Screenplay for Nome's Polar Princess

By Edward Henry

This is a true story of how one man, on his journey to the Arctic Circle to satisfy his bucket list, finds love in Nome, Alaska. Edward, an electrician and California native, travels to Nome armed with his fishing gear and his guns for hunting. In short order, he sets both aside after meeting Nora, an educator in the area and in the villages. She is a redhead that tries desperately to hide her voluptuousness. Nora, a transplant from the Midwest, was hired to help the native youth to acclimate to city life. The native people are generous and accepting of Edward, who is a kind and generous man to the native people and to Nora.

This adventure begins when Nora's story begins, and I'm paying homage to her for this. Edward has never experienced anyone like Nora. As their sexual experiences blossom and their relationship deepens, there is only one problemaEUR"Nora is married, and her husband, Park, is not happy about it. As the story unfolds, Park finds out about Edward, and he's ready to kill him; but Park lives in the Midwest, far from Nome, so for the time being, Edward is safe. At this point, Nora wants to marry both men, which is shocking to Edward and maddening to Park. Nora struggles with bipolar disorder, which causes friction between the couple and confusion for Edward, who has never experienced this before.

This is a journey of love and lust in the heart of a cold, desolate, sometimes very lonely, and unforgiving place. This journey is one that Edward could never have imagined and wouldn't change for the world.

The names of the individuals and animals in this story have been changed to protect their identities. The story includes explicit sexual language, adult content, and erotica.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781642986891

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Screenplay for Nome's Polar Princess

Edward Henry

Copyright © 2018 Edward Henry

All rights reserved

First Edition

Page Publishing, Inc

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64298-687-7 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64298-689-1 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

First off, this is a movie about the nonfiction book I wrote. It’s an adventure, comedy, erotic romance novel in a setting of 150 miles above the Arctic Circle. This will be a movie with plenty of music, mostly sixties, seventies Motown, with others as well.

I envision there being lots of narration from a male or female perspective. Maybe she talks her talk, and I talk mine and a narrator for other situations, starting from the opening scenes talking about her (Nora Pierce) and then again with me. When I’m introduced, he will do the same thing as with Nora, also some from myself probably talking about her and Nora probably talking about her as well as me.

NEXT SCENE (fifteen seconds)

FADE-IN

While she is driving, the camera pans around, and then the music starts (Red by Sammy Hagar [4:00]).

I vision the opening scene as being a story by either Nora or a narrator talking about all the good stuff that is Nora Pierce then as she is driving down the road from either losing her job or getting the other. How she lost her job must be told (’cause the school district she worked for was able to hire two people for the price she demands). She’s driving with her long red hair flowing in the wind in her little red sports car, not a care in the world seemingly one way or the other, as she is shown letting a piece of paper fly out of her hand and from the car (presumably the pink slip from work). I think the narrator talks about her other side, which is being a workaholic. She shows a cringing facial expression as she drives. She starts to get uncomfortable, then the narrator says something about being OCD. Her eye twitches a little, still with a wry smile, then the bipolar thing comes up and the first of many What The Fucks you will get throughout the story. She looks at the camera.

Nora, looking into the camera. What the fuck?

Narrator clears his throat.

Narrator. Sorry, Nora, it’s part of the story.

Nora. Whatever, dude!

NEXT SCENE (thirty-five seconds)

I envision this opening scene to be several minutes long because there is so much good about her. She has two master’s degrees—one in teaching and the other in counseling—and a heart as good as gold. I’m thinking this stuff will go before the bad stuff. (OCD bipolar?)

She’s paying her house in the Midwest off by herself without her boyfriend’s help at that time then, later, with her husband not having any financial responsibility.

She wants a vacation home as well as maybe a yurt. Yep, I said it—yurt. She is a big collector of native artifacts as well as art. Anything handmade by village people is best.

At age fourteen, she had a hysterectomy. She was so upset that her mom was also diagnosed (bipolar) and would even have children knowing what she had gone through with that terrible disease. Well, Nora decided early on she wasn’t going to be bringing anyone into a life of bipolar disease, which I still have no clue about.

She is the eldest of three kids. She has a brother that’s married, with a couple of kids, and she has a relationship with him and his family. She also has a younger sister that she hates, which I think has a lot to do with the fact that the brother and sister don’t have it, just Nora.

Because it was just the two of them, Nora and her boyfriend, Park Ford, they afforded a lot of vacation time in Europe, Asia, the tropics, etc. And along the way, she picked up many native trinkets, filling her house with all of it. She had expensive taste, from a house full of stuff to large fish tanks with a shit ton of fish, as well as two dogs and a boyfriend.

Nora didn’t allow any of her supposed setbacks (like being bipolar) to affect her. She turned it into a plus. She was high achieving. She had a ton of girlfriends, Park’s friends, and family. She is loved.

Nora had, to a lesser extent, an issue with talking to strangers, unless she had to. But she had a more fervent attachment to the fact that she really didn’t like anybody touching her, except for Park, of course.

The house had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, ranch style, in a Midwestern town. It’s a lot for, like I said, someone that won’t take help from anybody, right? She had under one hundred thousand owed on it, and she was really proud of that.

Nora is a true-to-life go-getter, which goes against the stereotypical bipolar person. When she sees something she wants, she will do what it takes to get it and maybe even, as I found out, be a little underhanded at times.

Remember, this is all narration while she drives home to tell Park that she either lost a job or got a job. I will decide later. She is home now, waiting for her man to come home.

NEXT SCENE (twelve seconds)

Now Park enters the fray. Scene opens with Park, who is Nora’s boyfriend of seven years, with presumably no thought of getting married anytime soon. They were okay with their lot in life, being able to come and go as they pleased. Now in the driveway is the narrator.

NEXT SCENE (ten seconds)

Narrator starts telling his story from the small Midwestern town with a mother and father and a brother as well. It just so happens that he and I are IBEW electricians. He fell in line with Nora when it came to saving for the rainy-day pension and such. Park is a big fan of sports, especially football, the Chicago Bears, and then of a video game warrior. He is big into the realistic, up close and personal killing scenes in the video game as well as a collector of all things Star Wars. Nora runs out to greet Park with a hug and a pink slip from work.

Park. What’s this?

Nora. It’s a pink slip. I don’t have a job anymore. They can hire two for the price of me.

Park. Aw, Nora, that’s a bummer. I know how you liked your job.

Nora. Not all that much. I hate looking for jobs.

Park. Well, you better get on it because you know very well that it’s schoolteacher hiring time so …

Nora. I know, Park. Jeez, I just got laid off an hour ago.

Park. You’re right, Nora.

NEXT SCENE (fourteen seconds)

In her bedroom computer area, Nora is seen applying for jobs that are seemingly above and below her status as a person with two master’s degrees. As she is glaring at the computer screen, the phone rings.

Nora. Hello. May I ask who’s calling?

Jordan. Yes, my name is Jordan from the Bering Ends School District. Do you have a few minutes to talk?

Nora. Sure, I do.

Jordan. This is about a position you applied for in Alaska. Do you remember?

Nora. Sure, I do. Thanks for getting back to me.

So they talk for many minutes, and finally, Jordan offers her a position with the school district, and without consulting with Park, she accepts.

NEXT SCENE (nine seconds)

Nora is shown walking into the front room where Park is.

Nora. Hey, Park, I have something to tell you.

Park. Ya, Nora, what do you want to talk about?

Nora. Jobs!

Park. Ya talk to me, Nora.

Nora. Well, I took a job in Nome School District.

Park. What did you say? You already accepted the job?

Nora. You heard me. It’s a great opportunity.

Park. That’s great. Where’s the Nome School District? Is it close to home?

Nora. Well, Park, no, it isn’t. It’s in a place that we’ve always wanted to go—Alaska. I will be going to a place called Gambell/Savoonga. It’s on an island that makes up St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, about two hundred miles above the Arctic Circle.

NEXT SCENE (fifteen seconds)

Nora pulls out a globe from one of the rooms in her house. She’s a visual girl—God bless her anyways—and points out to Park where it is, and Park is visually pissed at Nora, but raising his voice to her is about all he had, for he’s kind of a softy.

Park. What the fuck, Nora! Ya, but I thought we were going to discuss any job you were going to take.

Nora. Ya well, I don’t remember you ever discussing with me what job you were going to take.

Park. It’s not the same thing.

Nora. Isn’t it?

Park. No, because you’re leaving the state!

Nora. Semantics, Park.

Park. What the fuck! Red! Does the doctor know of your plan?

Nora. You know I hate that name, Park. No, not yet, but I’m going to talk to him and set up an appointment for tomorrow, and it’s great pay, and I will be learning from them as much as they will be learning from me.

Park. Well, I guess you’ve already made up your mind?

Nora. Yep, it will be great for the both of us. I will be able to pay off my house sooner, and then we can buy a vacation home together. ’Kay, Park?

Park. I guess, if it has to be, huh?

Nora. You will live, Park. Hey, if anything, it’s me that’s going to be freezing out there, so I will have to get some arctic wear. ’Kay, Park?

Park. Sure, Nora, whatever.

Nora. And find out about places to live.

Park. Okay, Nora, I don’t want to hear all about it. I’m happy for you, just bummed for me.

NEXT SCENE (ten seconds)

Show Nora calling the doctor for an appointment.

Nora. Doc’s, good morning. This is Nora.

Intern. Hey, Nora, what’s up?

Nora. I need an appointment sooner than later.

Intern. Are you okay?

Nora. Yes, just have a few things to run by him and get my meds set up on the three-month cycle if possible.

Intern. Well, as luck would have it, if you can come now …

Nora. Be right there!

NEXT SCENE (one second)

Show her entering the office.

NEXT SCENE (twenty seconds)

Intern. That was quick. Go right in!

Nora. Okay, thanks.

Doc. Good morning, Nora. What can I help you with?

Nora. Well, Dr. Johansen, I took a job in Alaska and need to set my meds for there if possible.

Doc. Are you sure you’re not trying to run away from anything? You have had some trauma recently, and that rash thinking happens. Your OCD will be good there, because I’m sure there will be plenty to keep you busy. I just worry about your bipolar disorder, Nora. What if you become lonely? Just call if you need anything, okay, Nora?

Nora. Okay, but rash? Come on now, I need a job, and they pay well, and I will be learning as well as teaching. It’s an adventure that I can’t pass up, Doc!

Doc. How does Park feel about it?

Nora. He wonders, What the fuck, but you know I want this, and it will be good for me. I just wish Park would come along!

Doc. Did you ask him?

Nora. No, but no need. He won’t. He’s got a good job, and no, I haven’t asked him.

Doc. Do you want to talk about it?

Nora. No, Doc, I’ll get past it. Thanks!

Doc. Well, time is up. Will there be anything else?

Nora. No, just set the meds up for me, okay?

Doc. Sure will. Don’t forget to talk to Park, and good luck. When are you leaving?

Nora. I will, and soon, Doc, soon.

NEXT SCENE (five seconds)

Nora walks up behind Park in that same nondescript apartment, puts her arms around him and whispers sweet nothings into his ear, and then starts to kiss his neck, and then Park pulls her around to the front of him and down on her knees when the scene fades away.

NEXT SCENE (twelve seconds)

Park is taking Nora to her favorite vegetarian restaurant. They are shown getting out of her little red sports car. Nora is a vegetarian, but Park is not a vegetarian. So they walk in and sit down.

Helper. May I get you something to drink?

Park. Water for me and a coke with lunch!

Helper. And you, ma’am?

Nora. I will have just water.

Helper. Are you ready to order?

Nora. Yes, we will each have the garden salad with the ranch on one and vinaigrette on the other!

Helper. If that will be all, I will be right back with your food and drinks.

Park. Thanks. That will do!

Park. Hey, Nora, don’t you want a drink to celebrate your new job?

Nora. You know I don’t drink that much! Besides, the salad is celebration enough. Besides, I’m trying to lose this little pooch I have.

Park. I like your pooch, Nora!

Nora. Thanks. I don’t.

Park. What about us?

Nora. What about us?

Park. When will I see you?

Nora. I’ll come home every break. But I want you to come to me for Thanksgiving. I want you to see where I’m at and that I’m safe, for Christmastime, New Year’s, and we get a week for Iditarod so you could go there, or I will go home to you for Christmastime and New Year’s, which is a little over a month. I will call you often, and you can call me too, okay? We can Skype, but we will both be busy, so what do you say?

NEXT SCENE (four seconds)

Helper. Here are your drinks and lunch.

Nora. Thank you.

Helper. Will that be all?

Park. For now.

Park then grumbles a bit and wishes Nora luck and safe travels.

Nora. Aw, Park, you’re so cute.

NEXT SCENE (seven seconds)

Scene opens with Nora. Just a few days left till she leaves. Scene shows Nora driving around and picking up last-minute things, stuff that people with OCD do to make ready for a new trip, cold weather, gear, etc. She has a great big smile on her face as she chats with strangers (which is a change for her—she didn’t talk to or allow strangers to touch her either). She also fears that there wouldn’t be anything cute to buy up there, so she brings her own stuff, and as she is pulling into the driveway in her home, she gets out with bags in hand, happy as a clam, and she walks into the house, where she runs into a pouting Park, who is sad because time is short for him with her and they’ve never been apart for any appreciable time.

Nora. It will be okay, dude.

Park. I love you, but you know how much I hate it when you call me dude, right?

Nora. Hahaha! I was messing with you to lighten things up a bit.

Park. Nora, are you hungry?

Nora. I sure am, and it smells good.

NEXT SCENE (four seconds)

Scene opens with a candlelit dinner on the table in a nondescript apartment, and romance is in the air.

Nora. Oh, Park, you’re so thoughtful.

Park. Shush. (He takes her hand and sits her down to fondue with all her favorite cheeses and breads.) I’m going to miss you, Nora, very much. We haven’t been apart for this long ever.

Nora. It will be a test!

Park. Of our love for each other.

Nora. Yep.

NEXT SCENE (eight seconds)

Music playing (American Girl by Tom Petty [3:31])

The airport is the opening scene where Nora’s about to board a plane and leave her boyfriend behind for the first time ever to say their last goodbyes for a while because she is on her way to a place, an island in the middle of the Bering Sea called St. Lawrence Island, also known as Gambell/Savoonga. One half is named for an explorer that found the island, Robert Gambell, and the other half of the island, which is more native and primitive, is called Savoonga.

NEXT SCENE (twenty-four seconds)

Nora gets off the plane in Gambell, walking in from the tarmac into the terminal, with bags already in hand, and to the waiting arms of the principal of the school. There they also pick up her stuff and go off to the school.

The principal, Marion Motley, wants to talk about Nora’s duties there, as well as all the other things, because there is no real place for her to stay and there is a lot of construction going on there at another part of the school. A church as well is being built there on the island, and there is nowhere for her to stay, so she stays in the large closet in the library. That’s where Marion takes her. Nora is so shocked she didn’t even care.

Marion. Good, Nora. Here’s the school where we will be working, and this is the library where you will be staying at night. I couldn’t find any other accommodations for you. Sorry.

Nora. No worries. I think this is great!

Marion. Really? Good. So here’s an overview. We need you to help bring up the kids’ GPA there, all lacking in different ways and for different reasons. I need you to interact with the parents of some of these kids. We feel they need to take more interest in their kids’ education so they can move into the twenty-first century! Is that something you can help us out with here, Nora?

Nora. You will have it, anything I can do, especially when it comes to dealing with the parents.

Marion. Well, Nora, you will find opposition, and it won’t be what your thinking is. The reason they are not going to school or taking it more seriously? They are subsistence livers out here, and they need their children to help pitch in just some more than others. You know I mean?

Nora. Yes, I think so. Let me find out for myself, and if I have questions, I won’t hesitate in asking you for your guidance, ’kay?

Marion. That’s good, Nora. Good luck.

Nora. Thanks.

NEXT SCENE (three seconds)

They are looking on the wall at a large map of a student chart that is hidden in the library, and Marion shows her all that she will eventually be doing to get the kids counseled up.

NEXT SCENE (two seconds)

Scene opens with her standing in front of the closet in the library, tired from many days of work under her belt, but with a smile because she was able to win the day with some of the native girls there and really felt a sense of accomplishment, then she goes into the closet and locks the door behind her.

NEXT SCENE (twenty seconds)

Show her the next morning with all she has at her disposal: two iPhones (one for work and one for Park) and three iPads (one for work, one for Park, and one for Nora) and the Wi-Fi connection in the library. So what does she do? She gives her boyfriend, Park, a call. She is sorting through, then she picks a phone, and while lying there on her cot in the closet of the library, she calls her man, Park. Since it’s three hours ahead where he is, it’s late, and he’s having to wake up from sleep when she calls. So he’s lying in bed as well. (Split-screen-type thing.)

Nora. Hey there, Park. How are you doing?

Park. I’m good. You sound pretty happy.

Nora. Yeah, kind of am. I just won a victory of sorts with the native kids in the school, and that makes me feel like I’m fitting in.

Park. That sounds great, Nora. Other than that, what else is going on?

Nora. Well, because there is so much construction going on, I feel weirded out by that, so I sleep in a locked closet!

Park. What the hell, Nora?

Nora. It sounds worse than it is. It’s pretty big [not really]. I’m just trying to stay safe.

Park. Ya, because if there was a problem, it would be days before the Alaska state troopers would arrive, right?

Nora. Yes, possibly. I don’t know. I should, I guess.

Park. Are you sure that’s where you want to stay for the whole year?

Nora. I would say yes ’cause the kids here are troubled on several fronts. School is secondary to life as a subsistence liver, and ’cause the parents don’t talk to their kids like you and I, they would use a series of clicking and clacking sounds to communicate, and that alone stunts their ability to speak the English language as well as write it too.

Park. That’s so interesting.

Nora. Isn’t it, though?

NEXT SCENE (seven seconds)

Music playing (Hey There, Lonely Girl by Chi-Lites [2:55])

Park. Nora, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? (They decided not to spend it together this time to save money since they were going to be together for the holidays.)

Nora. I’m sticking around here with Marion and her husband, John, but I have so much stuff to do, so busy. What are you going to do?

Park. Just going to be with family.

Nora. Not my family, right?

Park. You know they don’t talk to me.

Nora. Ya, I knew that, but I will send Bob, my brother, and his wife, Janet, and their family a message of goodwill from the both of us, okay, Park?

Park. Thanks, Nora.

I believe she just didn’t like them because of her being afflicted and them not having anything, as well as her mom being afflicted. She really hated her mom for that and the fact that the rock of her life, her father, whom she loved dearly and who was loved dearly by her in return, had passed away several years earlier.

Nora. Good, Park. I’m tired now, and I’m going to go to sleep. Love you, Park.

Park. Okay, love you too. Be safe, ’kay?

Nora. Yep.

NEXT SCENE (twenty-three seconds)

With Thanksgiving being left in the rearview mirror, there is the high school Thanksgiving basketball tourney held every year in their gym, and Nora really doesn’t like sports—playing, watching, anything. She puts up with it for Park. One of her duties is to be a chaperone to the visiting kids during the times there. Then one of her phones rings, but she couldn’t hear very well, so she goes outside to take the call. It is from Park, who is at her house, where he has lived with all his stuff. He and Nora are collectors. He is a Star Wars guy, with hers being native art.

Park. Nora, is this you?

Nora. Yes, Park, it’s me.

Park. Well, I don’t know where to start.

Nora. Get to it, Park.

Park. We had a fire at the house. It burned to the ground. All is lost.

Nora. Digger and Trigger [her dogs there] too?

Park. Yes.

Nora is showing little in a way of a response, just thinking.

Park. You need to come home now, Nora.

Nora. Okay, let me talk to Marion. How could this have happened?

Park. I don’t know. I wasn’t home. I was at work when the fire department called me.

Nora. Are you okay?

Park. Yes and no.

Nora. We’ll talk more when I get home, okay, Park?

Park. Hurry, ’kay? I need you.

NEXT SCENE (ten seconds)

Nora is outside, listening to Park, while walking up from behind is her friend, the principal, Marion. Nora is a blank canvas when it comes to showing emotions, and Marion catches her at just the right time when Nora is starting to grasp the severity of what is being told to her by Park. Then Marion grabs and startles Nora. (The areas around the gymnasium are decorated in a Christmas motif.)

Marion. Hey, are you all right?

Nora. No, I’m not, Marion.

Marion. Tell me.

Nora. Park just told me the house I’ve worked so hard on is gone.

Marion. What do you mean?

Nora. I just talked to Park, and my house that I’ve worked so hard on and for has burned to the ground, with all my animals—fish, dogs. Stuff is all gone. I have to go home. Is it okay?

Marion. Of course, it is. Take all the time you need, all right? Do you have insurance?

Nora. Yes, I have great insurance.

Marion. Well, other than the sentimental things, will you be able to get most of your stuff back?

Nora. It’s the sentimental things I care most about!

Marion. I will take you to the airport. Let me know when, okay, Nora?

Nora. All right.

Since it is a small place, there is room on the only flight in or out on that day in mid-December just before Christmas break. People in the background are decorating the airport terminal.

NEXT SCENE (three seconds)

The airplane is flying home. A sullen Nora gets off the plane to the waiting arms of Park consoling her.

NEXT SCENE (three seconds)

As they are driving back home in Park’s truck, merely a word is said. Nora is thinking to herself, I need to see this for myself because I really need to see my dogs. Just at the time she is finishing that