IMAGE REWINDS TO: RUSSELL AS

MAN IN BEGINNING. HIGH TECH LAB, LIGHTS

FLASHING, SAFETY SENSORS. RUSSELL SEES GIRL

OUTSIDE IN SAFETY AREA. HE EXITS LAB. A DOOR

RATTLES, A RADIOACTIVE VIAL CONSEQUENTLY

SHAKES. RUSSELL STUART SITS WITH GIRL. THEY

ARE CHATTING. THEY ARE OBVIOUSLY NOW

 INTIMATE. AND HAPPY.

GIRL: I've got my place on the course.

RUSSELL: Oh great!

GIRL: So .. I'll be moving.

PAUSE. SHE IS WAITING FOR RESPONSE.

GIRL: I'd like it if you came with me. I'd like it ...

RUSSELL:

HESITANT.

I'd like to... but I'm not ready - I'm doing important work here.

CLOSE ON GIRL'S FACE; SHE IS VISIBLY

SADDENED: SHE MUST TAKE THIS COURSE

BUT DOESN'T WANT TO LOSE RUSSELL.

GIRL: Please come with me?

RUSSELL: I don't know.

CLOSE ON RUSSELL'S FACE; THIS IS

THE QUESTION BUT HE DOESN'T KNOW WHY.

HE HAS A MEMORY BUT CAN'T PLACE IT.

GIRL: Will you come with me?

RUSSELL: I don't ... know

GIRL: Please come away with me? Say -

GIRL REACHES FORWARD TO CATCH

RUSSELL'S SPINNING COIN.

yes.
 IN A FLASH RUSSELL SEES HIMSELF, AS A

BOY, AS A MAN. HIS WHOLE LIFE FLASHES

BACK TO HIM; THE LAB, SCHOOL DAYS,

MEETING THE GIRL, THE GIRL THROUGH

THE WINDOW, PRIMARY SCHOOL, THE SICK

MAN.

RUSSELL:

REMEMBERING

Say yes.

GIRL PUZZLED.

RUSSELL: Say yes. He told me to say yes.

GIRL: Yes..

RUSSELL: Yes. Yes. Yes! I'll come with you!

GIRL BEAMS

GIRL: I love you so much. To do this for me.

CUT TO CLOSE UP ON VIAL STANDING.

13. EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND.

A MAN STANDS, LATE FORTIES, NOT

PARTICULARLY WELL DRESSED,

BUT IN A SLIGHTLY STRANGE FASHION,

CLOTHES SLIGHTLY OUT OF THEIR TIME.

HE WAVES AT HIMSELF, RUSSELL STUART,

 AS A BOY.

MAN: Russell! It's going to be great!

14. INT. SCHOOL CLASSROOM

THE TEACHER SEEING MAN THROUGH THE SCHOOL

WINDOW.

TEACHER : But yesterday ...

15. EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND

BOY STARES AT MAN; IT WAS THE MAN WHO

DISAPPEARED YESTERDAY. BUT THE MAN IS HAPPY

AND WAVING. THE BOY WAVES BACK.

BOY: Say yes.

EXTRACT FROM NOVEL

In Time Vol 2.

HALF LIFE

She is gone now, again, as I awake, as my father was to go. He told, instructed

me to say Yes., but when the time came to say Yes. I foolishly remained silent,

wishing to save Kathy from my madness, as if I knew of the madness later to come;

this life - and I somehow knowing, as if my brian somehow knew of future times;

that Katherine the First would disappear anyway, in time. Perhaps she was already

betrothed to Smith. Although beethoven to Smith sounds better. Although he

preferred Mozart. He tried a clarinet concerto, but couldn't play it, - That A major,
always too difficult for me. I remember my father; he disappeared right in front

of me.

A man stands, late forties, well dressed, but in slightly strange fashion, clothes

slightly out of their time, he wears an aura of affluence, and of power, but he is

obviously ill, stands still and silent outside a school playground, looking at children

playing in the distance. His eyes have searched but now alight upon a specific child,

and the boy of nine notices. A momentary hesitation, not quite of recognition, then

turns away to play with his friends. A teacher appears, apparently out of nowhere, to

blow her whistle, shrilling that the break is over. She notices the man in the distance,

and that the boy glances again at man. 'Is that your father, Russell? He's a bit early.'

'No Miss Coralee.' Puzzled, but she dismisses her thought, as time is short,

'OK kids! Line up! Two by two! Simone! Russell! Stop holding hands! Chop chop!'

The children obey joyfully and re-enter the school upon the teacher's beckoning.

But as the class reassembles in the classroom Miss Coralee notices the man still in

the distance. And he is still there as the school days ends, as the children cascade

into the playground, erupting as if spurting, escaping pyroclastic particles from

volcanoes seeking their freedom, and the man moves to talk to Russell, but the boy

has run past, Simone following, he clutching an old Donald Duck comic and calling

to his friends, 'Michael! Keith! Wait for me! Let's play football!' for the man to look

strangely wistful, as if recalling his own past childhood, seemingly murmuring,

' Yes, Michael .. Keith .. we will become famous one day .. '

The teacher looking from her classroom, slightly disconcerted, decides to

investigate, to walk across the playground, determined to be polite, efficient, but

resolute, 'Um, excuse me. Sir are you waiting for .. somebody?' she asks, to now

notice how ill he appears when closer up, that he might well have been handsome

once, but slightly too pale now - but that was obviously the sickness, now appearing

gaunt, making an effort to stand, that he should really be in hospital, but he attempts

to smile,

'No. I just wanted to see how the old school looked, in my time.'

'You were here?' she asks, an element of surprise, that the school had existed

for so long.

'A long time ago. Obviously.'

'Oh I'm sorry. I thought you were a parent. Waiting for a child '

And the man attempts to laugh knowingly, but coughs, for the teacher, as if

somehow still wary, to suggest, 'I'll look up your name in the records, if you like.

See if there's a photograph.'

'Russell Stuart. You might find the picture missing though.'

And the teacher is of course very surprised, 'We have a Russell Stuart here

now!' For the man to smile, more thinly now, knowing that he has to return the next

day, the children dis/sipat/appear/ed, to stand again, waiting, counting the moments,

as if the moments counted.

As the next day the teacher is to see again in the distance the man, whom

she now recognises as Russell Stuart, waiting again for the boy, Russell Stuart,

for her to leave the classroom, cross the playground, to say, 'I'm sorry. I couldn't
find another Russell Stuart. But ..' she implies, with a trace of suspicion, 'there

were pictures missing. When did you say you were here?'

For the boy Russell Stuart to run on again, today chasing the slim athletic

frame of Simone, gawky in her happiness, for the man to again miss his chance,

the boy calling, 'Lazy! Wait! It's my turn with the coins! Donald told me!'

For Simone to reply, 'No! My name is not lazy! It's my turn! Donald told me!'

For the man to answer the teacher, 'Now.'

'What?'

For the man to walk off, knowing he has to return yet again the next day.

And for, the next day, an unkempt wildly red haired policeman, accompanied

by a man with long blond flowing Listzian locks, to then approach the man,

to ask, 'Excuse me sir, do you know why we're here?'

'Yes.'

For the policeman to wait for an explanation but none is forthcoming. 'Sir?'

For the man to stumble.

'Sir? Aren't you well?

'Radiation sickness.'

'What?' For the man to reach into his pocket to withdraw a laminated identity

card of sorts, not one the policeman recognises, but he examines it anyway, curiously

humming a familiar refrain, for him to ask, as this picture, this image was seeming

somehow so different, from the face before him, 'Russell Stuart?'

And the man nodding, answering, ' Vincent? Rollo? Do you remember that
trip to Wales?' to be met by blank stares, as if that journey had not happened yet, as

they are joined by the teacher and the now collected boy, with Simone close behind,

almost attempting to again hold Russell's hand, for the teacher to ask,

'Russell do you know this man?' And the boy to look up doubtfully to shake

his head, to watch the man's smile fading and slowly collapsing to his knees, to the

ground, with and in pain, for Vincent to steady his shoulders, for the man to

murmur, now staring straight into the eyes of the boy,

'Russell, promise me, when she asks you, say Yes. '

The teacher's hand remains upon the shoulder of the boy, as if curiously

wary that the boy might escape, 'You don't know Russell.'

And the man turns away the from teacher, as if sad, too weary now of the

aged stupidity of others, to look again into the boy's eyes. 'Promise me you'll say

Yes. '

And the policeman, Vincent, to then ask again, 'Sir?'

'Russell, remember, say Yes. '.

For the adults to stand in incomprehension, looking down at this fallen figure

with the slight fear of the unknown, for the boy has not been threatened in any way

and there is no implicit air of menace, even as the man again mouths to the boy

'Say Yes. '

For they see that the boy doesn't, cannot possibly understand the question

but thinks for a few moments, for his mother had said when daddy was alive he

had something to do with a terrible bomb, and it must have been secret, - for no

one ever talked about him any more now - but Russell Stuart had remembered the
words, poles, and the words positive and negative had been mentioned often,

and he felt that somehow positive must be a good word, 'All right, I will. I'll say

Yes. '

For Vincent and Rollo to then step back in shock, and the teacher to put

her hand to her mouth, as Russell Stuart the Elder vanished before their eyes,

leaving them gaze and grasp at empty space, and the Russell Stuart the Younger

to murmur, 'Coool ... I'll say Yes. '

And Rollo to murmur, this curious mixture of incredulity and disappointment,

notepad already re-pocketed after long moments, 'And who will believe that story?'

But Russell Stuart the Younger's memory of that incident was to fade as he

grew older, that it might merely have been a dream, as the adults had not reported

the incident of the vanishing man, for who (as Vincent had always looked a bit

strange anyway, the school teacher Miss Coralee thought) would have believed

them anyway? And Simone was to die soon enough in later times, another

disappearing witness [ in the novel In Time Simone is killed by an exploding WW II

bomb, and RS is also hit ], and Russell himself had been injured at that moment,

to cause him to occasionally forget, unless re-minded, of his earlier school friends,

that perhaps the vanishing man might have been another confabulation of his

thoughts.

In a much later time Russell was at work in the school physics lab - for after

the accident some subjects had become always seemingly transparently effortless

to him, in the pure beauty of their abstraction, as music now too also appeared to
him, the colours of melodies filling his mind as he played, and words gave him

tastes, for as he grew older, his singing voice cracking from fine soprano to adequate

tenor, he began to speak as if savouring each syllable (but thinking of something else

at the same time someone had once said, as if he were listening, but only half there),

but everyday now he smiled as he passed the doorway that led to his secret annex,

where he stored his pop star pictures and guitar amps, - when his teacher commented

(and Russell had often imagined that had his father lived he might very well have

been t/his teacher), 'You're not still playing with Uranium 238 Russell, are you!'

For Russell to reply, 'I'm neutronising it into Polonium 239.'

'Oh, very droll.' And the teacher noticed Russell's eyes following, through the

classroom window, a passing attractive young woman. 'She's a clever girl. And

nice. Katherine, I think her name is. You'd like her. Plays a bit too. And as do you,

from what I hear.' And here the teacher smiled, continuing, 'Her brother, Rollo,

looks like Liszt!'

And in later times Russell Stuart would pursue his work in a university

research department, to work in high tech laboratories, safety sensors flashing

intermittently, and as he saw Katherine passing behind a window again, he left the

lab to enter the safety area, and as the door rattles a glowing radioactive vial shakes

with the vibration, to sit with Katherine, fingering his coin,

- you made me win

both now intimate

and happy.
 For her to surprise him, 'I've got my place on the course.'

'Oh great!'

For the obvious hesitation before mentioning, 'So .. I'll be moving.' To wait

for Russell's response, for her to continue, 'I'd like it if you came with me. I'd like

it ... - '

For Russell to interrupt, his coin flicking finger trick not quite complete, as

the coin fell to the floor, 'I'd like to, Kathy .. but I'm not ready - I'm doing important

work here.'

For him to notice this veil of sadness falling upon Katherine's face, as a drawn

curtain slowly blocks out the light of the sun, that she must take this Polish language

course, as if to fulfil not merely herself (for her mother had been, not insistent,

but expectant), but to leave behind Russell, who has been with her for so long ..

'Please come away with me?'

For Russell Stuart to look down at his fallen coin - how could he be so

clumsy!? - and then up to Kathy. 'Kathy ... I don't know. This is not the right time?

I must get back to work.'

And Katherine stands to reluctantly acquiesce to Russell kissing her on her

cheek, to see him depart to his lab, and then turns away, not to notice that the

vibration of the closing door shakes the glowing vial to the ground, despite Russell

Stuart's attempts to catch it failing, not to hear his expletive, as the vial's vile

spreading liquids flowed viscidly (and there was a strange beauty in this colouring,

he absurdly noticed, as the liquid flowed slowly into the shape of an anonymous

woman's face), 'Oh shit.'

 And was that then was to be my life; to be summed up in two words, Oh

shit? And if I were to play the tape again, rewinding a past? ... as if Russell were

to be asked, Play it again, Russell. That my eyes might flow back over the text

of my life, to scratch and rewrite:

And in later times Russell Stuart would pursue his work in a university

research department, to work in high tech laboratories, safety sensors flashing

intermittently, and as he saw Katherine passing behind a window again, he left the

lab to enter the safety area, and as the door rattles a glowing radioactive vial shakes

with the vibration, to sit with Katherine, fingering his coin,

- you made me win

no i called heads i could not lose

both now intimate

and happy. For her to surprise him, 'I've got my place on the course.'

'Oh great!'

For the obvious hesitation before mentioning, 'So .. I'll be moving.' To wait

for Russell's response, for her to continue, 'I'd like it if you came with me. I'd like

it .. - '

And Russell makes to finger flick his trick but this time has caught his coin,

happily failing to interrupt her continuance, ' - .. if we got married.'

For Russell to ponder, 'I'd like to, Kathy ... but I'm not ready - I'm doing

important work here.'

For him to notice this veil of sadness falling upon Katherine's face, as a
drawn curtain slowly blocks out the light of the sun, that she must take this Polish

language course, as if to fulfil not merely herself (for her brother Rollo had been,

not insistent, but expectant; that she should pursue her knowledge of Poland's

language and history, for hadn't she herself, after all, translated Korsakoff's

poems in that earlier time, so therefore she must be interested?), but to leave

behind Russell, who has been with her for so long ..

'Please come away with me?'

'I don't know ..' for there to be a hesitation, somewhere a familiarity in these

events and words, for Katherine to ask yet again, 'Please come away with me?'

'Kathy, I don't know?'

Yes, there is a recollection there, a comprehension somehow, that these

words have been spoken before, and a memory somewhere, as Russell Stuart looks

to the coin in his palm, to see that of course the coin has fallen to the Obverse,

- you made me win

no simone i called heads i could not lose

that the answer, given at the final moment, must be Yes or No, as if a binary

selection of On or Off must be taken, or the path of X or Y somehow

chosen, but Kathy knows nothing of Russell's thoughts, of his history, but as if

she must insist, 'Will you come away with me?', for Russell to stoop to pick up

and examine more closely the fallen coin, - that at any other time it must have

lain heads up, Obverse, but now the revealed Reverse, tails, which was impossible,

since this was a trick double headed coin, as for Simone it had fallen heads up and

not tails,
- you made me win

no goodbye simone

for Katherine to follow his gaze, puzzled, for Russell to continuing

murmuring, 'I don't ... know - ' But there is a melody now playing in Russell's

mind, not a Norah Jones melody, but a melody he has heard somewhere before,

as if from an Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, as if Vincent was humming # A

Policeman's Lot #, for Katherine to ask again, finally, as in a plaintive desperation,

'Come away with me?'

And the memory returns in a flash, for Russell to see the man disappear

before his eyes, that it had not been a dream, that his mother had been wrong in her

sneering dismissal of the related events of that day, scoffing, Ridiculous! Such

things do not happen in the real world! I wish your father were alive to teach you

some real science! - which he might well have done, had he been alive, as RS the

Elder had in his own time been a physicist, doing secret atomic work somewhere,

and might well have passed on what he could (for some work, he had erroneously

thought, was still classified) to his strange son Russell, before he too had decayed

to his half life. But for Russell to now realise that his mocked vision had been

true, and that the sick man looking down upon him as a child .. was himself. Say

'Yes.' his disappearing father had instructed, only for the next day, after that

strange disappearance, the man had reappeared as he and Simone chanced with

their coins in the afternoon playtime, standing happily, waving at himself, Russell

Stuart, as a boy. 'Russell! It's going to be great!' the man had shouted, but Russell
had not mentioned the reappearance, for he had remembered the shock of the adults

yesterday - of the scruffy policeman, that blond haired man with the long fingers,

but a visible silver coloured scar upon his wrist, of Miss Coralee, of his

disapproving, disappointed mother. But for him to now mouth at the reappeared

man, agreeing, Say Yes. That there might possibly be - but not necessarily a

probably - happy ending. For Katherine to still sit, still waiting, still puzzled.

'Say Yes. He told me to say Yes.. '

'Yes ..?'

'Yes. Yes. He told me to say Yes.. Yes, I'll come with you!'

For Katherine to beam happily, that all her dreams have come true.

And at so young an age. 'I love you so much. To do this for me.'

For Russell to turn to stare into the laboratory, to notice that the vial has

fallen, but that this time he is outside.