[00:00.320]Alvin
[00:00.593]The greatest gift.
[00:02.515]A story about alvin and thomas.
[00:04.975]
[00:05.535]Thomas
[00:05.740]Alvin and his father lived on the second floor above his father's bookstore.
[00:08.594]
[00:08.862]Alvin
[00:09.025]It was called the writer's block - new and used books.
[00:11.182]Thomas
[00:11.438]One christmas eve,
[00:12.814]Alvin and i made snow angels and watched frank capra's it's a wonderful life.
[00:17.022]
[00:17.250]Alvin
[00:17.399]Our annual tradition.
[00:18.381]Thomas
[00:18.598]Then alvin took me downstairs to the bookstore. We were eleven.
[00:22.209](they take a step into the past.)
[00:22.848]
[00:24.013]Alvin
[00:24.228]Trust me.
[00:25.360]Thomas
[00:25.574]What are we doing’
[00:26.499]Alvin
[00:26.679]We're going to pick out a book for your christmas present.
[00:28.333]Thomas
[00:28.563]Cool. Which one’
[00:29.760]Alvin
[00:30.186]I don't know, but it's somewhere in this mystical place.
[00:35.417]Thomas
[00:35.667]Mystical place’
[00:36.558]Alvin
[00:36.720]Mystical place.
[00:37.516]Thomas
[00:37.685]It’s a bookstore.
[00:38.505]Alvin
[00:38.796]No. It’s a great and powerful force capable of extraordinary feats.
[00:43.770]Thomas
[00:44.059]Alvin's father was known for having the uncanny knack
[00:47.399]Of finding the perfect book for each of his customers.
[00:50.416]Of course, alvin saw things... Differently.
[00:53.664]
[00:54.081]Alvin
[00:54.289]Every day
[00:56.706]People come into this bookstore.
[01:00.766]
[01:01.670]Never knowing it was built
[01:02.681]On sacred hollowed ground.
[01:04.108]Thomas
[01:04.300]Don't you mean ‘hallowed’’
[01:05.659]
[01:06.110]Alvin
[01:06.299]They travel here from all around.
[01:08.640]Poor souls looking for stories.
[01:12.091]
[01:12.565]Thomas
[01:12.721]Where's my present’
[01:13.533]Alvin
[01:13.736]These desperate pilgrims enter this shrine. My father says...
[01:21.744]‘good afternoon,’
[01:23.829]Or ‘morning’ as the case may be.
[01:25.165]‘i’m the owner of this bookstore.
[01:27.535]Can i help you please?’
[01:29.078]And they say, ‘not right now sir, thanks a lot.
[01:32.702]
[01:33.554]But i’ll peruse the books you’ve got.
[01:36.172]I’m just looking for stories.’
[01:40.084]
[01:41.601]So dad allows them to search the stacks.
[01:44.000]
[01:45.473]And they hunt and browse
[01:46.941]And they read the backs.
[01:48.329]
[01:49.453]But eventually,
[01:50.420]Inevitably,
[01:51.483]They ask for dad’s advice.
[01:55.284]They talk a little.
[01:56.879]Then he gets this look all dazed and queer.
[02:00.838]And he mumbles things i can't quite hear.
[02:04.469](alvin imitates his father’s mumbling.)
[02:07.438]Then, like a shot,
[02:09.032]He goes right to the perfect spot
[02:12.273]And finds their special book,
[02:15.888]The one distinctive book,
[02:19.853]The story that will change that person’s life.
[02:27.027]You see’
[02:27.324]
[02:27.567]Thomas
[02:27.914]See what’
[02:29.084]Alvin
[02:29.287]This store speaks through my father. He's a conduit. He's an instrument.
[02:34.216]He's a vessel. And i am his son. I too hear the prophetic whisper of the bookstore spirit.
[02:42.407]I will now attempt to use my ancestral gifts to guide you to your present.
[02:46.771](alvin listens intently for the prophetic whisper.)
[02:47.370]
[02:51.906]Thomas
[02:52.107]You couldn’t just get me a model airplane?
[02:54.014]Alvin
[02:54.185]Shhh!
[02:55.399]Speak to me
[02:58.874]Noble spirit of the bookstore.
[03:01.433]This is alvin here.
[03:02.018]
[03:02.321]Thomas
[03:02.494]And thomas.
[03:03.245]
[03:03.449]Alvin
[03:03.622]Is there something you can recommend
[03:06.067]
[03:07.359]As a gift for thomas, my best friend?
[03:10.274]Can you find him a story?
[03:14.055](alvin listens again.)
[03:15.156]
[03:16.210]Thomas
[03:16.380]Do you hear anything yet?
[03:17.585]Alvin
[03:17.752]No.
[03:18.581]Wait! It needs... Something. It needs both of us.
[03:25.143]
[03:25.429]Thomas
[03:25.589]What do we do’
[03:26.799]Alvin
[03:26.976]Now we stand up straight looking shy and meek.
[03:28.749]Thomas
[03:28.975]Now we stand up straight looking shy and meek.
[03:30.342]Alvin
[03:30.509]And we humbly wait for the store to speak.
[03:32.376]Thomas
[03:32.749]And we humbly wait for the store to speak.
[03:34.282]Both
[03:34.654]Soon we will hear the answer
[03:36.552]That we're preparing to receive.
[03:41.328]Alvin
[03:41.516]Now the next part’s not entirely clear.
[03:45.486]It’s the part where dad gets dazed and queer.
[03:49.643]Thomas
[03:49.863]I think you nailed that part.
[03:50.954]Alvin
[03:51.134]I see... I see... I see a guy wearing cardboard wings,
[03:56.679]A coat hanger halo, carrying a bell and a homemade book...
[04:00.617]Wait!
[04:01.718]Holy cow!
[04:02.662]I know which book to give you now.
[04:07.124]
[04:07.616]Thomas
[04:07.805]Well.
[04:08.432]Alvin
[04:08.593]You’ll be grateful that i interceded.
[04:10.577]And found the book you never knew you needed.
[04:14.336]Thomas
[04:14.618]Come on.
[04:15.384]Alvin
[04:15.630]The story that will change my best friend’s life.
[04:22.709](alvin plucks a book from the shelf and hands it to thomas.)
[04:23.990]
[04:24.376]Thomas
[04:24.545]The adventures of tom sawyer.
[04:26.175]By mark twain.
[04:27.698]A book report by tommy weaver.
[04:29.475]Sixth grade.
[04:30.563](thomas addresses his sixth grade class.)
[04:30.795]I got this book from my friend alvin.
[04:32.937]It's a really good story but my favorite part is in the pre-face. It goes like this.
[04:37.176](he opens the book and reads.)
[04:37.336]part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves,
[04:45.329]And what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in. The author. Hartford.
[04:50.655]Eighteen seventy-six.’
[04:53.609](he closes the book.)
[04:54.390]