loosely based on a book of uk mythology that my wife purchased for me and the amazing anais mitchell's version of the song tam lin, it is a darwinian horror story (big surprise) and a cautionary tale about the current pace of change and its effect on the planet. plus faeries, trolls, goblins, and the vatican.
i'm using amazon's storywriter for the script itself (and like it, so far, except for the occasional garbling of words when i type too fast) and just began using amazon's storybuilder, which is somewhat similar to scrivener, which i liked but could never quite catch the flow of.
for the past couple of years i've mostly used google docs to write and google sheets to organize plots, character outlines, etc. not necessarily the fanciest tools, but they're simple and they work (plus free).
(update: amazon has abandoned both of these tools, so i'm back to using google sheets in place of storybuilder and youmescript.com for the writing. i'd say, "curse you, amazon!", except they're the reason i first got published, and they've been terrific and helpful ever since, so...)
apologies that the formatting didn't travel well. anyway, here's your first taste of midsummer night:
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INT. NIGHT - A SINGLE-ROOM MEDIEVAL COTTAGE
A BANKED FIRE smolders behind the hearth. There is no other light. An IRON HORSESHOE hangs above the threshold. A FATHER and MOTHER are asleep on a PALLET in the corner. The FATHER snores. There is a single WINDOW, really just a square opening with a hinged shutter, open just a crack. Beneath it is a rough, HOMEMADE CRADLE, in which a BABY sleeps.
A LOG POPS in the fire. The WIFE rolls over in her sleep, then settles back into slumber. All is quiet.
Beat.
A golden, glowing WILL O' THE WISP flutters in the open window, erratic as a butterfly. It hovers near the FATHER and MOTHER's faces, bathing them in soft light. The FATHER brushes it away, still asleep, as if it was a fly. The WILL O' THE WISP pulls away, circles the cradle, then flies back out the window.
Beat.
The window opens silently, bathing the cradle in BLUE MOONLIGHT. A MISSHAPEN SHADOW falls over the cradle.
EXT. NIGHT - OUTSIDE THE COTTAGE
The WHITE COB COTTAGE is bathed in moonlight and surrounded by newly fallen snow. A forest of impossibly tall and black evergreens stands behind it.
We hear the BABY CRY, far away and echoey, and then the scream of the MOTHER from inside the cottage.
MOTHER (O.S.)
Tam Lin!
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; A PITCH - BLACK FOREST, SNOW EVERYWHERE
AEDEN DOYLE, a teen-aged boy, sprints across frame from right to left. All that we can see of him are his boots.
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; A GRASSY FIELD, SNOW EVERYWHERE
AEDEN sprints across frame from right to left. His coat has a long, ragged tear down the back.
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; A CLEARING IN THE FOREST, SNOW EVERYWHERE
[[[All dialogue in the Sidhe language will be denoted by this type of parentheses, and subtitled.]]]
There is a large BONFIRE; the flames throw weird, geometric shadows on the surrounding black evergreen trees.
OBERON (V.O.)
[The babe is unchristened. We have every right to claim it.]
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; AN ENORMOUS FOREST, WITH EVERGREEN TREES MORE THAN A HUNDRED FEET TALL.
AEDEN runs, a tiny, pale shadow against the pitch black trees. He is carrying something in both arms, wrapped in BRIGHT BLUE CLOTH.
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; A CLEARING IN THE FOREST, SNOW EVERYWHERE
MICHAEL DOYLE
Aeden is young. He doesn't understand...
OBERON (V.O.)
[He has stolen what is rightly ours.]
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; A PATH IN THE FOREST
AEDEN, still running, looks back over his shoulder. His eyes go wide with terror. He screams soundlessly.
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; THE BONFIRE.
MICHAEL
He's frightened. So was I, when I was his age. My father taught me some things, but when I first saw you...
(looks off camera at Oberon)
You and your kin are... overwhelming.
OBERON (V.O.)
[He has broken the law, Michael Doyle. He is bound, as blood of your blood: A life for a life!]
EXT. NIGHT - A FIELD.
AEDEN runs across the field. BLUE AND YELLOW LIGHTS are reflected on his back, bouncing, but we can't see what is casting them. There are SOUNDS OF PURSUIT, growls and shrieks and roars, getting louder.
EXT. NIGHT - THE BONFIRE.
MICHAEL
There's too much he doesn't know. I haven't had time...
OBERON (V.O.)
[We are bound to the pact. Rome requires a human emissary. The Hall must have a Caretaker...]
EXT. NIGHT - A FIELD.
AEDEN, exhausted, still running. He carries a BABY wrapped in bright blue swaddling clothes. Wisps strike at his head and pull at his scarf, but he bats them aside. A HUGE TERRIBLE CLAW reaches for the boy from out-of-frame behind him.
EXT. NIGHT - THE BONFIRE.
MICHAEL
(falls to his knees, sobbing)
I can't! I CAN'T! Yer Grace, have mercy!
OBERON (V.O.)
[The babe is our rightful fealty. For this crime, the blood price must be paid. Pass on the duty and save your son's life!]
MICHAEL
(openly weeping)
God forgive me!
OBERON (V.O.)
[Say it!]
MICHAEL
(Speaking in Latin)
Onus istud non mi. Potest deus misericordiam consecuturus.
EXT. NIGHT - A FIELD.
AEDEN trips and falls in a heap, tumbling in the snow. The BABY flies from his arms.
EXT. NIGHT - THE BONFIRE.
MICHAEL
Aeden!
OBERON (V.O.)
[Go to your god, Michael Doyle. We will teach your son...]
BLOOD gushes from MICHAEL'S neck as his throat is slit by something too fast for us to see. His face becomes calm, his mouth hangs slack, and he falls face-first into the fire, which erupts in sparks and flame around him.
OBERON (V.O.)
[...all that he needs to know.]
EXT. NIGHT - A FIELD.
As the camera pulls back, AEDEN sits up, panting and covered in snow. He pushes his scarf down off his face and looks around. There is nothing but grass, trees, wind, and the SOUND OF AN OWL. The swaddling clothes are unraveled across the snow, but the BABY is gone.
FADE TO BLACK
A BANKED FIRE smolders behind the hearth. There is no other light. An IRON HORSESHOE hangs above the threshold. A FATHER and MOTHER are asleep on a PALLET in the corner. The FATHER snores. There is a single WINDOW, really just a square opening with a hinged shutter, open just a crack. Beneath it is a rough, HOMEMADE CRADLE, in which a BABY sleeps.
A LOG POPS in the fire. The WIFE rolls over in her sleep, then settles back into slumber. All is quiet.
Beat.
A golden, glowing WILL O' THE WISP flutters in the open window, erratic as a butterfly. It hovers near the FATHER and MOTHER's faces, bathing them in soft light. The FATHER brushes it away, still asleep, as if it was a fly. The WILL O' THE WISP pulls away, circles the cradle, then flies back out the window.
Beat.
The window opens silently, bathing the cradle in BLUE MOONLIGHT. A MISSHAPEN SHADOW falls over the cradle.
EXT. NIGHT - OUTSIDE THE COTTAGE
The WHITE COB COTTAGE is bathed in moonlight and surrounded by newly fallen snow. A forest of impossibly tall and black evergreens stands behind it.
We hear the BABY CRY, far away and echoey, and then the scream of the MOTHER from inside the cottage.
MOTHER (O.S.)
Tam Lin!
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; A PITCH - BLACK FOREST, SNOW EVERYWHERE
AEDEN DOYLE, a teen-aged boy, sprints across frame from right to left. All that we can see of him are his boots.
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; A GRASSY FIELD, SNOW EVERYWHERE
AEDEN sprints across frame from right to left. His coat has a long, ragged tear down the back.
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; A CLEARING IN THE FOREST, SNOW EVERYWHERE
[[[All dialogue in the Sidhe language will be denoted by this type of parentheses, and subtitled.]]]
There is a large BONFIRE; the flames throw weird, geometric shadows on the surrounding black evergreen trees.
OBERON (V.O.)
[The babe is unchristened. We have every right to claim it.]
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; AN ENORMOUS FOREST, WITH EVERGREEN TREES MORE THAN A HUNDRED FEET TALL.
AEDEN runs, a tiny, pale shadow against the pitch black trees. He is carrying something in both arms, wrapped in BRIGHT BLUE CLOTH.
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; A CLEARING IN THE FOREST, SNOW EVERYWHERE
MICHAEL DOYLE
Aeden is young. He doesn't understand...
OBERON (V.O.)
[He has stolen what is rightly ours.]
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; A PATH IN THE FOREST
AEDEN, still running, looks back over his shoulder. His eyes go wide with terror. He screams soundlessly.
EXT. NIGHT - WINTER; THE BONFIRE.
MICHAEL
He's frightened. So was I, when I was his age. My father taught me some things, but when I first saw you...
(looks off camera at Oberon)
You and your kin are... overwhelming.
OBERON (V.O.)
[He has broken the law, Michael Doyle. He is bound, as blood of your blood: A life for a life!]
EXT. NIGHT - A FIELD.
AEDEN runs across the field. BLUE AND YELLOW LIGHTS are reflected on his back, bouncing, but we can't see what is casting them. There are SOUNDS OF PURSUIT, growls and shrieks and roars, getting louder.
EXT. NIGHT - THE BONFIRE.
MICHAEL
There's too much he doesn't know. I haven't had time...
OBERON (V.O.)
[We are bound to the pact. Rome requires a human emissary. The Hall must have a Caretaker...]
EXT. NIGHT - A FIELD.
AEDEN, exhausted, still running. He carries a BABY wrapped in bright blue swaddling clothes. Wisps strike at his head and pull at his scarf, but he bats them aside. A HUGE TERRIBLE CLAW reaches for the boy from out-of-frame behind him.
EXT. NIGHT - THE BONFIRE.
MICHAEL
(falls to his knees, sobbing)
I can't! I CAN'T! Yer Grace, have mercy!
OBERON (V.O.)
[The babe is our rightful fealty. For this crime, the blood price must be paid. Pass on the duty and save your son's life!]
MICHAEL
(openly weeping)
God forgive me!
OBERON (V.O.)
[Say it!]
MICHAEL
(Speaking in Latin)
Onus istud non mi. Potest deus misericordiam consecuturus.
EXT. NIGHT - A FIELD.
AEDEN trips and falls in a heap, tumbling in the snow. The BABY flies from his arms.
EXT. NIGHT - THE BONFIRE.
MICHAEL
Aeden!
OBERON (V.O.)
[Go to your god, Michael Doyle. We will teach your son...]
BLOOD gushes from MICHAEL'S neck as his throat is slit by something too fast for us to see. His face becomes calm, his mouth hangs slack, and he falls face-first into the fire, which erupts in sparks and flame around him.
OBERON (V.O.)
[...all that he needs to know.]
EXT. NIGHT - A FIELD.
As the camera pulls back, AEDEN sits up, panting and covered in snow. He pushes his scarf down off his face and looks around. There is nothing but grass, trees, wind, and the SOUND OF AN OWL. The swaddling clothes are unraveled across the snow, but the BABY is gone.
FADE TO BLACK