Introduction

Flickering light plays behind a muslin sheet. A fait orange glow. The words in a slightly ethnic font appear, they read:

‘There once was a land where monsters and man lived together. It was on a plate balanced at the top of a mountain, whose bottom no one had seen. ’

The silhouette of a mountain with a land balanced on top of it appears, and then disappears

Trees and 2 suns appear as shadow puppets, followed by a menagerie of people and monsters, going about their day. Some work together chopping trees or building houses. Slowly the scene changes from pastoral, to more urban. One by one, the monsters disappear from the muslin, fading away

‘As time went by, man began to need the monsters less and less. So one by one they fell out of existence because people didn’t believe in them anymore.’

Scene changes to just one of a cityscape, with planes, and cars and buildings. Then a rocket taking off, and then scenes of wars, with tanks and bombs dropping.

‘Without the monsters, and with out a care, people got angrier and angrier. They saw what other people had and wanted it. People forgot about magic, and in one final push tried to take it from the world.’

Big mushroom cloud appears, as the city disappears. Light behind the sheet grows very bright, whole screen is white. It then fades, and all that is left is wrecked buildings and naked trees.

‘The people had wiped out almost everything. A few people survived a long and cold winter that didn’t seem to end. Their life was hard.’

Shadow puppets of people rummaging around in bins, and cupboards. People breaking into houses by throwing bricks through windows. Weather changes to rain, and you see people huddling under the leafless trees as the wind whips around them.  

‘And then the earthquakes came, and people knew it was the end of the world for ever. Their plate was to fall to the bottom of the mountain. Never to be seen again.’

Image of the plate toppling from the mountain off the bottom of the screen.

‘The world tried to heal itself, but it found it couldn’t. No matter how hard it tried. It needed help…’

Shadows disappear from screen so it is the faint orange glow.

‘…from those who still believed in monsters’

Letters appear onscreen, surrounded by runes and hieroglyphs

Go

Act 1 Scene 1

Opens on a street in a city, desolation surrounds. People are absent. A mixture of Japanese style signs and English. Traditional tower blocks rise in the back ground, the sky is overcast and grey.  Various shots of boarded up windows, broken shop fronts, and decaying buildings.  Papers billow about, and you can see propaganda posters telling people to do their duty, that war is upon them. To shop anyone who looks like an outsider. We see a wall which has names and photos pinned to it, with messages from loved ones who they have been separated from. We then catch a glimpse of sparkling eyes in the shadow. The camera goes into the building, and as the lens adjusts, we see a boy, crouched, wary, attentive and feral. He is chained to a sleeping young girl who wears a flower ribbon across her eyes. They are dressed in tattered modern clothing, their faces grubby.

Rain leaks into the interior, dripping from above like thin streams.

SFX – stones being moved under foot

The boy is at once at attention. Silently he shakes the girl awake, bringing his finger to her lips, as to say quiet. They silently move into the shadows

A man enters, he is dirty and scarred. He sniffs the air, and then peers round. He goes to the opposite corner and starts rustling, obviously scavenging for food. The camera moves to behind the children, who edge to the door.

Camera cuts to a crow, staring at the children. A close up, eye glistening.

As they get there, the flock of crows are disturbed who caw violently and fly off.

The man turns around and sees them in the doorway, silhouetted by the light of outside. He hunches down, and all you can hear is his heavy laboured breathing. There is the threat of violence.

We see his hand, a knife drops from sleeve into his hand

A Mexican stand off begins. All three are motionless, the camera from above, through a hole in the floor above. Water is raining down in thin rivers below. The wind whistles.

Music: A tribal drum beats once, twice, three times, and then starts a pulse quickening rhythm until both children take flight, pursued by the man with the knife. The girl takes the ribbon from the her eyes so she can see.

The children don’t speak, just their breathing can be heard. They leap and bound through the landscape, parkour like through the debris. One leaping onto a pole, allowing the other to swing across gaps, and then being dragged up. Through tiny holes. All the while being pursued.

Finally they come to a corridor, the man has no line of sight, and so they go either side, lowering their chain to the floor. They sit silently, until the man is heard. He is still running, right at the last minute, they lift their chain, tripping him, as he falls over the edge and he goes crashing to the ground below.

The children’s chests rise in unison, and the girl comes across and nuzzles into the boy, he puts his arm around her and slips her ribbon over her eyes, and they walk back into the corridor, and both slump to the floor.

Screen fades to black as if the closing of an eye

Act 1 Scene 2

The muslin sheet returns, and the words: Before the bombs appear. They fade out and a bustling city scene is shown. The same 2 children are shown, dressed in new clothes that are the same as the tattered ones. They are walking in between a man and a woman, who are their parents. The man has a distinctive jacket, and the woman a flower patterned ribbon tied in her hair. They walk past men with guns, and official looking armour, but they just smile at the children, and you realise they are there for the populace’s protection. The shot is over exposed, to suggest the memory, and make the world look prettier. They could be at a fair, or street party. Tannoys boom out messages about a victory over their nearest neighbour in the war. Balloons can be seen in the sky, as can airships. They are seen playing with one another, the boy and girl running about. Parents laughing, and holding one another around the waist.

All of a sudden, the tannoys click, and start a siren. It is the 4 minute warning. People start screaming and panicking. Running in every direction. In-between the siren, a voice can be heard shouting:

SFX: Get to the nearest bunker. Leave your possessions, leave your friends. Get to the nearest bunker.

The children look to the sky where they see the airship in flames, slowly crashing to the ground.

The boy’s hand closes tightly round the girl’s. The two parents hanker down, buffeting away the melee of legs as people charge about in all directions. Through the chaos of legs they see a bunker door, and each picking up one of the children, they run. The camera follows behind like a roadie, crouched and frantic. Getting to the door, and couple of men are turning people away. The sound begins to bleed out, and all that can be seen is people being shoved. The parents get to the front, and can be seen to implore the men to let the children go in. After some hesitance, they let the children in, but not the parents. Both children are crying and reaching for their mother and father, who are turned away. All of a sudden the doors are slammed shut. The breathing is shallow, utter silence. Then a little red light starts revolving in the corner. And a soft voice comes over a speaker:

SFX: Bombs have been launched, you must remain in the bunker which will automatically open when it is safe.

The message repeats 2 more times, and the bunker falls silent. Some low watt bulbs turn on, and the bunker is full of scared looking people. Then a series of low, percussive thuds shake dust from the ceiling. People squeal, and cry out with each. Then one seems to hit the bunker itself, but it holds.

Screen fades to black.

Act 1 Scene 3

A white line bisects the screen, and then the doors open, and all you see is desolation. Buildings are destroyed, craters pock mark the ground, and bodies are seen everywhere. The camera flips, and you see emaciated, dirty people. No one knows how long they have been in there, but it must have been at least a week.

Tentatively people step outside, and the over exposure has gone, and everything is in stark detail (children of men style shots).  The children are still holding hands, and they set off away from the bunker. The boy brings the girl into him and he covers her eyes. He steps gingerly over the rubble, taking care to guide his sister. He reaches a crater and looks down. He sees the charred remains of his father’s jacket. On the wind, his mother’s ribbon floats in front of him, and he grabs it. He ties it round his sister’s eyes, seemingly whispering in her ear. You can’t hear what he says, and he takes her forward.

Screen fades to black

Act 1 Scene 4

The children awake again in the corridor. It is night now, and through the broken windows you can see little fires glowing around the city. It is obvious that this is a dangerous environment. The odd scream punctuates the air, along with barks, and general sobbing wailing carries on the wind.

Girl

What are we going to do

Boy

I don’t know

Girl

Can I take off the ribbon

Boy

(looking around)

Yes, but stay close to me

The girl moves in close, and he picks up a small bag that he has been carrying. Then he picks up a long piece of metal pipe. The end seems to have been crudely sharpened.

Boy

Let’s get going, we need to get out of the city before morning

Girl

I’m hungry, I’m sorry.

Boy

(opening bag and taking out a small apple), Here you go, but don’t rush eating it, you’ll be sick. (he rubs it against his clothes to clean it, even though his clothes are dirty. It is the thought that counts).

Girl

Why do we have to go out of the city?

Boy

Because, (pause) because it isn’t safe, and he told us we could find help. He said we’d be ok.

Girl

I miss him

Boy

Me too. Me too.

Girl

Do you think he is looking after us? From where he is?

Boy

If he can he will. I think he is

the boy puts his arm around her and smiles.  They walk for around a minute in silence, past broken shop fronts, and piles of rubble

Girl

What do you think we will find there?

Boy

Magic. Magic and monsters

Girl

(incredulous) They don’t exist. (questioning) Do they?

Boy

What do you think?

Girl

I would like them to exist, he existed…

Boy

He did, and so they do.

Boy and girl walk over a ridge, and the screen fades to black.