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SCENE: Green Gables porch
Anne Shirley: Fancy going to sleep in that tree if the wind was rocking it. [sees a flying bee] If I weren’t a human girl, I think I’d like to be a bee and live amongst the flowers.
Marilla Cuthbert: Yesterday, you wanted to be a seagull. Don’t be so fickle-minded and help me fold the laundry.
Anne: Oh, give me another word to spell, Marilla. And make the most abstruse word you can think of.
Marilla: A most what?
Anne: It means difficult, Marilla.
Marilla: I don’t know why you can’t just say what you mean, Anne.
Anne: That’s just it, Marilla! I am trying to say precisely what I mean. Oh, please give me a word to spell. I don’t want to let down my team.
Marilla: You’re only going up against students from Carmody.
Anne: Exactly! And the winning school receives a brand new bell! Carmody school doesn’t have a bell. And they are all exceptional spellers.
Marilla: Well, Avonlea could certainly use a new school bell since ours is broken.
Anne: Oh, Marilla, don’t remind me! What if I make a mistake? I’ll be mortified. Quick! Give me a word.
[toad squeaking]
Toad: Um, ridiculous.
Anne: Oh, thank you. That’s a very abstruse word. R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S.
Marilla: Whatever are you talking to yourself about, Anne? I didn’t give you that word.
Anne: Of course you didn’t. The toad did.
Marilla: Now that truly is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-S.
Anne: O-U-S.
Marilla: Even so! You have the most curious imagination.
Toad: [hides behind Anne’s feet and points at Peg Bowen who shows up at the gate] Oh, it’s her!
Anne: Who? [gasps] Marilla, look, a witch!
Marilla: Hush, Anne, it’s only Peg Bowen. What can we do for you today, Peg?
Peg Bowen: I’m looking for my toad, Marilla.
Toad: Huh, I’m begging you. Hold her off!
Peg: There he is!
Toad: Save me, little girl, please!
Marilla: Why do you want a toad, Peg?
Peg: No business of yours, Marilla. Nor yours, little girl.
Anne: Yes, why do you want a toad? I’m curious. Marilla says I’m too curious. She’s always saying ‘Anne Shirley, curiosity killed the cat’, but you really have to wonder about that. There is certainly an abundance of cats in Avonlea and they all seem curious to me.
Peg: You let him get away! You did that on purpose!
Marilla: Now, Peg. Really, a toad? You’re making a mountain out of nothing.
Peg: If you don’t get him back, I wouldn’t wanna be in your shoes.
Marilla: Really, Peg. What a lot of folderol! Go away now, we’re busy.
Peg: A curse upon you both. [mumbles]
Anne: [gasps] Marilla, that sorceress just cast a spell on us!
Marilla: Fiddlesticks! Peg Bowen is nothing but a wandering gypsy.
SCENE: Avonlea school, morning
Diana Barry: A spell? What kind of spell?
Anne: That’s what so excruciating about it, Diana. I don’t know. So far, nothing seems different.
Diana: Then how do you know she cast a spell?
Anne: If you’d been there, you’d know she cast a spell. Sure as my name is–
Hetty King: Anne Shirley!
Anne: Yes, Miss King?
Hetty: You’re supposed to be practising your spelling!
Anne: But I have been practising, Miss King. Every waking minute.
Hetty: Well… let’s see what you know. Come, join your team.
Now, you three know we’re counting on you to win the school bell at the county spelling bee. And we only have two blessed days to prepare.
Felicity King: We’re certainly ready, Miss King.
Hetty: Think of it! A triumphant new bell to ring us in, call us to assemble morning, noon and day’s end. Instead of that broken piece of steel up there. [off-screen] It’ll be a source of pride for years for the town and the students who study here.
Now, class. Who has word for Anne to spell?
Yes, Diana.
Diana: Adventure.
Hetty: Very good, Diana.
Anne: Adventure. A-D-V-E-N- C… H…
Hetty: C!? H!?
Anne: Um. K? No, that’s silly. T!
Hetty: Anne Shirley! I thought you said you’d been practising.
Anne: I have, Miss King, honestly! I’ve done nothing, but spell, spell, spell, all week! Spell! Oh, dear! It’s started! I’m cursed.
Hetty: A team is only as strong as it’s weakest link, Anne Shirley.
Anne: Honestly, Miss King. I don’t know what would be so terrible if we didn’t win.
Hetty: How dare you say anything so traitorous?! You had better not let this class down or you’ll never be able to hold your head up in Avonlea again!
Anne: I won’t, I promise. I promise not to let anyone down.
SCENE: Green Gables, later
Anne: Marilla! Matthew! The most indescribably appalling thing has happened. [gasps as she sees a mess in the kitchen] Um, Marilla?
Marilla: Now where is that teapot?
Anne: What’s happened to the house?
Marilla: Uh, the place is in a bit of a tip, isn’t it? Oh, there it is!
Anne: [gasps after seeing Marilla putting the teabag into a jar with pickles]
Marilla: Goodness knows where my glasses have gotten to. I’m completely upside down without my spectacles.
Anne: It’s not your spectacles, Marilla! It’s Peg Bowen’s spell!
Marilla: Wherever do you get such notions, Anne Shirley?
Anne: Remember what Peg said? A curse on both of us! Well, I couldn’t spell a single word at school and you can’t keep the house in order.
Marilla: Stop believing every half-imagined notion that pops into your head or you can go straight back to the orphanage where you came from.
Anne: I’ll try to do anything you want me to, Marilla. It is a million times nicer to be Anne of Green Gables than Anne of… nowhere in particular. [Marilla drinks pickle juice and makes a sour face]
SCENE: Anne’s bedroom, night
Anne: Formidable. F-O-R-M-A? I, I, of course it’s I, not A! D-I-B-L-E. I knew that. Oh, I’m going to let everybody down. Oh, I should’ve just let that witch have her toad.
SCENE: Anne’s imagination, her bedroom, night
Toad: Oh, you don’t mean that! Do you, good girl?
Anne: [gasps] I’m in the most unendurable predicament because of you, Mr. Toad!
Toad: Me?! By the way, I am not a toad.
Anne: Well, whatever you are. If I hadn’t saved you, Peg Bowen would never have cast a spell on me!
Toad: Then it’s my turn to save you, isn’t it?
Come on!
Anne: Um… I… um…
SCENE: Anne’s imagination, Green Gables garden, night
Anne: Where are we going?
Toad: In my experience, if you’re under a spell, it’s best to go to the source of the problem.
Anne: You mean… Peg Bowen?! Oh, not the witch! No! Please take me back! Whoa!
SCENE: Anne's imagination, Peg Bowen’s house
Peg: You must have heard the dinner bell! You’re just in time!
Anne: For what?
Toad: Don’t ask.
Peg: Join me in some alphabet soup. All that’s missing is some A-N-N-E!
Anne: A-N-N-E? That’s… that’s me!
Peg: [laughs hysterically] Well, you’ll be in the soup if you can't spell, won’t you? Go on. Prove yourself. Spell embarrassment.
Anne: E-M-B-A-R-E-
Peg: No, no, no. Wrong. Last chance. Spell fiasco.
Anne: Fiasco? Oh, dear. F-E-E-
Peg: No, no, no. [laughs] Your goose is cooked.
Anne and Toad: Noooo…
SCENE: Anne’s bedroom, later
Anne: [gasps] That’s the most deplorable nightmare I’ve ever had!
SCENE: Green Gables kitchen, next morning
Marilla: [off-screen] Morning, Anne.
Anne: Oh, goodness, Marilla! We’re in deep trouble. Look at this place!
Marilla: I still haven’t found my glasses.
Anne: That Peg Bowen’s got us both under her curse. What do we do?
Marilla: We’re going to put this Witch of Avonlea in her proper place.
Anne: Peg Bowen? Oh, please, Marilla. You can keep me at the bottom of a well and feed me bread and water but speaking to Peg would be a fate greater than death itself.
Marilla: It’s time we settled this matter once and for all and put your overexaggerated imagination to rest.
SCENE: Woods, later
Anne: I believe this wood is haunted. I feel the fingers of a hundred ghosts and goblins crawling up my spine.
Marilla: Nonsense, Anne. It’s only a spruce wood like any other.
Anne: [gasps]
Peg: Well, well, well.
Marilla: She is frightened out of her wits by your high-handed accusations yesterday, Peg. I want you to settle this matter once and for all. Explain to this child that you, my good woman, are no witch.
Peg: So you’ve lost your skills, have you, pet?
Anne: I can’t spell for love nor money, Miss… Miss Bowen.
Marilla: You see…
Peg: Do you honestly believe that spells are that easy to erase, Marilla Cuthbert?
Marilla: Now, Peg. I mean business.
Peg: What do you think, child?
Anne: I– I don’t know.
Marilla: You’re a reasonable woman, but your sense of humour goes too far sometimes.
Peg: Maybe yes, maybe no. Spells are real if you believe them. And as you do believe, Anne Shirley…
Anne: I know you’re a kind, compassionate witch. I’ve been told there are both bad witches and good witches. I swear, you must be the latter. As Miss Cuthbert says, you’re so reasonable. But finding your toad is like finding a needle in a haystack. I’ll never find him in a month of Sundays!
Peg: That’s not my problem, is it? You find it by sunset, or you’ll never spell again.
Marilla: I hope you’re pleased with yourself, Peg Bowen. Come on, Anne! We’ve had enough of this.
Peg: Remember, sunset or else!
Anne: [gasps]
SCENE: Green Gables yard, later
Marilla: Anne?
Anne: Uhm.
Marilla: Would you like me to help you study?
Anne: Thank you, Marilla, but perhaps there’s something to take care of first.
SCENE: Fields, later
Anne: Oh, please, Mr. orangey-browny-thingy. Whatever you are, wherever you are.
Snapdragons: Lost something?
Anne: I’m under a spell and I’ve got to find this creature who looks like a toad before sundown or I’ll lose the county spelling bee.
Snapdragon 2: Spell something for us, will you?
Anne: Oh, not now!
Snapdragons: Spell snapdragon, spell nasturtium. No, spell chrysanthemum!
Anne: Chrysanthemum? Well, C-R-I?
Snapdragons: No, no, no. It’s C-H-R-Y-S-A-N-T-H-E-M-U-M.
Anne: Oh.
SCENE: Woods, later
Anne: I’m in the depths of despair.
Dark Willow: Is something wrong, my child?
Light Willow: She said she was in the depths of despair, didn’t she?
Dark Willow: There’s no need to snap. You always snap.
Light Willow: Only when you overlook the obvious, which you always do.
Dark Willow: I was merely showing empathy for the child, whereas you never know how–
Anne: Excuse me.
Light Willow: Go ahead, child. Don’t mind him.
Dark Willow: Me?! You’re the one who started it.
Light Willow: [off-screen] Started what?! It was you who–
Anne: Thank you for being so understanding, but can you please just tell me if you’ve seen an orangey-browny-toady-thingy that talks. I’m obliged to find him before sunset.
Dark Willow: Have you tried calling him?
Light Willow: Nonsense. Toads and frogs never come when they’re called.
Dark Willow: No harm in trying. Ribbit? Ribbit?
Light Willow: Ah, since when have you spoken frog?
Dark Willow: I’m speaking toad. And I took language courses when you were a mere sapling.
Anne: That’s it. I’m finished. The sun’s setting. Peg Bowen’s right. My goose is cooked!
SCENE: Green Gables parlour, later
Anne: Oh, Matthew. I’ve asked everyone. From the violets in the vale to the tadpoles in the Lake of Shining Waters. And nobody saw a talking toad.
Matthew Cuthbert: Well, somebody better find Marilla’s glasses, or we’ll never get fed.
Anne: It’s not the glasses, Matthew, it’s this curse! I’m gonna lose the spelling bee and every time that new school bell rings in Carmody, they’ll say it’s thanks to Anne Shirley we have this bell. And Avonlea doesn’t!
Matthew: You already have what you need to win the spelling bee. It’s right in there.
Anne: Easy for you to say when you don’t have a curse on you.
Matthew: My dear Anne. You’re bigger than any curse Peg Bowen could possibly cast. You can spell, you just need to get your confidence back. Come on, spell my name.
Anne: That’s easy.
Matthew: You think so?
Anne: M-A-T-T-H-E-W.
Matthew: Like I said, not much of a curse.
Anne: Matthew, look!
SCENE: Green Gables parlour, later
Anne: What’s this?
Marilla: Roast chicken, of course.
Matthew: Marilla, I think you cooked the wrong part of the bird.
Marilla: Land sake's! What a disaster this house is! I never– Matthew, fetch me that broom! Anne, help me stack these plates right!
Anne: There was no curse at all!
SCENE: Avonlea Town Hall, next day
Hetty: Anne, Felicity, Gilbert. Need I remind you that all of Avonlea is counting on you to win that bell?
Gilbert: We know you’ll enjoy the sound as much as we will, Miss King.
Felicity: I only hope that nobody on the team lets us down.
Anne: I’ll do my best, Felicity. That’s all I can do.
Hetty: The contest starts any minute. You head on in!
Anne: There you are, Toad. Wait!
Toad: Uh! I am not a toad!
Anne: Everything’s fine. I just want to–
Peg: Return him to me?
Anne: He’s not a toad. And I don’t believe that orangey-browny-thingy, whatever it is, wants to be caught, Peg Bowen.
Peg: That’s none of your affair, is it? Now, help me get him.
Anne: I’ll do no such thing!
Peg: Then the curse remains. And you’ll fail your team!
Anne: I don’t believe I ever was under a curse. You’re nothing but a great impostor. There’s more hoax than hocus-pocus in all your finger-pointing. You better think twice about trying to frighten redheads, or Marilla and I’ll make sure all of Avonlea runs you out of town!
Peg: You dare to take that chance?
Anne: With pleasure!
Toad: Oh, mercy. Thanks a million for your help. You saved my life.
Anne: I only hope I didn’t destroy mine.
[gasps]
Announcer: Anne Shirley. Your first word is carrots.
Anne: Carrots. C-A-R-R-O-T-S. Carrots.
Announcer: That’s correct.
Carmody boy with glasses: Precise. P-R-E-C-I-S-E.
Gilbert: W-I-R-Y. Wiry.
Carmody redheaded boy: Entry. I-N-T-R-E? Oh…
Anne: Scientific. S-C-I-E-N-T-I-F-I-C. Scientific.
Felicity: Sturgeon. S-T-U-R-J-
Hetty: Huh.
Anne: Sturgeon. S-T-U-R-G-E-O-N.
Gilbert: Hallucination. H-A-L-U-S-
Hetty: Oh.
Announcer: And now for the final question. The correct speller will take home our spanking new bell for his or her school. The word is abstruse.
Carmody boy with glasses: Abstruse. A-B-S-T-R-U-C- Oh.
Hetty: Oh.
Announcer: Anne Shirley, if you can spell abstruse, you win the spelling bee.
Anne: Abstruse. A-B-S-T-R-U-S-E. Abstruse!
Announcer: That’s correct.
SCENE: Outside the town hall, later
Matthew: Well, Miss King, that’s your bell.
Hetty: And Anne really showed those folks from Carmody. She’s our Anne.
Marilla: I knew you’d come around our way of seeing things, Hetty. Now, Anne, we need to head back to Green Gables and finish tidying.
Anne: Just a minute, Marilla. I’ll catch up!
Did you see that?!
Toad: Well, kid, you did it!
Anne: I didn’t worry about the bell or winning or anything. I only thought about doing my best. I don’t know if you’re real or imagined, but I am so happy I could kiss you!
Toad: Don’t let me stop you.
Dryad: I’m free, I’m free! I’m free! [laughs] I’ve been waiting for years for someone like you to come along. Ah, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Dryad. A wood nymph. Peg’s been trying to catch me. She’s worried about me wielding my powers over her. Your wish is my command.
Anne: Thank you. But I… I don’t have any problems that need solving right now.
Dryad: Mmm. Maybe not. But knowing you the bit I do, I dare say you will!
SCENE: Road to Green Gables, later
Anne: You were right, Matthew.
Matthew: I was, was I.
Anne: I was bigger than Peg Bowen’s curse. But I was so frightened of losing, I guess I just couldn’t see it.
Matthew: Well, I’m glad you found your confidence again, Anne. Marilla and me were… both awful proud of you.
Anne: I’m going to imagine that I’m the wind blowing in those treetops. When I get tired of the trees, I’ll fly over Miss King’s garden and the Lake of Shining Waters and ripple it all up. There’s so much more scope for the imagination in the wind, don’t you think so, Matthew? Am I talking too much? Marilla says she’ll send me back if I do. I won’t talk anymore, Matthew.
Matthew: You talk and imagine all you want.
A WORD FROM THE KIDS
Teacher: Taneisha. Your word is adventure.
Girl in Black: Adventure. A-D-V-E-N-T-U-R-E.
Teacher: That is correct.
Boy in White Shirt: Hallucination. H-A-L-L-U-C-I-N-A-T-I-O-N.
Teacher: That is correct.
Congratulations, you all did so well, but we have a winning team and that is Team 2 so congratulations!
Haleigh Sheehan: So how did it feel when you were up there doing the spelling bee and to have your whole team counting on you? Did you feel nervous or scared or excited?
Boy in Black: I felt nervous cause my heart was going like this… beating and really fast.
Boy in White Shirt: February. Capital F-E-B-R-U-A-R-Y.
Boy in Black: I was nervous ’cause I didn’t wanna lose and I wouldn’t wanna let my team down.
Haleigh: What does self-confidence mean?
Boy in Big White Shirt: The word self-confidence means that you believe in yourself and… when… when you wanna do something you put your mind to it and you follow your dreams. That’s what self-confidence means.
Boy with rolled-up sleeves: Self-confidence mean when you have confidence in yourself that you like… you like… so like you get something right and you actually get it right sometimes.
Girl in Grey Sweatshirt and White Turtleneck: It means that you trust yourself that you might spell the word right.
Haleigh: [off-screen] How do you make yourself believe in yourself and believe that you can do it?
Girl in Grey: By working hard.
Boy in White Turtleneck: And practising.
Haleigh: What do you think you learned from this experience? Yes?
Girl in Grey: What I learn from this is to work as a team and to believe in myself.
Girl with White Butterfly Hair Clips: I learned how to spell a lot more words.
Haleigh: How did everyone prepare for the spelling bee?
Girl with White Butterfly Hair Clips: I practised with my mum and she made me spell all the words over and over again until I got it right.