The Guardian of The Forest

written by

Mia Nieves

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EXT. ENTRANCE TO FOREST - DAY

ESTABLISHING SHOT OF RED TRUCK INFRONT OF THE FOREST

A man walks slowly into the forest with his bow and arrow in
hand. His bulky boots CRUNCH as he walks. He finds a large
tree to hide behind as he waits for deer to come out.

EXT. DEEP IN THE FORREST - NIGHT

The man slowly stands up, with disappointment on his face. He
starts to make his way back to his truck, but he stops
suddenly when he sees a deer in the distance. It's a clear
shot, so he squats back down with determination on his face.
He pulls back his bow to shoot, and releases quickly.
But, a sudden gust of wind WOOSHES through the woods. The
arrow ends up stuck to a large branch of a tree with a dense
THUD. And, the sound of the arrow's impact scares the deer.
The deer sprints away.
The man slowly approaches the tree to retrieve his arrow. The
trees slowly rock to the light breeze still blowing through.
The man gets a good grip on his arrow, and pulls hard. The
arrow comes out. The man jumps as the arrow comes out,
because the tree almost looks like it flinches as the arrow
comes out. The man looks at the arrow, then the tree, then
the arrow again, and gives he tree the side eye as he walks
away.
He continues walking and picks up an antler he finds on the
ground, and hangs it on his backpack. He slows down his pace
as the wind starts to pick up again. He looks up to see the
tops of the trees shaking and RUSTLING, with the light of the
moon peeking through the leaves.
A dark figure in the back zooms past the man. The man hears
The fast RUSLING and CRUNCHING of the snow, he flinches, and
turns around suddenly. The man stands on guard with his bow
and arrow at the ready.
MAN
Is this some sort of joke? The only
thing that could've made a sound
like that would be a bear, but
bears aren't native to these parts.
The man slowly takes his backpack and pulls the antler back
out. The man takes the antler and throws it in the direction
he heard the sound. A dark figure bolts toward the antler.
The man panics and starts sprinting.
 2.

MAN (CONT'D)
Oh no no no! Not today, not today,
no today! What is that?!
The dark figure turns its head almost like an owl in the
direction of the man, to reveal four glowing eyes. The dark
figure starts speeding towards the man. But the man is able
to outrun it. The man slows down and tries to catch his
breath.
MAN (CONT'D)
This doesn't make any sense. I
could've sworn I came in this way,
but none of this looks familiar.
The man places his hands on his knees and bows his head as he
is trying to catch his breath. He hears RUSTLING behind him.
It was too faint to be the dark figure from before, but the
man turns around anyway. A tree in the distance lifts its
roots and uses them almost like legs to move from the left to
the right.
MAN (CONT'D)
That tree just moved. That tree
just moved. I must be going insane.
This kind of stuff only happens in
movies.
The man puts his hand to his face in disbelief, but jumps to
another sound in the distance. This sound was coming toward
him much faster. He starts walking backwards. He sees the
dark figure rushing towards him, and turns around to start
running again. But, before he can start running a tree near
him moves its roots. The man trips over the roots and falls
forwards. He quickly flips to his back.
The dark figure stops at the man's feet as the rest of its
tall body looms over him. With the light of the moon, it is
revealed that the dark figure is really a monster of wood and
leaves. It looks like a tree. Its skin is bark, the roots
behave like legs and the branches behave as arms. It has four
glowing eyes staring him down. The bark on the monster's face
starts to open up like a large mouth. The monster is trying
to consume him.
The man uses his bow to hold the monster at a distance as he
thinks of what to do to escape. The man grabs an arrow he
dropped and uses it to stab one of the monsters eyes. As the
monster is distracted by the pain, the man makes a run for
it.
The man is trying to avoid the moving trees as he sprints. He
slows down to look behind him a few times. The monster
doesn't follow him.
 3.

The monster buries its roots in the ground and uses them to
communicate with the other trees. It tells them to move out
of the mans way and to guide him out. The trees then open up
into a path and guide the man back to his truck.
MAN (CONT'D)
Haha! Yes!
He drives away leaving his tire marks in the dirt.
The trees form a wall at the entrance of the forest.
The monster then unburies its roots and makes its way deeper
into the forest. It settles in the center of the forest. The
trees form a circle and they lean inward toward the monster.
The monster buries his roots back up and lets his branches go
upwards toward the sky. The arrow is still in the monster's
eye. It looks forward in a sort of angry look, and slowly
close its other three eyes. It then looks like an ordinary
tree resting in the middle of the forest.
The forest is peaceful now, and goes from silent to lively
with the sounds of frog CROAKS, and bug CHRIPS.