A FOREST WITH NO TREES written by Scott Nelson 1735 Woods Way Lake Geneva, WI 53147 262-290-6957 scottn7@gmail.com
FADE IN: EXT. RURAL VILLAGE - DAY An American town, circa 1880, on a warm summer day. A dirt road runs through the small town, with a couple homes, a stable, blacksmith shop, and a few stores. A few dogs wander through. INT. BARN - DAY (12) is doing his morning chores. He is a tall boy, wearing bib overalls, and a plaid shirt, straw hat. MONTAGE --Jim milks some cows. --He gives hay to the horses. --He tosses feed to some chickens out back. EXT. OUTSIDE BARN - DAY He is busy with his duties, when his (45) pokes her head out of the house. She is a strong woman, with an apron on. Jim? Yes momma? Mrs. Caldwell wanted us to send her some milk. Her cow is having problems. Can you take a bottle to her? Sure momma. Right now? If you could. Jim heads over to the barn, and returns with a quart bottle of milk. He heads down the street.
2. EXT. RURAL VILLAGE - DAY Jim walks along, whistling, generally enjoying the day. He looks at the various places as he goes by. He passes a house, and a WOMAN is out front watering some plants. They wave to each other. As he turns the corner, he stops suddenly. In front of him is a young BOY (8), dressed in a black one piece outfit, very different than what would be seen in the village. The two stare at each other for a moment. Jim is puzzled, and tries to make sense of it. Then the boy turns, and begins to walk away. There is a shimmer of light around him, and he is gone. Jim blinks, trying to make sense. He looks all around, but no sign of the boy. Cautiously, he walks to the area, and looks some more, but nothing. Finally, he reluctantly moves on, still pondering what he saw. He walks along a bit further, coming to the blacksmith shop. (40) is a powerfully built man, with a full beard. He works in the shop. Seeing Jim, he waves. Jim smiles. Hey Jim. Top of the day to you. Mr. Clausen. Up early today? Yeah, got a lot to do. Can't let the grass grow under my feet. (CONT D) Your dad feeling better? Much. Thank you for asking. Doc says he will be up and around soon. That's good news. Must of killed him to be laid up like that. You know him well.
3. Jim continues on. Have a great day Mr. Clausen. Jim continues on his way. EXT. RURAL VILLAGE - LATER Jim walks back home, the bottle of milk gone. He comes to the area where he saw the boy, and stops to study the area. He doesn't see anything. As he starts to leave, he hears VOICES, talking. Most can't be made out, but he hears a bit clearly. VOICE Isn't it cute? Makes you wonder what they are thinking. Jim falls backward and tries to quickly crawl away. Terrified, he gets up and runs home. INT. 'S HOME - DAY Jim bursts into the house where his mom is cooking. He closes the door behind him, scared. What has gotten into you boy? You look like you saw a ghost. Jim hesitates, unsure what to say. Not seen. But heard. What? I think I heard a ghost. Back on the road. Voices. Clear as day. She sits down, concerned but not panicky. What did they say? Something about me being cute. Oh, and wondered what I was thinking.
4. That is very odd. Why would a ghost wonder about that? She gets up and goes back to her cooking. (CONT D) Well, I wouldn't say anything to anyone. Probably just a trick of the wind. I wouldn't worry about it. But Jim clearly is worried about it. (CONT D) You had better get your books and get to the schoolhouse. Don't want to be late. EXT. RURAL VILLAGE - DAY Jim carries a couple books. He comes to a spot where he can see where the boy and the voices were. He stops, looks around, and decides to go a different way. INT. SCHOOLHOUSE - DAY Jim sits at his desk. Several kids of all ages sit around him. A TEACHER writes on the chalkboard in front. Jim pays no attention to her. TEACHER Mr. Davis? Are you listening to me? Jim snaps back to attention. What? Oh, I'm sorry Mrs. Karl. I have something on my mind. TEACHER Well, let's get your mind focused here. You're here to think about your studies, not daydream about something or another. Jim tries to look focused. But his mind is still elsewhere.
5. EXT. RURAL VILLAGE - LATER Jim walks home. Clearly he is still thinking about the events of the day. As he comes around a corner, he notices a door, just by itself, in the middle of the street. It is not attached to anything. Stunned, he stops and stares at it. As he watches, it begins to open. He ducks behind a nearby tree and waits to see what will happen. As he watches, a MAN comes out of the door, dressed in the same black one piece suit he saw the boy in. The man is middle aged, tall, thin. The man takes out a device and holds it up, as if he is checking conditions. The takes out a notepad and writes something down. The he reaches down, takes some grass, and puts it in a glass tube. He seals it. Looking around the town, he seems satisfied, and goes back through the door. As he does, something falls to the ground. The man is unaware of it. After the door closes, there is the same shimmer as seen with the boy, and the door disappears. Jim drops his books and runs to the spot where the door was. He looks all around the spot, walking around it and reaching out where the door was. Jim looks down and sees the object that fell. It is a small metal object. Metal, almost like a button or a coin. But it has no markings, and seems to have no purpose. Jim studies it. He puts the button in his pocket, and slowly, makes his way back home. INT. 'S HOME - EVENING Jim is seated at the table with MR. DAVIS (45). His father is a short man, weathered. Clearly someone who works outside for a living. Mom brings food over to the table. How was your day boy? Mom catches Jim's eye and gives a look to warn him.
6. Fine, I guess. Mr. Clausen asked about your health. I told him you were doing better. School good? Yeah, I guess so. Well, Mrs. Karl stopped by and told me that you seemed a bit distracted today. Anything wrong? Wrong? No, no, nothing. Girl? Yuck, no. No girl. Just got caught daydreaming is all. Mom sits down and the three silently eat for a minute. Jim reaches in his pocket and takes the button out. (CONT D) Found this today, out on the road. Whatya figure it is? His dad looks at it, studying. I can't say. Never seen anything like that. Something the blacksmith made, maybe. Maybe. Never seen anything like it. His dad puts it down on the table, uninterested. Well, don't go bothering Mr. Clausen. You make sure you attend to your chores, and your studies. Yes, papa.
7. EXT. RURAL VILLAGE - DAY The next day, Jim is carrying his books, coming up on the blacksmith shop. He takes the piece of metal out, looks at it, and decides to go over. INT. BLACKSMITH SHOP - DAY Thomas is busy getting set for the day. Morning Jim. What brings you around? He hands him the piece of metal. Thomas studies it. Found this. Any idea what it is? Looks like a coin of some kind. But the metal. So light. Not like anything I've ever seen. So you didn't make it? Make it? I don't even know what it's made of. Where did you get it? Found it. Back on the road. Thomas continues to look at it, then hands it back. Weirdest thing I've ever seen. EXT. RURAL VILLAGE - DAY Jim walks along, slowly, staring at the coin. He looks up to get his bearings. He reaches a decision, and moves away more quickly. He comes to where the door was, and looks around again. Finding nothing, he decides to take the coin out. He looks at it, then decides to rub it. Nothing happens.
8. He tries to hold it up in front of him. There is a shimmer, and the door appears. Shocked, he jumps back. The door disappears. Cautiously, he approaches again, coin out. The door reappears. He carefully touches it. As he does, it pops open. He opens it a bit more, and decides to carefully, slowly, move through it. INT. LARGE MODERN MUSEUM - DAY The room has displays on the way, talking about history. On one side is a large glass wall, and behind it is Jim's village. Some kids look through the glass, with a TEACHER watching over. On the rail in front of the glass is a sign that reads "Exhibit Viewing Area Under Repair. Use Caution." Around the glass viewing area the shimming seen earlier is apparent. They excitedly point to things in the village. Two WORKMAN are near a door, talking. They don't notice that the door opens and Jim is poking his very confused head through. WORKMAN 1 Whatta mean you lost it? WORKMAN 2 Like I said, I lost it. Sometime yesterday. I have no idea where. WORKMAN 1 Do you know how much trouble you can get in for losing a access device? You better get it turned off before someone finds it and goes inside the exhibit. Suddenly, they hear the children SCREAM and run away. Confused, they look around, and see Jim standing there. He doesn't know what to do, and just looks at the workman, stunned. Behind him is a sign. "Typical Earth Environment and Indigenous Population". The slowly back away, then they too, run off. FADE OUT.
THE END 9.