The Forest Page #3

---

AIDEN:
Doesn't look like anyone's

here. Maybe they changed their mind.

(gasps)

I must cut him down.

- I'll make a note of where he is.

- AIDEN:
Why?

So the rangers can retrieve the body.

(Michi speaking Japanese)

(screeching, faint)

Michi. (Japanese)

- (Japanese)

- Take a break.

(loud screech in distance)

(woman, faint) Help me.

Can we go this way?

I mean, if we're just picking a direction.

(scoffs)

Come.

SARA:
Jess!

Jess!

We must turn back soon.

What, already?

We're several hours from the trail.

We do not stay in the forest after dark.

In the day, easy to get lost.

At night, you're blind and

temperature drops quickly.

Jess!

Do you see something?

Oh, my God, that's her tent.

Jess! Jess!

I knew it! Jess!

It's her! It is! It's her! Oh, my God.

Michi, you said if they bring a

tent, it means they're not sure.

Oh, my God, she's close. She's so close.

- Jess! Jess!

- Jess!

Jess!

Jess? Hello!

Hello?

Since she's not here, we'll

come back tomorrow morning.

- We must go now.

- We've got to stay.

We must go now. You can

leave a note for her.

Leave a note? Are you crazy? I'm

staying. I'm staying till she comes back.

Aiden, tell him.

No, he's right.

- We can come back tomorrow.

- Tomorrow?

No, tomorrow is gonna be too late.

She left the tent. She's gonna come back

to sleep. Her clothes are on the line.

Sleeping here is foolish.

We'll not stop looking

for Jess... in the daytime.

Now we must go.

I understand.

You two go. Go.

It's all right. I understand. You go.

You cannot stay!

At night in the jukai,

people see bad things.

Sometimes do bad

things. Very bad things.

The forest draws out

your fear, your sadness.

You believe in yurei, Michi? You sound

like the girl from the visitor center.

I came 6,000 miles to find my sister.

She's here in these woods.

I'm not leaving without her.

Thanks for your help.

I'm so grateful. Really.

But I'm staying.

Sara, you're making a big mistake.

(sighs)

- What are you doing?

- I'm gonna stay here with you.

- Don't be foolish, Aiden.

- It's fine.

We'll stay here. We'll stay the

night. We'll watch after each other.

- (Japanese)

- Hey.

- We'll be fine.

- I'll come back tomorrow.

Do not move from here. Okay?

You don't have to do this.

It's my sister, not yours.

Yeah, well, if it was my

brother, I'd stick around too.

Thanks.

I changed my mind. Let's

come back in the morning.

Yeah. Very funny.

Here. Give me a hand with this fire.

No, not like that. Here. Like this.

Like you're the expert.

You went to space camp.

I know you're not supposed to pile it

up like that. You gotta let it breathe.

Okay. You mean up, like this?

- Yeah. There you go.

- Okay.

I salute your caveman skills.

- Want one?

- What's this?

A Power Bar. Japanese version.

They're pretty good.

It's not bad.

You take the tent when you get tired.

I'll stay out here by the fire.

Avoid any awkwardness.

A caveman and a gentleman.

(insects chirping)

(loud screech in distance)

- What's that?

- I don't know.

But I promise you they

have centipedes in Australia

more dangerous than anything out here.

Jess must be lost.

She's close.

And alive.

Explain that to me.

It's like a sound.

It's too low to hear, but I can just...

feel it...

running through me.

And that night I was telling

you about, when she almost died,

the sound dropped away.

Where Jess had been,

there was just...

silence.

You know, when we were kids,

my brother would start fights.

And I never stepped in.

Figured he needed to learn not

to start them in the first place.

One day he got beat up so bad

that it left him deaf in his left ear.

And I remember seeing him,

and that feeling... just guilt.

So now whenever he's in

trouble, I come running.

- I feel guilty too.

- What do you mean?

My parents' bodies.

I closed my eyes, but she looked.

It's always been the difference between us.

She looks at the dark

stuff and I turn away.

What she saw,

she carried that all by herself.

I should have shared it with her.

That's why I come running.

I'm going to try and get some sleep.

Yeah.

(rustling)

(footsteps)

Aiden?

Aiden, say something.

(footsteps)

(running footsteps)

(screams)

(loud screech in distance)

(shrieks)

(rustling)

Hello?

Jess, is that you?

Hey, wait.

Wait.

Please!

Hi.

Do you speak English?

Little.

Hoshiko.

Hoshiko, are you alone?

You're cold. Let me help you.

You Sara?

Yeah. How do you know my name?

No trust him.

Who?

Miss Jess know him.

Jess? Is Jess your teacher?

I find her here.

She say, "Need your help."

- Where is she?

- No trust him.

AIDEN:
Sara!

No, no, no, no! Wait!

(gasps)

Goddamn it.

(groans)

I lost her. I lost her.

- Jesus. Look at your hand.

- Oh, God.

Who? Who'd you lose? Jess?

No, it was...

It was a teenage girl. She said...

She said what?

Something in Japanese.

Oh, man.

Well, we're not gonna find her

if she doesn't wanna be found.

We'll tell Michi.

Okay, let's get back before

we get turned around. Come on.

(groans)

Come on.

(thunder rumbling)

All right, kiddo. There's

enough light for us now.

Let's get you out of here.

- But Michi said noon.

- Seven hours from now?

No. Look at your hand. You need stitches.

Let me worry about my hand.

Jess might still come back.

Sara.

You just saw a child out in the woods

presumably contemplating suicide,

considering that she ran from you.

We tell them that, they'll

send a search party quick.

Maybe that search party

finds your sister. Make sense?

In the meantime,

in case your sister does

come back while we're gone,

you do what you should've done yesterday.

- (backpack zips)

- Leave a note.

This is the way we came.

We keep walking in this direction,

we'll come to the path before too long.

- We didn't pass the river coming in.

- Yeah, I know.

But at least we can follow it down.

It may take a little longer,

but it'll lead us back to

civilization just the same.

Sara. Hey. Careful. Hey.

Hey, get back from there. Come on.

- SARA:
Do you see that?

- Jesus.

Hey, come on.

Get away from there. Come on.

What are you doing?

What do you mean?

We were walking that way.

- No, we weren't.

- Yes, we were.

Two minutes ago, we were walking that way,

and now you're leading

me back the way we came.

No. Sara, we're following

the river down. Remember?

We're not climbing the mountain.

Down.

Water flows down.

See?

SARA (on recording):

I feel guilty too.

AIDEN (on recording):

What do you mean?

SARA:
My parents' bodies.

I closed my eyes, but she looked.

- Hello!

- That's always been the difference between us.

- Oh, sh*t.

- She looks at the dark stuff and I turn away.

- What she saw...

- You recorded that?

You gave me permission, the other day.

- That's why you questioned me so much last night.

- Yeah, I'm doing a story.

That's why you stayed at the

campsite... for your story.

In part.

Also because I was concerned

about you... and your sister,

and I liked you.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes