CERVIDAE

By
Hassan L. Moore

Final Script - Final Version

© 2012, Hassan Moore Hassan L. Moore

WGA, registration pending. 1531 Kearney St. Suite #B
El Cerrito, Ca. 94530
elmoreconnective@gmail.com
CERVIDAE
EXT. OVERCAST BEACH - Late 1700’s - DAY

The surf RUMBLES and broods as a small wooden landing boat

cuts its way to the shallows. Standing at the bow of the
vessel, is a spirited 24 year old woman, ANISE MARCUSE,
peering through a spyglass at the coast.

The craft reaches the shallowest point capable, and its 5

occupants jump out into the low surf. Anise stomps ashore,
followed closely by a stone-faced merchant-explorer, HENRI
SORIANO (53), leaning his weight upon a sleek black onyx
cane.

HENRI SORIANO
So this is it? Insula Cervi.
ANISE MARCUSE
Yes Henri, this is it.

A heavy crashing NOISE causes Anise to direct her attention

to a young biologist, GREGORY CUVIER (29).
Gregory is fumbling with two large black cases, one of which
has just fallen into the surf. He is unloading the cases
from the boat, with the assistance of the boat’s oarsmen,
DODGER (21) and LARKIN (38).
ANISE MARCUSE
What is he bringing in those
things?

HENRI SORIANO
I am not sure. He tried to explain
it, but it was beyond me. Artifacts
of science, I assume.

Gregory drags the cases across the sand.

Anise directs her attention to the tree-line.
HENRI SORIANO
Does it feel the same here as it
did before?
ANISE MARCUSE
When I was here before, it was a
different life. Entirely different.

HENRI SORIANO
That it was, that it was.
EXT. TREELINE NEAR BEACH - DAY

(CONTINUED)
CERVIDAE 2.

Anise sits with her back against a tree trunk, watching her
crew-mates in the distance. Henri and Gregory scan the area,
while the oarsmen groggily assemble a fire.
Anise scans the rest of the beach, and then starts to write
in a leather-bound journal that is resting on her lap.
ANISE MARCUSE (V.O.)
When I was a child, my father told
me the story of a Rope-maker. He
was the son of a sailor and a
basket-weaver, and his rope was the
strongest in all the world.
On all the great ships, his rope
secured the sails, and it was
always wrapped around the waists of
men that scaled the highest peaks.
Life was good, and the Rope-maker
became rich and respected, for he
was an artist and a provider.

Anise pauses her writing, sensing that someone is nearby.

HENRI SORIANO
Enjoying a bit of introspection,
Anise?

Henri circles around to stand in front of Anise.

ANISE MARCUSE
Yes, and it’s not very courteous to
sneak up on someone when they are.

HENRI SORIANO
I’m not interested in your
ruminations, my dear. All of my
regard is focused on this creature,
here.

Henri TAPS the tip of his cane on the corner of the open
page of Anise’s journal, right at the point where a crude
drawing of a man with deer antlers is etched in ink.
HENRI SORIANO
Tell me about him.
ANISE MARCUSE
I already told you about -

(CONTINUED)
CERVIDAE 3.

HENRI SORIANO
Tell me again.
ANISE MARCUSE
I wish I could say I knew something
about him, definitively. Anything
about him, really.
HENRI SORIANO
Well, you yourself are evidence of
his capabilities. To call him
unique would be an understatement.
ANISE MARCUSE
Quite.
EXT. DEEP FOREST - DAY

Anise and others trek through the woods, searching for the
mysterious savage. Anise walks at the lead of the pack, and
Henri keeps pace, a few feet behind her.
HENRI SORIANO
Come, come, all of you. I want to
at least get a glimpse of this
thing before night-fall.
The oarsmen and the biologist ignore Henri’s exclamation,
and continue at a labored pace.

HENRI SORIANO
This place is majestic.
ANISE MARCUSE
You really think so?

HENRI SORIANO
Of course, I do. Is that hard to
believe?

ANISE MARCUSE
Quite honestly, yes.
HENRI SORIANO
Look at the bounty all around us,
think of what benefit all this
could do for industry.
ANISE MARCUSE
It already does benefit here?

(CONTINUED)
CERVIDAE 4.

HENRI SORIANO
How does it benefit anyone here? It
just sits here, untapped, and
without purpose.
ANISE MARCUSE
No thing is without purpose, Henri.
HENRI SORIANO
Oh, spare me. You’re worse than the
doctor.
ANISE MARCUSE
I’m not so sure of that.

Anise indicates in the direction of Gregory, who sways back

and forth wearily beneath a massive backpack, filled with
boxes and small cages.
HENRI SORIANO
Dr. Cuvier, are you alright?

GREGORY CUVIER
I’m just fine Mr. Soriano, we’ve
just been moving at such a harried
pace over the last few miles.

HENRI SORIANO
Perhaps the trek would be easier if
you were not carrying all the
forest on your back.

GREGORY CUVIER
I fear I cannot help it. I may
never get another chance to come to
this place. How could I ever
forgive myself for not taking ample
material for study?

HENRI SORIANO
Very well.
The group continues to walk for a few more seconds before
the biologist keels over, and collapses to the ground.

Larkin rushes to him, watched by the others.

LARKIN
You alright Doc’?

GREGORY CUVIER
I’m fine, just a bit of water might
help.

(CONTINUED)
CERVIDAE 5.

LARKIN
Ain’t got no water, but you can
have a sip from my flask.
GREGORY CUVIER
I’ll manage without.
Henri laughs.
HENRI SORIANO
Well, I guess the doctor has picked
our campsite for us.
It’s starting to get dark, and I
wouldn’t want to inconvenience him
to stand back up.

Gregory frees himself from the straps of his backpack, and

the group crowds around to set up camp.
INT. TENT - NIGHT
Anise sits in her tent, a small oil-burning lamp at her
side, as she scribbles yet again in her leather-bound
journal.
ANISE MARCUSE (V.O.)
One day, the Rope-maker heard of a
mighty tree in the forest. The tree
was said to climb higher than the
eye could see, and no axe could
even make a scratch on its trunk.
The Rope-maker decided to weave a
length of rope so mighty, that it
could be used to tug and wrench
this tree from the ground, so that
all the fishermen could have mighty
boats, and all the townsfolk could
have castles of mahogany.

The Rope-maker collected all the

finest fibers he could find, and
began to weave. Inch by inch, foot
by foot, the mighty serpent of rope
emerged from his workshop.

INT. TENT - MORNING

Anise is asleep, her journal open on her chest, the lamp
beside her, extinguished and dry of oil. She is stirred from
her slumber by the SOUND of hooves, and jumps to her feet.

(CONTINUED)
CERVIDAE 6.

She tosses her journal aside and scrambles out of her tent
into the morning light. She scans the tree line and takes
off into the woods.

As she runs she spots a blurring motion ahead of her, and

presses on, running as fast as her feet will carry her.
She finally arrives in a clearing, and stops in her tracks
as she lays her eyes upon a mighty creature.

The animal stands upright, and has a body like a man. His
legs are strong, but somehow shrouded in darkness. A black
pelt rests across his shoulder like a cape, and trails down
his body until it seems to become a part of him. Atop his
head is a crown of matted black fur, and a set of mighty,
ivory-white antlers. The Cervitaur.
ANISE MARCUSE
I’m sorry that I brought them here.
The beast tilts his head to the side slightly, listening.
His red eyes glowing softly from under a light mane of fur.
ANISE MARCUSE
Getting back here was not easy, but
I need to know how this all came to
be.

The beast SNORTS, turns its back to Anise, and walks into
the woods.
ANISE MARCUSE
Please! I need to know why I am
alive.
The beast stops in its tracks, and turns to Anise.
FLASHBACK

EXT. BEACH -- DAY

Anise looks up into the blue sky and then sees the
silhouette of the Cervitaur standing above her. As he
touches her chest, she COUGHS up water.

The creature carries her to a small boat, and places her

inside. He pushes the boat into the surf, out to sea.
END FLASHBACK

EXT. CAMPSITE - MORNING

Anise walks raptly into camp, and is immediately accosted by
Henri and the others.

(CONTINUED)
CERVIDAE 7.

HENRI SORIANO
Where have you been? We feared
something terrible had happened.
ANISE MARCUSE
Everything is quite alright, Henri.
In fact something marvelous has
happened.
GREGORY CUVIER
You saw it, you saw the creature?

ANISE MARCUSE
I did.
HENRI SORIANO
Well, where is it?

ANISE MARCUSE
I spoke to it.
HENRI SORIANO
Spoke to it?

GREGORY CUVIER
It speaks?
LARKIN
I told you, she’s a witch.

DODGER
Enough of that, Larkin.
HENRI SORIANO
Where did it go, where can we find
it?
ANISE MARCUSE
We have to go back to the boat.

LARKIN
It’s going after the boat.
ANISE MARCUSE
Of course not, what would it want
with a boat? We need to go back
there.
HENRI SORIANO
It’s going to be there?

(CONTINUED)
CERVIDAE 8.

ANISE MARCUSE
Yes, he will.
EXT. WOODS - MORNING
Anise once again leads the group through the woods, this
time back toward the beach. Gregory still carries a
backpack, but it is only moderately packed. Henri follows,
but is markedly less exuberant.
ANISE MARCUSE (V.O.)
And so, after days of toil, the
Rope-maker came out of his workshop
with the mightiest length of rope
the townsfolk had ever seen, and
together they all went out to the
tree.

They wrapped the rope around the

tree, and each, grabbing hold of
their own section, started to tug.
They pulled and wrenched,
until the mighty tree started to
creak.
It swayed and waved, until it
finally buckled and fell with a
roar that could be heard across the
world, and in the moment that it
fell, the sky fell with it. The
people cried and mourned as they
found themselves pinned beneath the
sky, with only the room to move
that was left by the tree’s fallen
trunk.
EXT. BEACH -- DAY
Anise and the others arrive on the beach, and see the boat
perched on the sand, right where they left it.

HENRI SORIANO
Well, where is it?
ANISE MARCUSE
The boat is right there.

HENRI SORIANO
Don’t play dumb with me, you know
very well what I mean. Where is the
animal?

(CONTINUED)
CERVIDAE 9.

LARKIN
I’ve been saying it since day one,
she’s on the side of the devil. She
brought us here to be killed by it.
DODGER
Stop all that fuss. Nobody is being
killed by anything.

Anise sits on the sand ignoring the group, and pulls out her
journal yet again.
HENRI SORIANO
Writing again? Now?

GREGORY CUVIER
Perhaps, she’s lost her mind. She
has been acting quite strangely for
most of the trip.
HENRI SORIANO
No, she’s hiding something. She
knows very well what she’s doing.
My daughters are just the same way.
GREGORY CUVIER
This has absolutely nothing to do
with your daughters. This woman is
on the verge of a mental collapse,
she has all the signs.
HENRI SORIANO
Where is my beast?
Henri suddenly faints and collapses onto the sand, followed
by Gregory and the oarsmen. Anise looks up at them briefly,
and then looks back at the page of her journal that she is
writing on.

ANISE MARCUSE (V.O.)

The townsfolk cried and lamented,
for they did not know that the
mighty tree held up the sky.

Among the townsfolk was a young

farmer named Huxley, of bright mind
and good temperament. He did not
cry, and felt no fear. Huxley dug
deep into his pocket, pulled out a
seed, and pushed it into the ground
with his thumb.
The tears of the townsfolk had
soaked the earth, and after a few
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CERVIDAE 10.

ANISE MARCUSE (V.O.) CERVIDAE

moments, a new mighty tree erupted
from the ground, and carried the
sky up, and off of the people.

Anise looks up and sees the Cervitaur standing between the

unconscious men. He picks them up one by one places them
inside the boat.
ANISE MARCUSE (V.O.)
I remember asking my father, what
happened to the Rope-maker after
the tree lifted the sky.
Anise closes her journal, and places it on Henri’s chest, as
he is sprawled out on the floor of the boat.

ANISE MARCUSE (V.O.)

He told me that the Rope-maker
became a farmer.
Anise looks at Henri and the others for a moment, she grabs
his black cane off of the sand, and places it beside him.

ANISE MARCUSE
Thank you for bringing me back
here. I wouldn’t have made it
without you. I know it will cause
you a lot of anguish, but you won’t
be able to find your way back here.
The creature pushes the boat into the surf, with all the men
in it. He uses his strength to force it out into the water,
and finally gives it one final push. Anise stands on the
shore, and watches the boat bob out to sea.
ANISE MARCUSE (V.O.)
Here, in this place, there is only
"who we are." There is no, "what
we’ve made."

The creature comes to stand beside Anise, and watches the

boat as well.
ANISE MARCUSE (V.O.)
You are not welcome here.

THE END