(THOMAS selects a story.)

[THOMAS]
The next time that we said goodbye
The old town seemed quite and frozen and small
And things there for Al hadn't changed much at all
The next time that we said goodbye

The next time that we said goodbye
I'd come home for Christmas to introduce Ann

(ALVIN is busy working in the bookstore.)

[ALVIN]
Nice to meet you

[THOMAS]
My colleague, my girlfriend, my number one fan
The next time that we said goodbye

She worked for a national weekly

[ALVIN]
Impressive

[THOMAS]
I'd been published in her magazine
Alvin was stuck selling books while his father got sicker
[ALVIN]
You've grown up!

[THOMAS]
He still looked eighteen...

Ann's waiting in the car, you coming out to say goodbye?

[ALVIN]
I can't

[THOMAS]
Why not?

[ALVIN]
...uh, Dad's left me a list of things to do

[THOMAS]
It'll take ten seconds!

[ALVIN]
It's a really long list

[THOMAS]
(pause)
He didn't like her!
[ALVIN]
No! No, she's great! I'm sure she'll have you settling down in no time - getting married, buying a house, getting a dog, having a kid... do you think she'll let you name it after me?

[THOMAS]
Um...

[ALVIN]
I mean the dog

[BOTH]
Years are like snowflakes
That pass in the blink of an eye

[ALVIN]
I'm so glad to see that you're happy

[THOMAS]
Alvin seemed sad
The next time that we said goodbye

[ALVIN]
Some lives hurtle forward
And some never budge

[THOMAS]
"We are gathered to honor the life of Alvin Kelby..."
[ALVIN]
Sometimes, a life takes a different direction
With an innocuous, innocent nudge

(ALVIN selects a stack of pages and hands them to THOMAS.)

[THOMAS]
"An Innocuous, Innocent Nudge"

Alvin's father's condition worsened, and eventually he was moved into a home. So, Alvin assumed ownership of the bookstore. I shuffled my schedule and ran back to town to help with the paperwork. With each turn of the page, this old store, The Writer's Block - New and Used Books... became, more and more, Alvin's

[ALVIN]
I feel like such an adult. I feel like you

[THOMAS]
Well, it's all yours - and may I say, I'm glad you got Writer's Block, and not me!

...a little literary joke

[ALVIN]
Very little

[THOMAS]
So what the hell you gonna do with it?

[ALVIN]
I don't know, I... I've never had... options before

You wanna stay and help me decide?

[THOMAS]
All I could think was, I've got too much to do

[ALVIN]
You could stay through Christmas

[THOMAS]
All I could think was, I've got three book signings-

[ALVIN]
It'll be like we're kids again!

[THOMAS]
All I could think was, Ann would never let me

[ALVIN]
What do you say?

[THOMAS]
But all I could say was...

Why don't you come to the city?

[ALVIN]
(excitably)
Really??

George Bailey, leave town?! I've never done that...

[THOMAS]
I took care of all the arrangements...

[ALVIN]
My Dad's in good hands...

[THOMAS]
I booked the train...

[ALVIN]
I can do what I want with the store...

[THOMAS]
I booked his room...

[ALVIN]
...I can actually do this!

[THOMAS]
In spite of that, a day didn't go by without a phone call asking what he should pack!

[ALVIN]
Do I need a tie?? I... I don't have a tie!

[THOMAS]
-or how much cash he should bring-

[ALVIN]
I bought a money belt! It'll be safer, right?

[THOMAS]
Until one final phone call...