(THOMAS searches for and find the "Angels in the Snow" pages.)
{ALVIN}
What's that?
{THOMAS}
...um, a work in progress
{ALVIN}
"Every Christmas Eve, we'd make angels in the snow, just like every other kid has done. We'd stretch out our arms and legs. Then we'd wave them to and fro, in a halo of the late December sun
And, once a year, we believed
There was magic alive in the air
For the angels wе made
Lying there."
Huh, I likе this
"Proudly, we'd create
Our two angels in the snow
With reverential robes and perfect wings
We'd spend hours in the yard
All those Christmases ago
And when, at last, they were complete
We felt like kings
Then, as the sun disappeared..."
This is it, Tom?
{THOMAS}
"Then, as the sun disappeared...
(THOMAS takes the pages, struggles for a moment, and brightens with an idea.)
...and with snow down the back of our pants
We would wait for our angels to dance!
(THOMAS tosses the pages in the air. They burst into a flurry of paper.)
The icy wind would whip the snow from the ground
{ALVIN}
And the trees would moan a sweet celestial sound
{THOMAS}
Then the angel's souls were wide awake
{BOTH}
And alive on every single flake
They whirled all around us
As we stood like stone
Thousands of angels
With lives of their own
Each one with a separate story
Joining in one burst of glory
{THOMAS}
But then the snowflakes scattered and they flew
And our angels did, too
(The flurry of paper gently ends. THOMAS looks at ALVIN with a new understanding.)
Every Christmas Eve
{ALVIN}
Every Christmas Eve
{THOMAS}
We'd make angels in the snow
{ALVIN}
We'd make angels in the snow
{THOMAS}
And, every year, we'd watch them disappear
{ALVIN}
They'd disappear
{THOMAS}
But I know that they'll return
And though the years may come and go
When I need to have them with me
They'll be here
{ALVIN}
They'll be here
{THOMAS}
They'll be here
{ALVIN}
They'll be here
{BOTH}
Swirling 'round and around
In a magical, Christmas Eve glow
The way they did then
Back when we were just ten
All our angels again
In the snow!
(THOMAS envelops ALVIN in a final embrace and kisses him gently ont he neck. The shelves and papers fade, and the walls of the funeral chapel return
ALVIN steps back to watch his friend. THOMAS goes to the podium and picks up his notebook. He addresses the congregation.)
{THOMAS}
"We are gathered to honor the life of Alvin Kelby. He was my best friend."
(He closes the notebook.)
Let me tell you a story about Alvin