The Pony Boys part VIII by JR Villar

 

 

33. EXT field night

That night the party seemed more cheerful than ever, although, it had been a hard day for everyone. THE PONY BOYS even joke about SHAP being ‘the pawn’, which gave rise to all the events of that afternoon. Suddenly many of THE PONY BOYS begin to swirl as SHAP had done before he fell and caused the accident with the water canal. They start with a huge uproar, and for several minutes they forget the problems of the day.
Even the lack of Alfonso, who had disappeared that afternoon, was forgotten in those moments of fun. AFY just sit on a trunk, perfectly estranged from everything that is happening around her. She sketched only a slight smile when she see all THE PONY BOYS shouting and swirling with open arms.

THE PONY BOYS
Shap, Shap, Shap!

 

HYG sees AFY sited and approaches her.
AFY looks up and smiles. HYG speaks to her gently.

HYG
You miss him, don’t you?

AFY nodds.

HYG
Never mind, I believe we will be able

to do something to change our destiny.

AFY
Until now the only person

I saw with any intention

of changing anything was Alfonso…

HYG looks at the floor, feeling responsible about the lack of motivation to face Totopuk. HYG speaks timidly without taking his eyes off the ground.

HYG
The fear of the Master of Life

is great. Very great...

 I'll try and see that this ritual is the last one.

AFY
Really?! Are you thinking of something?

HYG
I have not thought of anything...

but at least we’ve started...

I'll have to think. (Smiles).

For starters, let's hurry this ritual along!

The longer we delay it,

the worse it is for everyone.

HYG gets up and gives a cry like nothing human, very typical of the Pony Boys.
All THE PONY BOYS stop and look in the direction of HYG. HYG speaks for all to hear:

HYG
Time for the Ritual of Berries.

Prepare the fire and blackcurrant leaves!

It is immediately a tense environment. Without rushing, the boys walk slowly to prepare for the ritual.

34.ext forest night

ALFONSO is climbing down the mountain as best he can. He feels very strange. On the one hand, he wanted to go home; he thought of his parents and how they would be feeling. On the other hand, his heart was with the Pony Boys. He wanted to help them fight Totopuk. He could not rest knowing that one of the boys had to face the punishment that night. ALFONSO takes care while walking, with some difficulty, down a fairly steep slope. Suddenly the ground under his feet is running with lots of fresh mud. Alfonso slips down the slope without being able to control himself. ALFONSO increasingly gains speed until it became maddening. Inadvertently, he had entered the bed of a brook left by the previous night's rainstorm. For a few minutes he slips on the muddy bottom, which miraculously snaked through the trees. Unable to stop, he began desperately shouting. His cry echoes throughout the mountain.

 

35.Ext forest night

GUSTAVO and MAFALDA, on a nearby hillside, can hear Alfonso shouting with clarity. 

GUSTAVO
Mafalda! Listen! Is Alfonso!

That voice is Alfonso!

GUSTAVO stops and listens carefully to confirm what he was hearing, he cries with all the strength he have.

GUSTAVO
Alfonso! Alfonso! here...we are here!

36.ext forest night

ALFONSO continues his dizzying descent.

37.ext forest night

GUSTAVO and MAFALDA run towards the screams of ALFONSO. They are horrified when they see him quickly coming down, unable to stop. The end of that river of mud is at the border of highest edge of a cliff. GUSTAVO goes right to the end of the creek, always keeping his eyes on ALFONSO, controlling his descent. He cries even more frantic.

GUSTAVO
Alfonso here! I'm here...get ready...I'm here!

ALFONSO looks and is appalled at what lay at end of the brook. If he could not stop, he would fly from a gigantic height, a fall where he would surely barely emerge alive.
In the last moments, he could see GUSTAVO trying to stretch himself in ALFONSO’S direction. With a stretch that almost tore his arms, ALFONSO founds himself half-hanging off the cliff, clinging to GUSTAVO. With his legs swinging over the abyss, he sat motionless, eye to eye with GUSTAVO. GUSTAVO grits his teeth, with the force he is using to sustain his position. MAFALDA comes up panting, and grabbed him too. Together, the parents pull him hard into a safe place.
Altogether they laugh and crie while hugging, not saying a word. ALFONSO pauses and looked over GUSTAVO'S shoulder as he hugs him. ALFONSO eyes are lost in the mountain.

38. ext field night

The PONY BOYS are all sitting around the Great Fire. In their hands each one of them helds a berry, some are staring into space. HYG takes the floor.

HYG
Dear boys, once again we have

to perform the Ritual of Berries.

It’s only a few months after we last had to.

The last time was when wild pigs crossed

the field and drank part of our collection

as well as took a bath in it...

The PONY BOYS laugh remembering the situation. HYG smiles and continues...

HYG
This time it was a moment of pure joy

that brought this punishment and one of us

 must suffer simply because we were happy...

(more serious than ever)

But I’ll tell you one thing,

this will be the final punishment!

We will not tolerate other punishment

in these conditions! I promise you that

I will not allow any more of us to be punished!

The boys looked at each other amazed.

HYG
I swear there will not be any other punishments!

The boys burst out with euphoria.

HYG
I cannot avoid it today...well,

I do not really know what to do to avoid it...

But today we cannot take unnecessary risks

that put us all in danger and could

 jeopardize our future.

I would have liked to give some thought

to it before today had happened

but some day it will be...

we could not avoid all the punishments

that we’ve had so far but

we can prevent future ones from tomorrow!

Again, the boys burst with euphoria.

HYG
One of us will suffer today.

But they will always be remembered

as the last Pony Boy punished by Totopuk.

The boys shout a great uproar of approval.

HYG
I should remind you though;

someone gave me this strength

to face Totopuk.

The boys look at each other, trying to figure out which of them it could be.

HYG
I will remind you...Alfonso.

(There were murmurs everywhere.)

Although he was only with us for just

a little more than two days,

he showed us how we were

being mistreated by Totopuk.

I will not forget him.

This was because his world was different.

We wanted to hold him here.

We forgot that Alfonso had his own world.

What if we instructed him to stay,

we'd be withdrawing him from what he likes best.

We would be on equal footing with Totopuk.

The boys are now very quiet. Hyg looks at them.

HYG
To the Great Fire.

The ritual of berries must begin!

The PONY BOYS sing a song far sadder than is customary, a sort of leaving ballad. One by one, the PONY BOYS are throwing their berries. Each time they cast one, a small flaring light broke out from the fire. Each boy whose own berry cause a yellow flare is instantly relieved. KALI and SHAP, are lucky. They see their berries burning in yellow.
One after another, they throw berries that had been burnt as a small match head. Finally, they are just three boys, HYG, AFY and another PONY BOY with freckles and reddish hair. As his berry launchs he closed his eyes and says a few words as if they were prayers. Nothing happened in the first few seconds. All eyes turned to the redheaded kid, but his berry eventually burned yellow. The boy sighs with relief. HYG and AFY look at each other. One of the two is the chosen one.
KALI and SHAP are anxious and desperate at the same time. AFY launches her berry. Two seconds passed and nothing…three, four...then, an intense green light erupts from the Great Fire. All the flames turn green. AFY covers her mouth with her hands. She is been chosen.

39. ext night mountain

At that exact moment when Afy is chosen, ALFONSO feels a sharp pain in his chest. He grims with pain. MAFALDA and GUSTAVO exclaime in surprise. ALFONSO pushes them away, gets up and looks at the mountain top.

ALFONSO
(murmures) Afy! (shouts very loudly) Afy!

GUSTAVO and MAFALDA are astonished with this sudden cry from ALFONSO, and before they could react, ALFONSO begins running, climbing up the slope. GUSTAVO and MAFALDA shout to him.

GUSTAVO
Alfonso! Stop! What's up?!

MAFALDA
What are you doing?!

They can't do anything. They try to chase ALFONSO, but being less agile, they slipped in the mud he was leaving behind. GUSTAVO even cries once more to ALFONSO, but he disappears into the trees.

40. ext night mountain

ALFONSO runs as fast as he can, clinging to the trees for support. Some bushes scratchs his skin, but nothing can hold him back now. Instinctively, he feels Afy calling for him, so he runs furiously. Ahead the mountain's animals take refuge in the burrows. For over an hour ALFONSO runs without stopping, guided only by an invisible instinct that led him to the field.

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