Scenes 33 and 34--The Yard Sale Man
Upset at the state of her marriage, Mimi gets in the car and wanders around
the area, stopping at a yard sale.
33 EXT. YARD SALE HOUSE - DAY 33
Houses line a residential section of a rural route. One of
them is the site of a yard sale, with HOUSEHOLD ITEMS
placed out front. Mimi and another LOCAL COUPLE are poking
around the yard sale. The MAN running the yard sale, in
his fifties, is sitting on a chair near the house's door.
Mimi is looking at some DRESSES, holding one up in front of
her. She addresses the yard sale man.
MIMI
Do all these dresses belong to the
same person?
YARD SALE MAN
They all belong to my daughter.
Later, Mimi, buying one of the dresses, is talking to the
man.
MIMI
Have you always lived in this area?
YARD SALE MAN
Around the area. I was born in
Wilkes-Barre, lived in the city for
quite a while. Moved out here about
15 years ago.
MIMI
Has your family lived in this area
for a long time?
YARD SALE MAN
The Syrians all came over to this
country around 1900, 1910. My
grandparents on both sides came over
then, settled in Wilkes-Barre. My
parents were born here.
MIMI
Are there a lot of Syrians here?
YARD SALE MAN
Quite a few. Syrians and Lebanese.
MIMI
Is your family Christian or Muslim?
YARD SALE MAN
Christian. All the Arabs here are
Christian.
MIMI
Eastern Orthodox? Or...?
YARD SALE MAN
Orthodox. The Syrians are Orthodox.
The Lebanese are mostly Catholic.
Some Maronite.
MIMI
This is such a beautiful area.
YARD SALE MAN
Yeah, very pretty country. It was
all coal mining country. Anthracite
coal.
MIMI
Yes, I know. Did your family work
in the mines?
YARD SALE MAN
Some of them. Some of my uncles
worked in the mines when they were
young. My mother's family had a
grocery store - so did some of my
father's people. A lot of the
people in this area come from coal
mining families. Not my family so
much.
MIMI
Are the coal mines still operating?
YARD SALE MAN
They're not what they used to be.
Not for a long time now. They've
pretty much been played out since
the war. The whole area is built on
top of coal mines. Most of the
ground under the city has been dug
out.
MIMI
Really?
YARD SALE MAN
Yeah.
MIMI
Is that dangerous?
YARD SALE MAN
Sometimes. Sometimes you get
subsidence, and a piece of ground
starts sinking.
MIMI
Oh, my. Does it happen often?
YARD SALE MAN
Not too often. It used to happen
more. Some of the mines catch on
fire, and the fires can't be put
out. The whole side of the mountain
up there in Laurel Run has been on
fire for years and years.
MIMI
Really?
YARD SALE MAN
You can't see it from a distance
these days, except after a rain.
But if you go up there you can see
smoke coming out of the mountain in
little places all around.
MIMI
Have they tried to put the fire out?
YARD SALE MAN
They tried a few times, but they
couldn't. It won't go out until it
burns itself out.
MIMI
Oh, my.
34 EXT. MOUNTAIN - DAY 34
On a mountain road overlooking the city, Mimi's car pulls
over to the shoulder. Mimi gets out and looks around.
On one side of the road, a series of pipes protrude from the
ground, and smoke comes out of the pipes. On the other
side, smoke issues from a hole in the ground.
Mimi looks at the smoke, her eyes narrowed, no obvious
emotion on her face.
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