Teddy+Haley

Teddy Haley

Needle in the Hay

INT. BLACK SCREEN

A word at first barely visible, fades into the screen. The shellshock/mosquito noise fades in, and then the definition of ‘slavery’ appears on the screen. The words fade out and then the number of slaves globally appears on then screen. The mosquito noise stop, then there is a loud drum hit and the next scene starts right away.

INT. MANSION KITCHEN – LATE AFTERNOON

The scene starts with the camera in first person as a slave woman in a kitchen. She is pouring hot water into a kettle; making tea. Her hands are shaking slightly, and her skin tone is very pale and paunchy as she had not been outside in a while. She puts the kettle on the tray, along with a cup and plate of tea biscuits. Her breathing becomes heavier. She leaves the kitchen with the tray and begins to walk up the stairs. Her shaking becomes greater as she walks up the stairs and she struggles to keep the tea in the kettle. At the top of the landing, the long corridor is very dark. There is a room at the end of the hall with light escaping from the bottom of the door. She walks slowly toward the door. When she opens the door, a man is sitting on a leather chain at a desk. She approaches the man, and puts the tray on the table.

THE MAN About time.

He looks down at the tea with a sense of disgust.

THE MAN Honestly, can’t you ever make anything at least half appetizing?

The woman takes the kettle with her shaking hand, and begins to pour the tea. She had a violent shake, pouring a drop onto the tray. She instantly puts the kettle down and backs away with the tray in hand. The man hesitates for a moment in complete disgust. His eyes in a half open squint. Muscles ready to go crazy. The mosquito noise starts.

THE MAN GODDAMNIT WOMAN! USELESS F*CK!

The man got up from his chair, towered over the woman, smacks the tray out of her hand and hits her across the face. Tea flies into the air and she falls to the floor. She gasps for air, and the scene goes silent. The camera angle changes looking down on the woman from the ceiling. Tea and biscuits lay strewn about across the room. The man walks out of the room.

THE MAN CLEAN IT UP! The camera looks down on the woman for a few seconds. She lay on the cold floor gasping for air, then the scene cuts.

INT. MANSION KITCHEN – NEXT MORNING

The next scene starts with the same woman in the kitchen the next day, once again in first person view. Looking down at her arms, there are now bruises. Her breathing in now easier and she is no longer shaking. She brings the tea to the man once again, but does not spill any tea, and she avoids getting beaten. She leaves the room, and then the scene cuts to the next day. There is then a short montage of single frames of the same routine.

INT. MANSION KITCHEN – MONTHS LATER

The scene starts with the woman in the kitchen once again. She can hear the voice of birds chirping outside, somewhere that she never expects to go. She casually prepares the tea and biscuits for her master as usual. She takes the tray with tea and biscuits and begins walking to the stairs. This time however, she notices the front door is open a smidge. She drops the tray and makes a mad run for the door. She opens the door, and the scene whites out.

INT. WHITE SCREEN

Words being to fade into the screen. 1, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”. 2,3,4 etc being to flash on the white screen. The sound of birds chirping in the background continues, symbolizing the woman’s freedom.

INT. OUTSIDE MANSION – YEARS LATER

The woman returns to the mansion many years later. She stands outside the mansion looking onto the mansion which was once her prison. She feels strange that something so beautiful could be so ugly on the inside. She is talking with someone who is presumably her son. She begins to cry. Music begins to play, and the scene ends with a fade to black.

Credits

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