One morning a few years ago, I conjured up the opening of a story that I wished I could see on the big screen. I really don't know what it's about, but this was the opening that I wrote that morning, so I thought I'd post it here for fun.
The boy is walking in a sunny field of tall grass and shrub. He is about 4 and a half years - he has a thick crop of wavy brown hair - his skin is olive - is lips are plump and pink - his nose a nub and his eyes are as round as a coin and a deep dark brown.
He is humming a random melody... in his left hand is his trusty old ragged teddy bear, and in his right hand he is flying a die cast metal airplane. He is content.. wandering aimlessly. The light is golden - the sun casting slivers of light all around him..
He nears a thicket of brush, and hears the sound of rustling. He stops humming and stands still, listening.. the camera closes in on his eyes as they look towards the sound. Then his eyes open even wider, as he has spotted the cause of the sound.. a small animal.. a baby deer.. it is trapped in the brush..and struggling to release itself. The boy takes slow steps towards the animal.. the animal struggles harder in fear.. the boy stops. He cocks his head and waits for the animal to stop with it's struggle.
The boy speaks to the animal - the language is Italian. He greets the animal and asks it if it would like some help. As he is speaking, the boy approaches slowly.. his eyes locked in with the eyes of the deer.. The baby animal ceases to struggle and allows the boy to approach.. The boy reaches his hand out very slowly and gently places the palm of his small stubby hand onto the neck of the animal. The animal is frozen. The boy smiles.
He murmurs "hello, my name is Lorenzo and I am 4 years old.. what is your name?" He reaches around and tugs at the tangle of brush and frees the animal. The animal does not yet realize it is free, and the boy slowly backs away. The animal leaps out of the mess of brush and begins to run off.. but suddenly stops and turns to look back at the boy. The boy and the animal stare at each other.. the animal ambles slowly back to the boy.. and puts it's face right up to the boys face. They are eye to eye.. the animal puts it's nose up to the boys nose.. the boy begins to giggle..
The giggling gets louder and the scene fades to black then opens back to the boy laying in his bed.. he is giggling in the early morning sunlight.. the family dog, a medium sized mutt, is licking the boys face and nuzzling him with his cold wet nose.. the boy giggles himself awake.
The morning sun is shining in the bedroom..a cozy room with modest furniture and walls adorned with prints of animals. The dog jumps off the bed and the boy rolls off to the floor. His hair is standing up and his pajamas are rumpled. He begins to wander towards the bedroom door, but before he leaves his room, he turns back and picks up his teddy, which has fallen to the floor next to the bed during the night.
He hums softly to himself.. He enters the hallway of the villa, his bare feet making soft padding noises. He hears sounds coming from his parents bedroom.. It is the sounds of lovemaking.. he does not know this, though.. The door to his parents room is ajar. As he walks, the camera shows an old wall clock.. it is 6:30 in the morning.
The walls are golden from the sunlight streaming in from the sky lights. There is a print of a religious figure on the wall.. He approaches the crack in the door way and stops.. the camera cuts to the the bed, and shows the husband on top of his wife.. he is slowly screwing her, a determined, loving smile on his face.. her eyes are closed and she is groaning, climaxing..
The camera cuts back to the door from inside the bedroom looking out...a close up of the boys big brown eyes.. they are wide and questioning (just like when he first spotted the tangled animal in his dream).. He has raised his teddy bear up to his mouth.. Lorenzo instinctively knows not to enter, though he is confused by what he sees...
The camera pans back to the couple as the husband comes with a groan and flops down on top of his wife, then rolls off of her. They speak softly and laugh and hug post coitus.. They do not know Lorenzo is standing in the doorway observing them..
Back in the hallway with Lorenzo, the dog has approached the boy and begins to lick the top of Lorenzo's left bare foot.. Lorenzo silences a giggle, rubs the head of the dog, and quietly turns towards the stairs..
One step at a time, he walks down the stairs.. one hand on the banister railing, the teddy bear dangling from the other.
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