A contribution for Kubi's "One Scene Photo" collaboration.

INT. MARIA’S KITCHEN - DAY

MARIA casually gazes out the back door and exhales the smoke from a cigarette in an exaggerated manner, seemingly for her own amusement.

A SCUFFLE can be heard in the room behind her.

Maria can’t hide the sly satisfactory smile that appears on her face as she takes another drag on her cigarette.

-V

EXT. ROAD - DAY.

The sun beats down on a stretch of highway
that seems to be little-travelled, even at noon.

Scrubby fields sit on either side of the road,
some fenced off barbed wire, stating ownership.

We focus on one of the barbs as the distant HUM
of an approaching car slowly turns to a ROAR...

EXT. DAY. A CLEARING IN THE FOREST.

The stillness of the forest is disturbed by the clear sounds of an AXE repeatedly striking a tree. A moment of silence follows before the creaking crunch of the tree keeling over can be heard. A large FLOCK OF BIRDS takes off in the distance indicating where the tree has fallen. The forest falls silent again.

A FOX scampers into the frame with its nose to the ground following a trail. It stops and begins digging furiously and lets out a low growl as it grapples with an unseen object in the hole. The fox changes position and reveals that it has a HAND in its mouth. A hand clearly connected to an arm under the snow. It looks like the fox has discovered a body.

Suddenly the fox lets out a wounded howl. The hand has come free and clamped around its mouth. The snow shifts and A MAN stands up out of the ground dusting himself off with the hand not ahold of the fox. He looks otherworldly, not human. He takes a good look at the fox before breaking its neck. He picks it up and begins to drink its blood. The distant sound of the axe starts again. It piques the interest of the otherworldly man who drops the fox and sets off in the direction of the axe and its owner.

Well I'm obviously not a writer and I'm not sure if I did this right...but I thought I'd give it a go...

EXT. THE PROMENADE - DAY

HARRY is sitting on a bench outside the hotel. LILLIAN walks over, hesitates, then sits down next to him. He noticeably doesn’t turn to look at her.

                 HARRY

     Where’s your chaperone?

                 LILLIAN

     Don’t call her that. She’s just trying to be a good friend. (beat) I said

     I felt faint so she’s gone back to the hotel for water.

Harry nods slowly still looking straight ahead. There’s a long pause where neither of them speak.

                 LILLIAN

     Are we going to talk or just stare at the ocean?

                 HARRY

     Oh, I don’t know. There doesn’t seem much to say and the ocean’s

     looking pretty inviting this morning.

                 LILLIAN

     Please don’t be mad at me. It’s not my fault you showed up

     too late!

Harry finally turns to look at Lillian.

                 HARRY

     I showed up too late? Did you ever think maybe it was you who

     settled too early?