The Remarkable Flight of Marnie McPhee Read Online Free
Author: Daniel Karasik
Tags: Family, Childhood, juvenile, student, Outerspace, imagination
right. Good night then.
She turns to go.
MARNIE
Mom?
MOM turns back.
I like it when the pipes sing.
MOM
They're a bit rusty.
MARNIE
Nobody could tell. Not even plumbing experts.
MOM
You're sweet.
MARNIE
Ew.
MOM
Go to bed soon.
She goes.
MARNIE
Stay strong, McPhee, stay strong!
Tinfoil in place of sheet metal, stuffed panda bear in place of engine: check, check, check!
I just need one more spaceship construction item and then we're ready for takeoff! A radio. Now where, where can I find a radio in my house�
In her mind's eye she sees, remembering:
ALAN
If I put on my headphones, don't think I'm not listening. I'm listening. I'm just listening without being able to hear you as much as I would if I weren't wearing headphones. So don't be insulted. Okay?
And he lifts up A RADIO! Well, a jukebox. But a jukebox with radio capabilities.
Overjoyed, MARNIE sings, Ã la "We're Off to See the Wizard":
MARNIE
We're off to Alan's bedroom! to borrow his ra-di-o! to borrow to borrow to borrow to borrow to borrow his raaaaa-di-ooo, because we're building a spa-ace-ship, a spa-ace-ship, a spa-ace-ship, we are, we are, we are, we are, we aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrreâ¦
She quiets down, creeps upstairs towards ALAN's bedroom on tiptoeâwhen suddenly she hears a noise!
From the front porch comes the clicking that we heard before, louder than we heard it before: clickity-clickity-clickity-click. And again.
Ever so quietly, holding her finger over her lips and motioning to us to do the same, she creeps towards the front door, which is ajar, and steps out onto the porch.
And there's DADâpeering into a telescope, adjusting it, with a clickity-clickity-clickity-click.
MARNIE creeps ever so quietly back into the house⦠but then DAD whirls the telescope around and points it directly at her!
DAD
Oh my. Oh me oh my. What's this?
MARNIE
Eeek!
DAD
Oh, it makes noise. Fascinating. A strange and distant rock formation. Is it a planet? I wonder if it's habitable. Maybe we should send a signal and see if we get a response. Yes yes, check check, sending, sendingâ¦
A sound like a seagull cawing:
Awwwk! Squaaawwk!
MARNIE
Eeek! Eeek!
DAD
Awwwk! Squaaawwk!
MARNIE
Dad, it's me!
DAD
Oh, it talks, it talks! A talking planet! McPhee to base, McPhee to base, we have a sighting of a talking planet, looks like a little girl, seems friendly but we're going to send out a crew to investigate, over.
MARNIE
Dad?
DAD
Now it appears to be talking directly to me, over.
MARNIE
Dad!
DAD
â¦yes?
MARNIE
What are you doing?
DAD
Oh. Nothing. And you? Why are you still up? What were you doing?
MARNIE
Oh. Nothing.
They stare at each other for a moment.
DAD glances up at the night sky.
DAD
If we lived in the country you could see way more stars than here. Hundreds. There's so much light pollution in the city. And pollution-pollution. People shouldn't be allowed to drive their cars. We sacrifice the infinite for the Honda.
MARNIE
Um⦠I think people need to drive⦠to drop their kids off at school. Et cetera.
DAD
That's true.
MARNIE
But⦠yeah⦠of course⦠you wouldn't want to lose the, um⦠the infinite.
DAD
They should teach you the map of the sky in school. Do they teach you that?
MARNIE
Sure. Um. That's the moon. And I know how to find the sun, during the daytime. And Alan showed me how to find Uranus.
DAD
Oh yeah? How? It's difficult to spot in urban environments, depending onâ
MARNIE
Never mind.
DAD
You should learn the stars. Or at least a handful of important ones. The North Star. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor. The archer. You should learn where the stars should be. The star Maia, for instance, should be right there. But you can't see it from here. Which is a bit terrible, if you ask me. But what's more terrible is that most people don't even know it to miss it.
MARNIE
Show me where it should be.
DAD gets behind his telescope, adjusts the angle, the
She turns to go.
MARNIE
Mom?
MOM turns back.
I like it when the pipes sing.
MOM
They're a bit rusty.
MARNIE
Nobody could tell. Not even plumbing experts.
MOM
You're sweet.
MARNIE
Ew.
MOM
Go to bed soon.
She goes.
MARNIE
Stay strong, McPhee, stay strong!
Tinfoil in place of sheet metal, stuffed panda bear in place of engine: check, check, check!
I just need one more spaceship construction item and then we're ready for takeoff! A radio. Now where, where can I find a radio in my house�
In her mind's eye she sees, remembering:
ALAN
If I put on my headphones, don't think I'm not listening. I'm listening. I'm just listening without being able to hear you as much as I would if I weren't wearing headphones. So don't be insulted. Okay?
And he lifts up A RADIO! Well, a jukebox. But a jukebox with radio capabilities.
Overjoyed, MARNIE sings, Ã la "We're Off to See the Wizard":
MARNIE
We're off to Alan's bedroom! to borrow his ra-di-o! to borrow to borrow to borrow to borrow to borrow his raaaaa-di-ooo, because we're building a spa-ace-ship, a spa-ace-ship, a spa-ace-ship, we are, we are, we are, we are, we aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrreâ¦
She quiets down, creeps upstairs towards ALAN's bedroom on tiptoeâwhen suddenly she hears a noise!
From the front porch comes the clicking that we heard before, louder than we heard it before: clickity-clickity-clickity-click. And again.
Ever so quietly, holding her finger over her lips and motioning to us to do the same, she creeps towards the front door, which is ajar, and steps out onto the porch.
And there's DADâpeering into a telescope, adjusting it, with a clickity-clickity-clickity-click.
MARNIE creeps ever so quietly back into the house⦠but then DAD whirls the telescope around and points it directly at her!
DAD
Oh my. Oh me oh my. What's this?
MARNIE
Eeek!
DAD
Oh, it makes noise. Fascinating. A strange and distant rock formation. Is it a planet? I wonder if it's habitable. Maybe we should send a signal and see if we get a response. Yes yes, check check, sending, sendingâ¦
A sound like a seagull cawing:
Awwwk! Squaaawwk!
MARNIE
Eeek! Eeek!
DAD
Awwwk! Squaaawwk!
MARNIE
Dad, it's me!
DAD
Oh, it talks, it talks! A talking planet! McPhee to base, McPhee to base, we have a sighting of a talking planet, looks like a little girl, seems friendly but we're going to send out a crew to investigate, over.
MARNIE
Dad?
DAD
Now it appears to be talking directly to me, over.
MARNIE
Dad!
DAD
â¦yes?
MARNIE
What are you doing?
DAD
Oh. Nothing. And you? Why are you still up? What were you doing?
MARNIE
Oh. Nothing.
They stare at each other for a moment.
DAD glances up at the night sky.
DAD
If we lived in the country you could see way more stars than here. Hundreds. There's so much light pollution in the city. And pollution-pollution. People shouldn't be allowed to drive their cars. We sacrifice the infinite for the Honda.
MARNIE
Um⦠I think people need to drive⦠to drop their kids off at school. Et cetera.
DAD
That's true.
MARNIE
But⦠yeah⦠of course⦠you wouldn't want to lose the, um⦠the infinite.
DAD
They should teach you the map of the sky in school. Do they teach you that?
MARNIE
Sure. Um. That's the moon. And I know how to find the sun, during the daytime. And Alan showed me how to find Uranus.
DAD
Oh yeah? How? It's difficult to spot in urban environments, depending onâ
MARNIE
Never mind.
DAD
You should learn the stars. Or at least a handful of important ones. The North Star. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor. The archer. You should learn where the stars should be. The star Maia, for instance, should be right there. But you can't see it from here. Which is a bit terrible, if you ask me. But what's more terrible is that most people don't even know it to miss it.
MARNIE
Show me where it should be.
DAD gets behind his telescope, adjusts the angle, the
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