Post Consequential
A postman is offered a new life by a young boy’s claim to magic.
The postman’s curiosity means he has to pay the highest price.
As seasoned story tellers are well aware, "more words" doesn’t automatically translate to a better script. When artfully constructed, the nuance of even the briefest line can be vastly more meaningful than a page bursting with dialogue. Sometimes silence – or just the perfect pause - speaks volumes with much more force.
Such is the case with writer Farook Qais’ Post Consequential; an eerie tale about a postman… and the lonely little boy he encounters along his route.
Even at their first meeting, the implied visuals – and banter – between these two carry heavy weight:
INT. FRONT DOOR, HOUSE - DAY
POV -- someone is looking through -- the postman leans over to look through the letterbox gap -- it shuts.
EXT. HOUSE - DAY
The postman gently lifts the letterbox and slides through some letters -- they’re snatched abruptly. The postman leans down.
POSTMAN
You shouldn’t snatch.
The postman adjusts his bag over his shoulder and starts to walk away.
The letterbox lifts -- the postman notices.
...he glances towards the secretive shut-in; the beginning of a very odd and fateful back and forth.
On their next meeting, the “dance” resumes: the postman delivering letters… and the boy grabbing them, sight almost entirely unseen:
The postman is knelt on the doorstep. He sits on it. Looks at his watch.
The letterbox opens. The young boy’s eyes can see the postman. The letterbox closes.
The postman shakes his head.
POSTMAN
Don’t you have to be at school?
Silence.
A long beat.
The postman looks as if he’s going to knock, but -- KNOCK-KNOCK
-- comes from inside. The postman waits.
A beat.
POSTMAN
Hello?
YOUNG BOY (O.C.)
You’re a stranger.
Well, not entirely. They’ve met before.
Nonetheless, the boy slides something BACK through the slot this time – a closed envelope. Urging the postman take it, the boy tells him:
YOUNG BOY (O.C.)
If you want a new life.
This gives you another chance.
"Change" him? How? And who IS this kid?
Also... what’s in the envelope?
Talk about a weighted question! Remember that line in Seven: "What’s in the box?"
Well, Post-Consequential ends quite differently, but the answer’s just as disturbing – in its own way.
An extremely cheap shoot, Post-Consequential needs just one setting (a house exterior), and only TWO characters. Any director who brings in a profound understanding of silence and suspense… will find this short an unexpected gem!