The Beach Page #5

ETIENNE:

Nothing. I just thought you ought to know.

RICHARD:

Well to be honest, Etienne, I would rather

have not known about it.

ETIENNE:

I'm sorry.

RICHARD:

A bit f***ing late.

He starts swimming again.

A few strokes later he hears a short sharp scream from

Francoise.

ETIENNE:

Francoise! Francoise!

Richard turns around. Francoise is gone. Her plastic bag

bobs on the surface. Etienne is frantic, hysterical.

ETIENNE:

(continuing)

She is gone!

RICHARD:

What happened?

Etienne submerges briefly and resurfaces.

ETIENNE:

She just went under the water. She was

pulled under. Oh God, I don't see her.

RICHARD:

Was there a shark? Did you see a shark?

They both start looking down at their feet and circling

frantically in the water.

ETIENNE:

I don't know! I don't know! Oh God.

Suddenly Richard screams.

Francoise surfaces, pulling up his ankle.

She and Etienne laugh at Richard.

RICHARD:

Very funny. You Europeans, you have such

a playful sense of humor. No wonder your

comedy has conquered the world.

He swims on.

ETIENNE:

What about Moliere?

RICHARD:

F*** off.

He swims on without looking round.

EXT. BEACH. DAY.

One by one the three swimmers emerge from the sea and

collapse on the beach. They are absolutely exhausted and

lie there on the sand, unable to speak.

Eventually, they tear open their plastic bags, drink some

water and eat some chocolate.

Richard has a little water left in his bottle. He notices

Francoise and Etienne eyeing it enviously.

He holds the bottle out towards them, then snatches it back

and swigs down the last of the water.

EXT. FOREST. DAY.

Richard, Francoise, and Etienne walk through the forest

behind the beach.

EXT. FOREST. DAY

They scramble up a steep slope through dense foliage.

Richard, at the front, pauses to let the other two pass him,

then he follows.

EXT. TOP OF SLOPE/CLEARING. DAY.

Richard reaches the top of the slope and follows the other

two through a gap in the foliage.

He joins Etienne and Francoise who are standing in awe at

the edge of a large clearing filled with cannabis plants.

ETIENNE:

Nice Island.

They smile and examine the plants.

Richard wanders a short distance away.

Something glinting on the ground catches Richard's eye. He

leans down and picks it up. It is an empty brass cartridge

from a rifle. Richard looks around.

Just ahead he sees the remains of an extinguished campfire,

and beyond that, protruding from the undergrowth, a pair of

male legs and beyond them, the butt of a rifle.

CLOSE IN on the nest in the undergrowth. The legs and gun

belong to a Farmer. He is asleep. His physique is strong

and his skin weathered.

Richard turns back to Etienne and Francoise. They are still

strolling amongst the plants.

Richard begins to back away.

The Farmer wakes.

He lifts his gun and stands up to look out over the dope

field.

EXT. FIELD. DAY.

There is no one there.

EXT. FIELD. DAY.

The farmer looks around, sees nobody. His attention is

attracted by a whistle.

He looks over. A group of three more, similarly armed

Farmers emerge from the forest at the other side.

He waves at them. They beckon him across.

He sets off through the field.

EXT. AMONG PLANTS. DAY.

The three intruders continue to crawl along the ground

between the plants.

Suddenly Richard stops. The farmer's footsteps come closer.

His feet pass in the gap between Richard and Francoise. He

pauses. They lie frozen in place. He lights a cigarette and

drops the match. He moves on.

They breath again.

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