Scenes 33 and 34--The Yard Sale Man

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.