SON OF A GUN

SCREENPLAY BY MY NAME

BLACK FRAME A voice with typical Southern accent speaks. VOICE (V.O.) Youre the toughest kid in the world. Dont let that ever slide out of your mind. (Pause) If someone lays a bad hand on you, you shall lay a bad hand back, with twice the force. That is not revenge. That is responding to an action. Its called a reaction. Now, I want you to remember what I just told you. FADE IN: INT. KIDS BEDROOM, SOUTH TEXAS, 1900 NIGHT

A YOUNG BOY is tucked in his bed. An older man, presumably the boys FATHER, is sitting on a chair by the bedside, talking to the boy. The VOICE belongs to the presumed father. CLOSE UP THE FATHER: FATHER Imagine your brain like a big vault. What is stored in big vaults? (Pause) That is a question, kid. CLOSE UP THE YOUNG BOY: The young boy looks at his father, as hes tucked in his bed under a comfortable cotton blanket. He, too, has a Southern accent. YOUNG BOY Things of value, father.

FATHER (O.S.) Things of value is correct. The father pulls up a hand-rolled cigarette, and lights it on fire with a match from his matchbox. FATHER (CONTD) Once in a while, you will have to store your own things of value in your vault. (Pause) But like any vault, yours is also limited. Make sure you know what is valuable, and what is not. (Pause) Store that in your vault, kid. BOY What happens if someone tries to steal from my vault, father? The father slightly smiles and leans over to the boy.

FATHER Only a true fool would try to steal from your vault. The father kisses the boys forehead, and then stands up. BOY How so, father? The father walks over to the bedrooms door and then turns back to the boy. FATHER Because you are my son, kid. CLOSE UP THE YOUNG BOY: He looks towards his father, whos standing by his bedroom door. We then see the father take a drag of the cigarette and exhale smoke. He looks at his son with pride. FATHER Now you get some sleep. The father steps out of the room and shuts the door behind him. Suddenly, the FRAME becomes pitch black. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. NEW MEXICO, 1911 DAY 11 years later. EXTREME CLOSE UP DIRT ROAD: We see a dirt road, and a scorpion. The scorpion walks towards the CAMERA. From a far, the sound of a horse approaching is heard. Suddenly that said horse enters the FRAME very quickly and rides OUT OF FRAME.

A large cloud of dust and dirt blends the view, but when it clears the scorpion is still there on the road, untouched. FOLLOWING SHOT (FROM BEHIND) MAN ON HORSE: We see a MAN, looking like a cowboy, on a horse riding along the dirt road in the middle of an open, desert area. On the mans back is a Winchester 1866 rifle. CUT TO: ANGLED SHOT BROKEN STAGECOACH: We see a broken stagecoach in the middle of the road with two dead horses next to it. In the far, we can see a large and dusty dirt cloud. Thats the man on the horse, approaching the stagecoach. CUT TO:

CLOSE UP MAN ON HORSE: Hes got a hand-rolled cigarette in his mouth and a scar across his face. He notices something in the distance and squint his eyes to see what it is, and thats when he notices the stagecoach. CUT TO: An OLDER MAN with a shotgun hops off the stagecoach and notices that someone is finally approaching, and signals the man on the horse to stop by waving his shotgun in the air. As the man on the horse approaches the older man, he stops. The older man breathes out in relief, and then speaks with a Southern accent. OLDER MAN

You know, I was starting to think that Id have to walk the distance to the nearest town. I could never imagine anyone ever coming by here. MAN Whats the problem here, mister? OLDER MAN You see, I was supposed to reach town this morning, but I was attacked by some loonies! The older man points at the two dead horses next to him. OLDER MAN (CONTD) They shot my horses dead and tried to kill me too. (Pause) I managed to kill the three of them. The older man points at three dead bodies by some bushes.

OLDER MAN (CONTD) Unfortunately, their horses ran away in fear. Now Ive been waiting for someone to pass by since then. (Pause) And youre the only one since the loonies. The man on the horse throws his cigarette on the ground and jumps down from his horse. That prompts the older man to point his shotgun at him. MAN (Puts his hands up) Whoa! Hold on, Im not here to hurt. OLDER MAN How can I trust you?

MAN Im here to help. Im not a bad man, okay? OLDER MAN (Louder) How can I trust you? MAN Im going to pull out my Winchester and put it on the ground, right in front of you. The older man seems suspicious but he nods. OLDER MAN Fine, but do it very slowly. Hands where I can see them, and all! The man slowly pulls his Winchester out and carefully puts it on the ground. He then kicks it away.

STATIC SHOT THE SCENE: On the left side of the frame is the older man, in the middle is the Winchester on the ground and on the right side of the frame is the man. MAN We good now, mister? OLDER MAN What about your revolver? MAN Im not giving that up. Youve got one weapon, Ive got one weapon. I say thats fair. (Pause) After all, how can I trust you? The older man nods and lowers his shotgun.

MAN (CONTD) Thank you. (Pause) What are you transporting? OLDER MAN Goods for a store my brother runs. MAN General goods? OLDER MAN Not exactly, its actually just tobacco. Its quite an important product for his store. MAN I see. CLOSE UP MAN: MAN (CONTD) Well, Ill ride into town, and Ill notify your brother. Whats the name of his store?

OLDER MAN Martys Herbs is the name. Its not a big building, but if you ask people, theyll know about it. MAN I know of Martys Herbs. Ill let him know about your situation here. OLDER MAN Thank you. That is more than I can ask for. MAN Thank me when youre in safety, mister. Youre not home yet. Remember that.

The man turns around to get up on his horse. The older man nods and turns around to puts his shotgun on his stagecoach. The man then suddenly pulls out his Colt M1892 and turns around to aim it at the older man, who isnt aware of that the man is aiming his revolver at him. MAN Mister! The older man then turns around. Just as he does so, the man SHOOTS the older man in the chest. ANGLED SHOT (LOOKING UP, FROM BELOW) OLDER MAN: He is shot, but he doesnt fall instantly. He looks at his wound and feels it. Te blood is real. He then looks at the man, and suddenly loses his balance. He falls back in SLOWMOTION and lands on his back. A small dusty dirt cloud covers the view.

CLOSE UP OLDER MAN: He begins hyperventilating. He then tries to look at the man. You can see fear in his eyes. He doesnt want to die. The man, still aiming his revolver at the older man, lowers his weapon, and then puts it back in the holster. He walks over to the stagecoach. INT. STAGECOACH, NEW MEXICO - DAY STATIC SHOT INSIDE STAGECOACH: The man opens the door to the stagecoach and looks inside. He proceeds by entering it.

CUT TO: He sees two large sacks. He opens one of them up and smells it. Smells like tobacco. He decides to pick them up and throw them over his shoulders. Just as hes about to leave with the sacks, he hears a voice of a YOUNG GIRL. YOUNG GIRL (Scared) Daddy? The man reacts by pulling his revolver and aim at the sound source, which is the girl. EXTREME CLOSE UP THE YOUNG GIRL: She looks at the man with fear in her eyes. ANGLED SHOT THE MAN AND HIS REVOLVER: At first, the gun is in focus and the mans face is blurred. Suddenly, it switches to the gun being blurred and the mans face being in focus. He looks at the young girl with no expression. CUT TO: He then lowers his revolver, but continues to look at her. They stare at each other for a short moment. He then decides to jump out of the stagecoach with the sacks of tobacco. EXT. NEW MEXICO DAY The man walks over to his horse and ties the sacks to the back of his horse. He then turns around and walks over to his Winchester rifle.

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CLOSE UP WINCHESTER RIFLE: His right hand enters the FRAME and he picks the rifle up. FROM THE CLOSE UP, PAN TO THE OLDER MAN: We see the older man covered in his own blood. He is no longer hyperventilating, but instead breathing short, shallow breaths. Hes losing blood and fading. CUT TO: The man puts his Winchester rifle on his back and walks over to the older man. He kneels down to him. CLOSE UP THE MAN AND THE OLDER MAN: OLDER MAN (In pain) Not a bad man, huh? MAN No, I just do bad deeds.

OLDER MAN I have(Hurting) I have a family. I need to support them. MAN I have myself, mister. I need to support myself. Please, understand. The older man looks shocked and afraid. The man stands up and walks out of FRAME. OLDER MAN (In deep pain) Dont leave me.

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FROM THE CLOSE UP, PAN TO THE OLDER MAN: He fades to death as he suddenly breathes his last bit of air. He dies with his eyes open. CUT TO: The man is back up on his horse. He takes one last look at the older man before he straightens his horse up and rides away, along the road towards the horizon. PAN UP TO THE SKY: The CAMERA pans from the ground up to the beautiful sky as the man ride away. FADE TO: EXT. NEW MEXICO NIGHT (The INTRO CREDITS appear throughout) STATIC SHOT THE NIGHT SKY: We first see the beautiful night sky full of stars and moon.

FROM STATIC SHOT, PAN DOWN TO THE GROUND: We see an open landscape and a man in a prone position, holding a rifle and aiming it out in the open. CUT TO: ANGLED SHOT MAN AIMING HIS WINCHESTER RIFLE: The man is the same man weve seen earlier. Hes aiming his Winchester towards the CAMERA, but as the shot is angled we can also see his face and a blurry background. He tilts his head to the side to side and then aims again. CUT TO:

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STATIC SHOT THE OPEN FIELD: We see a wild deer run across the field. CUT TO: CLOSE UP MAN AIMING HIS WINCHESTER RIFLE: The man aiming is put in focus, but then suddenly the barrel of the rifle is put in focus instead. A loud gunshot is fired. CUT TO: STATIC SHOT THE OPEN FIELD: The deer we saw earlier suddenly crashes down. CUT TO: