This screenplay is copyrighted to its author. All rights reserved. This screenplay may not be used or reproduced without the express written permission of the author.
WEEPING UNDER A TREE By Andrew Keil 12-25-03 EXT. PARK - NIGHT In the twilight of autumn, in the dusk of embrace, LUNA and DAVID meander aimlessly. There passion and innocence shines as they share a short but meaningful kiss, contrasted by the growing darkness in a suburban park. Brown and gold leaves blow past them as the teens come upon a pond. LUNA A lake of enchantment I assume. Luna indicates the small pond with the tip of her pale white finger. DAVID You are a fairy tale, and just as lovely. But we have not yet come to what I have to show you. David smiles innocently, with a certain roguish aura that beguiles Luna. DAVID A surprise, my love, and perhaps something more... Luna blushes, her fair complexion turning a light red. She follows David, trusting him with all her soul. They come to a clearing, with a large, gnarly tree in the midst of the circle. Luna takes a step, then looks down at her feet to see what she has stepped on. Abruptly, her eyes widen and her jaw opens to utter a painful SCREAM. DAVID (Rushes to Luna) Dear God Luna, something has gone wrong here! David holds Luna. They both shiver in their embrace. CUT TO: A heart beats upon the ground, and black roses instantaneously grow out of the ground surrounding it. CUT TO: The TREE begins to bleed. The blood oozes down the tree, its taint running onto the ground. A heart has been carved into the trunk, with an arrow through it and the words "Luna & David." David and Luna, meanwhile, cower in terror. They hear a distant splashing of water, and look in the direction of the pond. CUT TO: A FIGURE closely resembling a man but more accurately described as a zombie moves steadily toward the clearing, where the teens have been forced to the ground, paralyzed with some supernatural fear. The figure stops in front of the pair. FIGURE (whispers) The hour of the lord has come, your flesh will be the flesh of redemption. FADE TO BLACK. EXT. PARK - DAY A middle-aged woman walks along her usual path in the early morning. Her shirt is red and reads in black letters POWER. She stumbles on the path, and then she falls on the ground in the process spraining her ankle. She opens her eyes through the pain to see a container of MIRACLE GROW spilt open on the ground in front of her. Something is growing on it. She blinks, manages to get up, and takes a side path. MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN (Wincing) Maybe this path will lead me closer to the outside of the park. She limps onward, and the path she takes grows dense with the foliage of trees, until she comes upon an ominous clearing. ANGLE: CLOSE UP OF HER FACE The woman's mouth slacks open, her white teeth exposed. Her eyes dilate over and over, and her body quivers. Her hair starts to fall out and she visibly ages, and we finally see the monstrosity before her... CUT TO: The TREE now appears as something out of a horrific painting, its base containing the bodies of the two lovers torn from their embrace. Cracks in the earth surrounding it gleam darkly, as if they lead directly to hell. The woman approaches now as nothing more than a skeleton, and stands next to the TREE as its guard. EXT. LARGE CITY - DAWN As the OPENING CREDITS scroll across, the urban city and the suburbia surrounding it darken and decay. A transformation occurs: Building turn into towers, houses into cottages, malls into markets. The majority of technology is lost. INT. TEEN'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS A teenage boy sleeps on a bed in a small bedroom. His walls are covered with heavy metal posters, a desk near in front of one wall has a computer which is currently off, and the shelves surrounding it are lined with books, movies, and CDs. The boy begins to wake: KYLE (Tosses and turns, then sits up) Dammit, I can't sleep! Kyle throws off the bed sheets, then gets out of bed revealing a mildly muscled shirtless body with black sweat pants. Without a glance in the mirror on his door or an adjustment of his messy black bed hair or the addition of a shirt to his body, he opens the door and walks out into the HALLWAY. As Kyle walks down the hallway he doesn't seem to notice that the dry wall in his bedroom has been replaced with log sidings, nor that the family photos are now artists' renderings, nor the lack of a heater which has made goosebumps appear on his back. He walks into what was once a modern day KITCHEN and now nothing more than a few cupboards and counters, a small fireplace with a pot set over it, and a line of hanging meats in the style of a butchery. Kyle turns toward where the refrigerator once was and now just current emptiness, stops, blinks with a puzzled look on his face and yells KYLE Mom! Where the hell is the refrigerator? Kyle's mom enters the kitchen, dressed as a kitchen maid. KYLE'S MOTHER I'm right here Kyle, what are you so upset about? She moves to the fireplace, grabs a ready to cook chicken on the nearby counter, and places it into the pot above the fire place. KYLE I think I need a Coke, I'm just not waking up this morning. Kyle rubs his eyes, then turns around in the room looking for the refrigerator as if it had been deliberately hidden from him. KYLE'S MOTHER What are you talking about dear? A Coke? Have you lost your mind? Why don't you go outside to the well and get a pale of water that we can drink with breakfast? Kyle rubs his eyes again, shakes his head, and opens the door out of the kitchen muttering KYLE Just like a woman, redesign the whole goddamn house while I'm sleeping just to freak me out... EXT. KYLE'S HOME - CONTINUOUS As he walks outside he sees a strange sight: Instead of a small backyard with walls separating his home from the homes of others, he sees trees everywhere, with dirt paths going into the surrounding woods. Another small cabin is seen in the distance, and smoke rises from its chimney. To the left of him is a well, nearby is his father chopping some wood near a downed tree. Kyle gawks with his mouth wide open, his brain trying vainly to process the changes to his environment. KYLE Fuck. His father, wearing some goofy (to Kyle) woodcutter's outfit, turns around and beckons to his son. KYLE'S FATHER Hey son, glad to see your up this mornin'. I've got some chores for you to do after breakfast. I take it your mother asked you to fetch her some water from the well? KYLE Dad, I can't understand, what has happened to the city? Where is all the technology? KYLE'S FATHER (Concerned) Are you okay son? You're saying words I don't rightly understand, you possessed or somethin'? KYLE (Confused) Nuh, nothing dad, I'll just go get some water for mom, but I don't think I'll be able to do any chores because I'm not feeling so well. KYLE'S FATHER Well, you go lie in bed then and get some rest. Kyle goes over to the well, stares at the thing for a minute, then grabs the handle, lowers the bucket, and brings up a pale of water. He unties the bucket from the rope and brings it into his house. INT. KYLE'S HOME - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS KYLE Here mom. Kyle sets a pale of water on the counter near the fireplace, where she is baking some bread. His mother turns around to face him. KYLE'S MOTHER Thank you dear. Kyle nods, then leaves to go his room, on the way passing his parents room, which like the rest of his house, has now been changed. He opens the door to his room, then stops. KYLE Wait a second, my parents' room is different, why is my room the same? Kyle approaches his computer, and pushes the buttons to turn on his computer. It turns on. KYLE How does it work, we don't even have electricity! His desktop loads and a picture of Christina Aguilera appears on his background along with his desktop icons. Kyle turns around again toward his bed. A BOOK lies on his unmade bed, though it had not been there before. KYLE Where did this book come from? Kyle picks up the book, its cover brown with the stylized title: A CLASSIC REVERSION OF SOCIETY. He opens it. The pages have a gold tint, but, in contrast to the old fashion styling of the book, the words are typed. Kyle lies down on his bed, turns on the lamp next to it, and begins to read its contents. As Kyle reads, he begins to read faster, flipping pages eventually at a supernatural pace. Half a minute after lying down, he has read the entire book. KYLE Well, that explains a few things. He puts the book down, and the book begins to twist and turn insanely until it appears in focus again as a pair of gauntlets. It is studded with obsidian. Kyle shrugs, apparently used to the parade of unusual events this day, and with even less regard puts them on. They fit perfectly. With a bit more magic occurring, he now wears a full suit of chain mail armor. He looks pleased, but then looks confused, and then DISAPPEARS. END OF PART ONE
Return to Simply Scripts