MARBLE

by Laurent Boulanger

Short Film
Email: [email protected]

(10 min) Andrew and Emilio buy marble by the ton, but when a shipment arrives that smells liked 'death', but friendship between the two men erodes.

MARBLE

By
Laurent Boulanger


INT. OFFICE. DAY

ANDREW, early thirties and reasonably fit looking, is sitting at his desk, a small office furnished cheaply in plywood and a grey metal filing cabinet. He is writing something on a pad. ¬He looks Australian.

EMILIO, a slightly oveweight man also in his early thirties, is by the filing cabinet looking through some files. ¬He looks Italian.

THE CRUNCH OF TYRES ON GRAVEL.

Andrew and Emilio look up to the office window.

EMILIO
Delivery.

Andrew picks up a list of purchase orders from his in-tray.  He flicks through them.

ANDREW
Not expecting any deliveries today.  Nobody wants imported marble any more.

Emilio heads for the exit door of the office.

EMILIO
It's probably that special order I placed a few weeks ago.

Andrew winces.

Emilio vanishes from the office.

Andrew sighs and follows EMILIO outside.

EXT. DRIVEWAY. DAY

Emilio and Andrew are stepping into the glaring sun. There's a delivery truck parked in the driveway.

Emilio places one hand over his brow to block the sun.

EMILIO
It's okay, I'll take care of it.  You go back to your accounts.

ANDREW
You ordered another load of marble?  How the hell we're going to pay for that?

EMILIO
It's only one slab.

ANDREW
One slab?  We can't do anything with one bloody slab!

EMILIO
I told you, it's a special project.
(waves his hand)
Now go back inside and finish those accounts.

Andrew doesn't move.

The DRIVER steps out of the truck. He is heavy set with strong arms.

Andrew folds his arms over his chest.

ANDREW
Do you want me to take a sample and test it for quality?

EMILIO
I'll do it.

ANDREW
You don't know how to use the microscope.

Emilio makes fists with his hands.

EMILIO
I said I'll test it. Just go back inside!

Andrew holds up his hands, palms facing Emilio.

ANDREW
Alright, chill out. 

Andrew shakes his head and returns to the office.

The Driver hands Emilio a clipboard

DRIVER
One slab of white marble.

The Driver squints down at the handwritten order sheet.

DRIVER (CONT'D)
From Carrara, Italy?

EMILIO
That's correct. Unload it and put it in the shed over there.

Emilio points to a large storage shed at the end of the driveway.

EMILIO (CONT'D)
I'll need to test it.

Before Emilio has time to say another word, the Driver disappears to the front of the truck. He returns a few seconds later with a thirty centimetre square of marble.

DRIVER
The boss told me to give you a sample for testing. Said it could save me unloading the slab for nothing.

EMILIO
All right then.

Emilio takes the square of marble from the DRIVER and carries it over to the storage shed at the end of the driveway. He closes the door behind him.

INT. STORAGE SHED. DAY

Emilio locks the door and brings the small block of marble to his nose, closes his eyes, and inhales lightly.

Emilio smiles and looks at the sample of marble in the light.

Suddenly he is taken by a cough. He removes a handkerchief from his pocket and coughs into it. He places the hankerchief back in his pocket and heads for the door.

EXT. DRIVEWAY. DAY

Emilio walks up to the delivery truck with the sample.

Andrew is standing at the rear of the truck, talking to the Driver.

Emilio stops and listens.  Andrew and the Driver don't see him.

ANDREW
With the economy so screwed, no one's buying. Unless things pick up within the next six months, we're going under.

DRIVER
What'll you do, mate?

ANDREW
Dunno. A lot of cemeteries are importing ready-made monuments direct from the European quarries. They'd need someone like me.

DRIVER
What about him?

The Driver uses his thumb to show the direction of the storage shed.

ANDREW
Emilio'll probably retire. His lungs are shot from breathing in all the grinding dust.

Emilio walks into the conversation.

Andrew and the Driver look at him and stop talking.

Emilio hands the sample back to the Driver.

EMILIO
This is fine. You can put the block in the shed.

The driver gives Emilio the clipboard.

DRIVER
Thirty day account. Sign here.

Emilio pulls out a pen from his shirt pocket and signs the delivery docket.

EMILIO
I'd rather pay now.

Andrew throws his hands in the air.

ANDREW
Are you nuts? This stuff costs $5000 a square meter!

Emilio hands the clipboard back to the Driver.

EMILIO
I'll write you a cheque. Hold on a sec. 

Emilio ignores Andrew's protest and heads back to the office.

Andrew follows him to the office.

ANDREW
(to himself)
Ah, for crying out loud!

INT. STORAGE SHED. DAY

Emilio and Andrew are standing next to the slab of marble.

The slab takes up more than the whole area of the shed floor.  It's so large that a bit is sticking out through the open roller door.

EMILIO
What a piece of work.

ANDREW
You know what?  If we can't make the lease at the end of the month, this comes out of your savings account.

Emilio kneels down and caresses the marble.

EMILIO
Beautiful. Have a feel of it. You don't have an appreciation of beautiful things like I do.

ANDREW
Yeah, okay, whatever.

Emilio brings his face close to the marble, closes his eyes and inhales deeply. As soon as he fills his lungs with air, he begins COUGHING.

ANDREW (CONT'D)
You're right, mate?

Emilio continues to cough, blood spilling from his mouth to the white marble.

EMILIO
This thing stinks of rotting flesh.

Emilio jerks his face from the surface and tumbles from the slab to the shed's floor. His stomach rises and empties on to the concrete.

EMILIO (CONT'D)
Bastard's change the marble.

ANDREW
What?

Andrew helps Emilio back on his feet.

EMILIO
This is not the same marble as the sample he gave me. This is from milky headstones used last century.

ANDREW
How do you know that?

EMILIO
(points at his nose)
I know because my little friend here tells me so -- Sometimes they even try to sell us stones from crypts in ancient mausoleums.

ANDREW
Well, what does it matter?

EMILIO
What does it matter? You're going to let someone craft a headstone that stinks of another man's death?

ANDREW
Well, can't you just leave it in the sun for a while?  Wouldn't that get rid of the smell?

Emilio takes his hankerchief and coughs in it again.

EMILIO
No, my friend, this project required the Carraran marble be scented with life, not death.  No amount of sunshine is going to get rid of that stench of rotting flesh.

ANDREW
What's this project you're on about?

EMILIO
Return the slab. It doesn't come from the Carrara quary.

Andrew is silent. He is staring at all the blood and vomit on the marble. He turns to Emilio and puts an arm around him.

ANDREW
Are you alright?

Emilio shakes off Andrew's arm and staggers to his feet.

EMILIO
I'm fine. Return the marble and tell them I want a Carrara slab within two weeks.

Emilio coughs again. Blood drips to the floor.

ANDREW
I'm taking you to hospital.

Emilio kicks the block of marble.

EMILIO
It's this shit that makes me sick.

ANDREW
No, this is more than an infection from the dust. There's too much blood.

EMILIO
That's not what I mean.

Emilio scrambles past Andrew and out of the roller door. He breathes in the fresh.

Andrew bent over the stone and stroked its grain.

ANDREW
(shouting)
What makes you think this isn't from the same quarry as the sample?  The ripple is the same. There are no spalls, open seams or pits on the surface.

EMILIO
I told you -- It doesn't have the scent of Valencia.

Andrew lowers his head to the slab and sniffed loudly.

ANDREW
Can't argue with that.

He straightens up and joins Emilio in the sun.

EXT. DRIVEWAY. DAY

ANDREW
Just smells like rock to me.

EMILIO
I wouldn't expect you to really understand anything I've said.

EXT. DRIVEWAY. DAY

SUPEROVER: ONE WEEK LATER

The delivery truck pulls into the driveway. There's a slab of marble at the back of the truck.

Emilio walks out of the office and walks to the truck.

The Driver steps down from the truck.

EMILIO
You're not going to stuff us around this time, are you?

The Driver hands a marble sample to Emilio.

DRIVER
Don't know what happened the last time. Someone must have mixed the samples around. It's the right one this time.

Emilio takes the sample.

EMILIO
Good, then if you're so sure, you can unload it into the shed.

DRIVER
But aren't you're going to test it?

EMILIO
Yeah, but if you're so sure, it will save us time.

DRIVER
(shrugs)
All right then.

Emilio walks back to the office.

INT. OFFICE. DAY

Emilio walks into the office.

Andrew is at his desk, scribbling away.

EMILIO
There are three slabs I want you to seal.

Andrew looks up.

ANDREW
We have three slabs stored in the shed? What the hell for?

EMILIO
Something I'm working on.

ANDREW
What?

EMILIO
You really want to know?

ANDREW
Well, yeah, that's why I'm asking.

EMILIO
It's for me, all right. I've got three months to live, and I wanted to take care of my own tombstone.

Andrew steps back.

ANDREW
Jesus, Emilio, why didn't you tell me?

EMILIO
Didn't want to upset you. You've still got years in front of you.

INT. STORAGE SHED. DAY

Emilio is standing next to the marble. The Driver and Andrew are by his side, looking anxious.

Emilio gets down on his knees. He passes one hand over the marble and smiles. He brings his face close to the marble, closes his eyes and sniffs.

After the first inhale, he quickly lifts his face from the stone and coughs blood on the white marble. He turns to the driver.

EMILIO
What do you we are? Stupid? This thing reeks of death.

The Driver looks shocked. He turns to Andrew.

DRIVER
What's he talking about?

Emilio turns to Andrew.

EMILIO
Help the driver to shift the marble back on the truck.

ANDREW
You've got to be joking.

EMILIO
Please.

ANDREW
You're losing it, mate.

The Driver folds his arms across his chest.

DRIVER
I'm sick of this. You clowns move it yourself.

Andrew rolls his eyes, squatts down beside the stone's edge, and heaves the slab onto its side.

Emilio put a hand on Andrew's shoulder.

ANDREW
Wait, it's too heavy. I'll get the trolley from the back room.

Andrew shakes his head and drags the slab backwards out of the shed and into the driveway. He rests it against the side of the truck for a few seconds, and then slowly lets it fall against his shoulder.

The Driver has a smug look on his face.

Emilio and the Driver watch him.

Emilio lifts the sample that the Driver has given him, closes his eyes and breathes it in. He has a look of satisfaction on his face.

A LOUD THUMP.

Emilio looks on.

Andrew's feet are obscured by a white cloud of dust.

When the dust settles, only Andrew's head is sticking from the slab of marble.

The Driver and Emilio rush to lift the stone, but it is too heavy to lift.

Emilio throws himself to the ground and tries to wriggle beneath the slab to pull Andrew free.

The marble accepts Emilio's left arm and leg, but no more.

Emilio reaches out and grabbs Andrew's shoulder.

There's blood against the white marble.

EMILIO
Hang in there.

ANDREW
Oranges...I can smell oranges.

END.

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