YOU'VE GOT MAIL

 He sticks a piece of paper in the typewriter, starts typing.

    FRANK
  You are a lone reed waving in the
  breeze standing strong and tall in
  the corrupt sands of commerce.

 He whips the piece of paper out of the typewriter and hands
 it to her.

    KATHLEEN
   (reading from it)
  I am a lone reed.
   (tries it on again)
  I am a lone reed.

 Clutching her piece of paper, she wanders into the bathroom.

 INT. BEDROOM - DUSK

 We hear the sound of a typewriter begin to clack away in the
 next room.

 Kathleen walks past her computer, looks at it.  Then she goes
 over to the window, looks out at her street at dusk.

 EXT. KATHLEEN'S STREET - DUSK

 A group of schoolgirls in uniform, in two straight lines,
 walk past with a tall woman.

 INT. KATHLEEN'S BEDROOM - DUSK

 She goes over to the bookshelf and pulls out a copy of
 Madeleine by Ludwig Bemelmans and opens it to the
 illustration of the twelve little girls in two straight lines
 marching through the streets of Paris.  She looks at it, then
 looks up, lost in thought.  We hear the sound of the computer
 keys.

    KATHLEEN (V.O.)
  Sometimes I wonder about my life.  I lead
  a small life.  Well, not small, but
  circumscribed.  And sometimes I wonder,
  do I do it because I like it, or because
  I haven't been brave?  So much of what I
  see reminds me of something I read in a
  book, when shouldn't it be the other way
  around?
   (continued)

 And hold on her as she thinks about this.

 In the other room, we hear Frank typing.

 Kathleen goes to the computer, turns it on.

 EXT. KATHLEEN'S BUILDING - NIGHT

 As we see Kathleen, through her curtains, a small figure
 barely lit by her computer.

    KATHLEEN (V.O., cont'd)
  I don't really want an answer.  I just
  want to send this cosmic question out
  into the void.  So goodnight, dear void.

 INT. DRIP - DAY

 Drip is a cafe on Amsterdam Avenue with Fifties-style couches
 and chairs in cozy seating arrangements.  Kathleen is
 standing at the front counter with Christina, getting drinks.

    CHRISTINA
  I went to the Foxbooks Website and you
  can buy anything.  They ship it to you
  in a day.  Maybe we should get a website.

    KATHLEEN
  My mother would never have wanted us to
  have a website.  "Every book you sell is
  a gift from your heart."  She always said
  that.

 As they walk toward the back of the cafe, Kathleen notices a
 stack of loose-leaf binders on the table.

    CHRISTINA
  What if they put us out of business?

    KATHLEEN
  It's out of the question.  We're a
  fixture in the neighborhood.  We're
  practically a landmark.
   (indicating the binders)
  Men For Women, Women for Men, Women for
  Women -- what is this?

    CHRISTINA
  You fill out one of these forms and they
  file it in the book and if someone wants
  to meet you, they arrange it.

    KATHLEEN
  What a stupid way to meet someone.

    CHRISTINA
  Compared to the Internet?

    KATHLEEN
  My little thing on the Internet is just
  a lark.

    CHRISTINA
  So it's still going on?

    KATHLEEN
  And I do not plan to meet him.
   (indicating the book)
  Why do I get the feeling that you are in
  here somewhere?

 Christina flips the book open to her application.

    CHRISTINA
  I came in here one night and drank too
  much coffee and filled one out.
   (off Kathleen's look)
  Well how am I supposed to meet someone?

    KATHLEEN
  You are a runner.  Some day you will make
  eye contact with another runner and --

    CHRISTINA
  No one ever even looks at me.  They
  don't.  On top of which, who are they?
  They could like the symphony.  I could
  never fall in love with someone who
  likes to go to the symphony --

    KATHLEEN
  I know.  What are you supposed to do
  there?

    CHRISTINA
  I don't know.

    KATHLEEN
  Sit.  You're supposed to sit.

    CHRISTINA
  I could never fall in love with anyone
  who smokes cigars either.

    KATHLEEN
  I'll tell you what I hate.  Big fat legs
  like stumps.

    CHRISTINA
  Yeah.  I hate that too.

    KATHLEEN
  The worst, the worst -- I could never,
  under any circumstances, love anybody
  who had a sailboat.

    CHRISTINA
  Neither could I.

    KATHLEEN
  If I had to get up on Saturday morning
  knowing that I was about to go down to
  the pier and unravel all those ropes and
  put on all that sunblock --

    CHRISTINA
  All that talk about the wind.

    KATHLEEN
  And then you have to go out on the boat,
  and you sail and sail and sail until you
  are bored witless, and then, only then,
  do they say, let's turn around and you
  realize the trip is only half over, only
  it's not, because the wind has changed --

    CHRISTINA
  It hasn't changed.  It's died.

    KATHLEEN
  So then there's more talk about the wind.
  While you just float up and down trying
  not to get nauseous.  And when you
  finally get back, you have to clean up
  the boat.

    CHRISTINA
  Why don't people have boat maids?

    KATHLEEN
  I know.  There're all these people who
  wouldn't be caught dead polishing a
  doorknob in their house but put them on
  a boat and they want to rub down
  everything in sight.
  
 EXT. 19TH STREET BOAT BASIN - ANOTHER DAY

 Joe is on his sailboat.  He is polishing his brass and
 whistling.

    ANNABEL
  Joe --

 Joe jumps off the boat onto the dock to greet his
 grandfather's daughter ANNABEL, 8, who is coming toward the
 dock with GILLIAN, his father's overdecorated 32-year-old
 fiance, her son, MATTHEW, 4, and the Nanny, MAUREEN.

    JOE
  Hello.
   (picks up Annabel)
  Annabel, how are you today?

    ANNABEL
  Great.

    JOE
   (picks up Matt)
  Hey, big guy --

    GILLIAN
  Don't I get a hello?

    JOE
  Hello, Gillian.

    GILLIAN
  Kiss me.  I'm going to be your wicked
  stepmother.

 Joe gives her a peck on the cheek.

    JOE
  Who is this?

    GILLIAN
  Nanny Maureen.  I brought her in case
  you couldn't handle the kids.

    ANNABEL
  Maureen's getting a divorce.

    JOE
  I'm sorry to hear that.

    MAUREEN
  It's my own fault.  Never marry a man
  who lies.

    JOE
  That is so wise.  Remember that, Annabel.

    ANNABEL
  She taught Matt to spell his name.

    MATT
  Fox. F-O-X.

    JOE
  Excellent, Matt.
   (to Maureen)
  Good work.  You can have the day off.
  I'll take over from here.
   (to Gillian)
  You must be late for something.
  Volunteer work at the Henry Street
  Settlement.  Packing bandages for
  Bosnian refugees.  A course in
  Chinese literature at Columbia.

    GILLIAN
  I am.  I'm having my eggs harvested.

 EXT. STREET FAIR - DAY

 There's a block street fair with little booths, sausage
 sandwich concessions, etc.  Annabel and Matt have been to the
 makeup booth.  Annabel is a cat and Matt is a pirate.
 Annabel is carrying a goldfish in a baggie as they walk toward
 Broadway.

 EXT. KATHLEEN'S STORE - DAY

 As Joe, Annabel and Matt walk past.  There's some sort of toy
 miniature princess in a pointed hat sitting outside the store
 and a sign lit with twinkle lights: Storybook Lady today 3:30.

 INT. KATHLEEN'S STORE - DAY

 Kathleen is sitting on a stool reading to a group of CHILDREN,
 including Annabel and Matt, who are crammed into her store.
 Joe is watching, along with some PARENTS as Kathleen reads
 from a Roald Dahl book.

 INT. KATHLEEN'S STORE - LATER

 Matt is sitting on the floor reading a book.  Kathleen is
 showing Annabel a copy of a book called Betsy-Tacy.

    KATHLEEN
  This is her best friend Tacy, whose real
  name is Anastasia, and then in the next
  book Betsy and Tacy become friends with
  Tib, whose real name, I am sorry to tell
  you, is Thelma.

 In another section of the store:

 George is showing Joe a first edition of Swiss Family
 Robinson from the glass case.

    GEORGE
  The illustrations are hand-tipped,
  which is why --

    JOE
  It costs so much.

    GEORGE
  It's why it's worth so much.

 Joe smiles and turns to see Kathleen and Annabel at a whole
 shelf of Betsy-Tacy books.

    ANNABEL
  I want all of them.

    KATHLEEN
  That might be an awful lot for your dad
  to buy at one time.

    ANNABEL
  My dad gets me all the books I want.

    KATHLEEN
   (looking over at Joe)
  Well, that's very nice of him.

    ANNABEL
  That's not my dad.  That's my nephew --

    KATHLEEN
  Oh, I don't really think that's your
  nephew --

 As Joe approaches.

    JOE
  It's true.  Annabel is my aunt.  Aren't
  you, Aunt Annabel?

 Annabel nods solemnly.

    ANNABEL
  And Matt is --

    KATHLEEN
  Let me guess.
   (to Matt)
  Are you his uncle?

    MATT
  No.

    KATHLEEN
  His grandfather?

 Annabel and Matt start giggling.

    KATHLEEN (cont'd)
  His great-grandfather?

    MATT
   (shouting with glee)
  I'm his brother.

    JOE
  Annabel is my grandfather's daughter.
  And Matt is my father's son.  We are an
  American family.

 He smiles at Kathleen, who finds herself smiling back.

 Annabel suddenly sneezes.

 Kathleen takes a handkerchief from her sleeve.  It's an old
 fashioned hankie that's embroidered.  She offers it to
 Annabel, who instead wipes her nose with her hand and then
 looks at the handkerchief, a little puzzled.

    ANNABEL
  What is that?

    KATHLEEN
  A handkerchief.  Oh my, do children not
  even know what handkerchiefs are?  A
  handkerchief is a Kleenex you don't throw
  away.  My mother embroidered it for me --
  you see?  My initials and a daisy,
  because daisies are my favorite flower.

    ANNABEL
  Orchids are my favorite flower.

    KATHLEEN
   (to Joe)
  You know what else children don't know?
  They don't know what a telephone booth
  is?

 Joe is looking at Kathleen.

    JOE
  Who are you?

    KATHLEEN
  Kathleen Kelly.  I own this store.
  Are you are?

    JOE
  Joe.  Just call me Joe.
   (quickly)
  We'll take these books.

 He gets the one Matt is reading.  And the two other Kathleen
 has gotten for Annabel.

    KATHLEEN
  These are wonderful books.  As Annabel
  gets older the characters in the books do,
  too.
   (to Annabel)
  You can grow up with Betsy.

    GEORGE
  You're going to come back again, aren't
  you?

    JOE
  Of course.

    GEORGE
  This is why we're never going to go
  under.  Our customers are loyal.