285. Camera Meets Boy

ACT ONE

FADE IN:

EXT. LOCATION – DAY

The letter opens upon a snowfield, a field of snow, solid and deep but melting slowly, turning granular, the small poops of little dogs becoming revealed in the flat edges along the field as the snow melts from around them. The sun is out, and bright, and the view washes out almost to nothing but whiteness under its light.

A boy appears at the far edge of the field, or the farthest visible point within it, and he walks towards the camera, which is nothing more than the woman reading the letter to her in the form of a television script. Eventually, the BOY has trudged through the thigh-high snow to a point close enough for his face to be visible. He would be recognizable, if anyone knew who he was.

He looks straight at the camera, straight into her eyes.

BOY

                                         Seems that time gives enough space
                                         Gives enough space for a breath
                                         Enough space for consideration
                                         And there isn’t enough sun in it
                                         To keep the warmth in place

The boy looks to his left, as if over the camera’s shoulders, and pauses briefly before dropping to his haunches, partially submerging himself in the snow. He looks up from the snow into the eyes of the camera and begins speaking to her.

BOY (CONT’D)

                                         Not enough warmth now, you know
                                         For keeping a body solid in place
                                         And not shivering from the white.
                                         I am surrounded by the sky’s milk
                                         And it is colder than my heart.

CAMERA (O.S.)

                                         What makes you think you have a heart?
                                         Can you feel it pumping through your ribcage?
                                         Do you arrange for meetings of the heart?

The boy pauses, staring, but not in the direction of the camera. Suddenly, he is holding a Himalayan rabbit, white body but black ears and nose, under his left arm, and he is holding the rabbit’s ears over its eye. He appears to be thinking before he speaks.

BOY

                                         It is a cold heart and doesn’t need to move.

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT ONE

ACT TWO

FADE IN:

EXT. LOCATION – TWILIGHT

There may be snow or there may not be. It may be the beginning of the morning or the end of the day. Through a leafless winter woods, through a stand of vertical trunks, the boy weaves a path, wends his way. He is moving from the top right corner of the screen to the bottom left, unnaturally moving against the sense of direction the camera expects of him, so the invisible camera calls out.

CAMERA (O.S.)

                                         Where are you going? and why are you
                                         Going in that direction? Please explain.

BOY

                                         It is a cold heart and doesn’t need to explain.

CAMERA (O.S.)

                                         What are you looking for in these woods?

BOY

                                         I am not someone who needs to be looking for
                                         Something in order to proceed on a search.

CAMERA (O.S.)

                                         Why do you speak the way you do? So formally.

BOY

                                         I am walking through a winter woods at a time
                                         Between darkness and light. I am searching for
                                         Nothing but hope to find it still. My feet may be
                                         Wet and cold and my fingers may be numb,
                                         But I do not care because I must find something
                                         I do not know I am looking for. Why do you speak?
                                         Why do you speak to me? I cannot see you yet still
                                         You speak? You can see me, you can capture me,
                                         Yet you remain invisible to me. Why do you chase?
                                         Why do you follow me? What is it you’re looking for?

CAMERA (O.S.)

                                         I want to see. I like to watch. I am made for seeing.

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT TWO

ACT THREE

FADE IN:

EXT. LOCATION – NIGHT

So dark that only the rough outlines of a world can be make out. There is a house in the middle of the screen and something moving around the front of the house. To see better what is happening, the CAMERA moves in closer to the house. We can hear her breathing heavily enough to hear that she is female.

CAMERA (O.S.)

(whispering)

                                         Where are you? I can’t see you. I want to see you.
                                         I need to see you. I can’t hear you. Are my ears
                                         Covering my eyes? Can you hear what I’m saying?

The boy appears suddenly in front of the camera. Enough light is behind him that he strikes a sharp profile in the dark. Both of his ears are prominent in this profile.

BOY

                                         Only you have a heart, and you do not know it.
                                         You imagine that you are a machine and heartless,
                                         That the gears of your mechanical self run without
                                         Ever feeling the sense of the words you here or
                                         The emotion of the scenes you view. But no-one else
                                         Will understand this. You will be a simple machine
                                         Whirring in the dark, looking for companionship,
                                         But even if someone finds you, they will not talk to you
                                         Because they will think you are mechanical even when
                                         They can hear your quavering voice call for them.

CAMERA (O.S.)

(whispering)

                                         How can you say that to me? How can you do that?

BOY

                                         Because you are a machine. A rabbit has more
                                         Heart than you will ever have. A rabbit will
                                         Know love more deeply than you have too.

CAMERA (O.S.)

(whispering)

                                         But . . .

BOY

                                         Shh, now. There is nothing more to do. Turn
                                         Your camera on something else, and capture
                                         Something you will never possibly feel.

CAMERA (O.S.)

(crying softly)

As the camera cries, the boy walks towards the light that was behind him and eventually walks off the screen. The camera keeps crying in the dark.

FADE OUT.

END OF SHOW