Cold Skin

1

We are never very far

from those whom we hate.

For this very reason,

we shall never be truly close

to those we love.

An appalling fact.

I knew it well enough

when I embarked.

But some truths

deserve our attention,

others are best left alone.

We set sail 67 days ago.

September, 1914.

Matches are as useless

as teats on a bull above deck.

Thank you.

There's your island.

Look, you see it?

What are you running from?

That was the first question

they asked me when I decided

to go to sea.

Prepare to weigh anchors.

That is a one man job,

you don't need two.

Russian ...

Be careful, go to the back,

don't get it wet.

Careful with that.

Don't throw stuff about.

C'mon, come on!

No birds.

No weather offical

to greet you either.

Captain sir, where we leave the luggage

of officer of Aaron Winds?

Here inside.

Tell the others to hold off

with the rest of the ...

No, no, bring it forth.

With respect, I am responsible

for your safe passage

and this is hardly reassuring.

You've already provided

such passage.

It had to be taken

as an act of kindness,

the Captain accompanied me

onto dry land.

Nothing obliged him.

But during the journey we'd come

to one of those understandings

that sometimes arise between men

of different generations.

The captain always treated me

with courtesy of an executioner.

If he could do anything

for me.. he would.

GRUNER OWNS THIS FOUNTAIN

Boys, go back to the boat.

You in there?

Open up!

Can you hear me?

Hello!

Hello?

Hey!

Wake up!

Water, toad.

Wake up!

Maritime signal technician,

we are replacing the weather official,

Aldor Vigeland.

Can you tell of his whereabouts?

I said, where is the weather official?

Listen here, I'm a captain

of a ship in transit,

I had to change course

to bring this man here,

and take his predecessor away.

Now where is..?

Typhus.

He's dead?

Do you have any tobacco?

Vodka?

Where are the man's remains?

Christ man, speak up!

He went out one day.

I never saw him again.

For God's sake, it's an island!

How far could he have gone?

A swim..

Your name?

Gruner.

You like Frazer?

That's not my book.

You, you have tobacco?

Not on my person, no.

Mr. Gruner.

Captain..

I appreciate your concern but

I'm not about to turn back now.

Take this.

Don't mistake stubbornness

with stupidity.

I'll manage.

Thank you for all you've done.

Eat well.

Work hard.

Stay busy.

Fair winds.

And following seas.

I would have to live

in a solitude-like exile

for twelve months,

far from civilization,

with a job as monotonous

as it was insignificant:

To log the intensity

and direction of the winds.

Mr. Gruner.

Mr. Gruner.

Mr. Gruner, if this is

your idea of an initiat..

Open the door!

Let me in!

Gruner!

Gruner!

Gruner!

- Please, let me in!

- Should have stayed on the boat.

Gruner!

Gruner!

When I have fears

that I may cease to be,

before my pen has gleaned

my teeming brain,

before high piled books

and carrot tree

hold like rich garnest

the full ripened grain.

When I behold upon

the night-starred face,

huge cloudy symbols

of a high romance,

and think that I may never live

to trace their shadows

with the magic hand at Garnis,

and when I feel,

fair creature of an hour,

that I shall never look

upon thee more,

never have relished the fairy power

of unreflecting love,

then, on the shore of the wide world,

I stand alone,

and think, to love and fame

to nothingness do sink.

Mother of God!

No!

- Don't shoot!

- Put your gun down!

Put it down!

Step back!

Whatta ya want?

Do I really need to spell it out?

You said you had tobacco?

Yes.

Coffee?

Yes.

- Vodka?

- Gin!

And ammunition.

Caliber?

There's plenty more!

- She's harmless.

- Harmless?

Come here, come.. here..

Come on.

See?

I think I'll call you.. Friend.

You got bitten.

Burned.

- How many'd you kill?

- Don't know.

The previous weather official..

It wasn't typhus.

You left him stranded

here like me.

- It's as good as murder.

- We gotta go.

Come on!

Pain gone?

- How long was I out for?

- A day or two by my reckoning.

Pissed your pants.

One thousand eight hundred

and sixty two.

Now that's what I call an armoury.

What's it doing?

Stupid thing.

Thinks stuff will float away.

- You can speak with the beasts.

- Not speak, command.

Doesn't it try and escape?

The dogs leave even

the cruellest of masters.

It's incredible.

I never even imagined

such things could exist.

What we know it's a small island

in the vast ocean of what we don't.

I know that there are atolls that contain

unique and endemic species of fish

that have evolved

completely independently.

Hangover species that

have survived in isolation,

stuck in a kind

of evolutionary stalemate.

Maybe these beasts are like that,

not.. quite.. human,

or amphibian, reptile or fish.

She's not quite like the others,

is she?

This one doesn't bite, that's all.

What about that scar on your shoulder?

It was one time, the only time.

She learnt her lesson.

Remember..

It's the still and silent sea

that drowns a man.

I adjusted the mechanism

to sweep the coastline.

For all I know it's the controls,

like all infernal beasts.

They shun light, human or divine.

- Demons from Atlantis.

- I believe in what I see.

One thing I still can't understand

is that you could have escaped

4 days ago on the boat

that brought me here.

- Escaped? To where?

- To a civilized world.

Nice place, that civilized world

of yours.

That why you gave it up?

Here, I'm master of my own destiny

come hell or high water.

Well, you can keep it

I'm signalling for the first ship

that passes by.

Really?

Now this island is not on any

commercial shipping lanes,

the next ship here will be

the one with your replacement.

Come on Gruner,

lighthouses are built

where there's naval transit.

There also built to balance

navy budgets, and siphon funds.

Got to empty your bucket before

you can fill it up again boy.

It is the second time in a week

I'm forced to rebuild my life.

All my belongings are burned.

I've nothing from the person

I used to be.

In this remote part of the world,

I feel a a sense of irreparable loss.

I can't tell whether it arises

from a longing for civilization,

a prisoner's panic,

or simply fear.

Don't! Don't eat on that!

It's not edible.

It's a can..

Friend,

get your rifle.

Don't shoot til they reach the tower

and don't waste bullets on their wounded.

Given enough carrion,

they'll devour each other.

I don't see anything.

You'll learn what to look for.

Go on!

Shoot, man! Use your gun!

Come on! Shoot!

...

No man is an island..

Or ship.

Gruner is an island.

Gruner does not need,

any dead weight,

no matter how much chocolate,

and coffee, ladybird brought.

Go fetch some water.

One last chance.

Hold.

Hold fast.

Wait.

Hold.

Steady.

Behind you!

Wake up, man! Wake up!

Shoot, shoot dammit,

shoot, shoot!

One last chance!

Gruner..

Gruner! wails

Let me in!

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes