Screen Writers

Mathew King

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Witch's Brew

Synopsis for Short Film

A young boy, 10, 12 years old, is riding a bicycle around a council estate.

He draws near to a small line of shops and skids to a halt … he watches as a woman, in her forties, leaves the newsagent...

The woman has a nervous disposition it appears, her head moving from side to side and her mouth fixed in a half smile …

As she turns in the boys direction, the boy seems to shiver, before looking away.

The woman walks on, her head turning from side to side constantly, and other people looking at her uneasily as she turns a corner.

The boy cycles after her…. keeping a wary distance as he does so.

The woman walks past the council estate, and turns in to a pathway leading up to a small row of houses… the boy watches her as she walks up to her front door, turns the key with some deliberation; her head still turning from side to side … once again, looking in the boys direction, who ducks his head and cycles away to the back of the house … He looks over the fence and can see, on a small wooden table underneath the kitchen window, jars of assorted sizes with liquids of various colours in … and one in particular, a large jar that seems to have something in it, a form of some kind, the shape of which he cant figure out but the colour is dark … He strains his head to see but still cant be sure what it is … he then deliberates and then climbs over the fence and is visibly nervous as he finds himself in this strange little garden which is over-run with weeds and nettles … He crouches as he walks down the barely visible path and draws closer to the jars… He then sees movement through the kitchen window and ducks, before rolling into the long grass and we see his face contort with pain as he covers his mouth …

We see the woman in her house, going into the kitchen. She is in a very agitated state and sits down at the table and closes her eyes, breathing deeply; it would seem trying to calm down. She takes a small bottle of pills from her pocket and unscrews it, taking one from it and walking over to the sink to pour herself some water… as she does so, she looks out the window and sees the boy lying in the grass.

From the boys perspective, through the weeds and long grass, we see the womans fixed half smile through the window and again the boy flinches with fear … He holds his leg and then we realise that he has rolled on to a nail, which is attached to a piece of wood… He struggles as he can hear the back door being opened.

We then see the woman stepping tentatively from her kitchen into the backyard and hear the boy sobbing… the woman’s mouth is still in the same fixed expression, but her eyes convey concern as she treads closer to the boy.

From the boys perspective, we see the womans face and her hand reaching out toward him. The boy starts to sob louder and the womans arm is drawn back… as she hears the boy cry, she looks visibly distressed and rubs her head, looking around at the surrounding houses nervously… she then realises that the boy has the nail stuck in his leg and raises her hand to her mouth… the boy sees this and the woman gestures with her hand for him to lie still and she clasps her hands together as if in prayer, before she hurries back to the kitchen …

The boy can hear the sound of drawers being opened and closed and again struggles in fear to move, but his leg causes him pain when he tries to... He looks up at the sky before closing his eyes in apprehension of the womans return …

When she does so, he can see that she is holding a small bottle of liquid with one hand and some cotton wool and scissors in the other … as she bends down to inspect the leg, the boy struggles but the woman places her hand on his shoulder to calm him, covering her mouth self-consciously as she does so … she then inspects the wood, before cutting the boys trousers up to the injury … she gently pulls this from the boys leg, and pours the TCP into the wound, at which the boy cries out … before applying the cotton wool to the gash and taking the boys hand and holding it over the cotton wool… before stepping back and rubbing her head and folding her arms as she looks around nervously at the surrounding houses… she then begins to cry.

The boy looks at her with at first confusion and then he gestures with his hand for her not to cry and smiles … the woman dries her eyes and nods, before walking back towards the kitchen and leaning against the wall … the boy then stands up and turns to look at her… he then points at the jar that initially took his interest and she turns toward it and takes it in her hand … she holds it out to the boy, who steps forward to look at it … and we can see that its some kind of plant, possibly a mushroom … the boy smiles to himself and the woman shrugs.

The boy then holds out his hand and they shake hands, before the boy walks away up the path; leaving through the gate … the woman walks back into her kitchen and closes the door.

THE END

By Matthew King 2006