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Blind Man’s Bluff
by
Shea
Anton Pensa
2nd draft Sept. 16, 2002
Shea Anton
Pensa
shea_anton_pensa@yahoo.com
EXT. HILLSIDE -
DAY
A PILE OF HUMAN BONES -
picked clean - lies in front of an outcropping of rocks, next to a set of
slashed, torn, bloody clothes. From BEHIND the rocks, something gnaws,
swallows, then sighs in satisfaction. And tosses a RIB onto the pile,
before -
A BLOOD-SMEARED ARM
reaches out towards the clothes, but stops, frozen in the air, as if
listening.
Seconds later, HOOFBEATS
are heard approaching from DOWN THE HILLSIDE.
The arm snakes back
behind the rocks, behind which, something begins to breathe heavily,
laboriously. Breathing that
becomes panting: the panting of a WILD DOG.
As the hoof-beats
approach, a black, vicious DOG leaps out from behind the rocks, bounding
up the hill.
The hoof-beats stop just
short of the rocks, followed by the sound of someone getting off of an
old, creaky leather saddle.
Footsteps approach.
An elegant,
handsome-as-the-devil VEDIC-INDIAN NOBLEMAN steps close to the bones, a
drawn recurve bow in his hands.
He bends down to look at the bones, then the clothes. The clothes are nearly IDENTICAL
to his own. He runs his
fingers along the bloody silk tunic in the pile, and grinds his
teeth.
The Nobleman looks up the
hill in the direction of the fleeing dog. His eyes clear, and the veins and
tendons in his neck stand out.
He turns, leaves the rocks... seconds later, hoof-beats pound UP
the hill.
EXT. HILLTOP CAVE -
DAY
THE WILD DOG sprints from
below to the entrance to a SMALL CAVE, from which smoke wafts and a bare
glimmer of firelight can be glimpsed. The Dog stares at the cave, then
lopes in, QUIETLY.
2.
INT. CAVE -
SAME
THE DOG pads in, towards
THREE BLIND BEGGARS dressed in grimy rags - outcastes. The first one cuts vegetables for
a curry, the second uses his sense of smell to prepare the spices, and the
third stirs a pot over a small fire, next to a table with three
bowls.
The Dog sneaks behind
them, to the back of the cave, into the shadows. The first beggar lifts his head,
cocking his ear to the side; the third beggar pauses, sniffing the
air. Then they shrug and
continue preparing their meal.
Until they hear
HOOF-BEATS approach and stop outside the cave; they freeze.
AT THE FRONT OF THE CAVE,
the Nobleman strides in, bow drawn, ready to kill, and pauses, glaring at
-
FOUR BEGGARS. The three have been joined by
someone new: a good looking, wild-haired, naked beggar, wrapped in a
ragged blanket, hunched over and staring-into-nothing like the other
three.
The Nobleman narrows his
eyes. The beggars cock their
ears towards him.
BEGGAR
#1
Welcome.
BEGGAR
#2
Be at rest
here...
BEGGAR
#3
...and honor us by
joining in our humble meal.
The bowstring of the
Nobleman creaks as he pulls the arrow back another
inch.
NOBLEMAN
The Brahman did not send
me to break bread with you.
3.
The beggars shudder,
moving their heads around, “looking” at each other with their remaining
senses.
BEGGAR
#3
Have you come to kill
us?
The Nobleman stares at
all of them, one by one.
NOBLEMAN
Yes and no. I’ve come to kill one of you, but
not kill any beggar.
The three beggars look
confused, as does the fourth, who sweats a little more than the
others. LISTENING CLOSELY to
the others.
BEGGAR
#1
But there are only
beggars here.
BEGGAR
#2
Poor
outcastes...
BEGGAR
#3
... mere
untouchables...
FOURTH
BEGGAR
(mimicking the EXACT SAME
VOICE as BEGGAR #1)
Meaning no
harm.
The Nobleman sneers, and
keeping his bow trained on the beggars, moves backwards to the mouth of
the cave. He swiftly places
the arrow back in its quiver on his back, and unsheathes HIS
SWORD.
The beggars all wince at
the sound.
NOBLEMAN
No. One among you does mean harm. Lives to mean harm. And has caused untold harm since
the first Brahman spoke the first words of
wisdom.
4.
The Nobleman lifts his
sword high and back over his head, then slams the pommel down hard onto
the top of the cave mouth, smashing it over and over again until it starts
to CAVE IN.
He steps away as the
rocks fall to form a barrier to any potential escape, but one small enough
one to be removed with a little hard work.
BEGGAR
#1
Such a man sits among
us?
NOBLEMAN
For the moment. The moments when he is not a wolf,
or an owl, or a tiger, or a...
BEGGAR #1 AND BEGGAR
#3
(together)
Wild
dog?
The Nobleman pulls out
the arrow and again knocks it into his bowstring, eyebrow
raised.
NOBLEMAN
Yes.
The beggars all “look” at
each other, sweating bullets.
The fourth keeps most of his attention on the Nobleman, and the
blocked entrance.
FOURTH
BEGGAR
So you will imprison all
of us in this cave, just to kill this man?
The Nobleman eyes the
fourth beggar suspiciously.
NOBLEMAN
The rocks can easily be
removed in a few hours with a little work. And it is no “man”. It takes the shape of one, but
only to torture and devour others.
All the beggars
gasp. Beggar #2 steps back
away from the others, against the cave wall.
5.
BEGGAR
#2
A
Rakshasa?
NOBLEMAN
Yes.
Beggar #3 resumes
stirring the pot, very slowly.
BEGGAR
#3
How could the three of us
live in this cave for years and not know which one was the
Rakshasa?
The Nobleman brandishes
his sword.
NOBLEMAN
I count four of
you.
The beggars flinch,
catching on. Beggar #3 nods,
sadly.
BEGGAR
#3
Of course we could not
see to know it.
BEGGAR #2
And if it could take on
any form --
BEGGAR
#1
It could take on any
voice.
FOURTH
BEGGAR
So how will you be able
to know which one?
The Nobleman looks at
each, then the preparations for the meal.
NOBLEMAN
The Rakshasa cannot stand
any food except for human meat...
He steps towards the
vegetables, spices and cooking pot, sword up and
ready.
6.
NOBLEMAN
Therefore, you all shall
taste a special meal tonight, that I will prepare. One bowl of curry, and one bowl
that contains... my own
flesh.
The beggars all groan in
disgust.
NOBLEMAN
The Rakshasa will be
consumed with delight at the first bite, and will have to finish the bowl,
so pleased that it will forget its trickery and show its true face. And
then...
The Nobleman slashes his
sword down, cutting a vegetable cleanly in
half.
NOBLEMAN
Now turn around and face
the back of the cave, away from me, so that none shall see which bowls
holds which “meal”.
The beggars all do as
they’re told, and the Nobleman rips off one sleeve of his tunic. He prepares a bandage, then SLICES
OFF A SECTION OF FLESH FROM HIS OWN ARM. After placing it on the
cutting-table, he wraps the wound tightly and chops the arm-flesh into
bite-size chunks.
Taking a large bowl, he
fills it with the curry that beggar #3 was cooking, and sets it
aside. Then takes the morsels
of his flesh, and puts them in the pot, adding rice and vegetables and
spices; a “cannibal” curry that smells exactly the same as the “normal”
one is ready.
He fills an identical
bowl, places it next to the first one, and backs away several
steps.
NOBLEMAN
Come to the
table.
All four obey, and stand
before the bowls.
NOBLEMAN
Eat from each
bowl.
7.
Beggar #1 takes a bite
from each, looking nauseas afterwards. Beggar #2 does the same, sniffing
each first, but tight-lipped.
Beggar #3 complies as fast as possible, swallowing without chewing
so as not to taste the food.
The Fourth Beggar takes a
deep smell of the second bowl, lifts the spoon to his lips, takes a
taste--
And wretches, spitting
out the curry and wiping his lips, desperate to get the flavor out of his
mouth. He lunges for the
second bowl, burying his face in it, slurping at the contents, and grunts
horrible sounds like a mixture of a pig and growling
cat.
The Nobleman raises his
sword...
... as the Fourth Beggar
lowers the bowl, revealing his TRUE FACE:
Half human, half feline,
like a monster that evolved from a tiger to mock the human
form.
The Rakshasa hisses and
moves behind the beggars, using them as a shield.
NOBLEMAN
Take him! Hold
him!
RAKSHASA
They cannot hold what
they cannot see!
Beggar #1 sniffs the air;
Beggar #2 cocks his head to listen closely; Beggar #3 throws back his arm
behind himself, striking the Rakshasa.
BEGGAR
#1
But we can hold what we
can smell--!
BEGGAR
#2
--and
hear!
BEGGAR
#3
And
feel!
8.
The Rakshasa snarls like
a tiger, slashes at the beggars with clawed fingers, bites deeply and
tears off their flesh, but they grip it despite the wounds, slowing it
down as it tries to drag itself towards the mouth of the cave--
But the Nobleman is
already behind it, sword raised.
The Rakshasa sees the movement in the Nobleman’s shadow cast by the
firelight on the cave wall.
RAKSHASA
What difference will it
make? My kind cannot
die!
The Nobleman slashes off
one of the Rakshasa’s hands - it falls to the floor, still
moving.
NOBLEMAN
No, but the
smallest--
-he slices off the other
hand
NOBLEMAN
--living--
- a
forearm
NOBLEMAN
--fragments--
- the other
forearm
NOBLEMAN
--small
enough--
- a lower
leg
NOBLEMAN
--to feed
to--
-the other lower
leg
NOBLEMAN
--the Brahman’s
swine--
9.
The Rakshasa shrieks, now
just stumps and a head on a torso, as the nobleman slowly lifts the sword
for the final cut--
NOBLEMAN
--will mean that you will
only live forever in the bellies of the pigs. Until those pigs die, and are fed
to other pigs.
Forever.
The Rakshasa’s scream is
cut short as the blade severs the head from the neck, but continues trying
to scream, still alive, as the Nobleman goes into a frenzy, hacking and
chopping the remains until nothing is left but hundreds of tiny, twitching
pieces of meat.
When done, the panting
Nobleman catches his wind, stands straight and proud, and wipes the blood
from his face, the essence of dignity.
BEGGAR
#3
What
now?
NOBLEMAN
Bring me a
bag.
The beggar hands the
Nobleman a sack, who fills the sack with the chunks of the Rakshasa. He draws the string of the sack
tightly and hoists it over his shoulder - it SQUIRMS on his back, STILL
ALIVE.
The beggars collapse to
the ground, weary but grateful.
They move their heads towards the sounds of the Nobleman’s
footsteps as he heads for the mouth of the
cave.
BEGGAR
#1
We thank
you...
BEGGAR
#2
..for saving us. May we show our gratitude
by...
BEGGAR
#3
... offering you what
little sustenance we have left to give?
10.
The Nobleman sets to work
clearing away the rocks blocking the entrance of the
cave.
NOBLEMAN
No. All of you are sick and maimed,
and therefore, the only meat you have to give
me...
The Nobleman looks back
at them once, displaying Tiger’s eyes that the blind men cannot
see--
NOBLEMAN
...is not to my
liking.
FADE
OUT
THE
END
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