Midnight

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INT. HORSE WAGON IN FRONT OF THE INN - DAY

Quickly and cunningly, Daniel and John loosen the knots of the tarpaulin and jump inside the wagon.

INSERT: BIRDCAGES ARE STACKED ON TOP OF BIRDCAGES AND BIRDS' FEATHERS FLY ABOUT EVERYWHERE AS THE AGITATED BIRDS FLAP THEIR WINGS INSIDE THEIR CAGES.

JOHN
Are you sure this is the best way?
(Puts his hand on top of a cage with a parakeet in it)
What if they don't make it on their own?

Daniel stops trying to open the cage he was trying to break in to and stares at John.

DANIEL
It's better to die in the woods than to live in a cage.

Daniel opens the cage he was trying to open and releases the bird that was inside. John also opens his first cage and frees his first bird.

With quick gestures, Daniel and John open cage after cage and try to free all the birds from their incarceration. Some take longer than others. Daniel and John are surrounded and almost dressed in feathers as the cages become emptier by the second until there are no birds left in any cage.

INSERT: EMPTY CAGES. FEATHERS OF BIRDS FLY AROUND THE EMPTY CAGES.

JOHN POV:
Daniel looks at John and smiles, raises his fist in utter triumph. Daniel quickly removes the flour bag of his back and opens it taking eleven carved and painted birds out of it. He gives five of the birds to John and keeps six. Daniel carefully puts a carved bird in a cage on top of the perch as if it was a real live bird.
END OF JOHN POV

John puts a bird on the perch of an empty cage.

One by one each sculpture is placed on their due perch.

Daniel has one last bird in his hand.

We heard FOOTSTEPS coming closer and the Birdman clearing his throat.

JOHN
Hurry!

Daniel looks at John. With his last bird in his hand, he puts it on the perch but it doesn't hold and falls with a BANG on the floor of the cage.

DANIEL
Crap!

Daniel picks up the bird and puts it on its perch.

We heard the WHIP of the Birdman POP, the wagon begins to move with a bump.
John falls on his back and grabs hold of the tarpaulin to gain some balance.

DANIEL
(Gesturing franticly and in an almost inaudible voice)
Plucked and ready for the pot!

Daniel signals John to follow him and starts crawling to the back of the wagon. John follows him. Daniel raises the tarpaulin.

DANIEL
We're going to have to jump.

JOHN
Jump?

DANIEL
(Grabbing hold of John's arm)
Jump!

Daniel, pulling John's arm, jumps out the moving wagon.

EXT. STREET - DAY

John rolls over the stones on the road. A horse NEIGHS and stops almost on top of John's head.

COACHMAN
Hey, you there, air-head, what do you think you're doing?

John gets up, rubs his skinned knees and runs to the side of the road. He looks around searching for Daniel. Daniel runs to John.

DANIEL
(Spitting on his hand and cleaning John's wounds with it)
Does it hurt bad?

JOHN
Not too bad.

DANIEL
(Smiles)
You're braver than you look.

Daniel puts his arm over John's shoulder. They start to walk.
Daniel and John enter the bird market limping.

INT. BIRD MARKET - DAY
The Birdman is standing beside the wagon surrounded by a crowd that grows and looks at the cages with the birds' sculptors in it.

BIRDMAN
Woman, you're completely mad!

WIFE
This bird right here…
(Picks one of the carved birds)
…this bird turned into wood when I touched it.
(Looks at her husband)
Explain that to me if you can!

VIOLET
It's a miracle. A miracle of St. John.

The crowd around the Birdman nods.

Daniel smiles at John poking him.

A MAN, with a mutilated ear, comes close to the wagon and pulls out a cage with a carved bird in it. He lifts it up in the air.

MAN
The girl speaks the truth! St. John turned the feathers into wood.

The Birdman spits on the floor, yanks the cage from the Man's hand.

BIRDMAN
Your head is the only thing that turned into wood here! Someone tricked me, that's what happened. And I'll find out who it was and then…
(Raises both hands in a threatening way)
…I'll strangle them! I have nothing now, nothing!

WIFE
(Poking her husband's back)
Shut up stupid! This is witchcraft!
(Looks askance all around, speaks in a low tone)
We must have a very powerful enemy and you…
(Points at her husband)
…you should not provoke him!

BIRDMAN
(Raging)
Shut up woman! You're provoking me. Someone's going to pay for this, and if you want it to be you, all you have to do is keep on pushing me.

Daniel runs to the front of the crowd and places himself almost in front of the Birdman.

DANIEL
(With a clear voice)
Please sir, let us see the miracle!

BIRDMAN
(Looking menacingly at Daniel)
You… You just want to see how they made fun of me.
(Looks around at the crowd)
You're all against me!

DANIEL
Please sir, show us what St. John did!

CHORUS OF VOICES
Please sir, let us see!

The Birdman looks around through the crowd asking in unison to see. He gets the cages out of the wagon and throws them to the ground.

DWARF
You have been chosen by St. John himself!

Furious, the Birdman looks at the Dwarf, the last person to raise her voice, and kicks a cage in her direction.
The cage rolls over to the ankles of a HUGE MERCHANT. The Merchant raises his cane in a threatening manner.

Some people in the crowd fall on their knees to pray for the miracle.

John looks around astonished at the scene. Daniel pulls him by the arm to a stand nearby where he crouches. John ducks as well.

DANIEL
Wait here!

JOHN
Why?

DANIEL
So that you can hide.

JOHN
From what?

DANIEL
Do as I tell you!

John stays behind the stand squatting.

Violet, at a convenient distance, looks at them both.

DANIEL
Cheep like a blackbird.

JOHN
What?

DANIEL
Mimic loudly the cheep of a blackbird!

The Birdman's Wife holds a carved bird in her hand.

We heard the TWEET of a blackbird.

The crowd opens their mouth in amazement. The Birdman's Wife passes out with one hand on her forehead. The Birdman shakes his head "no" in disbelieve close to his Wife laying down on the floor.

Violet smiles and looks at John. John points out Violet to Daniel. Daniel pulls John by the arm and approaches Violet.

DANIEL
(To Violet)
What's your name?

VIOLET
Violet!

DANIEL
Violet, go away!

VIOLET
(In defiance)
I saw what you did.

Violet stares at John and Daniel, her arms crossed on her chest.

The Birdman closes in Daniel and John and quickly grabs John by the neck.

BIRDMAN
Gotcha!

John kicks under the hand of the Birdman. He tries to set himself free but he is far away from the ground, way up in the air. Daniel kicks the Birdman.

DANIEL
Let him go!

The Birdman shakes John by the neck.

BIRDMAN
So it was you! It was you two!

John kicks violently coughing convulsively.
 Daniel kicks the Birdman, but he doesn't even seem to notice it.

Violet spits on the Birdman's face. She spits again.

Bewildered, the Birdman puts John on the ground without letting him go and cleans his face on his sleeve.

VIOLET
Help! Someone, help us!

The Merchant approaches the Birdman.

MERCHANT
I'm getting sick of you. Let the boy go!

The Birdman keeps grabbing John's collar.

The Merchant raises his cane and closes in the Birdman.

The Birdman keeps holding the collar.

The Merchant unloads his cane on the Birdman.

The Birdman falls to the ground helpless and lets John loose. John gets a few steps away from him.

BIRDMAN
But that was the rascal who mimicked the blackbird. I saw him myself!

MERCHANT
(To John)
Is this true?

The Birdman rises slowly.

VIOLET
Sir, I've been with him for hours and he hasn't let out a peep.

John looks astonished to Violet.

JOHN
Sir, she's lying. I'm guilty!

John imitates the tweet of a blackbird.

The Merchant looks at John and opens his mouth amazed.

MERCHANT
Extraordinary! Sing it again boy!

John looks at the Merchant. Mimics the TWEET of a yellow bird.
Around John, a small crowd starts to form, surprised by his abilities.

MERCHANT
Again! Again!

John imitates the TWEET of a canary. He imitates the TWEET of a hawk. He mimics the TWEET of a gull.
The crowd cheers.

BIRDMAN
That's all very nice and well boy, but you stole my birds.

The Merchant approaches the Birdman. The Birdman quivers. The Merchant gives two silver coins to the Birdman.

MERCHANT
I believe these will make up for your loss.

The Birdman nods and disappears at a rapid pace.

John mimics the TWEET of two hummingbirds in dialogue.
John looks around at the crowd around him that continues to grow. Daniel and Violet are in the front line and smile.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in preparation for his next imitation.

JOHN POV:
John opens his eyes. In front of him Grandma Rose is standing with a furious look on her face. Grandma Rose approaches John menacingly.
END OF JOHN POV

Grandma Rose takes John's hand and drags him through the crowd. People throw and offer him coins as he passes.

INT. JOHN'S LIVING ROOM - DAY

John enters the house by the hand of Grandma Rose.

Mary walks through the room from one side to the other, her eyes all red.

MARY
John! Thank God you're safe and sound!

GRANDMA ROSE
Wait till I tell you the rogueries he's been doing while you were sleeping.

Mary examines John, squeezes his shoulders and looks at him.

MARY
Did anything happen to you?

John shakes his head "no".

MARY
Thank God! Now go upstairs and change those dirty closes. I'll be with you in a minute.

John climbs up the stairs.