Page 7 of Hollywood Treatment Screenplay for the Grayling Hidden Truth Poems by Cheryl Freier

Hollywood Treatment Screenplay Page 7 of the novel, The Grayling Hidden Truth Poems
The dog stops for a moment then charges after a small brown rabbit. Soldiers are heard in the distance, changing direction. Sam begins to crawl towards the cave. He is He is nearly home when he is overcome with fear and grief. He lies prostate, behind a rotting tree. A hand reaches in and pulls him up. It is Martin. Sam tells his brother to let him be, he has nothing to live for. Martin grabs Sam by the shirt and pulls him close to his face. “Then you have let the Nazis win.”
Martin drags Sam towards the cave, stopping every few feet to listen for soldiers. When they finally arrive, Sam slumps to the floor. For two days, he lies in bed barely moving. On the third, everyone is relieved when Sam declares that he is hungry. The family watches him eat, smiling. Sam tells them his story, and confides that he had loved Sarah. Joseph tells him this world needs love, however brief it may be. Sam tells Joseph that he must go back. Joseph says that they will do it together.
Sam leads Joseph, Bernard and Martin to the lake. Working together, they collect the bodies of Sarah’s family and bury them. The men pray as Sam lays wild flowers at the grave. Afterward, Joseph orders Bernard to take what food he can from the house. Joseph warns him not to tell his brother.
It is nearly dawn when the men arrive home. They succumb to their exhaustion and sleep late into the day. They are awakened by Cannon blasts and explosions in the distance. Joseph commands his family to pick up whatever they can; they must leave the hideout now. There is no discussion as the family complies and they are soon ready to depart. They trek for nearly eight hours before Joseph stops them near a cave similar to the one they just vacated. “This is our new home,” he says solemnly. The family enters and lays on the damp ground, oblivious to the outside world.
The next morning, no one in the family has the strength or motivation to do the things needed to make the cave livable. Joseph tries to rally them, but his words of encouragement lack conviction and they all know it. Sam gets to his feet and addresses the others. He tells them that he understands how they fell, but they owe it to Sarah’s family, and all of the Jewish families that have been butchered by the Nazis, to survive and let the world know what they’ve suffered through. “If no one does this,” he urges, “then, to the rest of the world, it will be as I we never even existed.” Sam’s words move the others to action. Joseph and the boys construct a hidden entrance. Anna and Edith gather mushrooms and berries and Henry sets up his hand-carved wooden soldiers. As they sit to dinner that evening, Joseph glances around their new, slightly more spacious dwelling. He smiles and tells his family that they are moving up in the world.
The net morning, plans are heard overhead as the rumblings o an airstrike give way. Joseph informs his family that they must stay hidden. The battle clamors on for