Blackthorne--Episode 96

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Blackthorne

Cinemagenic Ninety-Six

Onset

“Be willing to be a beginner every single

morning.”--Meister Eckhart.

1(wide shot) The ebony carriage climbed for a

half mile through clumps of fir and aspen, past

small glens dotted with riotously colored wild

flowers. The air was sweet with fir needles and

shaded grass. 

2(cut to medium wide shot) a verdant meadow;

a Mule deer doe grazed peacefully with her

spotted fawn. 

3( raise up with crane shot) the carriage passes

from right to left across the frame below the deer.

4(cut to a tighter shot) the deer; the doe raised its

head, and twitched its long ears. The fawn hopped

into a swarm of yellow butterflies on its spindly

legs, wagging its white tail.

5(overhead drone shot) The carriage dropped down 

between two large oaks.

6(sound cue) piano and cello over horse’s hooves

and spinning wagon wheels.

7(continue overhead shot, but begin descent)

They were greeted by a small lake, its water

shimmering blue-green. There were crowded

clusters of cattails at the far end of it, with

spiraling swarms of blackbirds flying above

their Spring nests, clucking in the reeds like

complaining chickens.

8(medium wide shot) the carriage rolled to a

stop at the water’s edge. The man and the

woman got out. Salina was carrying the picnic

basket and a gingham quilt.

9(cut to a two shot) from the water. Buck suddenly

drew the Thunderer and fired a shot into the air.

10(sound cue) blast of a coronet, Buck yelling

“Yahoo”, and the thunderous crack of the big

pistol echoing across the still water.

11(cut to wide shot) the cattails exploded, and

the sky darkened with blackbirds. The flock

murmurated in the air like a sidewinder, rising 

straight up, before descending in smaller and

smaller circles over the lake, winged alacrity

as they settled back into the reeds. A minute

later, the sky was barren of birds, and  their

frenzied cackling resumed.

12(sound cue) piano and violins.

13(cut to two-shot) Salina: Christ in a wheel

burrow--did you have to do that? I may have

wet myself.

Buck, turning to her, shrugging his shoulders:

Yeah, I kind of did.

Salina: You can be a bad boy sometimes.

Buck, smiling: You bring the best out of me.

14( medium wide shot) Salina spread the blanket

out in the deep shade beneath a brokeback oak,

and opened up the picnic basket--extracting a

pair of tin cups; she asked: Is the water in this

puddle good enough to drink?

Buck took the two cups to the lake and scooped

up cold clear water. He tipped one up, and gulped

a swallow: It’s fed by mountain streams. My

horses drink it.

She tucked a linen napkin into the neck of his 

shirt and they began to eat. I used to come up

here, she mumbled around biting a piece of

chicken: I would fish and daydream. You were

gone, of course. I had never met you, but your

father talked about you a lot. He was a helpless

old man at the end.

Buck: So I’ve heard.

Salina: He used to say that everyone he loved

was dead--except for you.

Buck: Well, he was confused. He was dead to me

long before he passed out in the street and was

crushed by a lumber wagon. If he loved me, he

had a peculiar way of showing it. It took me

forever to heal my own broken heart.

Salina: I’m not saying you were right or wrong

by leaving. I’m not in a position to judge.

They finished their meal. Salina packed the garbage

in some butcher paper, and tucked it into the basket.

Buck was skipping flat rocks across the glassy

surface.

Come here, she said.

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub OLN