Tengukuri...Copyrighted in the US 2023 Page #18

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The last two lines are slow and intentional. Mason and Mikki are now seen walking, Mason has an arm around Mikki, walking back to the Inn as Sobo greets them at the front with a smile. The Horseman stands outside like a guard. It is twilight.

50 - EXT - THE WATERFALL - DAY

Yua, The Old Man, Mikki and Mason can be seen hiking through shallow water to a large bank beside a very busy waterfall. It is big enough to stand in, almost too big. Too big to stand in for too long. Surrounded by forest, as one approaches the waterfall the sound is the centerpiece of the entire scene. They look around for a good spot to sit. Fade.

51 - EXT - THE WATERFALL - DAY

Everyone is sitting, The Old Man is talking, Mason is intently engaged in what he has to say.

THE OLD MAN:

That is why all Japan posses this. Honor. Family. Home.

MASON:

Thank you, thank you that was beautifully well put.

THE OLD MAN:

Yua, tell story of Dragon King and Coward King.

Yua looks exhausted by the idea but she happily obliges. Mason and Mikki stare.

YUA:

Old Japanese story. Once was a King who never fight war, never see hard time. He love Dragon, want to be Dragon. He spend money in palace for dragon tapestry, dragon trinkets, dragon decoration; he get dragon tattoo and wear dragon jewelry. He make you think he dragon inside, but he have no honor for his people. One day, Dragon King hear of King and all his devotion and he … um … convinced, no … flattered. He flattered so he go to visit King. He fly to window, and blow fire outside to get King attention. When King wake up and see real Dragon, he die from fear.

Silence.

MIKKI:

I don’t get it. He wanted something so much that he died?

MASON:

He was a fake.

Silence. Yua looks at him as if waiting.

MASON:

He spent all that time trying to convince people that he was Dragon. But when the dragon came he was scared to death of it. Maybe he was always trying to convince everyone that he had the heart of a Dragon, but in truth he only had the heart of a man.

The Old Man shakes his head in affirmation.

THE OLD MAN:

You not this King. Yua, Mikki. Leave us.

Yua gets up, Mikki looks concerned. She gets up too.

YUA:

C’mon, I show you swing.

The men stare at each other.

THE OLD MAN:

In Tengukuri, this water talk to all people. Tell secrets, learn lie. Bring many to life. Take some life too. Your turn to hear from water.

MASON:

What do you mean?

The Old Man points.

THE OLD MAN:

Go stand under fall, look inside.

MASON:

HA! You comin with me?!

THE OLD MAN:

HA! Mason-san, I talk with river many times. It your turn. Take off clothes, you alone now.

Mason nervously jokes and starts to take off his shirt and shorts.

MASON:

Not totally alone am I? Huh?

Mason winks jokingly.

THE OLD MAN:

Oh Mason-san, you funny.

The Old Man gets up, turns away and heads in the direction of Mikki and Yua. Mason watches for a moment then takes off his shorts, and after a reluctant and unnerving minute takes off his black underwear, the same we saw in the beginning. Mason seems more hairy than in the beginning. His body looks more masculine but still very well cared for. He walks toward the waterfall. He pauses halfway there and looks around to see who might be watching…no one. At the top of the waterfall, the man in black in the Tengu mask can be seen briefly, but Mason doesn’t seem to notice. He walks into the waterfall. At first it is disorienting. The water all around makes it hard to breath, like sticking your face straight into the shower.

He pauses for a moment. What we see is the physical discomfort on his skin, he shifts and tries to avoid it. Then he keeps bending in and out of the fall to try to breath, he coughs as he inhales water mist. He steps back. A hand presses him by the right shoulder back into the fall.

THE OLD MAN:

Stay. Do not be afraid Mason. She will calm you. You calm you.

Mason instinctively covers his groin as he shivers under the water and tries to calm down.

THE OLD MAN:

Stay.

Mason stands upright under the water. Focus on his mouth, the small details in keeping water out. It almost looks like he is talking to himself. It still seems to hurt, but as he focuses it seems to matter less. Then the sound. It is deafening to him in the moment, his eyes express the pain of it. As he stares off into the cave behind the fall, the noise, and the pain, and the flow of water all melt in to one dynamic thing. He feels more in control now. It can be seen in his eyes. He closes them fully. Snapshots of his greatest pains come up but he works through it. He has found a way to breath through the mist and water. His father comes up in his mind. Dickey comes up. Nicole comes up. Lee comes up. Delilah comes up. He breathes. Harmony of sound. A voice can be heard now…it morphs though, it is Yua, then Jeremiah Neely, then The Old Man, it is like a whisper and a voice that speaks to the heart of Mason…

VOICE:

Don’t destroy or fight your feelings, don’t deny them or control them, just calm them. You are you problem. You are you solution. Immature people get worked up like small children. Breathe. You are a grown up now. Like it or not. Nature reflects its master. Breathe…deep. Breathe Mason.

Mason is in complete control and completely submitted to his reality simultaneously. Life and Death in one breath. A slow snapshot of Delilah. A small snapshot of his father. Mason is slowly breathing now. All the other images disappear. It is only Mason in this moment, water pouring down on him, it is very loud now to the viewer, his nakedness expresses his self abandon. The view slithers backward into the cave with eyes on Mason. The thing in the Tengu mask can be seen stepping up outside the fall. It watches for a moment. Takes something off its face, and sets it on the ground, then slowly turns and walks away. Cut.

51 - EXT - FOOD CIRCLE PATH - DAY

Mason and Yua are walking down the Food Circle Path, NE of the Food Animal Area. Mikki walks behind them, intently focused on nunchaku she works in her hands. She seems to be trying to make the perfect clack. They stop at the last building before the path forks toward the river. Mikki heads in to one of the shops, stops, smiles and waves goodbye. They wave back.

MASON:

She’s grown to be quite independent here. Sometimes it scares me, sometimes it feels like she’s grown up overnight.

YUA:

She feels safe here.

They start to walk again.

MASON:

When you were in America, did you feel safe?

YUA:

America funny that way. When I get to America, I fear nothing, the world was still Tengukuri to me. America boast of law, safe streets, police, hospital, but people not safe from people. If people not safe with people, rest is just a show.

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