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turning to page one
turning to page one
Dozens of parcel boxes litter the floor. WILEY, the duty guard, picks through them. Hadley enters, trailed by Andy.
ANDY
What is all this?
HADLEY
You tell me, fuck-stick! They're
addressed to you, every damn one!
Wiley thrusts an envelope at Andy. Andy just stares at it.
WILEY
Well, take it.
Andy takes the envelope, pulls out a letter, reads:
ANDY
"Dear Mr. Dufresne. In response to
your repeated inquiries, the State
Senate has allocated the enclosed
funds for your library project..."
(stunned, examines check)
This is two hundred dollars.
Wiley grins. Hadley glares at him. The grin vanishes.
ANDY (CONT'D)
"In addition, the Library District
has generously responded with a
charitable donation of used books
and sundries. We trust this will
fill your needs. We now consider
the matter closed. Please stop
sending us letters. Yours truly,
the State Comptroller's Office."
Andy gazes around at the boxes. The riches of the world lay at his feet. His eyes mist with emotion at the sight.
HADLEY
I want all this cleared out before
the warden gets back, I shit you
not.
Hadley exits. Andy touches the boxes like a love-struck man touching a beautiful woman. Wiley grins.
WILEY
Good for you, Andy.
ANDY
Only took six years.
(beat)
From now on, I send two letters a
week instead of one.
WILEY
(laughs, shakes his head)
better get this stuff downstairs
like the Captain said. I'm gonna go
pinch a loaf. When I get back, this
is all gone, right?
Andy nods. Wiley disappears into the toilet, Jughead Comix in hand. Alone now, Andy starts going through the boxes like a starving man exploring packages of food. He doesn't know where to turn first. He gets giddy, ripping boxes open and pulling out books, touching them, smelling them. He rips open another box. This one contains an old phonograph player, industrial gray and green, the words "Portland Public School District" stenciled on the side. The box also contains stacks and stacks of used record albums. Andy reverently slips a stack from the box and starts flipping through them. Used Nat King Coles, Bing Crosbys, etc. He comes across a certain album -- Mozart's "Le Nozze de Figaro." He pulls it from the stack, gazing upon it as a man transfixed. It is a thing of beauty. It is the Grail.