EVENING: Edgar is born again
Through the black of the screen, small white letters begin to appear: August 13, 1900.
As the screen begins to lighten, lighting cracks, and breaks the silence. The picture shows a large aerial view of massive terrain, as the camera sweeps over the land, slowly, then picking up speed. As the camera slows down, a small town begins to come into view. The camera pans the streets, as a rat darts from one dark corner to another, bumps into a trash can, loudly, before it scatters into the gutter. The camera continues showing one run down house, then another, only a muddy road separating them. Finally it stops at the front of a small, rundown shack. The silence is broken by a loud, prepubescent scream.
Inside the house a pale, thin boy is seized in pain, his body twisting awkwardly on top of the wooden table in the middle of the humble room. Holding the boy’s hand, an older woman, salt and pepper hair, held his hand and whispered in his ear.
MOMMA: Calm yo self, boy. God ain’t gonna set no pain on you, as you cain’t take. Another cramp seized his body.
MOMMA: Them chariots gonna be worth all this if they get you tonight.
The old woman’s voice is soft and quiet in that small space, as tears rolled down her pale cheeks. Crouching in the corner, a young boy clutches a bible, scared.
The pain seized Edgar again and his body contorted; his arms flailing behind him, his head thrown back. His fingers were knotted in peculiar shapes and he stares down at them, unable to move. The camera follows his gaze, fixed for a few seconds on the boy’s awkward fingers.
BROTHER: The devil. (The older boy, David, whispered from the corner.)
MOMMA: Shush up, boy. Now go on over there and get me something to put under his head. Go on now.
Edgar’s brother watched for another moment, and as Edgar screamed again, he jumped and ran into the other room. When he came back he only clutched the bible.
MOMMA: Give me that thing. (She took the bible from David, and placed it under Edgar’s head.)
MOMMA: This here will give you comfort in your time of trouble.
Outside, thick drops of rain hit camera, highlighting the crude windowpane in the shack. David went to the window, rubbed the condensation off, and stared out into the night, the camera lighting the boy’s scared eyes. The wind hit the old wooden shack hard, the rattling noise breaking the silence in the room. Suddenly, the door flew open, air and dead leaving sweeping into the room. Edgar’s Momma ran to the door, trying to close it, as the rain rushed inside.
Edgar screamed and blood began running from the boy’s mouth, ears and eyes. In the back, Edgar’s brother screamed and ran out of the room and his mother just stared at him. Suddenly, in the corner of the small humble room, a shadow began to take form and spread seemingly without a source. Edgar watched through bloody eyes.
Lighting struck somewhere outside, which was followed by a loud boom. Edgar looked down; he saw a shadow move across the floor. It was small and almost unnoticeable at first, but as he watched, and the camera slowly focused, it grew bigger, climbing the wall to within a foot from the ceiling. It stood there, still, unmoving, as if watching. His mother did not seem to notice the shadow.
The book beneath his head grew harder with each moment, and the boy struggled against the weight. Edgar wiggled his body until his head was no longer on the book, but beside it. He touched it, closing his eyes to finally allow the inevitable to come, as if accepting his fate. In the distance somewhere, he heard his mother gasp. He touched his face, the blood on his hand was bright red compared to dark, depressive room.
Just at that moment a great wind pounded on the house, blowing open the doors, as they rocked back and forth on their hinges, the house began to shake and rattle as if it were coming apart at the seams. At the same time, almost simultaneously, the dark thing in the corner dodged at Edgar, and before he could even move, it had seized him, grabbing a hold of him..
The camera switches to show the view from Edgar’s eyes. The sound is completely absent and the boy sees a concession of visions flash before his eyes. Ancient temples, blood, death, plague… Suddenly a bright light blinded him. It seeped from his pores and into his humble room, in the small shack that he shared with his family. After what seemed like a life time, he opened his eyes. He awoke with his mother and brother staring at him. His mother’s eyes were red and stained with tears.
EDGAR: Woman why are you crying?
The old woman looked at him strangely. Thunder booms in the distance.
MOMMA: Rabboni?
EDGAR: I have seen the Lord.
His mother sighed, began to cry. She held the bible that had been lying next to the boy’s head.
MOMMA: That was the answer that our dear lord gave to his momma, Mary, in this very book…. It means teacher. My boy, you are meant to lead others.
MORNING: Twins in Church
The screen goes black, small white letters appear: Hopkinsville, Kentucky July, 1910
Light, playful music of children softly plays. In a small humble room, a group of people sit and listen to a sermon. The preacher screams loudly and as the music fades, his is the only voice heard. The camera slowly focuses on two little girls sitting on the pews. One girls is very light skinned and her complexion is a contrast to her sister whose skin is very dark. The dark skinned girl has on a very light yellow dress, and the light skinned one has on a darker blue one. The camera picks up this contrast of complexions and colors and room and sounds fade in the distance. The room and everything around them is dark and dull in contrast.
The darker skinned girl swings her legs back and forth, kicking the back of the rickety bench. Beside her, her daddy gives her a look, and so the girl stops and sits back, defeated.
A few rows back a woman shouts “Amen” and begins wiggling in her seat. As the minister talks the women falls to the floor, shouting crazed hallelujahs to the Lord. Leona and Iona giggle covering their mouths, staring at their father, so they won’t get in trouble. Beside her, a man waves a brightly colored fan with a picture of a pretty white angel on the back, over the old woman.
The girl’s oldest brother, Jacob, covers Leona’s mouth with his hand to keep her from making too much noise. Mr. Jefferies bit off a great, big hunk of his tobacco, walled up in a big old ball, chewed on it a bit and got up and spit in the tub in the back of the church. He winks at the girls on his way back to his seat.
When the preacher is finished, everyone gets up and shakes hands in fellowship. Leona stands up, looking bored. By the time she makes her way outside, Iona is already there laughing at her.
A young girl wobbles out, taking each of the stairs one at a time. Her feet were as big as sausages and her belly is bigger than her head. She strolls by the girls, smiling at each of them and walks off into the trees and disappears. Iona looks at Leona and then back at her parents, and before her sister could stop her, she dashes off into the woods after the girl. Leona follows, her bright skin flushing red in the heat. The camera runs behind the girls, the lens brushing against the tree branches, and over tree stumps. As they run, the same lighthearted son begin to play again.
Suddenly it becomes obviously darker inside the tree line than it had been outside, and the music stops. The sun hardly peeks through the bushy treetops at all, and in the camera light, it looks almost as if it has turned to night instantly. Somewhere in the distance, the girl cries. The noise distorted in the woods and the shadows begins to take on a sinister feel, as the light grows even darker.
Iona turns to her sister and the girl’s face is concerned. Leona, smiled, but it’s forced and the camera zooms in on the girl’s imperfect teeth. Leona then reaches out to her sister, tries to stop her twin.
The pregnant girl sits on a fallen tree trunk, her hand perched on top of her massive stomach. Tears stained her face, falling to her humble dress in fat drops, staining that too. She tries to smile when she sees the twins, but it’s strained. Iona looks at her sister, nods and says, “Janice.” Iona made her way to the pregnant girl.
IONA: Are you all right?
PREGNANT GIRL: Yeah.
Suddenly Iona reaches out and touches her, quickly, too fast for the camera to see, so it moves in slow motion. A tiny shock is sent through the girl. Janice jumps and looks into the Iona’s eyes.
PREGNANT GIRL: How old are you and your sister now? Nine? (Iona nods.) I thought so. I remember when you was born. They say you two was special, ya know. ( She paused for a long time. So long she looked like she’d fallen asleep with her eyes opened.) It hurts…real bad. (Janice touched her stomach and puts hand between her legs.) It ain’t time though. I got me two months to go. It’s somethin’ else. Something’s wrong. I can feel it.
IONA: I know. I feel it too.
As the camera watches, Iona’s eyes flair up like a light, twinkling. Janice’s face begins slowly become calmer and more tranquil. The two, Iona and Janice, stare at each other as Leona watches. Finally Janice closed her eyes.
IONA: Suffering never last as long as it feels sometimes. And heaven comes after, momma said. So it’s worth it, I guess.
The pregnant girl smiles, nods. She sits there for a moment longer, then stands up and wipes her dress clean. When she walkes away, she is just a little lighter on her feet, her back just a bit straighter.
LEONA: The baby’s dyin’.
IONA: You sure? (Leona nods.)
IONA: What’s wrong with it?
LEONA: It was bad.
Suddenly the camera flashes to what the girl saw in her vision. Dramatic music booms as the insides of the girl’s belly come into focus. Amniotic fluid swirls as the fetus appears on screen and slimy crawling, wiggling worms smothered the life from the unborn baby.
“Writing History With Lightning”: Southern History Through Film 