-
Friend; Billy!
Billy: Hey, what’s this! Who are you?
Never mind who I am, Bigelow.
-
Where am I?
You’re in the back yard of heaven (pointing off) There’s the gates over there.
-
The pearly gates
- Nop!
- The pearly gates are in the front.
- Those are the back gates.
- They’re just mother of pearly.
-
I don’t want to go in the back gate. I wana go before the highest…
You’ll go where we send you, young man.
-
Now look here!
Don’t yell.
-
I didn’t yell.
Well don’t.
(to the friend) This one’s finished.
- Brother Joshua, please hang it over
- Salem, Massachusetts.
-
Heavenly friend: A-yah
- Now,
- This is a routine question I gotta ask everybody.
- Is there anythin' on Earth you left unfinished?
- The reason I ask you is you're entitled to go back fer one day,
- .. If you want to.
-
Billy: I don't know,
Guess as long as I'm here, I won't go back.
- (write in book}
- Waives his right to go back.
-
Billy: Can I ask somethin'. I'd like to know I'd the baby will be a boy or a girl.
We'll come to that later.
-
Billy: But I'm only asking.
- Jest let me do the asking.
- You do the answerin.
- I got my orders.
- You left yer wife having that baby comin'
- with nothing fer 'em to live on.
- Why'd you do that?
-
Billy: I couldn't get work and I couldn't bear to see her.
- You couldn't bear to see hr cry.
- Why not come right out with it?
- Why are you afraid of sayin' the right word?
- Why are you ashamed you loved Julie?
-
Billy: I ain't ashamed of anything.
Why'd you beat her?
-
Billy: I didn't beat her. I wouldn't beat a little thing like that,. I hit her.
Why?
-
Billy: Well, you see we'd argue. And she'd say this and I'd say that and she'd be right, so I hit her.
- Hmm!
- Are you sorry you hit her?
-
Billy: ain't sorry for nothing.
- (coming down the ladder)
- You can be as short and pernickety as you want.
- Up here patience is as endless as time.
- We can wait!
- (More friendly)
- Now look here, son,
- It's only fair to tell you,
- you're in a pretty tight corner.
- Fact is you haven't done enough good in yer life to get in there.
- Not even through the back door.
-
Alright, if I can’t go in I can’t
- I didn’t say you can’t.
- Said you ain’t done enough so far.
- You might still make it, if you tried hard enough.
-
How?
- Why don’t you go down to earth for a day
- like I said you could.
- Do somethin’ real fine fer someone.
-
Aw- what could I do?
- Well for one thing
- you might do yer little daughter
- some good.
-
A daughter! It’s a girl- my baby!
- Ain’t a baby no more.
- She fifteen years old.
-
How could that be. I just came from there?
- You got to get used to a new way of tellin’ time, Billy.
- A year on earth is just a minute up here.
Would you like to look down and see her?
-
Could I? Could I see her from her?
Sure could, follow me.
-
Tell me is she happy?
- No, she ain’t Billy.
- She’s a lot like you.
- That’s why I figure you’re the one
- could help her most.
- If you was there.
-
If she ain’t happy, I don’t want to look.
- Well right this minute
- she appears to be havin a fine time.
- Yes sir!
- There she is, runn’ on the bearch.
- Got her shoes and stockin’s off.
-
Like I used to do!
Don’t you think you better take a look?
-
Where is she? What do I have to do to see her?
- Jest look and wait.
- The power to see her will come to you.
- (put his hand lightly on Billy’s shoulder)
-
Is that her? Little kid with the straw coloured hair?
Pretty- ain’t she?
-
Children’s dialog on the beach:
Louise: I hate you, I hate you.
Billy: Why you make me look?
You said you wanted to.
-
I know what’s she’s goin’ through.
- Somethin’ like what happened to you
- when you was a kid,
- ain’t it.
-
Somebody ought to help her.
- Ay-ah. Somebody ought to.
- You ken go down any time.
- Offer’s still open.
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