You've Got Mail - 05. goodnight, dear void.

EXT. COLUMBUS AVENUE - NEW YORK - MORNING 

Joe goes to his painter at work: COMING SOON is as far as he's gotten. 

EXT. COLUMBUS AVENUE - A HALF HOUR LATER 

The painter is further along on the sign. It now reads: COMING SOON, A FOXBOOKS SU -- Kathleen walks past the construction site. She doesn't really pay attention to the sign painter.

As George walks along Broadway, past the sign, which now says: "COMING SOON: A FOXBOOKS SUPERSTORE". He sees it. 

GEORGE - Bummer!

EXT. COLUMBUS AVENUE - DAY 

The sign is now complete and it says: "Coming soon, just around the corner. A Foxbooks Superstore." Kathleen and George and Christina stand there looking at it. 

GEORGE - A Fox Book Superstore.

CHRISTINA - Quel nightmare. 

KATHLEEN - It has nothing to do with us. It's big, impersonal, overstocked and full of ignorant salespeople. 

GEORGE - But they discount. 

KATHLEEN - But they don't provide any service. We do. 

George and Christina nod. 

INT. BARNEY GREENGRASS - LUNCHTIME 

Kathleen is having lunch with Birdie.

KATHLEEN - So really it's a good development. You know how in the flower district, there are all those flower shops  so you can find whatever you want. Well, this is going to be the book district. If you don't have it, we do. 

BIRDIE -  And vice versa. 

KATHLEEN - Absolutely.

INT. KATHLEEN'S APARTMENT - DUSK 

Kathleen in the kitchen, unloading groceries. Frank is standing there, plugging in an Olympia Report deluxe Electric typewriter. 

FRANK - When you are finished with Foxbooks, the Shop Around the Corner is going to be responsible for reversing the entire course of the Industrial Revolution. 

KATHLEEN - Well, that is so sweet, Frank. Thank you. That is so sweet. 

FRANK - Hey...

He holds his arms out. They hug. 

KATHLEEN - Although... I ...

FRANK - What? 

KATHLEEN (over his shoulder, she notices the typewriter, breaks from the hug) - Wait a minute. What is that doing there? 

FRANK - Oh, my gosh. This is amazing. Listen. 

He strikes a key. Practically swoons. 

FRANK - The Olympia Report deluxe Electric Report. As in gunshot. 

KATHLEEN - That sound is familiar. 

FRANK - Listen to this, listen to this.

He puts his ear to the typewriter. Kathleen listens too. 

KATHLEEN - What, the whirring? 

FRANK - The gentle, soothing lullaby...of a piece of machinery so perfect...

KATHLEEN - I know where I've heard it before, Frank. 

She whips a cover off the other typewriter on the table. It's the same machine exactly. 

FRANK - I needed a backup. 

KATHLEEN - Don't you have another one at your apartment? 

FRANK - I might! 

KATHLEEN - That you wrote a column about? 

FRANK - Yes! Who cares? What were you going to say? 

KATHLEEN - When?

FRANK - Before.

KATHLEEN - Oh, nothing.

FRANK - Come on.

KATHLEEN - Well, I'm just wondering, I'm wondering about my work, you know, and I'm just,  I mean, what is it I do exactly? All I really do is run a children bookstore...

FRANK - All you really do is this incredibly noble thing...

KATHLEEN - Well, I don't know, really, I'm just...

FRANK (stopping her) - Kathleen...

KATHLEEN - But I just...

FRANK - You are a lone reed. 

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

FRANK - You are a lone...reed...standing...tall....waving boldly...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. 

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, valuable, but small. 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?...I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So goodnight, dear void.