Eighth World Wonder *

There was fog all around, a thick and heavy mass covered them up, making the atmosphere somehow illusionary.
Ifee thought for a second that heaven should be just like that: blurry with such blessings all over her skin.
"Is that what it feels to be in the clouds?" she whispered to herself.

She has been there sometimes on sunny days, and the difference was beyond belief. Funny how the weather can be bipolar.
She thought about this opportunity they are missing, and wanted to feel sorry for him, but the opacity of the air pleased her in a way she couldn't quite understand. Maybe because it made her tears diaphanous...
Numbness gained her heart progressively while the pain decreased to a point where she couldn't even feel her own self.

She brought him over there because she knew how important it was for him. Since the beginning she has always tried to offer him nothing but happiness. "Pure" is how he defined her. Somehow she felt like she had failed.

Keith, the photographer, came all this way to take pictures of the panorama everybody has told him about.
But today, the mountains refused him their beauty, just like she refused him her love last night.
This was an unfortunate situation, though Keith didn't go through all this adventure to resign himself to disappointment:
he decided to capture this emptiness. Life is not quite about expectations, he opined, reality is what makes it real.
He called it "White", and he admired his genius for this proud eccentricity.

Ifee had disappeared. Even the guide's voice faded in the thickness. The last thing he remembered vaguely was his warning about the cliff being particularly hazardous today. He could only imagine how beautifully wide whatever was behind this wall must be... though it remained unknown to him... and scary.
He called out her name, and paused...wasn't she afraid of heights anyway?

-Baby.

She was right behind him.

-You're crying.

He reached her cheek and she shivered at the contact of their skin. And he kissed her.
Time stopped right there. On the top of the world. And for once, they were on the same page.

-I have a gift for you, Ifee.
-Me first.



When she got hers, she cried again. But it was her last tears. He did love her after all. she knew it when she saw her gift tattooed on his dead body. But it was too late. Though she'll live having this compensation.

Project Script

Chapter I scene x (this scene is in 2003, a little after the decision of Bush transpassing the UN's decision against the war. in Haiti, all the universities are closed and all the students are "walking" with all the population anti-lavalas. Their mouvement is called GNB following the lead of a member of "groupe184", Andy Aped. they are asking for the ex-Priest, Aristid to leave the presidency.

Characters: Ifee, Martine (teacher's assistant in the class of history&geo, in litterature but also in phylosophy) , Mr E (Ifee's favorite teacher of histo/geo, litterature and phylosophy)...and classemates.


[...]
Ifee- Too complicated. What if the world was one big joke? Everything seems to be based on some logical order. that famous rule of life called causality and consequences. A multitude of papers has been written to define the law and so, to determine a justice that everybody would know the line to follow and to certainly not go through. Crap! those who write the law are also those who juge themself beyond the justice.

Martine- I hope that you re not gonna tell this to the examiner!

Ifee- (laughting): why not? it's the truth!

Martine- humm, yeah, but the frenchs are very diplomatic.

Ifee- so? it's a fact. Besides, they hate americans, they really would appreciate one another un-foolish person who desagree with their politics.

Martine- you mean, you are excluding them of those who juge themself too powerful to respect the law?

Ifee- hey, France is, at least, less pretentious.

Martine- listen to you!

Ifee- what? i m not affaid of saying what i think.

Martine- that is great, but girl, you have all your life to say what you think. now, you have to pass your exam.

Ifee- they gonna agree with me.

Martine- maybe, but it's not a matter of saying what they believe, it's a matter of saying it brilliantly.

Ifee- (with a mocking smile, faking indignation) are you saying that i m not brilliant?

Martine- what i m saying, is that you better practice your arguments. they won't care if you are for or against the war, you better be worried about if you are ready for the Oral exam!

and Martine push her friendly toward the door. Ifee was late for the class of Mr E, witch was Phylosophy today. She oppends the door with an embarrassed smile, they were in a middle of an expose. she asked with a shy regard to the teacher if she had the permission to come in and as the students were still talking, he showed her by a sigh of the hand her empty chair.

Yanah: (wispering) where were you!

Ifee:(wispering) with Martine, i hade an oral with her.

Yanah:how was it?

Ifee: (ironically) as always, she doesn't want to admit that I'm a genious and that I'm right and she's wrong.

yanah: (rolling her eyes) what was it again?

Ifee: you know as a friend you should be on my side!

Yanah: I am, but Ifee, you should take the exams a little more seriously.

Ifee: ouh... I know that. it's just more fun when you are faking to be more sensitive to the subjects.

Yanah: (laughting) you mean you are not!

Ifee: (laughting) what? you think i care about....

Mr. E: Ifee!

Ifee stoped laghting and put an angelic smile on her face and waited to hear the questions that was coming along just for her.

Mr. E: Christian thinks that the students are doing a good job walking on the street to speak their minds. we know that those demonstrations are leading into nothing but violent reaction of the govenment's partisans. what do you think?

Ifee: humm.... i think that... the opposition should stop pretending, and they should react also.

David: but that's the whole point.

Christian: this is all the difference, this is what makes us greater then them!

Alex: yeah, and anyways, Ifee This is our reaction!

Ifee: for what? for getting killed?

Chistian: no for our beliefs.

Alex: For showing them what is the true value of ideas, perseverence and
courage. this is how we fight so they can feel that they are the ones who s doing it wrong.

Ifee: are you kidding!!!! didn't you notice? they are not gonna understand this language, they are a bunch of uncivilized savage. what? you want to show your nobble heart and fight for an humble idea?! you know that you are not even going for the same reason as everybody, no body has the same reason anyway.

Mr. E: well, of course no, each personn has his own reason, Ann may go for the fun of it (the class laght),some for the governement, some for curiousity, some for the victims but at least everybody has one thing in common, they want it to changed.

kara: so what are you saying? we should not continue with the demonstration?

Ifee: no, just kill them all!

All: oh!!!?

as they were talking, Ifee standed up seemed really mad. and everybody was shocked by her words. all the class was looking at her with horrible eyes and mr. E starts to laught.

Christian: no... by doing that, you are proving that you are just like them.

Ifee: and die?

Bertrand: you can't be serious! we have been walking for months now, and we can't just give up like that. we could change our tactics.

Ifee: (sarcasticly) oh yeah, you want to negociate?

Christian: so you really don't believe in those strikes?

Ifee: i did, during the first weeks. but after all those days, i ve been tired of being worryed. i have a baccalaure to pass! i can t be stressed because of those shiet! the priest is not going to give up the power like that, you have to face it guys, what are we waiting for?

Alex: so you want to go there with guns?

Sam: wow, Ifee you are impressive.

Ifee: oh c'mon, we could just blow the country up with all haitians and then rebuilt everything after!

Bertrand: and aren't you haitian?

Ifee: so? i don t care. i deserve it too.

Mr. E: (mocking) so ladies and gentleman, we have a fascist in the class who wants to blow up all the country.

Ifee: oh really Mr E, don't you think it s kind of childish to wait and hope that the americans are gonna come and save us? we are here, and we are the one who has to respond.

Bertrand: and your answer to this is starting a war?!

Ifee: hello!!! the war has already begin. can't you just face the facts that the lower class outside, is attacking us because they think that they have the right to do so?

Bertrand: it all started because of people like you concidering them as lower class and uncivilized.

Ifee: in all the countries of the planet, class distinction exists, why is it a huge problem in haiti? and in case that you didn't notice, they do conduct themself as uncivilized creatur. and i dare you to say that throwing rocks on people, cuting heads and burn cars is normal.

Mr. E: and it s exacly the right moment to show them some exemple, if we want this to really change, including that class prejudice we have some sacrifice to make.

Ifee: witch would be our lives? oh I'm sorry, but they really don't deserve that kind of honnor.So...what? I m going to offer myself singing "Jesus help us" and they gonna attack us as they desire?

sebastien: you desapoint me Ifee, i thought you were more smart then that.

Ifee: smart?! what ever! (she sit down on her chair)

Yanah: (wispering) you can't be serious! you really think so?

Ifee: well, it s a great idea... but no, c'mon i m kidding. this debate was dead anyway.


ps: the scene is in the class of phylosophy, and the students are talking about the actual situation of haiti.
Ifee shows her paradoxal personnality: her natural instinct of violence, when she declare herself against war.
she thinks it s fair defending herself by fighting back. but she believes in justice because she's against the war (the dialogue with martine).

she proves that, she s not always pround of her thoughts (unlike what she said to martine), because she's passed it as a joke when she really were mad about that whole pacific idea.
.....etc [to work on more]

Project Script 1

Chapter I, scene 1: The English exam.

Main characters:Ifee, the examiner, Yanah, the little Arabic girl.





(Camera zooms on a paper, someone is writing a text, and a feminine background voice is reading the story. As the story keeps going, the camera is following each word. And through the text, the view is fading to redefine itself inside the story.)

“ The air was suddenly hard to breath, and it took me a little while to realize that it was the sand who was keeping me from getting the oxygen properly. Also, coughing was never that irritable then this right moment when I have found myself in some inexplicable whirlwind after an unnatural experiment. For some reason, I couldn’t remember what was I doing in this place and why was I there. I just felt tired enough to not try harder to understand the circumstances.
I huddled up to keep my face from the fierce wind that was, besides, a little too loud to know what was going on beyond that. And as the noise was fading to a heavy silence, I listened my heart beats going faster and faster. A sudden anxiety gains me and I was, once again, lost in a middle of no where.

A horrible screech witch I thought for a moment was my heart drag me out of my stubbornness and forced me to lift up my eyes to what I wish would never see again.
I was in a battlefield and what I thought was sultry was not only the heat but also the decomposition of thousands of dead bodies lying all over me. And suddenly, everything became clear: I was in a middle of the war, where I wanted to be.

Everything was now happening and I was there today to save a person, someone I wanted out of that disaster and who will die if I wasted one more second to figure out how I was there.
And without thinking to one more word, I threw myself out of the corner were I was hiding so far, to run toward the other side of the road where I should from there, find my way to the base.”

Ifée ran thought the large field toward a building half destroyed. Explosions were blowing every 2 seconds, and some marines were running back and forth yelling orders and shooting toward the other side of the front. She bumped a little into every busy soldiers on her way too occupied to noticed her. And slip over the not too scarce scraggy bodies on the floor.
On the other side of the building she found some civil hiding against the wall, children and women running and screaming: the other street was also on fire and shot guns were blowing from every corner of the streets, she run as fast as she could to avoid the danger, but it was all over.

When she finally find herself far enough to take a pause to breath, She took from her pocket, a piece of paper, an address was written on with the name of the base her friend was affiliated to:
“4th Infantry Division, Striker Alfa 713.”

She noticed a little girl hiding behind a box, her face was black with dust and burn and the camera is zooming in on her wet eye. Ifée step forward offering her hand and whispered:

“-The military base?”

But the girl starts crying and stepped off protecting her face with her little arms. Ifée freazed a couple of seconds when realises that the girl was getting more terrified the more she insists to consolate her. looked down and realizes her uniform .camera is looking up to her face.
The pen is still writing:

“I was one of them now, a US marine, all I ever wished for the past 7 years of my life, and this girl was looking at me as the worst thing that could happen into her life, I was the Enemy.”


Back to the present reality, a masculine background voices telling in french;

“-Déposez vos plumes!”

Ifee put down her pen, she looks frustrated. The examiner passed by to take the paper. As he continues talking, Ifee looked at her friends all over the room. Some look tired, some look really stressed , some look satisfied so is Yanah and as she questioned her friend with the eyes, they agreed and Yanah winked.



Ps: the scene is on a classroom but it’s only obvious at the end, when she heard "déposez vos plumes!"

The scene starts with the hand, writing the story on a white paper with squares (french typical paper) with a blue fountain pen.
The dream scene is a little unrealistic with dark colors, black and white or beige to be considered. The sound is going back and forth to show her effort to focus.

But at the end it became clear and colorful. the absence of noise before was accentueted by the fact it became very noisy in the yard, it was like she was whispering the story like she was affraid of people around her would hear it.

the scene is gonna continue with a "after exams" atmosphere, all the group is going to celebrate the end of the exams. and the atmosphere is gonna abruptly change into the war scene were Samoa is filmed in the middle of a real battle. the noises are nothing compared to the dream that Ifee had in the english exam. *


*i wonder if the parallele so quickly establish would destroye the surprize effect at the end? and/or my goal of hiding the true life of Samoa.