Peter lines

(A COMPANY OF MEN enters with a purpose, the BOY in the middle.)

When I was a boy, I wished I could fly

SCOTT: So did I!

Out the window and over the trees—

MOLLY: What? Girls dream

Up to the stars - I like that

ASTER: It always happens. Nothing is forever

That’s the rule.

TED: Friendless? You mean like—

Leave me alone!

SLANK: —cast out by mothers who can’t feed ‘em or love ‘em

No mothers at St. Norbert’s, only schoolmasters

STACHE: And so it was, on the brink of a new adventure—

—that three filthy orphans—

TED: There’s nobody who cares.

Which is why I hate, I hate, I hate grown-ups!

NARRATOR SLANK: Just then, the crate of boys bursts open!

One of the boys almost falls out!

NARRATOR MOLLY: Hanging upside down just over Molly’s head!

He stares at her.

NARRATOR MOLLY: She stares at him.

He has an air about him.

TED: You said you wouldn’t eat it!

YOU! WAIT!

ALF: One.

Do, we have to stay down here in the dark?

ALF: ‘Til Slank hands yet over to King Zarboff.

Is the King nice to his helpers?

PRENTISS: I’m the leader, and I say we got some things.

He’s not the leader.

MOLLY: You.

You.

MOLLY: How old are you?

How old are you?

MOLLY: I’m thirteen

I’m thirteen

MOLLY: Wait - I just remembered today’s my birthday. I’m fifteen.

If you were thirteen and today’s your birthday, you’d be fourteen.

MOLLY: Just tell me your names.

Why should we?

MOLLY: And what are you, boy?

Leave me alone.

MOLLY: What’s so funny?

Thanks, Ted.

TED, PRENTISS: —mule!

Go on! You and your stupid names go follow some stupid girl.

TED: Right. Follow Mother—

Molly.

GREMPKIN: WHERE’S THAT MULE!!

Here, sir.

GREMPKIN: You are all shades of nasty, mule. Oi - lookit this filth!

Don’t hit me, sir! Cesspit’s dirty work!

GREMPKIN: A mule afraid of his own shadow. Be a man!

Thank you, Mr. Grempkin.

NARRATOR TED: —that one day such a home would be his.

Home.

GREMPKIN: Orphan Rule Number One!

Life is meant to be horrible.

GREMPKIN: Rule Number Two!

There are no orphans in heaven.

GREMPKIN: Rule Number Three!

Missus Grempkin’s ugly!

GREMPKIN: Anyone who laughs is dead!

Mother. Mother…

PRENTISS: I can ask whatever I want. I’m the leader.

Lay off, Prentiss. C’mon, you have to tell us what you know about Grempkin.

MOLLY: Alright, listen. My father is going to Rundoon on a secret mission for the Queen.

What’s a mission?

TED: “Pork” - beautiful word.

There’s the ringing again—

MOLLY: No, it’s coming from someplace else.

Behind this door.

MOLLY: Get away, Boy! Don’t open that cabin!

Holy—!

MOLLY: Sorry. Sorry, I didn’t mean to—

Tell you what. You say “sorry” so easy, like the rough patch’s smoothed over, no hard feelings and everything’s fixed. Better to say nothing than “sorry”. When it’s night, and I’m too scared to sleep, I look through the cracks, y’know? - between the wood nailed over the window - and I see all those little stars that I can’t reach, and I think that in a hundred years, or two or three hundred maybe, boys’ll be free and life’ll be so beautiful that nobody’ll ever say “sorry” again—’cuz nobody’ll have to. I think about that a lot.P

PRENTISS: Well, that’s more than he said in the last thirteen years.

So, bedtime stories? Not a big priority, okay?

MOLLY: Yes, sir. Thank you, sir! Cwa-cwah! Cwa-cwah! Vreeeep!

What are you doing?

MOLLY: Sorry, what? Um - get below, boy. If Slank sees you on deck, he’ll rear up like the—

You were talking to your neck-thing.

MOLLY: No I wasn’t.

I know what I saw.

MOLLY: Well, there was… there was a porpoise swimming alongside the ship, and it was making those funny noises that porpoises make, and I thought I’d make some funny noises too, that’s all.

So you were talking to a fish.

MOLLY: Porpoises are not fish. They’re mammals, just like you. Or Germans.

Then how come your neck-thing glows and rings all by itself?

MOLLY: It’s for swimming. I’m a good swimmer. It’s a swimming medal.

Right. Swimming. Sure. And what’s starstuff?

MOLLY: Decision. I’m going to trust you.

Why? I’m just a boy.

MOLLY: I know. Pity. You like to look at the stars? Well there they are—

There’s so many…

MOLLY: They look safe, don’t they, sparkling up there like diamonds.

I like when they shoot across the sky! Shooom!

MOLLY: Sometimes pieces of them fall to earth - little bits that look like sand. Can you keep a secret?

I can.

MOLLY: Those little bits are starstuff. The trunk in Slank’s cabin is full of it. There’s some in here too, in case I’m ever in trouble.

Starstuff?? Lemme see!!

MOLLY": NO!! It changes people if they touch it.

How?

MOLLY: Different ways - depending on what they want to be.

So if somebody gets their hands on this starstuff and—

MOLLY: —and they’re evil and greedy like Genghis Khan, or they’re hungry for world domination like Caesar or Napoleon or, you know, Elon Musk—

Who’s that?

MOLLY: Uch, didn’t you learn anything at that orphanage?

Was kinda busy trying not to die.

MOLLY: Oh.

So if starstuff’s so dangerous, why’re you after it?

MOLLY: I’m a Starcatcher. We have special powers that we use in secret - to keep sttarstuff away from tyrants who try to rule the world.

Go on, amaze me with your special powers.

MOLLY: It’s not a magic show. I’m not like some magician guy.

Well, I mean if you can’t actually do anything…

MOLLY: Fine, whatever. To have faith is to have wings.

Whoa.

MOLLY: Satisfied?

So the cat was flying. C’mon, I wanna fly too! Like you and the cat!

MOLLY: Get serious, will you?! The starstuff has to be destroyed.

You want me to destroy it??

MOLLY: Don’t be ridiculous. My father was going to throw it into the world’s hottest active volcano - Mount Jalapeño. You want to help? Then help me get that trunk to my father!

Hey, you know what? Forget it! Why should I help anybody?? WHAT’S ANYBODY EVER DONE FOR ME??

SLANK: He ain’t goin’ below, he’s goin’ over!

Let go! Lemme go!

NARRATOR: Strong gusts blowing, wind’s hit 34 knots!

I HATE GROWN UPS!

SLANK: Make like a kitten - take a long, long time to drown! Bottom’s up, boy!

Not overboard! Please! I can’t—

SLANK: Can’t what?

SWIM!

MOLLY: Deep breaths. There we go.

You saved my life.

MOLLY: Of course.

Why?

MOLLY: Because I’m the leader.

But you don’t even like me.

MOLLY: The leader can’t go about saving only the people she likes

The leader has to be a boy.

MOLLY: Only if the boy knows there’s more important things in this world than saving his own neck.

Like what?

SLANK: They figgered out I swapped the trunks!

Slank!

MACK: Which one is that again?

The boy spins the ship’s wheel for everything he’s worth!

MOLLY: You! Boy! You turned us around so the Wasp could catch us!

Pretty cheeky, huh?

MOLLY: He did something big, Prentiss.

I could do more.

PRENTISS: We should definitely wait here. We’ll be safer.

There’s more important things in this world than saving your own neck.

PRENTISS, TED: Like what?

Like helping Molly.

MOLLY: Help, Boy! I need more time to get the Queen’s trunk to my father!

Don’t worry! I’ll stall the pirates! Some crazy weather, huh?

STACHE: What are you?

What are you?

PIRATES: BLACK STACHE!!!

Never heard of you.

STACHE: Why, is that the Queen’s trunk you’re sitting on?

Oh yeah, Queen’s trunk, totally. Molly Aster told me to protect it.

STACHE: From who?

Pirates like you.

STACHE: But we have all the fun!

You do?

stache: yer name, bub.

No name. Orphan.

stache: you’re more at sea than Columbus, boy. If you were a pirate, you’d have a proper name.

You could do that?

stache: Oooh! We hung a bloke from the yardarm week ago Wednesday - Pirate Pete. That’s available.

Pirate Pete…

stache: good solid name is Peter, like a rock. That’s what you’ll be, boy, my rock. Now, gimme the trunk.

Peter. Yeah. I like that.

stache: iconic as the moonwalk in a Michael Jackson video. Now, gimme the trunk.

Peter.

stache: sand again!

You blew it, Stache! The Queen’s trunk’s safe on the Wasp! We saved the treasure, Molly!! We saved the world!!!

stache: you’re killing my buzz, boy - to which I say die!

Not again!

mountaintop scene

That you, Molly? I’m coming! Wait for me! Molly, wait! No, not s’posed to sleep! S’posed to be guarding the trunk, not— What if she came and—I DID WHAT YOU SAID MOL - dragged it right up a mountain! Nope, no Molly. So … bright. Holy— Know what that is? That must be the sun! I’m feeling you, sun! And check—it—out!! Space. Light. Air. I’m finally FREE! And I’m gonna have … freedoms! Whatever I want. Whoa. Hey bird, wassup? Me? Well, let’s see … Saved the world. Got a name. Not too shabby. I just— I wonder if Teddy and Prentiss made it off the ship before it sank. I mean, how weird would it be if they— Please let them be okay. Bird, we should make a pact. I don’t leave you, you don’t leave me. Deal? No! Come back! I don’t wanna be alone! COME BACK! Hey, fine. No Molly, no Teddy, no Prentiss…so what? This is perfect. Nobody’s after me with a stick. Nothing between me and the sky. I can just be a boy for a while. It’s all I want anyway. I gotta get outta here!

TED: Sorry, did you wanna be alone?

No! Stay with me.

TED: Good answer.

Thank you!

PRENTISS: You ready for this? Teddy floats! We jumped overboard and I held on to Teddy, and the two of us bobbed all the way here!

Prentiss!

prentiss: no-name!

I got one now. It’s Peter.

prentiss: whatever.

Look, the Wasp! Way out there, you see it? It’s still in one piece.

prentiss: for the love of— her name is Molly! And she probably drowned.

No! She dove off the ship as it went down. She’s like a real swimmer. I think maybe she made it to the Wasp. Or maybe she’s floating on what’s left of the Neverland-

mrs. bumbrake: —went through me like the winter wind in Wessex!

Or maybe Molly’s down there, in the jungle.

prentiss: I say we wait for her up here

C’mon! Help me hide the trunk, and we’ll find some branches down the beach.

ted: at some point we’re gonna need food.

Branches. What we need are branches.

prentiss: branches, branches—-guy’s got a Jones for branches

To build a raft, you know, so we can float out to the Wasp. We get to the Wasp, Molly’s father’ll have to take us.