Thia |
for SCREENPLAY EYES ONLY © 2019
created by Alexandre Keyland
prologue co-writed with Charlotte Irvoas
translation Rachel Salter
Night Flight
Have you ever come close to that reality which borders on the extraordinary?
Have you ever felt what you thought was solid ground slip away beneath your feet?
Until you fell down and had to face a new reality?
If you haven’t, don’t worry: Thia, a modern adolescent, will do it for you
she’s an ordinary person, like you or me
...
She was alone in her room one night, her face glued to the window pane,
dreaming complex and inexplicable dreams which flew off into the sky,
dreams which returned again and again and again.
Her only peace of mind was out there in the stars.
She looked out into space, and, through the window, a call echoed through her soul.
‘Come.’ The sky seemed to be whispering to her.
She had this feeling that a kind and gentle form of intelligence was watching her from above.
She would even sometimes leave the blinds open at night, romantically,
abandoning herself to the sky as to a lover.
Watching the stars, a thousand lights danced within her spirit.
Ah the tender galaxy! The gentle Milky Way! The course of Venus!
Sometimes she would open the bay window silently
and slide outside to daydream on the window ledge.
Thia had never been able to accept the system at school
where you had to jostle to get noticed in class or to gain the respect of the other kids.
It wasn’t her thing.
She had always dreamed of living in the forest,
up there on the plateau which looked down over the city.
For her they were the strange woods of legends, peopled by natives with long feathers.
She had often gone walking, secretly, along the higher slopes where the tall pine trees were planted.
The edge of the wood wasn’t very far away,
and that night she decided to jump, noiselessly, from the window ledge.
Weaving her way through the dry bushes she got quickly back to the natural world,
glad to escape from the endless straight-lined streets.
The hill from where she looked down on the suburbs
remained the most intimate place she had ever found in this world.
Once at the top,
she lay down comfortably in the grass at the foot of the huge sequoia trees,
so that she could talk to the stars, as there were no people around to talk to.
Thia watched the sun set far away between two majestic firs,
but this vision, she had had it before.
But where?
On a coat of arms or some kind of emblem?
A riveting feeling of ‘déjà vu.’
Night fell.
She watched the lit-up streets with their endless straight lines,
and made out the wail of a police siren in the distance.
The evening covered the huge city with a dark coating of thick smog.
She spent a long time just sitting there watching.
The local dogs started barking at each other.
It was like the whole world was spread out before her eyes and no-one else’s.
created by Alexandre Keyland
prologue co-writed with Charlotte Irvoas
translation Rachel Salter
Night Flight
Have you ever come close to that reality which borders on the extraordinary?
Have you ever felt what you thought was solid ground slip away beneath your feet?
Until you fell down and had to face a new reality?
If you haven’t, don’t worry: Thia, a modern adolescent, will do it for you
she’s an ordinary person, like you or me
...
She was alone in her room one night, her face glued to the window pane,
dreaming complex and inexplicable dreams which flew off into the sky,
dreams which returned again and again and again.
Her only peace of mind was out there in the stars.
She looked out into space, and, through the window, a call echoed through her soul.
‘Come.’ The sky seemed to be whispering to her.
She had this feeling that a kind and gentle form of intelligence was watching her from above.
She would even sometimes leave the blinds open at night, romantically,
abandoning herself to the sky as to a lover.
Watching the stars, a thousand lights danced within her spirit.
Ah the tender galaxy! The gentle Milky Way! The course of Venus!
Sometimes she would open the bay window silently
and slide outside to daydream on the window ledge.
Thia had never been able to accept the system at school
where you had to jostle to get noticed in class or to gain the respect of the other kids.
It wasn’t her thing.
She had always dreamed of living in the forest,
up there on the plateau which looked down over the city.
For her they were the strange woods of legends, peopled by natives with long feathers.
She had often gone walking, secretly, along the higher slopes where the tall pine trees were planted.
The edge of the wood wasn’t very far away,
and that night she decided to jump, noiselessly, from the window ledge.
Weaving her way through the dry bushes she got quickly back to the natural world,
glad to escape from the endless straight-lined streets.
The hill from where she looked down on the suburbs
remained the most intimate place she had ever found in this world.
Once at the top,
she lay down comfortably in the grass at the foot of the huge sequoia trees,
so that she could talk to the stars, as there were no people around to talk to.
Thia watched the sun set far away between two majestic firs,
but this vision, she had had it before.
But where?
On a coat of arms or some kind of emblem?
A riveting feeling of ‘déjà vu.’
Night fell.
She watched the lit-up streets with their endless straight lines,
and made out the wail of a police siren in the distance.
The evening covered the huge city with a dark coating of thick smog.
She spent a long time just sitting there watching.
The local dogs started barking at each other.
It was like the whole world was spread out before her eyes and no-one else’s.
"Is that all there is?"
Occasionally she glanced at the deep night sky.
The twinkling of outer space became more evident as night fell and she felt a great sense of calm.
Thia closed her eyes and imagined diving into the heavens.
There was nothing so pure to her eyes as the sky and she promised herself never to come down again.
During all her rebellious night-time flights Thia had promised herself never to live a tame life…
…
She let the earth’s vibration rock her gently.
She didn’t hear the sound of the crickets hidden in the carpet of dry grass, she felt them.
Below, the huge city with its artificial lights growled and hummed in a rather alarming way.
Thia fell asleep.
Contact-me
to read the full script
Alexandre Keyland - [email protected]