ACT ONE

FADE IN:

EXT. THE ROOF OF SAM'S APARTMENT BUILDING - CONTINUOUS

Sam jumps up, peering at Clarence warily.

SAM
Who are you?

CLARENCE
(slightly hurt)
You don't remember me.

SAM
Am I...supposed to?

CLARENCE
(gesturing at himself)
Clarence? I was Harrison's
roommate in the hospital, when he
had leukemia?

SAM
Ohhh...
(pause)
Wait, hang on—Clarence died.

CLARENCE
Yeah, well, happens to the best of
us.

SAM
(slowly)
So...you're Clarence...who died...
a year ago?

CLARENCE
In the flesh.
(considers)
Well, not literally "in the
flesh", but...you know...

Sam shakes her head.

SAM
Whoa...I have to tell Jaycee these
new pills are WAY too strong for
me.

CLARENCE
(patiently)
No, Sam, I'm not a hallucination,
and you're not high on those
pills.

SAM
Really. And how would you know
that, Mr. Dead Person?

CLARENCE
Easy.
(gestures)
You haven't taken them yet.

Sam looks down and realizes that the pills are, in fact, still
in her hand.

SAM
Okay, so what am I hallucinating
on?

CLARENCE
(a touch less patiently)
I'm NOT a hallucination. I'm an
angel.

SAM
(cynically)
An angel. Great—exactly what I
need.

CLARENCE
You'd be surprised...

SAM
Look, fine, I don't if you're a
hallucination, or an angel, or
whatever. Just—go away and leave
me alone.

CLARENCE
Sorry—this is my job. You said
the magic words.

SAM
(grimacing)
Oh, please don't tell me there are
magic words.

CLARENCE
You wished three times on the
first star on Christmas Eve night.
Sometimes, that's enough.

SAM
Well, I don't want anything from
you, so you can just go back to
your lamp, or bottle, or whatever.

CLARENCE
(eyes narrowing)
I'm not a genie, I'm an angel.
Try to pay attention, Sam.
(pause)
You know, when I was alive...you
were a lot nicer.

SAM
(bitterly)
Yeah, well...a lot's happened.

CLARENCE
Yeah...
(pause)
Anyhoo, I can't go until you've
heard out my offer.

SAM
Offer?

CLARENCE
A unique, once-in-a-lifetime, take
it-or-leave-it, absolutely-not-to
be-repeated offer.

He shivers suddenly.

CLARENCE (CONT'D)
It's getting chilly up here. You
mind if we talk down in your
place?

Sam shrugs indifferently.

SAM
Whatever.

CLARENCE
Okay, then.

Clarence snaps his fingers, and—

CUT TO:

INT. SAM'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

—they are instantly in Sam's apartment. Sam looks around,
momentarily startled out of her bad mood.

SAM
How'd you do that?

CLARENCE
(sighs)
Brooke asked that, too. It's just
an angel thing.

At the mention of Brooke's name, though, Sam's funk returns in
spades.

SAM
Brooke?

CLARENCE
Oh, yeah, she was one of my
assignments. So was Harrison,
actually. Now, that was a tough
one.

SAM
So, what, do I fill out your quota
or something?

CLARENCE
Sam, Sam...you're not listening.
I'm here to make you an offer.

SAM
(bored)
Yeah, you said that already.

CLARENCE
An opportunity. An opportunity
that can be as wondrous as you
decide to make it.

SAM
(impatiently)
An opportunity to do WHAT?

Clarence turns very solemn.

CLARENCE
Step into your past.
(holds up a finger)
Change ONE thing. Fix one
mistake, right one wrong...

He shrugs slightly, and a little of the old Clarence humor
returns.

CLARENCE (CONT'D)
...go back and buy a ticket with
last weeks lotto numbers, if you
want.

SAM
(thinking)
Change the past?

CLARENCE
That's what I said.

SAM
I can change...anything?

CLARENCE
Well—almost anything.

Sam's eyes stray to the photo of her father sitting on the
dresser.

SAM
(hopefully)
My dad?

Clarence tsks regretfully.

CLARENCE
Death by natural causes—hard to
beat that. Look at me.

He raises his finger again.

CLARENCE (CONT'D)
BUT, any act involving free will—
any act of yours, that is—you can
change.

Sam takes a couple of aimless steps, as if she's going to
start pacing.

CLARENCE (CONT'D)
Hey, you don't have to decide
right away. Sit down, think about
it, make a list...

As he's speaking, Sam turns back to him, her face very
determined and very, very cold, and the sheer intensity of her
expression makes him trail off.

SAM
No. I know...EXACTLY...what I'd
change.

Perhaps sensing that a momentous time has arrived, Clarence
simply nods, again deadly serious.

CLARENCE
(gesturing)
Then step though the door.

Sam's eyes follow Clarence's gesture, to the front door.

SAM
That's all?

CLARENCE
(nods)
That's all.

Sam walks to the door, opens it, and sees only the bare
hallway. She looks back at Clarence.

SAM
There's nothing out there.

CLARENCE
(sagely)
Take another step.

She turns back to the door, takes a breath, and steps
through—

CUT TO:

INT. SAM'S BEDROOM - MORNING

Sam's old bedroom, in her old house, where Sam suddenly finds
herself. Just as she's orienting herself, Jane rushes in.

JANE
Sam—!

She pulls up short when she sees Sam standing there.

JANE (CONT'D)
Oh, you're up. Good.

SAM
Yeah...I'm up.

JANE
(fretting)
I don't know what I was thinking,
planning a cruise... I'm not
going.

Jane turns and rushes back out, with Sam following on her
heels.

CUT TO:

INT. JANE'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

Jane's suitcase is sitting on the bed, ready to go. She
tosses the sweater she's holding on top of it carelessly.

SAM
Mom...?

Jane turns to face her expectantly. Sam opens her mouth, but
nothing comes out for a moment. Then she plunges ahead:

SAM (CONT'D)
Maybe...you shouldn't go.

Jane looks very surprised.

JANE
What?

SAM
(temporizing)
I know, I've really been pushing
you to go on this cruise, but...
you know, if you're not ready...I
don't want you to be miserable.

She walks over to the suitcase, and pulls out the photograph
of her and her parents—where, of course, she already knew it
would be.

SAM (CONT'D)
It's only been two years, Mom. I
know Dad would want you to move
on...but not if you're not ready
to.

JANE
(wavering)
Wow...I have to admit, I wasn't
expecting to hear this from you.

SAM
Mom...do you trust me?

Jane pauses, and considers.

JANE
Well, you're smarter than I am.
You've been telling me that since
fourth grade.

Sam takes a deep breath.

SAM
Then I say...don't go.

For a long moment, everything hangs in the balance. Then:

JANE
You know what? You're absolutely
right. I'm not going. I'm
calling the travel agent and
cancelling the whole thing.

SAM
(nodding)
You can always do something else,
later. Something less...radical.
One step at a time.

JANE
I know how much you wanted to have
the house to yourself for a week.

Sam dismisses that notion with a wave of her hand.

SAM
We'll do something fun. Just the
two of us.

JANE
(nods)
You got it.
(clapping her hands)
Come on. I'm going to go make the
call. YOU still have to get ready
for school.

As Jane walks out of the bedroom and down the stairs, Sam just
stands there, open-mouthed, awestruck at the enormity of what
she's just done.

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT ONE