The Path

A script by Gabriel Antonuccio

Featured art: Photogravure of Painting of a Woodland Scene by Roswell Morse Shurtleff

FADE IN:

INT. TOM’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY

TOM (20 Male) is seen rigorously typing on his laptop. He is seated at his desk in front of the window in his bedroom. His face is immensely focused on the laptop screen. The sounds of the keys as he types is the only audible noise in the room.

SHERIAN (8 Male), Tom’s dog, gloomily stares at Tom as he types. The dog is curled up on Tom’s bed to the right of him.

Tom stops typing, and after a few moments of clicking with his mouse, closes his laptop. He leans back in his chair, stretching his arms above his head. He then checks the time with the watch on his right arm. It reads 5:00.

TOM

Good news, Sherian.

Looks like we’ll have time

to go on a walk after all!

Sherian looks up Tom and wags.

Tom grabs a green corduroy jacket from his closet adjacent to the bedroom door. The closet is filled with clothes hanging from coat hangers.

Tom looks over at Sherian as he puts on his coat, to see that the dog has settled back into a comfortable sleeping position.

TOM

Workday is over, boy.

(whistles)

INT. TOM’S HOUSE - FOYER - DAY

Tom and Sherian now stand by the front door of Tom’s house. Through the screen door, the exterior of Tom’s house is seen to be surrounded by woods. The colors of Autumn are visible in the trees. Tom grabs Sherian’s leash hanging next to the door and clicks the buckle in place on Sherian’s neck. The two exit the house.

EXT. WOODS - AFTERNOON

Tom and Sherian are now deep in the woods. They follow a trail that appears to be well maintained. Tom lets out a sigh, and he looks to be engulfed in the beauty of the woods, as if he waited for this moment all day. The crickets begin their rounds of orchestrated chirping, marking the ever-approaching sunset. As he takes in the sounds of nature, he notices something odd in the distance. There appears to be a separate, unfamiliar trail connected to their current path, nearly out of sight. Tom’s brow furrows in confusion, as he’s walked this path many times and never noticed this particular offshoot.

Tom now reaches the front of the trail. It’s visibly worn, much more so than the main path. Despite this, it’s overgrown, suffering from a lack of trail maintenance. Sherian sniffs the air, and the fur on his back raises slightly. Tom pauses for a moment, appearing to contemplate whether or not he should continue on his way or explore the mysterious trail. Tom then checks his watch. The time reads 6:00 PM. After a moment or so, He appears to have made up his mind.

TOM

Stay close, boy.

The two of them enter the mysterious trail. Tom looks apprehensive, but curious.

EXT. TRAIL - EVENING

Despite Sunset not being for another hour or so, the trail appears to become unnaturally darker the further they walk. The usual sounds of nature are also gone, and replaced with an eerie silence. Tom looks around the woods with an uneasy expression on his face. It’s clear that he’s no longer feeling the comfort he once did. The environment looks menacing, almost as if the woods around him will close in at any second and suffocate him. Tom shudders. He intently scans the area around him, like he’s paranoid something is watching. Sherian growls quietly.

A branch breaks some distance away to the right of Tom, making a loud snapping noise. He stops, looking scared now. He listens intently for any other noises. As he listens, Sherian suddenly begins barking loudly. The fur on his back is standing completely upright. He begins to pull on the leash, hard. He’s facing the direction of the noise.

Tom is so focused on listening that this catches him completely off guard, and thus Sherian manages to break free of Tom’s grasp on the leash. He takes off in the direction of the noise.

TOM

SHERIAN! NO!

Tom chases Sherian, looking more worried than scared now.

As he runs through the overgrown woods, branches connect over and over again with various parts of his body. He winces, but continues.

The Branches are everywhere, only seeming to continue to increase the further he runs. His face is now covered in bloody slashes.

TOM

SHERIANNN!

Tom looks feverishly determined. All of a sudden, A huge branch appears in front of Tom. It connects with his face, hard. He falls to the ground, stunned. His hands instinctively fling to his face, assessing the damage. Blood can be seen flowing from his nose.

TOM

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!

Tom now listens intently, trying to hear where Sherian went. The woods are dead silent. After a few minutes of silence, Tom begins to weep quietly

TOM

Please… Don’t leave me here.

As Tom lays on the ground, His eyes seem to shift focus to something else entirely. Tom’s perspective is now looking up into the canopy of trees from the ground for the first time. The environment looks much different. The trees around him are massive pines, with trunks bigger than what seems possible. With further focus, the trees also appear to be swaying back and forth in a synchronized pattern. It looks oddly familiar to the pattern of breathing you’d see from a human.

Tom now looks entirely transfixed onto the sight, like nothing could hope to break his focus. He continues to watch the trees sway, as they begin to change again in front of his very eyes. There are impossible patterns beginning to form on the trunks. Massive spirals, all making the same breathing motion. To his awe, they begin to spiral in on themselves, making it hard to differentiate one tree from another.

As he remains transfixed, A voice can suddenly be heard directly next to Tom. It’s quiet, but dry.

FOREST VOICE

Wake up, Tom . . .

INT. TOM’S HOUSE - NIGHT

Tom shoots out of his chair, screaming. He looks around his room wildly, expecting to see the sprawling pines surrounding him. Instead, he’s met with his bedroom. Reality comes crashing in on him. He’s met with the sight of his bedroom, and Sherian, staring at him from his bed, startled. He stands there for a moment, trying to process what has just happened. He looks perplexed.

Tom appears to have accepted that what happened was not real. He then walks into the bathroom connected to his room to clear his head.

TOM

(Screams)

Looking into his mirror, he’s met with the first sight of himself since waking. His face is covered in scratches, and his nose is noticeably crooked, with a thin layer of dried blood underneath.

FADE OUT.

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Gabriel Antonuccio (he/him) is an Integrated Media major from Athens, Ohio. In his free time, he loves listening to music, playing guitar, and making short films.