Chapter One
The Abduction
Northern Australia — 9,200 BC
Ext. Ancient Coastline — Day
Red cliffs meet turquoise water under stark blue skies.
A gull shrieks at the silence.
Back from the sea, a cave gapes open.
Int. Deep Cave — Day
Yirran (16, lean indigenous youth) watches Marwen (60s, weathered elder) painting.
Suddenly, Yirran tenses.
Stands, heads for the cave entrance.
Ext. Cave Entrance — Continuous
Squints in harsh sunlight.
Faces mirror calm sea. Gulls swoop, cicadas drone.
He listens.
Yirran
(whispers)
Something…
He turns back.
A sharp HISS stops him.
A THUNDERCLAP follows.
He drops flat, stares toward the sea.
A light grows rapidly from the horizon.
Fast. Bigger. Bigger still.
The light hovers over the beach, settles above a rocky bluff directly in front of Yirran.
White fire streams from its underside, melting the rock.
A rock pool shimmers.
Trees rustle and flatten.
Stones skitter across the dirt.
He rushes back into the cave.
Yirran
(desperate)
Marwen!
Int. Deep Cave — Continuous
Marwen
(not looking up, chuckles)
You sound like a squawking gull. You’ll waken the dead. Calm down. I’m finished now.
Yirran
(breathless, terrified)
Outside… a thing… light… with fire…
Marwen places the fossils into a dilly bag, hitches it across his shoulder.
Shuffles to the entrance.
Yirran follows.
Ext. Cave Entrance — Continuous
As they step out, the air turns to static.
The hair on Yirran’s neck stands straight up.
The light isn’t just bright; it’s heavy.
It pins them to the red earth like insects under a thumb.
Shadows shift.
Man and boy try to run but are held fast.
An energy moves Marwen with a violent twist.
He kicks and writhes, mouth open in a silent scream.
Yirran blinks, stares at the place Marwen stood seconds ago.
Molten lava remains, spitting as it hits the sea.
Normal sounds return—gulls, cicadas, waves.
Yirran dashes back into the cave.
Int. Deep Cave — Night
He sits hard against the wall, staring.
Suddenly, he stands and rekindles the fire.
Finds paint, mixes it with saliva.
Begins brushing on the wall beside Marwen’s painting.
Blood from his hands merges with paint.
He hesitates.
Then, his hand trembles as he scratches a jagged “V”.
He lumbers outside, gathers rocks.
Panting as he builds.
Yirran fixes the final stone.
Through the last remaining chink of light, we see his eye—wide, bloodshot, reflecting the dying embers of his fire.
Then—Darkness.
End of Chapter One