DANIEL:
I’m in. . .I’m in my bedroom.
MERLE:
No, you’re not.
DANIEL:
But. . .I am! Don’t you smell the clover? Where’s Pa? We need to finish fixing the fence.
MERLE:
You don’t need to fix any fences. You’re in Vietnam - in a POW camp about twenty miles west of Hanoi. Think about it, Private. Think hard! (gradually building in intensity as he progresses) There’s no clover to smell here. Just the stench of urine and sewage and rat droppings mingling together. You’re in a wretched, stinking prison cell in Vietnam where you’ve been beaten and tortured and abused. Do you feel the ache in your arms from the torture you just went through? Do you feel the sting from all the cuts where you’re bleeding? Feel the cold, hard truth, Private! (a beat) Now. . .tell me where you are. (a beat. . .then, firmly) That’s an order, Private! Tell me where you are!
NARRATOR:
Daniel looks around the room and carefully examines his surroundings: the vermin crawling over the decayed walls. . .the pile of excrement in the corner of the cell that prisoners used
NARRATOR (cont’d):
as a toilet. . .the lifeless corpse of the monster who had just tortured him. And then. . .it comes to him with crystal clarity. . .
DANIEL:
(his voice breaking) I’m not home. . .I’m in Viet Nam.
LIEUTENANT:
Looks like he’s coming out of it.
MERLE:
Yeah. . .he’s going to be pretty groggy, though. (a beat) These cuts are deep. Let’s get him to a medic.
LIEUTENANT:
Yes, sir, Cap’n Bass.
DANIEL:
(slowly, carefully, like a man waking up) Mr. Bass?
MERLE:
What’s that?
DANIEL:
You’re Merle Bass. You own the hardware store in town.
MERLE:
You said before you could smell the clover. . .you hail from Clover Ridge, Iowa?
DANIEL:
Yes, sir.
MERLE:
(trying to remember) Daniel Conway. . .do I know you, kid?
DANIEL:
You know my father.
MERLE:
What’s your father’s name?
DANIEL:
Frank Conway.
MERLE:
(a beat) No shit.
DANIEL:
(suddenly panicked) Keith! Where’s Keith? Is he here?
LIEUTENANT:
He must mean Sergeant Keith Molloy. . . the, uh. . .the one we found in the infirmary.
MERLE:
(to Daniel) I’m afraid Sergeant Molloy didn’t make it, son. His wounds were too serious.
DANIEL:
(grief-stricken) Keith. . .aww Keith. . .
SOUND:
THE CORPORAL’S FOOTSTEPS ENTERING.
CORPORAL:
Captain?
MERLE:
What is it, Corporal?
CORPORAL:
We’re ready to transport the prisoners.
MERLE:
(correcting him) Ex-prisoners. . .and you’re going to have one more. Come on, Private. Let us help you up. (grunts with the effort)
SOUND:
SHUFFLING OF FEET AS MERLE AND THE LIEUTENANT HELP DANIEL UP.
MERLE (cont’d):
The Corporal here is going to take you out to a truck with some other POWs.
DANIEL:
Am I going home?
MERLE:
Yes. . .you’re going home. You’re free now. (a beat) The nightmare is over.
CORPORAL:
This way, Private. I’ll help you out.
SOUND:
CONWAY AND CORPORAL’S FOOTSTEPS EXITING.
LIEUTENANT:
Hey Cap’n, I think Conway may have left something behind.
MERLE:
Where?
LIEUTENANT:
Over there. . .by his cot.
MERLE:
What is it?
LIEUTENANT:
It looks like. . .like a dreamcatcher.
MERLE:
A dreamcatcher? I doubt Charlie would let him keep anything like that in his cell. But, you’d better grab it and run it out to him.
LIEUTENANT:
Yes, sir.
SOUND:
LIEUTENANT WALKING QUICKLY ACROSS THE ROOM, THEN STOPPING ABRUPTLY. LIEUTENANT(cont’d):(astonished) Wait a minute. . .this isn’t a dreamcatcher. It’s just a slice of bread.
MERLE:
Probably Conway’s breakfast.
LIEUTENANT:
If that ain’t a head scratcher!
MERLE:
Well, come on, Lieutenant. I want to make certain this hellhole is completely evacuated before we move on.
LIEUTENANT:
Yes, sir.
SOUND:
MERLE AND LIEUTENANT’S FOOTSTEPS AS THEY EXIT, UNDER. LIEUTENANT(cont’d): Just an ol’ piece of bread. . .huh! I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that was a dreamcatcher.
MERLE:
The mind’s a funny thing, Lieutenant. It can fool you into thinking something’s there. . .when it’s not.
MUSIC:
Sting. Then into Fangoria Theme.
ANNOUNCER:
“The Final Battlefield” was written by Barry Richert. Heard in the cast were:
