horsethroat

1   INT - ISOLATED HUT - NIGHT

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE sits in the bath, crouched over, a shaft of darkness shadowing his face. Outside we hear frozen winds lash upon the side of his isolated shelter. We focus in on the shadow, the void that isn�t a face. A voice over tears through the ambience of dripping into the murky bath tub.

    VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
I am a blip in the Universe. My body accounts for a scrap of it�s vast quantity, yet that is all I care about. I was not born infront of a red carpet. I am not subjected to the outside ideals that were manufactured by your world - survival is life and you need life to survive. Life to destroy, consume, for nourishment. The death of the weak fuels the blood of the strong.

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2 STOCK FOOTAGE

CUT to nature documentary footage showing species hunting each other down. Shots of butchers and people picking flowers. The flowers start to scream. Vegetables are up rooted, bacteria infects other cells. A Lion drags down a wildebeest.

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3 INT - ISOLATED HUT - NIGHT

As we left it. MYSTERIOUS FIGURE in the bath surrounded by darkness.

    VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
Kill to live. Everyone is mortal, just some forget.

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE starts to tear up a human arm with a watch on it that he produces from under the water of the bath.

TITLE - �Forgotten harmony�. The sound of a lone flute plays.

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4 EXT - HILLTOP - DAY

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE is wearing a dark monk like coat that stretches over his body and conceals his identity. He casually observes the landscape that changes through the years. Dinosaurs grow and die. The years roll past before him.

     VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
For years I have roamed this earth. Flirting amongst the artificial chaos of the new race. Those with the momentary hold on the top of the fight for survival, prosperity, �progression�, society.

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5 EXT � VILLAGE - DAY

Two bronze age swordsmen fight each other. MYSTERIOUS FIGURE watches from a distance.

    VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
They do not see how limited this power and dominance really is. They are blocked by their manufactured way of life, locked in their own rules and power struggles.

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE kills both sword fighters by kicking their head, swooping forward.

6 EXT � HILLTOP - DAY

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE stands next to a scruffy man playing the flute. He looks across the changing landscape, the human influence stretching towards him and being eaten up by elements of civilisation, mud huts and castles arise and vanish as the years fly past.

    VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
Once they were weak, vulnerable, their tune weaving through an intricate fabric. In their eyes they are higher. Nature was made for them, they weren�t made from nature. It is theirs to infect with their melody. The tune of their ways drowning out the desperate pleas of the other billions of instruments wailing for survival, trying to be strong. Fighting to be heard over the din of mankind.

7 EXT - NATIVE AMERICAN COLONY - DAY

The pleasant harmonious colony. Suddenly loads of white invaders come and shoot them. Native American setting becomes a traditional western town.

    VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
Deforming the landscape, eating up the countryside and spitting out tarmac, shattering realms of life. Poisoning the ground that feeds so many. Invading the billions of pools of life, teeming but easily stagnant. Blinded by the torture of a single note.

8 EXT � FIELD � DAY

A foxhunt binds it�s way through, past serfs ploughing the fields with penned animals in.

    VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
Pushing nature aside. Organising the jumble of life, trying to tame the wildest beast of all. I was here before this technology and control. I have seen them come of age.

It turns into a modern farm. Combine harvesters ripping up the soil. They disappear as night falls. The time effect stops.

9 EXT -HILL - SUNSET

The ravenous MYSTERIOUS FIGURES fight over the remaining scraps of perished flesh. They look fiercely and hungrily. Patting their stomachs and starting to scream.

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10 INT - ISOLATED HUT - NIGHT

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE wakes up immediately.

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11 EXT - ISOLATED HUT - NIGHT

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE is set against the harsh, open wilderness.

     VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
It had been 156 days since my last catch. It was time to hunt again.

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12 EXT - RURAL FARM - NIGHT

A rustle as a fox apprehends a bunch of chickens. They are squawking and squealing in the moonlight. An interior light is switched on in the farmhouse, obviously arose from the sound of the commotion. A FARMER is in bed with his WIFE. He clambers out of bed and grabbing his shotgun. MYSTERIOUS FIGURE seems alert and steps into the nearby shadows. The FARMER lurches towards the shed and the fox scurries away, dead chicken in his mouth. A crack echoes around the valley as FARMER�s gun is detonated and the bullets home in on the fleeing animal, missing the terrified animal who drops his catch. More shots are fired, in anger more than accuracy. Focus on the attempts at the FARMER to ward off the fox and assess the damage to his livestock. From inside the house we hear a muffled scream. FARMER looks up to see a black figure hoisting the crippled body of his WIFE onto his shoulder. FARMER looks in shock before rushing back to the house.

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13 INT � RURAL FARM - NIGHT

Inside we see the darkened figure of MYSTERIOUS FIGURE in the lit bedroom. We hear the FARMER running up the stairs, the tension and anger spilling over him. A dark figure is swinging from the rafters on the landing. He notices it with the corner of his eye, he detects the movement and fires two shots into the darkness that hit the figure that falls to the ground with a muffled bump. He steps forward to inspect the prey, which is now impaled on the floor. A shaft of light discovers the face of his WIFE. He weeps in pain for a moment but from the nearby shadows pounces the MYSTERIOUS FIGURE, kicking his body with barbaric instinct and tearing into the helpless FARMER.

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14 EXT -HILL - SUNSET

The bodies of FARMER and FARMERs WIFE are slung in a heap in the middle of the circle. Hordes of MYSTERIOUS FIGUREs devour the bodies. A sound of scratching infects the airwaves. It seems artificial, as if it belongs to another world.

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15 INT - ISOLATED HUT - NIGHT

The scratching persists as MYSTERIOUS FIGURE regains some form of consciousness scratching on the door. Aroused and curious he stands near the door of the hut. He smells the air. MYSTERIOUS FIGURE opens the door with his weak hands. Outside is a fox, he lets it in and gives it some meat.

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16 INT -UNIVERSITY LECTURE HALLS- DAY

A philosophy lesson in which the unlikely named MR TROUT has the floor. After the establishing of the voice over there is images of Microbes in a dish. Mice in cages. Humans injecting mice in cages for science.

     MR TROUT
Life, life is everywhere. In the air we breathe, the water we drink on the skin inside us. Mites, bacteria, viruses, funguses, beetles, louses, trees, mice, bees, man. Who judges that mice life is less than man�s life? The man�s eyes are all he can see through. Who knows how a seal thinks? Who knows how to judge it?

An agriculture course is being taught by MR CHAIR. In the next shot MR CHAIR is teaching his students how to kill cattle, demonstrating with a cattle killing device - it�s kind of like a gun where a piece of metal extends out of it into the cows head. This is all within the confines of lecture theatre with a picture of a cow on the flipboard. The image turns into that of cow staggering about with a knife through its head.

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17 EXT -HILLSIDE - SUNSET

The MYSTERIOUS FIGURES are more numerous than before. Each starving and agitated, greedily feeding on the scraps of the last meal.

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18 EXT - WILDERNESS - NIGHT

Mixed shots of MYSTERIOUS FIGURE�s search for food. Poaching rabbits chickens etc and roaming around the countryside. He catches a bundle of dead creatures and throws them in the air.

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19 EXT - HILL - SUNSET

The limited supply of food lands in the middle of the pack and is quickly torn apart from the vast crowd, the multitude of figures that roam beneath the mysteriously lit sky. It is very quickly gone and they cry in a repetitive drone chant.

20 EXT - ISOLATED SHELTER � DAY

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE sees a shopping trolley dumped beside the hut. He sniffs the air.

     VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
I was starving. I had to move closer to their world.

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21 INT � BUTCHERS SHOP- DAY

Dead cattle swings softly behind the counters.

     VOICE OVER (LITTLE GIRL)
Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens......

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22 INT - CHURCH - NIGHT

A bare congregation observes the LITTLE GIRL reading from a bible a passage from its first book.

.....and the domestic animals and all the earth every moving animal that is moving upon the earth to you let it serve as food.�

Then the black clad MYSTERIOUS FIGURE breaks through the stain glass window of the church. Terror hits the limited turnout as they are hounded by a dark force, tearing through them one by one and savaging them with vicious kicking. Blood squirts over the LITTLE GIRLs white church dress. The MINISTER crouches in the corner drastically clutching his cross, defending himself from the mysterious assassin. He suffers the same fate as most of the congregation who lie littered upon the floor in pools of blood. His head is ripped off by the savage beast. LITTLE GIRL is frozen in shock, her bible reading in limbo. She raises the holy book as a kind of shield. The panic dripping from her face.

     LITTLE GIRL
The good book will protect me.

She looks around at the debris and dying humans, sprawled along the floor and the dead Vicar who is holding a cross. After little consideration throws the book at MYSTERIOUS FIGURE. She runs as the MYSTERIOUS FIGURE recovers from the attack and pounds up the aisle. A dying hand connected to a weak body grabs hold of MYSTERIOUS FIGUREs leg, stalling his immediate progress by falling to the floor. He limps up and lets his anger rip on this person. He takes pursuit of LITTLE GIRL who is on the verge of being outside. She moves the heavy, creaking doors and runs away, terrified. MYSTERIOUS FIGURE rises from his rampage and swiftly follows her, balanced, swooping forward at speed.

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23 EXT - CHURCHYARD - NIGHT

The LITTLE GIRL hides behind a gravestone. Her stalker poised, standing motionless in the moonlight. She starts to shiver with fear as MYSTERIOUS FIGURE starts to sniff the air. And looks directly in her direction. LITTLE GIRL makes a run for it, her limp body tangled in desperation. She falls down a hole. Into a grave, her face pressed against the coffin. She is motionless, her heavy breathing the only noise, her breath steaming from within her mouth. She brushes some dirt off the lid of the coffin with two of her weak fingers. The partially submerged wording on the brass plaque is now visible, the name of the occupant of the coffin. �YOU� it reads in massive letters as the MYSTERIOUS FIGURE jumps down on her from below the starry sky.

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24 INT - CHURCH - NIGHT

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE is in the process of putting all the dead mangled bodies from the massacre into a shopping trolley. Shoving them in and treading on it to fit them all in. MYSTERIOUS FIGURE stands motionless, grabs his trolley and heads towards the door. Just before leaving he looks at the bodies in his trolley. He grabs a tapestry off the walls off the church and covers it over the contents of the trolley.

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25 EXT - CITY - DAY

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE walks the empty paved slabs of the urban backwaters. Still dressed in a black robe type consume along back alleys, littered with the debris of mankind, pushing around the trolley. Passing dead cats and prostitution. He lurks in the shadows before being confronted with THREE YOUTHS who produce knives.

    YOUTH 3
   (angry / threatening)
Give us your money!

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE contemplates for a moment. The meaning of the context seeping in and deciding what to do. MYSTERIOUS FIGURE kicks the trolley at them and runs into the distance, the dark alley, hiding around the corner. The remaining YOUTHs seem to be humiliating him. Making sly remarks like �chicken� etc. Laughing and joking at his expense. We see the cover of the trolley that has been pushed into a shaft of light. �Peace and Harmony� it reads. YOUTH 2 casually looks at the contents of the trolley, peeling back the banner with a swift movement. YOUTH 2 looks disgusted and throwing up nearby. The other YOUTHS look at the contents of the trolley and the humour drains out of their face. They realise there may be more to this character. They look to where MYSTERIOUS FIGURE vanished from, the swirling mist of the evening. Silence for a moment as they gaze into this abyss. Through this barrier of smoke emerges the fleet footed MYSTERIOUS FIGURE, charging towards them with an army of foxes that devour the YOUTHs. MYSTERIOUS FIGURE makes a sweeping gesture and the foxes stop their feeding. He piles their bodies into the overfilling trolley, ripping off pieces and feeding them to his pets. He tries to pick their blood stained weapons that litter the ground. His crumpled hand struggles to pick up the knife. He has no thumbs and can�t manage to pick it up. It rattles to the ground.

VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
It is the weapons, the tools that make them what they are. The basis for their arrogance and false power. Stripped of them their bodies are as puny as myself. By myself I am vulnerable.

Out of the shadows steps a terrified YOUTH 4 who looks at the trail of devastation in which he lost his mates. He is wearing a dodgy Hawaiian shirt. We see a trail of blood along the pavement and the odd limb fall from the over flowing trolley. YOUTH 4 throws away his spliff.

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26 EXT - HILL - SUNSET

Thousands of MYSTERIOUS FIGURES are wide alive. Fire infiltrating around them their black robes flickering. One by one they start to approach a door which opens up, high in the black watery sky.

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27 INT - POLICESTATION - DAY

YOUTH 4 steps in, shaken and battered. His heart pumping fast, although we can�t exactly see that. Looking worse for wear.

    YOUTH 4
It was bad, man. He�s a maniac...he like ripped them up...my buddies...hey man we weren�t doing no drugs....he crept up behind us and - whack! I mean whack! not pow or a pussy punch it was right at you guys..I mean woah! It was right at us. I swung a punch back man...but no way man he was like the wind man, silent swift and that army of foxes, man.

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28 EXT - STREET - DAY

YOUTH 4 and two policemen observe the place of the crime.

    YOUTH 4
He ripped my shirt, man.

The POLICEMEN look around the back alley. Looking around the darkened gloom, torch lit so pockets of light invade the darkness. They focus on the spec of blood in the light. The torchlight follows it and finds a detached limb. Either side is the wheelmarks of a shopping trolley.

    POLICEMAN
There might be something in this. (to radio) urgent backup required at....

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29 INT - ISOLATED HUT �NIGHT

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE returns and throws more bits of dead humans into his bath. It starts to bubble. He smells the air.

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30 EXT - COUNTRYSIDE - NIGHT

An entire army of policemen with dogs follow the trail in the blood and limbs, odd head. A helicopter circles in the sky. Highlighting the party. It picks out a farmhouse in the distance.

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31 EXT � RURAL FARM - NIGHT

They approach the building and the police dogs go mad, scurrying and barking away. They lead to the outhouse where the chickens once lived. Lighted up in the spotlight are the carcasses off the lifeless birds.

    POLICEMAN
Foxes.

In the background the slightly muffled sound of barking. The door of the farm is prised open and POLICEMAN comes to look at the inside of the blood-splattered kitchen.

    POLICEMAN
Bigger foxes.

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32 EXT - ISOLATED HUT �NIGHT

The beam finds the isolated hut. Inside MYSTERIOUS FIGURE smells the air. Outside we see the infra red image of the dwelling, and the horrible shape of the being below the cloak. Just for a moment, a glimpse of MYSTERIOUS FIGURES tangled and weak body. Several medium sized mammals also dwell in it, foxes.

     RADIO MESSAGE
Charlie tango 2 over.

     POLICEMAN
Go ahead George.

     RADIO MESSAGE
We have a contender, over.

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33 INT - ISOLATED HUT - NIGHT

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE sticks his hands in the bath.

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34 EXT � ISOLATED HUT - NIGHT

A police helicopter swoops above the ground.

    POLICEMAN
We got that George. How many suspects were there?

We now see the infra red light and there are three MYSTERIOUS FIGUREs. 2 slightly shorter but straitening themselves up and uncoiling their backs.

    RADIO MESSAGE
    (slightly taken aback)
There appear to be...three, over.

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35 EXT - ISOLATED SHELTER - NIGHT

The ground force approach the exterior of the shelter. The odd bit of blood marking the way. Soon a mighty barrage is assembled, encompassing police vehicles and POLICEMEN. Two officers in full protection approach the door. They frantically knock.

    PROTECTED POLICEMAN
Police. Open up!

The battering ram is called upon and used. Before the door is off the hinges it opens of it�s own accord and out steps MYSTERIOUS FIGURE. The police back off and keep their distance, protected by adequate firepower and a barrage of warnings. He is backed by more and more of his kind that fan out behind him. Together they form a circle behind the lead MYSTERIOUS FIGURE. Tension before policemen shout out instructions.

     V/O (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
Together we live, together we�re strong.

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE undoes his cloak, giving us a glimpse of the alien underbelly and swamp like features we�ve never witnessed before. The circle seems to generate lightening type electrical patterns that feed into MYSTERIOUS FIGURE at the head. The energy collects in his stomach region, where it forms into a massive beam that zaps a police marksman taking cover beside a car. ANOTHER POLICEMAN makes a move towards the group and is instantly zapped by this phenomenal weapon. This instigates a barrage of fire from the policemen in which MYSTERIOUS FIGURE steps inside the circle, which absorbs the volley of bullets in a electrical haze. The shielded entities advance on the bewildered POLICEMEN.

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36 EXT - CITY � DAY

Terrified humans flee the city. The commotion is everywhere as they scramble for survival. In the middle of the road is a huddle of MYSTERIOUS FIGURES occasionally they use the lightening weapon to strike down the odd person who puts up resistance. The occasional tank, too

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37 INT - BARN � DAY

ANOTHER FARMER is looks out of the barn to see the advancing MYSTERIOUS FIGURES. He looks terrified. We see the fear building in his face. His eyes watering and terrible. He puts a cattle gun to the side of his head and fires.

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38 EXT - HILLTOP - DAY

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE approaches SCRUFFY man, who is still playing the flute, the melody weak and distorted. In a swift movement MYSTERIOUS FIGURE kicks him over and claims the instrument. He looks across the plains. The manmade city dissolves into a new city. The city is now shaped in a new image. Gone is the dominance of man, replaced by a new force.

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39 EXT - NEW CITY � NIGHT

A butcher�s shop has dead humans and babies hanging in the window. A dog raids a bin and another one is eating a rabbit. We into a hospital and head down the corridor. At the end is a door with �maternity unit� written on it. We glide past several dark tubs with bits of human flesh hanging out. A NURSE throws in some flesh and the tub starts to bubble. Then the camera moves to see NURSES feeding their PATIENTS with trays that we can barely see the contents of.

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40 EXT - FARM � DAY

HUMANS are escorted through the paddocks and guided through a network and put in a bath. Dipped in chemicals. Some of them are injected with hormones.

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41 INT - BARN �DAY

HUMAN FEMALEs are herded through gates into a compound where suction pads are put on their breasts. Follow the milk being sucked from their nipples - it squirts through tubes into a container.

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42 INT - FARMHOUSE �DAY

FARMER�s MYSTERIOUS SON pours milk on his cornflakes. The carton has humans on the side of it. He turns to outside where his DAD is rounding up sheep with a fox one man and his dog style.

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43 EXT - FIELD - NIGHT

The HUMANs band together in the middle of the field. A few of them touch the fence and get electrocuted. A rustle in the distance as HUMANS start to crap themselves, panic building in their faces. Out of the darkness we hear the pounding sound of lots of dogs, leafing through the undergrowth and advancing towards them. They close in on the pack of HUMANs, their wire greasy hair trailing behind them, ungroomed and wild. They separate a weak human from the pack and eat it before disappearing into the night. Humans shiver.

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44 EXT - RURAL FARM - NIGHT

HUMANs approach the farm in a strict formation and head towards the chicken shed. The squeaking and squawking of commotion and the light of the bedroom is turned on. When a MYSTERIOUS FIGURE FARMER gets out of bed. The humans scurry away with their caught chickens and run away. A scream is heard from the general direction of the bedroom, as the small band of HUMANs disappear into the wilderness, over the hill, safe from the electronic impulses of the MYSTERIOUS FIGURE FARMER. He turns away and thinks for a moment. MYSTERIOUS FIGURE FARMER looks at the devastation caused by the HUMANs slyly. We can�t see it but an idea is forming in his mind.

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45 EXT - FIELD - EARLY MORNING

About twelve MYSTERIOUS FIGUREs line up on horseback. They put on their red coats and are surrounded by foxes. One MF blows a bugle and the clumsy procession begins to go forward. Behind a hedge HUMAN is doing a wee. He looks up in horror as he sees the advancing party on the horizon, legging it towards him. He runs away before he can stop peeing and lets out a cry of desperation.

     HUMAN
     (terrified)
Fuck!

He summons his friends from behind the bush. Mixed shots of the chase that ensues. The fleeing humans tiring, their bare feet fleeting through the undergrowth, using every last drop of energy and enduring the pain for as long as it will last. Soon it becomes too much and he is set upon by the bloodthirsty foxes.

     VOICE OVER (MYSTERIOUS FIGURE)
Now our tune stalks the sunset. The red carpet of man�s life has ended. No one is above death, not even those who think they are the only life.

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46 INT - RESTAURANT �PLESENT EVENING

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE sits at a table. A WAITER comes and offers him a menu. In the corner is a pen full of naked HUMANs.

     WAITER
Would you like the vegetarian menu?

     MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
Well...what do you recommend?

     WAITER
We�ve got a fresh line of cattle, straight in.

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE looks across to the pen. Observing how lean the meat is on offer. He points to the blonde on the right. The HUMANs squawk in terror. We hear their desperate cries of pain as the COOK approaches. The pen is opened and the COOK heads towards BLONDE. She lets out a big scream followed by a desperate noises and whimpering.

     BLONDE
No!

We focus in on MYSTERIOUS FIGURE. A Flash of white and we see from his viewpoint. The screaming and swearing of BLONDE is replaced by mooing.

     MYSTERIOUS FIGURE (VOICE OVER)
I don�t understand their cries of pain. I don�t care.