Protector (Golem)
Trapped in a bombed-out building on the Gaza Strip, a little Palestinian boy accidentally
summons a Golem to protect himself from what’s outside.
J.E. Clarke’s drama fantasy script Protector opens to the sound of distant bombs exploding, followed by the wails of a siren.
We are instantly transported to Khan Younis, a Palestinian City on the southern Gaza Strip, and an ambulance speeding across a war-ravaged landscape searching for survivors.
The ambulance screeches to a halt - dust puffs up from treads. Blending with smoke, it obscures a bombed, decapitated structure…the bottom half of a building – A fractured door hangs by a hinge.
Two figures alight from the vehicle, the words ‘Medic’ emblazoned on their shirts. Bulos, a young Arab man, and Jason, an American. As they get their bearings, they squint into the distance at a barely seen vehicle lumbering on the horizon. Jason questions if it’s a tank, Bulos shrugs –
No time to ruminate on what might be a distant threat when -
The cry of a child makes both men spin around. Nervously glancing at fragile beams of what we can only imagine was once a home, but now resembles an apocalyptic nightmare of rubble, concrete and metal, the two men find a way to slip inside the collapsed room.
Dark, dusty, a scene from Hell, Bulos runs to a body.
Lifting one plank reveals – the crushed head of a man, not long dead. The Medic gags.
BULOS
We can’t help here.
Jason plays a flashlight over pools of blood.
JASON
This can’t be all from him.
…We heard a kid.
BULOS
A friend in Dier al-Balah told me:
Drones ‘cry’ sometimes, too.
The two men exchange nervous looks, interrupted by another sob.
Frantically they peel away at stones to reveal:
Marwan, a young Palestinian boy – bloodied, curled in a ball, terrified and suffering a compound fracture to his leg. The child’s injury is the least of the problems that are about to unravel for Jason and Bulos however - the young boy is about to discover that the body that was just uncovered nearby is that of his beloved Papa – a revelation that causes the child to become hysterical.
When the decision is made for one of the men to go back to the ambulance to retrieve additional medical supplies all hell breaks loose. Bulos is fatally struck down by sniper-fire and Jason is injured by falling debris inside the hideout that he and Marwan must now take refuge.
Complicating matters is Marwan’s initial fear and rejection of Jason, when, after spotting the Star of David around his neck, he believes himself to be face to face with the enemy.
JASON
Those soldiers out there don’t
think or speak for me.
(whispers to himself)
If being Jewish has meaning,
those guys out there are…
anything BUT. Jewish values
PROTECT people. They don’t
hurt them. Especially not kids.
And so, an unexpected friendship is forged between the two. But our story doesn’t end there. With Jason’s injuries becoming life-threatening and the enemy at their door Marwan may soon be on his own again to fend for himself. Or at least that’s how it appears…
J.E. Clarke’s script, Protector is about more than just courage under fire. It is about self-sacrifice and honor among men who act for peace. And it is about the resilience and innocence of children caught in the crossfire of wars waged in the name of religion and territorial rights.
At its heart however, Protector is a tale about faith and belief and that sometimes magic can come in the form of the most unlikely of saviors to transcend the brutal reality of war.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Speaking as a Jewish woman, I wrote Protector as a cry against the tribalism and horrors we’ve all seen in the images of Gaza for now more than a year. In my opinion, some of the best fiction touches on moral themes. Human rights are universal. And “Never Again” means Never Again for all. Children like Marwan deserve peace and protection – both in fantasy and real life. - J.E. Clarke
L.Chambers has been writing all her life – especially in her head, and on scraps of paper. It’s only in the last few years she began to get serious about screen-writing. Prior to this she worked in the Features Department for ABC TV as a Program Assistant, and trained as a FAD. She currently works as a freelance web-content editor and lives with her husband (also a screenwriter) in Sydney, Australia.Read more
Known for her unique characters and plots, J.E. Clarke has optioned her feature length horror, "Containment" with Primestar Film Group (director Mike Elliott of Scorpion King 4 attached), her SF feature "Stream" with Purryburry Productions, John Noble of "Fringe" and "Lord of the Rings" attached. Her fantasy/SF "Evergreen" (cowritten for Adam Zeulhke of Zenoscope Productions), is currently in preproduction, along with Entanglement...Read more