"HARRY’S CROSS", Ngwana christian fozo (Cameroon) 

HARRY’S CROSS (15mn drama, 1 character)



                                    Harry’s life has taken a different turn; he’d lost his identity, his personality.
                                    Harry’s skin colour has changed from white to black a situation beyond scientific explanations and nature.
                                     Before Harry’s colour changed, he’d been an active member of an unpopular white segregationist cult, he’d been living his life in his own world, shadowed away by the dogmatic preaching and beliefs he’d been nursed with for decades.

                                  Discovering his colour change, Harry curses himself, life and God, he’s so ashamed of his colour change, that he decides taking away his life.

                                 Finally Harry discovers the truth about his past and decides taking his future in his hands, accepting his equality with fellow humans and fight for his rights in a hostile environment…
                                   
         screenplay

              Title : A DAY IN BLACK
              Genre : drama
            Duration : 15mns

            Written by NGWANA CHRISTIAN FOZO
             COPYRIGHTS ASCAP2008

                 

     
                                            A DAY IN BLACK

                                                       
                                                       
                                                         EXT. STREET WALKS-DAY

                                           Harry (25) a fat and weird black fellow, putting on a pair of lenses.
                                          Walks along the side walks of, he’s walking in the midst of a busy crowd, he walks pace fully with his head turned up towards the sky.

                                                                Harry (V.O)


                                            It’s not easy living in the skin of a “nigger” just for a day!
                                            It’s not that easy presenting one’s goddamn self in a train station,   a police station with a nigger’s name.
                                            I termed what happened to me; “an act of God”
                                           Wasn’t it for this satirical phase of my life, I wouldn’t have understood the principles of racial equality.
                                           For twenty five years I’ve been living a lie, I’ve been confused and submitted to useless and unethical dogma forwarded by ignorant and unscrupulous liars who kept the truth away because of their selfish aims…

                                       Blood run down in our veins, we all eat, we all breathe in oxygen, we all sin and we all die.

                                  White, black, Hispanic or the colourless humans, we’re all humans.
                            Like the man I was some years back, there are thousands of folks out there living my history…
   

         


                                                         
      Fade in.

   1.

                                                       INT.EXTREMIST CONVENTION-NIGHT


                                        Long white bearded man standing on the altar wears a black garment, a white muffler runs across his shoulder, there’s a strange emblem printed on the white scarf, it’s apparently a sacred cult, his followers are putting on the same muffler seemingly to that of the bearded  preacher.
                              Harry (25) is sited at the last row on the left side wing of the hall room, he’s a weird fellow putting on a pair of lenses, he’s twenty five but puts on the looks of a seventy years old monk, probably because of his ideas and beliefs, he’s apparently at the peak of his concentration…the preacher at the front continues dishing out his dogma while the adepts now stretch their ear veins listening.

                                                          Preacher

                                              We’ll not give up our racial superiority!
                                             They shouldn’t make us believe we’re equals!
                                             Long live the white superiority! Long live the clan!


 The followers give in with cheers…


   2.
                                                        EXT.CITY SIDE WALKS-NIGHT

                                           Harry walking on the side walks, he walks a hundred miles before
                                          Getting into his apartment, a modest flat in the city



3.

                                                    EXT.HARRY’S APPARTMENT.

                                        Harry walks into his apartment, an archaic and gloomy atmosphere
                                       All the objects present in his living room easily describes his personality, there are extremist symbols and banners hung all over his apartment, the Nazi swastika sign, and other signs of racial segregation and extermination.

                            He now walks into his room, takes off his clothes, he’s now having a short on, he mumbles some words to himself, sits on the bed edge, tries to concentrate on a TV programme, but can’t find concentration…he finally turns off the television, throws the remote in anger and turns off the light…


4.


                                                INT.HARRY’S APPARTMENT-DAY

                                         Harry staggers down his bed, his fat and hairy stomach is now visible, drunken with sleeps, he kicks pass some bottles around his bed, he’s apparently a disorganised fellow and his life ain’t different…

 He now walks, through the corridor into his bathroom…


 5.

                                              INT.HARRY’S BATH ROOM

                                     Harry now stands in front of a mirror he pours some paste on his toothbrush, apparently he hasn’t noticed the night mare of his life has just begun.

Harry’s skin profile has been converted from white to black, he’d lost all his skin pigments, he notices the irregularity, he cleans off his eyes in disbelief, washes his face with three handfuls of water…murmurs some words to himself…dashes away from the bathroom in a quick rush…after a few seconds he returns to face the reality…Harry’s been changed to a “nigger” a scenario he’d never imagined in his life, even in his wildest dream.

With one hard object, he breaks down the mirror, kneels down on his two knees, cries out loud in a heavy and thunderstorm voice, cursing himself and cursing God…
 

                                                      EXT.STREET-SIDE WALKS

                                                            Harry (V.O)


                                       Taking away my life wasn’t the best thing to do.
                                       I just had to behave like a human, like other humans do.
                                       Believing in God and keeping hope.

                                     I learnt adapting myself into the Blackman’s world.
                                    Though it’s a challenging one, I kept my head straight. 
                                    I have the dream being even a black president in a white world.
                                    Why limiting myself, I’m a human of course!  (Chuckles)


                                                              THE END.

"HARRY’S CROSS", Ngwana christian fozo (Cameroon) fozo_chris@yahoo.ca