Name of entrant- Matthew Gray
Name of Script- The Eye of the Storm
I am in my first year at Middlesex University studying Creative and Media writing. I have developed a liking for scripts and hope one day to write for the screen.
Plot Outline
An elderly man who, having lived with guilt for most of his life, decides that today he must seek forgiveness from the person he loves, and the elements.
A BEACH. IT IS RAINING HEAVILY
V/O
I have heard it be said that to forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love, and in return you will receive untold peace and happiness.
AN ELDERLY MAN ENTERS
V/O
I always like to believe that. Today I hope that my belief becomes a realisation. I would like to think that anything that has happened in the past is eligible for forgiveness.
HE STEPS ONTO THE BEACH, HE WALKS SLOWLY ALONG THE SAND
V/O
To stand on the ground on which a loved one once stood, to feel the earth that they once felt, is to be with them once more. It’s been a long 50 years. I guess I didn’t have the time to come back here before now. Or perhaps I was just too scared. Either way, I knew that one day I would return here, and by doing so, see once more the person I have seen with every blink of my eye for these many years. The storm is telling me that I, like many of my fellow man, am not worthy of immunity from the elements.
THE WAVES CRASH
V/O
They shout for our sins.
A COASTGUARD RUNS ONTO THE BEACH
GUARD
(catching up)
Hey, excuse me sir, this is no place to be taking a walk without a coat.
MAN
I won’t be here long. I’m just admiring the view.
GUARD
You couldn’t have picked a finer day.
MAN
The elements were never kind to me.
GUARD
I’m sure that may be sir. You know, I come here often.
MAN
You are the coastguard, surely you never stray?
GUARD
(laughs)
I mean on my own, off hours. There really is something about the rain on the water, wouldn’t you agree?
MAN
The ripples created by rain have always had a magical effect. In the past it scared me.
Now though, today, it fills me with a hope of which I’m afraid you can have no comprehension.
THE GUARD SEEMS TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THE RAIN.
GUARD
What makes you say that?
MAN
You are young, you have not lost. You are yet to experience the harshness of age. If you ever think your watch is running too fast, wait until you are my age, then you realise that that thing on your wrist is the slowest thing on the planet.
GUARD
I figure that you have lost someone. Is that right?
MAN
To get to my age and to have avoided loss is to have won the battle with nature.
GUARD
Surely, sir, that is a battle that no man can win?
MAN
Sadly yes.
GUARD (after a brief, thoughtful pause)
What was her name?
MAN
(closes his eyes for a long time, then opens them)
His name was Jacob. He loved me and I let him down. I could have saved him, he asked for me to go with him. I could have kept him from going in. I was scared of what people would say.
GUARD
I am so sorry. The sea is cruel. I know that all too well.
MAN
I know that I cannot go back and change who I was. I wish that I could. He would never have loved a coward.
GUARD
The storm is approaching, sir. It will only get worse. We should get to dry land.
MAN
I have been living in the centre of the storm for the majority of my life. The eye is the calmest part. I have not strayed for fear of being taken. But I guess the time has come for me to finally let it take me.
GUARD
I suppose there is nothing I can do, is there? I guess nothing I say can change your mind. If no-one lived in fear, then I would have no purpose myself. I am held to this beach because people live in fear. I am not too different from you. The scariest place to be is in the eye of the storm sir, the stillness can drive any man insane.
MAN
Then I guess I deserve absolution.
GUARD
We are all worthy of absolution sir, but not all of us can be heard asking for it.
THE GUARD JOGS AWAY AND DISAPPEARS. THE MAN RETURNS HIS GAZE TO THE SEA. THE WAVES ARE STILL CRASHING.
V/O
So why today? Maybe I have finally had enough of the rough seas. Maybe the stillness of the storm I am trapped in has gotten to me.
HE WALKS TO THE WATER AND STANDS SO THAT HIS ANKLES ARE IMMERSED
V/O
I ask for forgiveness for what I am about to do. Maybe I do not need to do so. I hope that Jacob will forgive me. I hope that that saying holds its place in truth. I hope that by asking for forgiveness, we both are granted eternal peace and happiness. Society is ignorant to what it does not understand. I should say rather, that it was. I glided across this earth over the succeeding generations and gained hope in the form of understanding by others. I survived on this. Of course, no-one but myself knew, for I never loved again. Perhaps I was too busy. Maybe I was too scared. I think that it was most likely fear that held me back. There is only so much hope a human heart can hold. I reached capacity a long, long time ago. I have braved all the elements in my life. Now it is time for one last encounter.
FADE OUT
