Thursday, June 26, 2014

Walden



Walden



by
Oggy Bleacher


WGA Registered: #1129922



Title: “Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed - Henry David Thoreau”
FADE IN:
EXT. WALDEN POND. SPRING EVENING
Walden Pond and the surrounding marshes and fields are silent. A single maple seed floats on the water near an area free of ice. A chipmunk scampers to the base of a pine tree and uncovers a buried acorn. A pine cone rests in a pile of snow.
Title: “Walden Pond. Concord, Massachusetts 1845”
Tracking away from the pond we soon focus on THOREAU’S BOOTS as they blaze a trail through the snow...20 yards, 40 yards, 100 yards...over a treeless meadow in the direction of the pond. Using a rope sling around his shoulders Thoreau drags behind him a long paper birch tree, stripped of its branches.
On the rope sling: the cotton rope rubs on the rough bark until it finally BREAKS, causing Thoreau to stumble to the ground. He lays there for a moment and then rolls over and looks at the sky, his breath steaming. We see his face for the first time, his long beard, his hair flowing from under a knit wool hat, the eyes of a man on a mission.
Thoreau is not yet 28 years old. He wears wool clothes, suspender straps, a torn (and mended) plaid shirt. He holds up his left hand to find he has IMPALED IT ON A STICK. He carefully cuts his glove off then holds his breath as he pulls the stick out of his palm. He stops the bleeding with a rag. Thoreau then stands and carefully ties the rope sling back on the tree.
Thoreau arrives at a small clearing near the pond. He drops the tree near some rough-cut lumber and surveying stakes that outline the foundation of his cabin. He moves to the smoldering campfire and throws some kindling on before blowing the embers back to life. He examines his hand in the firelight. The bleeding has stopped.
A breeze stirs in the pine trees. A deer looks up from a barren corn field. Thoreau walks to the shore, kneels, and splashes his face with water. Then he gently washes the puncture wound on his palm. A series of silent images slowly materialize on the water’s surface, gradually drawing Thoreau’s attention. These water-born images are accompanied by distant echoes of these past and future moments. The device will hereafter be known as the...
RIVER OF TIME:
1. RALPH WALDO EMERSON lectures at the Harvard Lyceum.
2. ELLERY CHANNING throws a piece of paper at Thoreau’s back during a Harvard class.
3. MARGARET FULLER sits in a canoe on the Concord River. She reads to several children who are also in the canoe.
4. Henry’s older brother, JOHN THOREAU, stands on an exposed mountain slope, holding his hat on his head.
5. An image of a pine tree on a nearby dirt road.
Thoreau locks on this last image. As the vision comes into focus we are drawn in...
MATCH CUT TO:
EXT. RURAL ROAD. MASSACHUSETTS - FALL DAY.
TITLE: 1834
A pair of old men, quintessential Yankees, shuffle along the dirt road near the pine tree. They are dressed in plain wool coats and take their time walking.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
I tell you, it’s a sign of ill weathah.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
(reading from a paper)
“Brits abolish slavery in West Indies!” Nothing ill ‘bout it.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Read between the lines. These freed slaves, where do you suppose they’ll go?
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Back to Africa?
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Not likely. Quick as I spit they’ll be in Boston working the docks, in Maine working the orchahds.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
And?
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
It’s too much change. This country’s had too much change.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Or not enough.
The old men shuffle past HENRY DAVID THOREAU, now age 17. Thoreau’s hair falls over his eyes, his face is smooth. He touches the bark of a pine tree on the edge of a thin forest. The mixed foliage of the few remaining trees explodes in colors of burnt orange, red, tan and evergreen.
THOREAU
(developing a poem)
How could the tree...How could the pine tree feel...How could the patient pine have known...The morning breeze would come...Or humble flowers anticipate...the insect’s noonday hum?
SFX: The rhythmic sound of a saw cutting a tree rises in the background. Thoreau is oblivious as he studies the pine needles and asks the question again:
THOREAU (CONT’D)
How could the patient pine have known?


Thoreau becomes aware of the sawing sound, like grinding metal to his ears. He turns and spies the source in a nearby field. A farmer and his son are cutting a tree with a large two-man saw. Thoreau watches the farmers as sweat soaks through their shirts. Another farmer struggles with a horse drawn plow. Thoreau absorbs all this and then moves on to...
EXT. HARVARD SQUARE, CAMBRIDGE - LATER THAT EVENING
Thoreau walks into the bustling square that consists of dirt roads, brick buildings, and a church surrounded by broad lawns. Dairy cows graze in a cemetery. Destitute immigrants sit or stand on the sidewalk, soliciting day labor and spare change. Horse-drawn carts pass noisily. Thoreau pauses before a chalkboard that reads...
CHALKBOARD: BRITAIN EMANCIPATES SLAVES! PRESIDENT JACKSON VISITS BOSTON!
ELLERY CHANNING, disguised as a whaling ship captain, emerges from an alley. A cloak hood and large pipe cover his face.
CHANNING
You look like a fit young fish. There’s room aboard my ship if you’ve got fortunes on your mind.
Thoreau ignores the man.
CHANNING
(puffing pipe)
Or is it opium dreams you prefer? Yes?
Channing steps in front of Thoreau.
THOREAU
Neither!
Thoreau steps to one side but Channing grabs his arm.
CHANNING
Not so fast! You’ll make a fine galley slave. All your Concord learning should serve you well in the pit of whaling ship!
THOREAU
Let go! You...
It dawns on Thoreau that this man is someone else. Thoreau pushes the hood off the man’s head to reveal ELLERY CHANNING (16), laughing out loud. CHANNING is one year younger than Thoreau and is physically more rugged and handsome not to mention extroverted.
THOREAU
Ellery! You are a terrific fiend! And an awful actor!
CHANNING
I had more pressing concerns than theater this summer.
(dramatically)
Her name was June but in August she was gone. Like feathers her hair was, skin soft as a sunset.
(sighs)
Look at you, thin as a corn stalk. How was your summer?
THOREAU
My mother opened our house to Canadian bound free-men. What will the future bring?
Channing stops abruptly and pretends to be stricken by a vision.
CHANNING
I can see it...dark days lay ahead. An age of war. A long desperate winter of German verbs and the monotony of French Literature. Yes, and I see you in forty years, still living with your mother...still a hopeless virgin.
Thoreau pushes Channing.
THOREAU
Buffoon!
CHANNING
Henry, why are we here? Why do we volunteer our souls for the purgatory called “advanced geometry”?
The two move off through Harvard Square. A STREET PERFORMER juggles flaming sticks.
CHANNING (cont'd)
Let’s go west. There are herds of buffalo, flocks of geese. We can conjugate Latin verbs on the prairies. I’ll study. I promise. Pleeeease!
THOREAU
I’d go, but I already paid for the term. Money I didn’t have, I might add.
The two pass a beggar woman.
BEGGAR
A man is only as rich as what he can afford to give away.
Thoreau digs in his pocket and hands the woman a coin.
CHANNING
All the more reason to leave. There are no female students, the rooms are cold, the professors are musty old cods, and there are no female students! I can’t stand it. Henry, please! Did I mention that there are no female...
THOREAU
I don’t like wagons.
CHANNING
(quickly)
East, then? To Europe on a schooner? Chest before the wind, a dash of sea salt and a biscuit for our bellies. Do you see the whales, Henry? There! PIRATES! To arms! Or wait...we’ll visit Athens, the Parthenon. Walk in the footsteps of Plato. Or Africa? Brazil? Anywhere but...Haavaahd. Ugh. It sounds like my grandfather coughing up a ball of phlegm. Haavaahd! Haavaahd!
THOREAU
A liberal education broadens the mind.
CHANNING
(defeated)
So does a wagon wheel when it runs over a toad.
Channing and Thoreau pass a tall man, WILLIAM GARRISON, who is speaking to a small but HOSTILE CROWD. Another man, WENDELL PHILLIPS, is handing out thin newspapers.
GARRISON
Liberate your minds! FREE THE SLAVES! Read The Liberator!
PASSERBY #1
Live and let live, Garrison. Love it or leave it.
GARRISON
Spare me your dusty mottoes, friend. We need action! Let Massachusetts lead the fight against human bondage.
Passerby #1 tears up the newspaper that Phillips has just handed him and throws it on the ground. Thoreau picks up the front page.
CU.: “THE LIBERATOR EST. 1831. FREEDOM TO ALL!”
PASSERBY #2
What do you want us to do about it? Invade Tennessee?
The crowd laughs at this absurd suggestion.
GARRISON
My associate will demonstrate what the brave among you may do. Mr. Phillips?
Wendell Phillips puts down the stack of newspapers and picks up a SCARECROW on a stick. He plants the stick in the ground. The scarecrow is dressed like a southern plantation owner. A sign hangs from the scarecrow’s neck: “SOUTHERN COTTON”
WENDELL PHILLIPS
Because southern cotton is picked by the bloodied hands of slaves, we must boycott it!
Garrison hands him a candle, which Phillips uses to light the scarecrow ON FIRE. The crowd backs off. Phillips takes a BAG OF SUGAR out of his pocket.
WENDELL PHILLIPS
Nor shall we sweeten our tea with cane sugar reaped by slaves on the islands.
Phillips pours the sugar onto the street. More vegetables are heaved at Garrison and Phillips.
WENDELL PHILLIPS
Boycott southern cotton! Boycott southern sugar!
Phillips is attacked and drops the flaming scarecrow.
THOREAU
Maybe we should help.
CHANNING
Help? Fine. Go ahead.
Thoreau pauses before the melee. He doesn’t know where to begin. Channing puts his arm around Thoreau’s shoulder and steers Thoreau away from the crowd.
CHANNING
It is man’s nature to be violent. I’m a lover and a poet myself. I met a rose petal this summer. Oh, Henry, she was a treasure, a delight, a song and a rain storm.
The two pass through an IRON THRESHOLD: “HARVARD COLLEGE”.
Thoreau looks back over his shoulder as the melee fades.
EXT. HARVARD SQUARE, BOSTON - WINTER 1934 - DAY
Channing strolls down the street chewing on a pipe. He stops a man.
CHANNING
Pardon me, do you have a match?
PROFESSOR
Yes. I believe I do.
Professor lights Channing’s pipe.
PROFESSOR
I say, aren’t you Ellery Channing?
CHANNING
Me?
PROFESSOR
You’re enrolled in my French Literature course and have missed all but two lectures.
CHANNING
Must be mistaken. Cheers.
Channing backs away, turns, and then runs into an alley. At the end of the alley he sees two women, MARGARET FULLER and VIRGINIA MASON. Channing gives chase and catches them as they are about to enter the Harvard Lyceum. He pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket.
EXT. HARVARD LYCEUM - DAY
CHANNING
Pardon me, did one of you drop this?
MARGARET examines the handkerchief monogram.
MARGARET FULLER
I think not.
She turns to enter the Lyceum.
CHANNING
(trying to impress)
My Greek Literature course just ended, at Harvard. I’m famished. It’s a little late for church service isn’t it?
MARGARET FULLER
Ah, didn’t you know? This is a magic building. It’s a church and also a Lyceum.
(off Channing’s dumb expression)
Lectures are given here, poems are read, debates are held on “socially significant topics.”
(beat)
It’s for adults.
CHANNING
Oh, that’s tonight? Good! I just made it! What’s on the program?
Channing makes to escort the women inside. Margaret doesn’t move.
MARGARET FULLER
Women aren’t allowed, at Harvard. Still, my humble education advises me that three is an odd number.
The women turn and leave Channing, speechless, on the door step. He has and idea and spins away. On the side of the Lyceum wall is a simple announcement: “Ralph Waldo Emerson speaks on Nature.”
INT. HARVARD LYCEUM - WINTER 1834 - LATER
Emerson is presenting a lecture to a small audience inside the Lyceum. The building was/is the First Parish Church in Harvard Square. The walls are adorned by arched stain-glassed windows. Long wooden pews line the floor in front of an ornate lectern.
EMERSON
A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within.
As Emerson speaks we pass through a window and into a nearby snow-covered cemetery where we find...
EXT. HARVARD CEMETERY - DAY
...Thoreau measuring a tree trunk. His footprints in the snow can be traced backwards to each tree. Thoreau taps one end of the tape into the bark and walks around the tree until he can read a measurement of the trunk circumference.
EMERSON (O.S.)
In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.
Thoreau writes in a small notebook he is carrying. Then he takes the tape and walks on to the next tree, whistling as he walks. Channing runs up.
CHANNING
The lecture! It’s happening at the Lyceum right now! Come on!
THOREAU
I’m busy.
CHANNING
Measuring trees? Why? Are you fitting them for a new suit?
THOREAU
There is a connection between climate and growth rates. In a decade, I should be able to graph the variations.
CHANNING
That’s very interesting, Henry. There’s also a connection between the temperature and how cold one’s oysters feel. Let’s go to the lyceum.
THOREAU
Why?
CHANNING
It’s the place where they read lectures, poems, debates, all that crap.
THOREAU
I know what a Lyceum is. Why should I go?
CHANNING
Don’t you know? Oh, it will take too long to explain. Honestly, you’re such a child sometimes.
Channing pulls Thoreau away from the nearest tree. They jog toward the Lyceum.
INT. HARVARD LYCEUM - DAY
EMERSON
There is a time in every man’s education...
Emerson has reached second gear in his lecture when the boys conspicuously enter the room. Emerson pauses to watch them sit down.
EMERSON
...when he arrives at the conviction that imitation is suicide. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and only he knows what seed will bear fruit. Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
Emerson speaks directly to Thoreau.
EMERSON (cont'd)
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Liberate yourself.
Several people nod. Others hiss. An older man stands up.
OLD MAN
Rubbish! Make the church obsolete?
The old man grumbles and walks toward the door. He passes Margaret Fuller and Virginia Mason. Margaret is 24 years old and radiates dignity. Virginia is a more cosmopolitan appearing woman of 21 years. The old man pauses before the two women.
OLD MAN
Women at a lecture? Disgraceful.
MARGARET FULLER
That it took so long, yes.
The man passes Channing and Thoreau.
CHANNING
Go join the Flat Earth Society if you don’t like the shape of this one!
The old man gives Channing a nasty look. Thoreau conspicuously walks his fingers off the edge of his flattened notebook. He whistles a descending tone as his fingers drop off the “edge of the world.” With a huff, the old man leaves. Margaret has seen all this and is amused. Channing now has his eyes on Virginia.
EMERSON
To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. But if a man would be alone let him look at the stars. Every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile, awakening in us a certain reverence. Their light illuminates only the eye of the common man, but shines into the heart of one who loves nature.
EXT. HARVARD LYCEUM - MOMENTS LATER
The crowd disperses into a light snow flurry. Thoreau wanders away. Channing intercepts Margaret and Virginia as they leave.
CHANNING
Wow! Is your head spinning? Mine is. That Emerson...can he lecture, or can he lecture?
MARGARET FULLER
Don’t you have to be getting back to your field trip? Your teacher is probably looking for you.
CHANNING
I mean to be a bad boy and skip class. I hope you won’t tell my father. He does hate when I neglect my studies.
(pause)
On second thought, maybe you should tell him. Have you met Henry? Henry?
Channing doesn’t see Thoreau.
CHANNING
One moment. Henry!
Channing runs and finds Thoreau measuring trees once more.
THOREAU
What do you think Emerson meant by nonconformist?
Channing straightens Thoreau’s coat and takes some grass specimens out of Thoreau’s pocket.
CHANNING
He meant that you shouldn’t look like a wild animal simply because you study them!
Channing drags Thoreau back to Virginia and Margaret.
CHANNING
Beg your pardon, ladies. Mea Culpa and apologies. My friend is shy. He’s writing a book about apples. I am Ellery Channing. I’m not shy at all.
MARGARET FULLER
Channing? Is your father...?
CHANNING
(he has said this before)
My uncle. The Unitarian preacher is my uncle. He got the brains. I got the looks.
MARGARET FULLER
All that glitters is not gold.
Channing’s smile disarms Margaret.
CHANNING
Maybe not, but it’s still pretty to look at.
(to Virginia)
Don’t you agree, Miss...?
MARGARET FULLER
This is Miz Virginia Mason. I’m Margaret Fuller.
Channing eagerly takes Virginia’s hand.
CHANNING
(A la Romeo)
“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight, for I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.”
Virginia blushes.
MARGARET FULLER
(a la Goethe)
A soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.
Henry begins to wander off again. Channing grabs him.
THOREAU
Nonconformist? Do you think he means religion or philosophy or politics?
CHANNING
She’s quoting Goethe and your head is in the clouds. Henry, this may by your only chance to let the bull out of the stable.
VIRGINIA
Bull?
CHANNING
We’re, uh, enrolled in an, uh,  animal husbandry course.
VIRGINIA
At Harvard?
CHANNING
It’s an elective. Right, Henry?
Thoreau is silent so Channing pretends to be Thoreau by stepping behind Thoreau and forcing Thoreau to bow.
CHANNING
(imitates Thoreau’s accent)
Greetings. My name is Henry Thoreau. That’s THOR-eau, rhymes with BUR-row for I’m as stubborn as a mule. I request the pleasure of your company lest the evening end before I learn the company of your pleasure.
VIRGINIA
I beg your pardon?
THOREAU
Wha?
CHANNING
(as himself)
A pot of tea? That’s a good idea, Henry. What do you say, Margaret? A bit of sip sip, hmmm? Virginia? Yes?
VIRGINIA
Only if you promise to behave yourself.
Channing places on hand over his heart as the other hand reaches for Virginia’s hips.
CHANNING
On my honor, m’lady.
MARGARET FULLER
(batting his hand away)
You say that like your honor has value.
The ladies turn and lead the way as a frowning Channing pulls Thoreau along.
CHANNING
(whispering and pointing at Margaret)
You can have that one.
INT. TAVERN HARVARD SQUARE - EVENING
The four sit at a table in a small tavern filled with SALTY WHALERS, IMMIGRANTS and DRUNKS. A slave-master stands up and waits for his slave to bring him his coat. Thoreau tries to make eye contact with the slave but fails. SNOW builds up on the windowsill. Oil lanterns glow on the wall. A fire crackles in a brick hearth. Channing is leaning comfortably back in his chair, his boots on the table.
CHANNING
Harvard is an adequate school, but far too conservative for my gypsy spirit. A mathematics professor recently formulated an equation for making love. Isn’t that tragic? Virginia, how would you describe making love...in algebraic terms?
VIRGINIA
I...I’m sure a cultured woman wouldn’t know.
CHANNING
Oh, wouldn’t she?
MARGARET FULLER
Could you not locate a less expensive method to study sonnets?
CHANNING
And fail to disappoint my father? What would be the point?
(to a passing waitress)
Ancora vino, m’lady.
WAITRESS
Speak English and get yer boots off the table.
She slaps Channing’s boots off the table and stares him down.
CHANNING
(politely)
More wine, please.
WAITRESS
(to herself)
Damn Harvard kids.
Thoreau takes a sip of tea, spills it.
MARGARET FULLER
Henry, is your book about how to pick apples or how to bake them?
Thoreau shakes his head.
THOREAU
How they grow and replenish; how the seasons affect them; how to predict their cycles. Apples are the seed of civilization.
CHANNING
Tell her your theory on temperature causing wood to shrink. “Theorizing Thoreau Thought Thoroughly Through Three Thimple Thextets!” Thhhhhhank you!
MARGARET FULLER
Did either of you read a word about Harvard before you applied? It prepares lawyers, doctors and ministers, not poets and... gardeners.
CHANNING
What do you do that’s so important?
MARGARET FULLER
I teach primary school here in Boston with Amos Alcott. I’ve founded a settlement house in Cambridge. And Emerson has asked me to edit his new quarterly.
Channing deliberately yawns.
MARGARET FULLER
Soon I’ll write for a newspaper here or in New York or Philadelphia.
CHANNING
Haven’t you heard? Women don’t write for newspapers in America. Paris is where you belong.
(to Virginia)
They’ll let women do anything there.
MARGARET FULLER
Yes, American men do cling to their frail monopolies.
(covers her mouth in mock embarrassment)
Oh! Did I say that out loud?
Channing salutes his glass of wine.
CHANNING
I’ll cling to that.
Margaret gives him a dirty look.
CHANNING
What? How could I know this place wouldn’t sell tea?
Channing follows Margaret’s eyes to a sign: “PIMPS AND WHORES MUST BE OUT BY SUNRISE”
THOREAU
You should eat to live, not live to eat.
CHANNING
Your platitudes are obnoxious, professor.
MARGARET FULLER
“The mass of mankind are evidently quite slavish in their tastes, preferring a life suitable to beasts.”
Channing grins and winks. The following “dueling quotes” is as rapidly executed as a gun fight.
THOREAU
(to Margaret)
Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle.
MARGARET FULLER
Oh, you are familiar with the classics. Harvard proved useful after all.
THOREAU
“Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.”
MARGARET FULLER
Francis Bacon.
Thoreau is surprised. He nods respectfully.
MARGARET FULLER
“We never err unless we judge something we do not fully comprehend.”
THOREAU
Rene Descartes; Principles of Philosophy.
CHANNING
Who said, “Never trust a bald barber?”
THOREAU
You’ll never know this one: “That thing is called free, which exists solely by the necessity of its own nature.”
CHANNING
I know it.
(beat)
No I don’t.
MARGARET FULLER
Spinoza.
THOREAU
How? How could you know that?
MARGARET FULLER
Assiduus usus uni rei deditus et ingenium et artem saepe vincit.
(Subtitle: Constant practice devoted to one subject often outdoes both intelligence and skill.)
CHANNING
Is that Spanish?
VIRGINIA
Latin.
CHANNING
Oh, you’re beautiful and smart.
THOREAU
Cicero, of course. Challenge me, Miz Fuller. Or do you concede that I am...?
MARGARET FULLER
“Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fancies. To teach superstitions as truth is a most terrible thing.”
Thoreau panics because he doesn’t know the source.
THOREAU
It’s not Hume or Locke. Is it Copernicus? Or...
Thoreau adjusts his collar. He looks to Channing who gives no help.
MARGARET FULLER
Well?
THOREAU
Give me a minute.
MARGARET FULLER
You either know it or you don’t.
THOREAU
Galileo. It’s Galileo. Yes?
Channing and Ellen look on expectantly. Thoreau is breathless. Margaret is pleased she has defeated Thoreau.
MARGARET FULLER
No. It’s Hypatia.
THOREAU
Hypatia? Who’s he?
MARGARET FULLER
Hypatia was the greatest female mathematician in Egypt.
Thoreau stands up.
CHANNING
(narrating)
Though his spirit is broken he musters the strength to stand. He is crippled, ashamed, humbled...
THOREAU
Shut up, El.
CHANNING
And bitter! Oh, how the mighty have fallen on this grave, grave hour.
THOREAU
Excuse me. I have research to do.
Thoreau steps away from the table.
MARGARET FULLER
(sincere)
There’s a young student at my school who would benefit from a lesson in botany, Mr. Thoreau. If you have time. It would mean a great deal to me if you would visit our school. Sincerely.
Thoreau stops and looks back at Channing, who is pawing at Virginia.
INT. TEMPLE SCHOOL - DAY
Thoreau pauses before Margaret’s classroom. He takes a deep breath and enters.
MARGARET FULLER
We have a special visitor today. His name is Henry Thoreau.
Thoreau is frozen by all the faces. The students wait. Margaret walks next to Thoreau.
MARGARET FULLER
How would you like to proceed?
THOREAU
(whispers)
You said there was one student. Not twenty.
MARGARET FULLER
(whispering)
Then pick one, but speak loud enough for all to hear. I’m here to help, Henry. They are here to learn. Be yourself.
Thoreau looks back at the door. Then he focuses on a student and shows him a pumpkin seed.
THOREAU
Can you tell me what this is?
TEMPLE SCHOOL STUDENT
A pumpkin seed?
Thoreau hesitates. He looks at Margaret for encouragement.
THOREAU
Correct. Good. Do you know how many full grown pumpkins I can fit in this seed?
TEMPLE SCHOOL STUDENT
None. It’s too small.
THOREAU
Ah! But I didn’t tell you that seeds are magic. I can fit a whole field of pumpkins inside this seed.
Thoreau shows the seed to all the students, who are now very interested in this magic seed.
THOREAU
The first step to learning is to proceed without prejudice. Who can tell me what I mean by prejudice?
There is a long pause. Margaret wants to help.
MARGARET FULLER
What Mr. Thoreau means...
THOREAU
Give them time.
A student reluctantly raises her hand.
TEMPLE SCHOOL STUDENT #2
Do you mean judgement? To not judge the seed before we see it?
THOREAU
That is exactly what I mean.
INT. TEMPLE SCHOOL - LATER THAT DAY
Thoreau walks out of the classroom, waving goodbye. Margaret follows him.
MARGARET FULLER
You are a gifted teacher, Henry. Your methods are unusual, but they are effective.
THOREAU
In ancient Greece my methods were quite common. Engage your subject, examine it, but do not interfere.
MARGARET FULLER
I hope you’ll return.
THOREAU
Perhaps.
MARGARET FULLER
I have a meeting with Waldo this evening, but can we meet later, in the Common? Near the pond?
THOREAU
Can I...?
MARGARET FULLER
No, you can’t invite Channing.
INT. THOREAU’S DOOR ROOM - LATER THAT AFTERNOON
Thoreau stands before a mirror grooming himself, straightening his coat, parting and re-parting his hair. Channing lazes on a bed and flips idly through a geometry text.
CHANNING
Euclidian nonsense. Rubbish!
THOREAU
Did you escort Mrs. Mason home?
CHANNING
Ha! Women want equality, but what happens when you ask one to split the bar tab?
THOREAU
You invited her for a drink.
CHANNING
Exactly. I invited her to join me while I had a drink. If she decides to have a drink, well...
Channing makes a vague gesture.
THOREAU
That’s rude. Isn’t it, Mr. Newton?
Thoreau takes a crumb of bread and feed his PET MOUSE.
THOREAU (cont'd)
So it’s safe to say the bull never left the stable?
CHANNING
The bull never got off the hay. Ah! I ought to leave this rotten, polluted village. All these damn Irish. You’re Irish aren’t you?
THOREAU
Scottish.
CHANNING
I knew it. Damn diseased Scottish. Let’s leave. Please, Henry, let’s go West.
Thoreau admires himself in the mirror.
THOREAU
How do I look?
CHANNING
Like a rich Scottish bastard.
THOREAU
Ah, it’s the green-eyed monster which doth mock.
CHANNING
Wa?
THOREAU
You might consider attending class.
CHANNING
Bah! What’s the point?
THOREAU
Culture, my boy. Modern women admire culture and sophistication.
Thoreau strikes a sophisticated pose. Channing goes to the window, pulls his trousers down and MOONS a Professor.
CHANNING
Who says I’m not sophisticated? Listen while I fart a Shakespeare soliloquy. Pick a scene...any scene.
Thoreau slowly shakes his head at Channing’s immature display.
THOREAU
What ails you, child?
Thoreau then slips out of the door and walks quickly away. Channing tries to get out of the window only to find his shirt tail is hooked on a nail. He’s trapped. There is an angry knock on the door.
CHANNING
Uh? Henry? Help!
The professor that Channing just mooned tentatively pushes the door open. The two stare at each other for a moment. Channing is still stuck in the window.
CHANNING
I can explain this.
The professor awaits the explanation.
EXT. FROZEN POND IN BOSTON COMMON - EVENING
Thoreau stands in the middle of the frozen pond. He gets excited as a PERSON approaches, who turns out to be another woman. Thoreau frowns. He sits down in the middle of the pond.
INT. TEMPLE SCHOOL - EVENING
Margaret and Emerson are seated at a table.
EMERSON
We must be vigilant against elitism. The Dial will be a common journal for an audience of farmers. Margaret? Your mind is somewhere else.
MARGARET FULLER
With slavery abolished in the Islands, trouble is close behind. In Arkansas, in Virginia, the only person who can’t predict the deadly conflict is the President.
Emerson nods and examines an 1835 globe with the majority of North America void of any political boundries.
EMERSON
If Texas succeeds in becoming a pro-slave republic then the war fuse has been lit. First, Mexico will attempt to reclaim the territory, and will lose miserably. Then we will have more territory to divide. Greed for land, not moral indignation, will drive us to war.
(sigh)
Can you stay a while longer? I wanted your opinion on paid subscriptions.
MARGARET FULLER
Of course. I’ve nothing planned.
EXT. FROZEN POND IN BOSTON COMMON - LATER THAT NIGHT
Snow begins to fall through the dark night. Thoreau is barely visible in the light of a nearby campfire. He is still sitting alone in the middle of the pond, shivering and disappointed.
INT. THOREAU’S DORM ROOM - MORNING
Thoreau is curled up on his bed shivering, sweating and feverish. Someone places a damp cloth on Thoreau’s forehead and then puts the cloth in a pan of water.
THOREAU
We’re moving too fast! The river is too swift!
Pull back to reveal DOCTOR WALTER CHANNING, Ellery’s father, standing over Thoreau. Ellery stands in the background, arms crossed.
CHANNING
Well?
DR. CHANNING
Tuberculosis. What was he doing out all night?
CHANNING
Waiting for a girl. Some bluestocking Betty.
Thoreau sputters.
THOREAU
Too fast!
DR. CHANNING
Reckless boy.
(beat)
Don’t let it interfere with your classes. Ellery. Your professors have found you singularly unimpressive, except for one, who finds you repulsive. I wonder if Harvard is too good for you.
CHANNING
Oh, Harvard can go to hell!
DR. CHANNING
Mind your language.
CHANNING
As you wish. I won’t say “Harvard” anymore.
Thoreau has a coughing fit as Channing and Dr. Channing fade away.
INT. THOREAU’S DORM ROOM - A WEEK LATER - DAY
Margaret sits next to Thoreau. She reads an appropriate passage from Chaucer’s The Manciple’s Tale:
MARGARET FULLER
...Yet would this bird, by twenty thousand-fold,
Rather, within a forest dark and cold,
Go to eat worms and all such wretchedness.
For ever this bird will do his business
To find some way to get outside the wires.
Above all things his freedom he desires.
Margaret lifts a glass of water for Thoreau to drink.
THOREAU
This bird is, for the moment, in need of a comfortable cage and gentle hands. Spare me the worms though.
MARGARET FULLER
I’m so sorry I forgot to meet you.
THOREAU
Social change always comes first.
Margaret holds Thoreau’s hand as he falls asleep again.
INT. THOREAU’S DORM ROOM HALLWAY- MOMENTS LATER
Channing walks down the hall, shaking his head as he looks at a report card. He opens the door to Thoreau’s room and speaks before he looks up.
CHANNING
Guess which fat headed doctor of philosophy requires me to repeat his...oh.
Margaret gives Channing a sharp look. Channing quietly backs out of the room.
INT. THOREAU’S DORM ROOM - DAYS LATER
Thoreau awakens. His health has improved, but he looks awful. He slowly gets out of bed and staggers out of the room.
EXT. THOREAU’S DORM ROOM - HALLWAY - DAY
Thoreau walks across the hall and knocks on a door. A STUDENT opens it.
HARVARD STUDENT #1
Henry! You’re alive! We were dividing your effects. I claimed all your Shakespeare.
THOREAU
Where’s Ellery? Did he collect my assignments?
Student is confused.
HARVARD STUDENT #1
Ellery? Didn’t he tell you?
THOREAU
Is he at class? That would be a shock.
The student shakes his head.
HARVARD STUDENT #1
Mind your health, Henry. My sis’ died from tuberculosis. Awful stuff.
Thoreau turns and finds an envelope nailed to his door. He opens it as he enters his room.
CHANNING (v.o.)
Dear friend, my soul has found no harbor here and aches for the unknown...
HARVARD SQUARE, BOSTON - DAY
Channing helps load bags of cotton onto a large cart. He then throws his own bag on the cart and climbs on. The cart pulls away. Channing gets comfortable for a long ride.
CHANNING (v.o.)
A man must acquire wisdom alone, so I move on without you. The Grand Tetons await. What mountains will you climb before the long winter comes? Ellery.
INT. THOREAU’S DORM ROOM-HALLWAY - DAY
Thoreau returns to his room and looks at the piles of books on his desk. Then he sees the fragment of “THE LIBERATOR”.
EXT. HARVARD SQUARE - DAY
Thoreau enters the square holding the fragment of the abolitionist paper. Garrison is holding court with Wendell Phillips again. The hostile crowd is in congress.
PASSERBY #3
The constitution permits slavery.
GARRISON
Then damn the constitution. Burn it.
PASSERBY #3
You damn the constitution, you damn the men who died for it.
WENDELL PHILLIPS
Boycott southern cotton!
Thoreau weaves his way through the crowd to talk to Garrison.
THOREAU
Your paper needs writers, Mr. Garrison?
GARRISON
Warriors! The cause needs warriors, my boy! Are you prepared to cross the Rubicon?
Thoreau hesitates.
THOREAU
(softly)
I...I’d like to write an article if you would publish it. Perhaps a poem.
GARRISON
The Constitution is a covenant with death and an AGREEMENT WITH HELL!
THOREAU
Perhaps you had better exercise caution.
GARRISON
Caution changes nothing! With one life to give, what do you stand for?
THOREAU
I...I have poems. Poetry.
The mob encircles Thoreau and Garrison.
GARRISON
Will your poetry change the world?
The pile of “The Liberator” is set fire. Garrison is surrounded and dragged away. Wendell Phillips is knocked to the ground. A MEMBER OF THE MOB grabs Thoreau.
MOB #1
Are you with that troublemaker?
THOREAU
I...
MOB #1
You were talking to him.
THOREAU
I’m...I...
Another mob member pushes Thoreau out of the way.
MOB #2
Forget him. He’s just a student.
THOREAU
I was...just passing by.
The men tie Garrison up. The rope is tied to a carriage and the carriage is driven away with Garrison being dragged behind in the dirt. The men throw Wendell Phillips to the ground. Thoreau stands alone with the fragment of “The Liberator” in his hand. He lets it drop to the mud as REV. ORESTES BROWNSON walks up behind Thoreau. BROWNSON is 40 years old and wears a black robe.
Thoreau shakes his head.
BROWNSON
Pardon me, I run a school in Canton. Harvard offers credit if you wish to teach this spring.
A NEWSBOY walks by with a bundle of newspapers
NEWSBOY
Seminole savages launch unprovoked attack in Florida! Innocent settlers slaughtered! Volunteers needed to defend homeland! President Jackson nearly assassinated! Escaped slaves run amok! Arkansas petitions for statehood!
(beat)
Seminole savages launch unprovoked attack in Florida...
Newsboy fades away as Thoreau reacts to the obvious propaganda. Thoreau turns to Brownson.
THOREAU
What future awaits these students of yours?
BROWNSON
The question is: what sort of student will face the future?
Brownson hands Thoreau a pamphlet.
CU. PAMPHLET: “TEACHING POSITIONS AVAILABLE. GOOD PAY.”
INT. SETTLEMENT HOUSE
The house is in need of renovations. Several WOMEN are organizing paperwork. Margaret is standing before a BUSINESSMAN
BUSINESSMAN
Name a single social crisis solved by charity.
MARGARET FULLER
This isn’t charity. This is adult education. An investment. Boston can expect ten thousand new immigrants a month...
BUSINESSMAN
I’m aware of the statistics.
MARGARET FULLER
Statistics? They are human resources. This settlement house is the first step, a home for their children, a committee of volunteers dedicated to their well being, Occupation training, health care, language lessons...
BUSINESSMAN
I donate enough to the church, Miss Fuller. Good day.
The Businessman leaves. Margaret lifts her chin and directs some moving of boxes. Then she sees that Thoreau has dismantled a broken banister leading upstairs and is reassembling it with great care, wedging shims into the banister railings.
MARGARET FULLER
Henry?
THOREAU
If social change depended on the approval of rich men...little would change.
Margaret sits on the steps.
THOREAU
I’m considering a job in Canton. Teaching. Only, I know so little about trees, compared to what remains to be learned.
MARGARET FULLER
What are you defending, Henry? Your desire for wisdom or your fear of making a difference?
INT. CANTON GRADE SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY
Traditional 1835 classroom equivalent to grades 4-8. Rows of wooden desks with fifteen 11-12 year old STUDENTS, both boys and girls, in 3/4 pants or dresses. Brownson is addressing the students as Thoreau stands nervously nearby.
BROWNSON
Wisdom will be your reward for respect.
Brownson steps aside. Thoreau takes a small step forward. He isn’t prepared to give a conventional lecture.
THOREAU
What if I told you we are not yet independent?
(points to an American Flag with 24 stars)
That this flag is at best symbol of what we one day might become.
(speaking directly to individual students)
You are limited by what you consider facts. And so are you. And so am I. We see a tree and call it a maple or a pine or an elm. Never again is it just an object undefined, a river running wild in our imaginations. We cultivate prejudice through careless learning. Unless you are properly trained your mind will not expand; it will shrink until all that is left are...
(points to flag)
...symbols. I am not here to define your world...
Brownson smiles. The students pay close attention. Thoreau tosses the book aside.
THOREAU (cont'd)
I am here to set you free.
EXT. CANTON FOREST - SPRING 1835 - WEEKS LATER
Springtime in New England. The snow has melted and the wildflowers have begun to creep from the soil. New leaves sprout from fresh branches. The oak, maple, elm and pine trees begin another season of growth.
Thoreau and the class walk along a trail near Canton, Mass. Thoreau lays down on his belly to get closer to a flower bud peeking through the snow.
THOREAU
The earth whispers her lessons...
(whispering)
As guests, we must venture quietly through her domain, listening, alert.
EXT. CANTON POND - DAY
The class is in several canoes that glide over the glassy surface of the pond.
THOREAU
Water is the source of all life; so we should defend its purity with ours.
EXT. CANTON WOODS - DAY
Thoreau and the kids are building a stick A-frame hut.
THOREAU
If you build it yourself then you’ll know how to fix it when it breaks.
EXT. CANTON WOODS - DAY
The class is standing perfectly still as a chipmunk darts between the trees gathering seeds.
CANTON STUDENT #2
Mr. Thoreau, do you live in the forest?
THOREAU
Reverend Brownson gave me a room. Look! What has it buried?
The chipmunk digs a hole.
CANTON STUDENT #2
You talk like you live in the forest.
THOREAU
The Indians lived in the forest for centuries; we Pilgrims are at war with nature.
CANTON STUDENT #2
What’s nature?
The chipmunk finds his acorn and runs away.
THOREAU
Nature is...
Thoreau pauses. He has no easy answer. On Thoreau’s expression we...
INT. HARVARD LYCEUM. - DAY
Thoreau watches from the back of the building as Emerson presents another lecture.
EMERSON
Nature, in the common sense, refers to essences unchanged by man; space, the air, the river, the leaf. Man originates in nature but intentionally separates himself, thereby isolating his existence and threatening the environment that gave him life. The task of our time is to recognize nature as a fragile resource, not an expendable commodity.
Thoreau transcribes Emerson’s words into his notebook.
EXT. CANTON WOODS - NIGHT
The class is on an overnight field trip. The kids are misbehaving by sword-fighting with flaming sticks and wrestling.
THOREAU
Dawson! Put that stick down! Charles, did you set that frog free yet? Finan! Let your brother go! Where’s Zeke? Has anyone seen Zeke?
CANTON STUDENT #2
Zeke went looking for gold.
THOREAU
Gold? Sons of Socrates! Quick, form a search party! Zeke! Everyone...
Margaret Fuller appears with Zeke in tow.
THOREAU
Zeke! Margaret! Help!
MARGARET FULLER
Last one to the campfire has to wash the dinnerware!
All the kids instantly run to the campfire.
MARGARET FULLER
Everyone who is quiet will get a special treat.
The kids calm down and become quiet. Margaret passes out some hard candy.
MARGARET FULLER
I want everyone to close their eyes and listen for one sound in the forest.
The kids close their eyes allowing Margaret to look at Thoreau.
THOREAU
(sotto voce)
Thank you.
The group listens to the sounds of the owl, nighthawk and wolf.
Later that night as the students sleep, Margaret awakens Henry and they walk through the forest.
INT. REV. BROWNSON HOUSEHOLD - EVENING
Thoreau is greeted by Rev. Brownson.
BROWNSON
How was the overnight expedition?
THOREAU
Exhausting.
BROWNSON
Teaching is only difficult if you’re doing it right. Oh, you received a letter from Concord.
Thoreau picks a letter off a table.
THOREAU
My brother?
He opens the letter and reads with grave concern. He puts the letter down.
THOREAU
Mr. Brownson? You’ve been a gracious host, but I’m afraid I have urgent business in Concord. I have no choice but to dismiss the class early. I must leave tomorrow.
BROWNSON
Can I help?
THOREAU
Pray for our country.
INT. CANTON GRADE SCHOOL CLASSROOM - NEXT MORNING
THOREAU
Become a lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, you will find something more dear than in streets or villages; you will find...yourself.
The young students are still mystified by the language. They are more captivated by the speaker than by the speech.
CANTON STUDENT #2
Are you always going to be our teacher?
THOREAU
Only if you have a good memory. I’m returning to my own school in the fall.
CANTON STUDENT #2
Don’t you know everything yet? If I could talk like you I’d never go to school again.
THOREAU
Remember, the Earth is easily injured. Walk gently.
Thoreau must get out of the way as the students run for the door. Young Student #2 hugs him.
CANTON STUDENT #2
You’re the best teacher ever.
EXT. DIRT ROAD. - HOURS LATER - EVENING
Thoreau walks quickly past a sign: “Lexington and Concord Turnpike.”
EXT. CONCORD 1835 - MORNING
Title Card: “Concord Village, Massachusetts - 1835”
Our first view of Concord should be on a clear early summer day. Puffy clouds float over the small houses. Marshes, ponds and agricultural fields dot the landscape. There is a conspicuous lack of forests since wood was the chief fuel of the day. Between 2500-3000 people live in Concord. The town center is near the sluggish confluence of three rivers: the Concord River, the Assabet River and the Sudbury River. There is also a broad lawn that is the Concord Common near a man-made brook that powers a mill.
EXT./INT. THOREAU BARN - SAME DAY
Thoreau rushes up to his family’s modest property, a stout colonial house and barn. He enters the barn and finds his brother JOHN (20) hand feeding a SLAVE (30), who is laying in a bed. Thoreau’s mother, MA THOREAU (37) , is washing a wound on the slave’s leg.
THOREAU
John?
JOHN
Henry! We need hot water and ointment from the house. Go!
Thoreau is frozen by the sight of a gravely injured slave.
JOHN
Hurry!
Thoreau turns and runs toward the house.
INT. THOREAU BARN - HOURS LATER
John stands with Thoreau.
JOHN
He’s still in no condition to move. But the wagon won’t wait. You made it just in time.
THOREAU
How long has he been here?
JOHN
Two weeks. His leg was infected. Ma saved it for certain.
THOREAU
What’s his name?
JOHN
He can’t talk. They cut his tongue out. I hear it’s punishment for defying a white man.
Thoreau reacts and then walks out of the barn. He returns with a small chalkboard. He approaches the slave and sits next to him. He writes “Henry” on the chalkboard and points to himself. Then he hands the chalk and chalkboard to the slave. The slave takes the chalk and writes “Afrika” and points to himself.
THOREAU
Yes. I know. Tonight we’re going to move you north to Canada. A wagon will take you. You’ll be safe there.
The slave urgently taps the chalkboard. “Afrika?”
THOREAU
No. Canada. Tonight. You’ll get well there. Rest now.
The slave shakes Thoreau’s hand and nods. He hands the chalkboard back but Thoreau insists he keep it.
THOREAU
What kind of barbarian...?
JOHN
Ma had run out of steam and Pa is in Baltimore. You alright?
THOREAU
I shouldn’t have gone to Harvard. You needed my help.
JOHN
And you’re here. That’s all that matters. Welcome home. Now lets get ready for tonight.
INT. THOREAU BARN - LATER THAT EVENING
Thoreau holds a bag by the barn door, keeping lookout. John helps the slave use crutches to get up. Ma Thoreau holds a lantern.
MA THOREAU
Be careful, John. The wagon will meet you on Lowell road. Hide under the bridge until you hear the signal.
JOHN
This won’t be the first time, ma. Rest easy. Ready, Henry?
Thoreau nods. The brothers creep out of the door, supporting the slave with their shoulders, and move into the darkness as Ma looks on.
EXT. CONCORD WOODS - MOMENTS LATER
The brothers slowly make their way through the brush. They pause as they hear a dog bark, and some loud voices in the distance. Then they continue until Thoreau grabs John’s shoulder and whispers...
THOREAU
I have to go back.
JOHN
No.
THOREAU
The chalkboard. I forgot it.
JOHN
There’s no time.
THOREAU
I’ll be right back. He needs it.
Thoreau runs away through the brush. He reaches the barn and picks up the chalkboard. He steps out of the barn just as a GUN SHOT erupt in the direction of his brother. Thoreau plunges into the woods. He runs into John on his way back.
JOHN
Bounty hunters! Three of them. Run!
THOREAU
No!
Thoreau tries to break free but his brother is too strong.
JOHN
Let him go.
INT. THOREAU BARN - LATER THAT EVENING
Thoreau looks at the chalkboard. “Afrika”
EXT. CONCORD WOODS - DAY
Thoreau and John walk in the woods. Thoreau is ever watchful of the flora and fauna. They pause within sight of a house.
JOHN
Emerson’s new place.
THOREAU
We should have waited.
JOHN
I helped shingle the roof. Copper hinges. Maple doors. Brick and wood. A fine Yankee home.
THOREAU
We could have kept him in the barn.
JOHN
No! The freedom carriage doesn’t work like that. It’s unpredictable. We followed the plan and it didn’t work. That’s all. We’re at war, and there will be casualties on both sides. Accept it.
EXT. CONCORD CEMETERY - SAME DAY
The brothers enter a small cemetery. John points out the new residents.
JOHN
Little Quincy Flint...Red fever. Hayward Potter was trampled in the October harvest season.
Thoreau points to a small wooden cross segregated on a hillside.
THOREAU
Who’s that?
JOHN
Runaway slave. Drowned in the river this spring. Half the town wanted to bury him here. The other half didn’t want to bury him at all. We reached a compromise.
Thoreau shakes his head.
THOREAU
The word “compromise” is derived from the French compromis: a mutual promise. The word you’re looking for is “sellout”.
JOHN
Want to pick huckleberries in Flint’s meadow? Ask mom to make a pie. You missed all her apple pies last fall. Wicked good.
THOREAU
Nothing like a basket of Concord apples.
JOHN
The harvest moon. Frost on the pumpkin. Hard cider!
THOREAU
Ice on Walden Pond. The first Winter storm. John, I should stay here and help.
JOHN
You should go back to Boston and finish what you started.
(beat)
Oh, by the way, last one home has to chop the wood!
John turns and runs. Thoreau gives chase. He passes the old Concord Couple as they stand in front of a grave.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
I tell ya, the railroad is an affront tah god!
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Rail? Best thing to happen in a hundred years. Yes, sir.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
(points at grave)
My pa never rode on no steam train.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
One day, rail will cross and recross this land. Yes. And we’ll be bettah for it.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Not me.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Why not?
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Because I’ll be dead. And bettah for it!
INT. HARVARD LYCEUM - 1837 - DAY
Title: “1837 Harvard College Graduation Ceremonies”
Thoreau is delivering his speech as part of the ceremonies for his graduating class. 80 students, teachers, and family sit in the audience.
THOREAU
Man thinks faster and freer than ever before. Still, the winds and the waves are not enough for him; he must ransack the bowels of the earth that he may make for himself a highway of iron over its surface. Why? Commercialism, the fraudulent business of “time-saving.” This notion of saving time is a fantasy and a fraud. We’re not saving time...we’re stealing time.
(beat)
With every technological leap made, we assuredly enslave those future souls who will become responsible for our mountains of debris. Thus, we have usurped their time, their lives. We celebrate our industriousness though the unborn will mourn our wasteful inventions and curse our foolish industry. Let men make riches the means and not the end of existence, and we shall hear no more of the commercial spirit.
The crowd responds with a mixed reaction. TWO FACULTY whisper to each other and nod decisively. Emerson and Margaret are standing in the back of the meeting hall.
After the ceremony Emerson and Margaret see Thoreau watching other students receive their diploma.
MARGARET FULLER
Henry, this is Waldo Emerson.
EMERSON
I don’t see your diploma.
THOREAU
Lest I be mistaken for a scholar.
EMERSON
Ah. Do you own a journal?
THOREAU
I remember my thoughts well enough.
EMERSON
Of course you do. However, the quarterly magazine Margaret and I are publishing needs as many contributors as we can find. A journal collects the dander of the mind. Unless you aren’t interested.
THOREAU
A diary?
EMERSON
(clarifying)
A diary records biographical material. A journal records transcendental material. I keep one of each.
Thoreau is silent. Margaret produces a new journal and hands it to Thoreau. Thoreau takes the journal and cracks it open.
MARGARET FULLER
Congratulations.
EMERSON
We are farmers of ideas, Henry. Plant the seed well and be patient.
On Thoreau’s reaction we cut to...
EXT. CONCORD CENTER SCHOOL - DAY - CONTINUOUS
The HEADMASTER marches Thoreau down a path to the school house. The HEADMASTER is a stiff fellow in his forties. He wears a black overcoat and white shirt. He carries a shaved wooden branch, which he smacks into his hand for emphasis.
HEADMASTER
We mold minds at Concord Center School. We do not “explore possibilities.” These children have one function in society. (smack!)
THOREAU
Oh?
HEADMASTER
One: To obey. (smack!)
Thoreau winces.
HEADMASTER
Vulgarities are not permitted, Mr. Thoreau. Nor are idle thoughts, tomfoolery, flights of fancy, tardiness and disrespect.
THOREAU
(joking)
Does that apply to the students as well?
Headmaster gives Thoreau a cold look.
HEADMASTER
There will be no misbehavior. (smack!)
THOREAU
Uh, could you define...
HEADMASTER
Should they be called upon during the next war they must already be well trained and prepared to follow. (smack!)
THOREAU
Who will lead them?
HEADMASTER
They will listen. (smack!) They will not lead. They will listen and obey!
THOREAU
When I went to grade school...
HEADMASTER
(smack!) You may have been sheltered from the blunt realities of the world, but America is changing. Discipline is the rule here. (smack!) You will train these students to mind the public good. That (smack!) is what the school administration has decided and those (smack!) are your instructions.
INT. CONCORD CENTER SCHOOL - DAY
They enter the classroom. Fifteen 10-14 year old students, both boys and girls, sit in what amounts to a combined 4th-8th grade class.
HEADMASTER
Students!
The students straighten their backs and listen obediently.
HEADMASTER
This is Mr. Thoreau. He will be your instructor. Any misbehavior will be rewarded with swift punishment. (smack!)
(nervous eyes dart to the branch)
Public schooling is a privilege. If you are to defend the principles of Massachusetts one day then you must begin by respecting authority. Do not test me.
(beat)
Mr. Thoreau? You may proceed with your lesson.
Thoreau collects his thoughts. He sighs and becomes “Sergeant Thoreau.”
THOREAU
(seriously)
I bring important news. You have all been called to serve your country. The fields of war beckon.
The headmaster is confused. The students are even more confused, and terrified.
THOREAU (cont'd)
You are needed in the Seminole War that will decide the fate of our nation. Prepare yourselves for battle!
HEADMASTER
(trying to remain calm)
Pardon me? Students...wait...
THOREAU
Do not shelter them, headmaster! These young men and women must be trained to kill. Even as we speak the Injuns sharpen their hatchets to better scalp our generous and fair Florida brethren.
HEADMASTER
But...
THOREAU
Soldiers! Prepare to march!
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #1
I...I didn’t bring a coat. I guess I can’t go.
Thoreau shoots the student a mean look.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #1 (cont'd)
Or mittens...sir. It’s cold in Florida, isn’t it? Freezing cold?
THOREAU
You’ll be issued a coat on the front lines. And a firearm.
PUBLIC SCHOOL GIRL #1
Girls aren’t expected to go, correct?
THOREAU
Girls can fight and die for their country as well as a boy.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #1
Did you say die?
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #2
I promised to help my father in the field after school, sir. He’ll be very upset if I died.
THOREAU
Your only duty is to your country now. No whimpering in the back!
HEADMASTER
Your methodology is quite irregular. What is your primary lesson...?
THOREAU
Soldiers! On your feet!
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY#1
Can I say goodbye to my mum?
THOREAU
Absolutely not! Paul Revere didn’t take an hour to say goodbye to his mum. Neither will you! CONCORD COMPANY, REPORT!
Reluctantly, one older boy, a leader, stands and collects himself with a sigh. As the other boys watch this 13 year old begin his agonizingly slow walk to the front, Thoreau never lets up his drill sergeant act. He stares daggers at all the students as the boy marches to the front and stands proudly before Sgt. Thoreau.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY#2
(heartbreakingly brave)
David Scopes reporting for duty...sir.
THOREAU
Private Scopes, your bravery won’t be forgotten. Who else is ready to defend America’s freedom?
Slowly, their confidence boosted by Scopes, the other boys and girls sadly line up before Thoreau and the headmaster. One boy still sits at his desk, his head buried in his arms as he sobs. The young boys and girls have absolutely no doubt they are all going to die, yet they stand motionless, chins up, chests out. Thoreau allows the image to burn into the headmaster’s mind - blind obedience.
THOREAU
Private Scopes, I do not doubt that you would follow me to Florida to fight the Seminole.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY#2
Yes, sir. If I must.
Thoreau turns to the headmaster.
THOREAU
If this is your objective then why keep them here any longer? Their identities have already been erased. They are your pawns to sacrifice for the “principles of Massachusetts.” Congratulations.
The headmaster realizes it has all been a hoax to send a message of defiance. He frowns resentfully and exits.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY#1
(innocently)
Will the headmaster be coming to Florida too?
Thoreau bends down and meets the school boy’s eyes and says softly...
THOREAU
(smiles)
No one is going to Florida.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY#1
(half serious)
I thought we were getting guns.
This student pretends to shoot the student next to him.
THOREAU
You have just been part of an important demonstration.
(stands up)
What did we learn?
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY#3
That we’re fighting Injuns!
The boys sense that they can be brave now. They all begin to pretend to be happy they are going to fight the Indians.
SCHOOL BOYS
Yeah! Kill the Seminoles!
The boys run around as Thoreau attempts to regain control.
THOREAU
No. Wait! LISTEN! We learned that you are brave. Brave beyond belief. And also very gullible. You were ready to kill and die for a cause you could not begin to understand, a cause I invented this very minute. What do you have to say for yourselves?
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY#2
Are you a real teacher?
THOREAU
No.
The students don’t know what to believe. They sense a lack of rules and begin to run wild, throwing pencils at each other and wrestling.
THOREAU
Settle down!
A student has drawn a picture of the headmaster with mule’s ears on the chalkboard. When Thoreau bends over to pick up a pencil a young student jumps on his back.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #4
To Florida!
Thoreau looks for help, but this time it doesn’t come.
CUT TO:
EXT. CONCORD. NORTH BRIDGE - JULY, 1837 - DAY CONTINUOUS
The commemoration for the 1775 Battle of Lexington and Concord. The citizens of Concord are dedicating a STONE PILLAR to those “embattled farmers” who fought the British at the North Bridge. The original bridge over the Concord River is merely some rotted logs sticking out of the water. The old Concord Couple stand before the monument.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
It’s on the wrong side of the damn river. The brits died here. Our boys died on that side.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Yes, I was at the town meeting where you repeatedly called that detail to our attention.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
The devil has surely come to Concord!
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Wasn’t your father a minuteman?
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
He was. And he stood on that side of the river.
Emerson takes his place and begins conducting an a’Capella CHILDREN’S CHOIR as they sing a poem he wrote, “The Concord Hymn”, to the melody of “Old 100th” hymn.
CHOIR
(singing)
By the rude bridge that arched the flood. Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled; here once the embattled farmers stood; and fired the shot heard round the world.
Thoreau stands in the crowd chewing on a piece of straw. Margaret Fuller stands near LYDIA EMERSON and then notices Thoreau in the crowd. She joins him as the song continues.
CHOIR
(singing)
The foe long since in silence slept; alike the conqueror silent sleeps, and time the ruined bridge has swept down the dark stream that seaward creeps.
The choir continues the song as ELLERY CHANNING approaches Thoreau from behind. Channing has become a wild-eyed, bearded  transient wearing threadbare clothes and carrying a worn canvas sack.
CHANNING
Is the man a conductor now? Ludwig Van Emerson.
Channing awaits Thoreau’s response, but Thoreau glances at Margaret, who looks disapprovingly at Channing’s outfit.
THOREAU
Ellery? What happened to you?
Channing is above small talk.
CHANNING
Life. You should try it sometime. Then you might fill his shoes one day.
THOREAU
Who? Emerson? Never. Did you hear the first verse? “Here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world.”
(amazed)
How come he writes all the good lines?
CHANNING
Probably stole it from Shelly, or Carlyle.
MARGARET FULLER
You look like the road walked on you and not the other way around.
THOREAU
Tell us of the Tetons, El. Did you see many buffalo?
CHANNING
I was in New Hampshire.
THOREAU
The Tetons aren’t in New Hampshire.
CHANNING
Now you tell me.
(beat)
Oh! I have apples! Good apples! There are hundreds of orchards in New Hampshire. They should call it the apple state. LIVE FREE OR PIE!
Channing opens his bag, which is full of apples, and gives one to Thoreau. Margaret holds out her hand but Channing deliberately doesn’t give her an apple.
CHANNING
Sorry. Genesis, you know. Women and apples are a bad combination.
The choir finishes the song:
CHOIR
O' Thou who made those heroes dare To die, and leave their children free, -- Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raised to them and Thee.
The crowd claps. Emerson acknowledges the applause with a bow and a gesture to the smiling choir.
THOREAU
I’m teaching in town now.
CHANNING
How can you teach when you’ve been a student your whole life? You haven’t left Massachusetts.
THOREAU
You could stay for a term and teach poetry, El.
CHANNING
My father is a teacher. I am leading a party to California.
Channing walks to a table of food and begins to eat.
MARGARET FULLER
His father is a dean of medicine at Harvard. His uncle is the principal Unitarian minister in the country. His great-grandfather signed the declaration of independence. Look at him.
Channing is attempting to hand apples out to the crowd. The children are amused by him but the adults find him repulsive. Channing grabs a snare drum and begins to beat out a tribal rhythm.
MARGARET FULLER
He’s a barbarian.
THOREAU
Don’t blame him for being a different sort of...drummer.
Thoreau then watches a blindfolded Channing play “tag” with a group of kids. Channing tumbles over a table and the kids pile on top of him. Channing begins to leave the gathering but walks into Thoreau.
THOREAU
If you can get past me then you can go to California.
Channing looks around. Is this a joke?
THOREAU
If you can’t get past me then you have to help me instruct Concord’s sons and daughters.
Channing eyes Thoreau.
CHANNING
I’ve been picking apples for two years. You don’t even eat meat...
Thoreau pushes Channing.
THOREAU
You left me once at Harvard. I’m not going to let it happen again.
They each roll up their sleeves. Then begins a wrestling match in which Channing attempts to bull rush Thoreau while Thoreau attempts to get Channing in a head lock and make him submit. Channing was right, though, he’s stronger and eventually makes Thoreau submit. Channing gets his bag back.
CHANNING
Goodbye, Henry.
Thoreau is so out of breath that he can’t respond. He watches Channing walk away. He tries to get up but Margaret holds him back.
INT. CONCORD CENTER SCHOOL - FALL 1837 - DAY
Thoreau’s class is reenacting the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Thoreau has a crude white wig on and is playing the part of Thomas Jefferson. The other boys also have cotton wigs on.
THOREAU
Mr. Adams, we must reject slavery before forming a new nation.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #1
(playing John Quincy Adams)
We all own slaves, Mr. Jefferson. Even you. Our economy depends on slave labor.
The other students respond with a mixture of boos and cheers. The HEADMASTER appears at the door. Thoreau continues pleading.
THOREAU
What say you, Mr. Franklin?
The student playing Franklin is wearing a white wig and glasses.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #2
(playing Ben Franklin)
We must gain our own freedom before granting it to others. I’ll only sign the Declaration of Independence without mention of slaves. The longer we debate, the weaker our position becomes.
THOREAU
(as himself)
Very good, William. Now, what happened next?
The headmaster walks in carrying his branch.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #2
It’s the king! Attack!
THOREAU
Wait! Perhaps his lordship wishes to surrender first.
The headmaster does not smile.
HEADMASTER
Thoreau! The noise level in this classroom is unacceptable.
THOREAU
You try convincing twenty colonial delegates to agree on something quietly.
(beat)
We’re being taxed to death here.
The joke falls flatly on the headmaster’s frown.
THOREAU
I mean...we’ll try to be quiet.
HEADMASTER
I expect punishments to be given immediately.
Thoreau takes his wig off.
THOREAU
Sir, we were reenacting...
HEADMASTER
You were disrupting me and encouraging flighty thoughts. Several parents have complained of outright defiance from their children. Defiance that you have been teaching them.
THOREAU
(placating)
Please. They acted on my bidding. They aren’t to blame.
HEADMASTER
I can’t punish you with a rod so choose six.
The students discuss something in the background.
THOREAU
But...
HEADMASTER
Choose six or I will punish them all and you will also lose your position. It’s your decision.
Thoreau begins to argue when a Public School Boy #2 steps to the front.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #1
You can punish me.
(whispers)
We want you to stay, Mr. Thoreau.
Four more boys and one girl walk slowly to the front. Thoreau indicates the girl.
THOREAU
She serves in my parent’s house. I can’t.
HEADMASTER
You will!
The headmaster hands Thoreau the stick. The students all turn around. Thoreau pauses, hoping for a pardon. The headmaster watches sternly with arms behind his back.
Thoreau then strikes each one of the students on the behind. Smack! Thoreau is hurt more than his students. Smack!
When Thoreau is finished, the students return to their seats. It was hardly a physical punishment. The intention was control, and the headmaster has won. The headmaster smiles, takes the stick back, and exits.
Thoreau bows his head.
THOREAU
I’m so sorry.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #2
(unaffected)
If you don’t whack us now and again, he’ll just get someone who whacks us every day. It’s better this way.
PUBLIC SCHOOL GIRL #1
Mrs. Burdock whacked me every hour! For no reason!
THOREAU
I’ve learned more than I’ve taught. You are all dismissed.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #1
(hesitantly)
We haven’t signed the Declaration yet.
Public School Boy #2 points at a boy in the corner.
PUBLIC SCHOOL BOY #2
(seriously)
Yeah! South Carolina is still holding out!
“South Carolina” shrugs his shoulders.
SOUTH CAROLINA
We like the Brits!
INT. HEADMASTER’S OFFICE. - DAY
The headmaster is seated at his desk writing a letter. Thoreau knocks on the outer door and enters.
HEADMASTER
Where is your class, Mr. Thoreau?
THOREAU
They ceased to be my class when I was forced to flog them!
HEADMASTER
It is better to be feared than loved.
THOREAU
Then I resign!
HEADMASTER
(pleased)
Of course, not all men were born to teach.
THOREAU
These children will face far greater challenges than we can predict. They...
HEADMASTER
Are you finished?
(indicates a letter he’s writing)
I was just offering your job to a man I know...he graduated from Yale.
Thoreau’s emotions boil over. He wants to strangle the headmaster. Instead, he sees the stick that he used to punish the students. He takes the stick and breaks it over his knee then slams the two pieces on the desktop.
THOREAU
And I feel bad for the branch!
Thoreau turns and leaves the shocked headmaster.
EXT. THOREAU HOUSEHOLD BACKYARD - SUMMER 1838 - DAY
The Thoreau family is having a small picnic in their backyard. Ma Thoreau and SOPHIA (13) are standing with Margaret. PA THOREAU (41) and John are playing a lawn game in which a small bag of corn is tossed into a wooden platform with a circle cut in it. PA THOREAU walks to the cellar door.
PA THOREAU
Come on up, David.
Thoreau stands in his father’s pencil workshop, which is stocked with pencil supplies and hand tools. Thoreau quietly sweeps pencil shavings up.
PA THOREAU
David Henry!
He picks up a pencil and looks at it. His expression dissolves into distaste and he snaps the pencil in half.
Thoreau walks out of the cellar door. John approaches Henry.
JOHN
You want to team up against pa? He’s had some cider so his aim is off.
THOREAU
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. Sports are just a distraction from our innate futility.
John frowns.
JOHN
Pa! Henry is depressing me again.
John returns to his game. Thoreau watches silently until MARGARET slides up next to him. Thoreau doesn’t notice who it is before he speaks.
THOREAU
An unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind.
MARGARET FULLER
John is right; you are depressing.
Thoreau reacts surprised to see Margaret.
THOREAU
I’m sorry. It’s just, I belong in the laboratory, dissecting grasses and seeds. I have no kinship with men. I have no place in these times.
Pa Thoreau overhears this and walks up to Thoreau.
PA THOREAU
Shipwreck!
All eyes on Pa Thoreau, who finishes a toss.
PA THOREAU
Ask my pa how he come to this land, he said one word: Shipwreck.
EXT. BEACH - STORMY DAY
Flashback: As Pa Thoreau speaks we see his 20 year-old father crawl out of the surf and onto the beach in 1780.
PA THOREAU (V.O.)
S’no guarantee of safe passage between two shores. No guarantee you’ll reach the other shore. No guarantee you’ll find what you’re looking for.
Grandpa Thoreau slowly stands up. Behind him, a large sailboat sinks beneath the waves. Debris is scattered across the beach.
PA THOREAU (V.O.)
My pa started his life here with nothing. The blood of the revolution was still fresh on the grass. No time is perfect; s’up to you to find your place in the time you have.
JOHN
He’s been saving that speech since you graduated.
PA THOREAU
It wasn’t too much? Some of it’s true.
JOHN
Pa’s right. We could start our own school.
MARGARET FULLER
Yes. I could help.
THOREAU
Our own school?
JOHN
The Thoreau Academy of Fine Arts. What do you say?
Thoreau’s family surrounds him.
THOREAU
Our own academy...with our own rules? We’ll use Concord as the classroom, her fields and creeks will be our textbooks. We’ll fire the first shot in the intellectual revolution! Yes!
Margaret is moved by Thoreau’s passion. She kisses his cheek and hugs his arm as Sophia and Pa Thoreau and John look on. Thoreau takes one of the bean bags and tosses it twenty feet into the hole of the game platform.
EXT. CONCORD PUBLIC MEETING HALL - DAY
The Concord Couple are conversing as families enter the hall.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
‘notha school’s like ‘notha tree. We don’t need it and it just gets in the way.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
So don’t send your boy there.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
The boy’s no good in the field. Says he wants to write for the newspapah. May as well join the army. My pa was in the army.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
A town that don’t grow, soon dies.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Things was a lot simplah with one school and one church. Now look: The Christ Church, the Unitarian Church, the Masonic Hall, the Jesuits, the Quakers, the Catholics, The Puritans. How many is that?
CONCORD OPTIMIST
The Lord is multi-lingual, I believe.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Show me a town with more than one church and I’ll show you a town full of grief.
INT. CONCORD PUBLIC MEETING HALL - JUNE 1838 - DAY
Thoreau is addressing parents who are interested in the Thoreau Academy.
THOREAU
The Concord Academy will provide a flexible classroom to explore their innate and infinite passion for learning. The church no longer defines knowledge. Man has entered a new era. Science, unprejudiced inquiry, not Dogma is our new guide.
A parent, MRS. SEWALL (40), stands up. Beside him sits EDMUND (11). Edmund’s sister, Ellen Sewall, also sits nearby.
MRS. SEWALL
I think I speak for us all when I admit my skepticism. I welcome new methods, but the conditions you describe were once called a vacation, not a program of studies. How will this prepare Edmund for Yale?
John steps up.
JOHN
(to EDMUND)
What are your hobbies?
EDMUND SEWALL
I like fishing in the pond.
JOHN
Then we’ll fish.
THOREAU
Yes! We’ll study the brook trout. We’ll explore it’s habitat, it’s environment. We’ll learn the new fields of geology and ecology. We’ll build a curriculum, a practical, effective, modern curriculum around fishing.
A few couples take their children and leave the building.
THOREAU
(determined)
There are three types of people in the world: Those who give orders, those who take orders... and those who think for themselves.
ELLEN SEWALL
My mother is terribly protective of Edmund. Your Academy sounds very worthwhile.
JOHN
He’ll get plenty of exercise and fresh air. That I can promise. You may accompany him any time.
(wink)
Classes start this month, the learning lasts a lifetime!
The Sewalls leave as other parents come forward to sign their kids up for class.
THOREAU
(to John)
What was that?
JOHN
What? I think they’ll be back.
THOREAU
Don’t flirt with the families, John.
JOHN
Why not? I can’t play maidservant to you all my life.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS. - DAY
Thoreau and his class are walking through the woods identifying trees.
EDMUND SEWALL
Acer Sacharrum?
THOREAU
What does that meant to you Edmund?
EDMUND SEWALL
Sugar Maple?
THOREAU
That’s the translation. What does it mean?
EDMUND SEWALL
It means a tree.
THOREAU
There are many trees. What is special about this one?
EDMUND SEWALL
We get maple syrup from it. And firewood.
ACADEMY STUDENT #1
We used pine tar on our roof.
THOREAU
Those are uses. The tree doesn’t offer those resources voluntarily. We take them. That transaction is unbalanced from the outset and destined to fail. Never underestimate the power of cause and effect.
Edmund picks up an arrowhead and hands it to Thoreau.
EDMUND SEWALL
What’s this rock called?
THOREAU
It’s a granite arrowhead used by the Abnaki Indians. Good find.
(shows the arrowhead to the class)
Remember: This land has a long history.
(beat)
What legacy will you leave?
Thoreau hands the arrowhead back.
EDMUND SEWALL
My mother says we’re here to glorify God.
ACADEMY STUDENT #1
What is God?
Thoreau has no answer.
INT. FIRST PARISH MEETING HOUSE JULY 15TH, 1838 -DAY
A LARGE TEXT PROGRAM SITUATED AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE CHURCH: “HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT 1838”
Emerson addresses the graduating class of students (ministers) as Thoreau sits in the back of the hall.
EMERSON
If a man is at heart just, then in so far is he God. He is divine. He is immortal.
This pronouncement reverberates through the hall. The faculty and attending ministers frown. A minister in the audience leans to his neighbor.
MINISTER
Did he just say “Man is God?”
EMERSON
The safety of God, the immortality of God, the majesty of God do enter into that man with justice.
Some of the Harvard faculty stand up and leave. They grumble on the way out.
EMERSON (cont'd)
Jesus saw that God incarnates himself in man, and evermore goes forth anew to take possession of his world.
More students and faculty stand up and leave. Emerson plunges on with passion.
EMERSON (cont'd)
Christianity is not the doctrine of the soul, but an exaggeration of the ritual. It has dwelt, it dwells, with noxious exaggeration about the person of Jesus, reducing Him to...a celebrity, and demoting your sermons to mere gossip.
More students and faculty leave. Emerson continues.
EMERSON (cont'd)
As you begin your careers as ministers, preachers, cultivators of the spirit, proceed by this maxim: The true preacher deals out to the people his life, -- life passed through the fire of thought.
Emerson pauses and steps to the side of the podium. The remaining audience applaud courteously and leave. Thoreau watches a faculty member approach Emerson and speak to him for a moment. Emerson nods respectfully.
Emerson approaches Thoreau, who claps silently.
THOREAU
Stirring. And well-received!
They look at the empty hall.
EMERSON
(somberly)
I hope these walls have a strong echo. I have just been banned for life from the Harvard Divinity School.
EXT. CONCORD ACADEMY CLASSROOM
Thoreau and John are counting students before leaving on a hike.
JOHN
Has anyone seen Molly?
A student raises his hand.
ACADEMY STUDENT #1
She isn’t coming anymore. Her parents sent her to Exeter.
JOHN
Well, I forbid any more of you to go to Exeter. Do you think they go on hikes? No. It’s German and Latin for five hours a day at Exeter. If your parents want to send you to Exeter tell them “no.”
John looks nervously at Thoreau.
THOREAU
Who can remind me what the rules are for a meadow saunter?
ACADEMY STUDENT #2
Walk gently.
THOREAU
And...
ACADEMY STUDENT #2
Pay attention.
The students walk through a meadow as Thoreau examines wildflowers.
EXT. CONCORD RIVER - AUGUST 1839 - DAY
Thoreau kneels near the sluggish Concord River on a warm August day. Thoreau is mesmerized by the...
RIVER OF TIME:
1. A turtle swims through Walden pond.
2. Ships filled with immigrants unload in Boston.
3. Trees falling down.
4. Foundation of Walden cabin.
5. A steam train travelling across the plain.
6. Emerson speaking at the Divinity School.
THOREAU
...life passed through the fire of thought.
ELLEN SEWALL (O.S.)
Johnny! You forgot this.
John retrieves a bag of provisions from Ellen. Margaret Fuller walks behind her. John offers his arm to Ellen. The three walk together toward the river where Thoreau continues his hunt for weeds and grass on the shore. Margaret and Ellen say hello while John places the bag in a two man skiff named “Musketaquid”. A pair of guns, some fishing equipment and a tent are also in the boat.
JOHN
Are you sure you don’t want to go north with me?
ELLEN SEWALL
Yes, why don’t you? I don’t trust John alone in the wilderness without a guide.
THOREAU
There are no fewer than 100 species of grass between here and Flints Bridge; I intend to document each one.
JOHN
Well, that sounds exciting! Henry, what better way to study the river than on a canoe trip?
Thoreau collects another handful of grass and puts it in a specimen bag. He writes a name on a slip of paper and puts it in the bag. John shrugs and jumps in the canoe, almost tipping it over.
JOHN
Ok. Which end is the front?
Thoreau watches John stumble around the boat.
THOREAU
Wait! Let me get my blanket.
Later, Thoreau climbs in the boat with his blanket and bag of provisions. He points to the bow.
THOREAU
That is the front!
MARGARET FULLER
All you need is that buffoon Channing. I wonder what happened to him?
EXT. INDIANA FRONTIER TOWN - DAY
We sweep past a sign: “Indianapolis: Pop. 102” and enter a smaller village than Concord. Indianapolis is clinging to a fragile existence in the untamed mid-west. Buildings are held together with twine. A shivering Channing stands in the pouring rain outside a small hut: “INDIANAPOLIS INN”. Channing holds a book out to the withered INNKEEPER, who hides behind the door.
CHANNING
This is a leather bound copy of King Lear. It’s worth one night in a bed...or at least a hot meal.
The INNKEEPER says nothing.
CHANNING
(slowly)
Do...you...understand...English? I come from the East. I wish to trade this book for...
INNKEEPER
Gold or nothin’
CHANNING
Gold? I’ll send you back some gold from California. The place is rotten with nuggets. I promise!
The door begins to shut.
CHANNING
Wait! I’ll work for a meal.
The door slams shut. Channing accidentally drops his book in the mud.
CHANNING
If you go to California don’t bother looking for me. Forget you ever met me.
He picks his book up and splashes away.
EXT. CONCORD RIVER - DAY
Thoreau and John shove off and wave goodbye to Margaret and Ellen. The two paddle efficiently up the river. They pass the Old Concord Couple who are drifting in their own boat.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Men ought to speak to one another face to face...like my pa done.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Says you.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Says God! This e-lectro-static tel-e-graphic wire smacks of the devil.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
The devil has bought shares in copper?
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Men will turn too lazy to walk down the street, to go to church, to visit their neighbors. Until... the gospel will be sent on an e-lectro-static thing-a-ma-jig.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
And more souls will be saved. My friend, the road to progress is paved with stubborn skulls like yours.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Who says I’m stubborn?
CONCORD OPTIMIST
I do.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
I am not stubborn!
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Yes, you are.
This bickering fades away as we cut to...
EXT. MERIMACK RIVER - SAME DAY
The Thoreau’s trip takes them downstream (north) on the Concord River to where it connects with the Merrimack River. They paddle upstream (north) into New Hampshire. They must stick to the banks of the river because they are paddling against the current, giving Thoreau a chance to grab grass specimens. This is late August in New Hampshire, the trees are beginning to change colors. At night they cook their meals over a campfire. Thoreau sees an AMERICAN INDIAN on the banks of the river. This Indian is adapting to the radical changes. He is dressed in worn leather pants and a cotton shirt. He carries a musket.  The two stare at each other over the smoke until the INDIAN evaporates.
Thoreau and John carry the canoe onto the shore near Concord, NH and set off on foot to the source near Franklin, NH. From there they turn inland to Laconia and on to North Conway and the foothills of the White Mountains. Thoreau collects grass and seed specimens along the way. He follows frogs and studies mice and sketches birds. He tracks one moose into a clearing where he sees the White Mountains, the tallest natural objects Thoreau has ever seen. He stops in his tracks.
THOREAU
Mother of Methuselah!
John follows as Thoreau is drawn to the mountains.
EXT. MOUNT WASHINGTON - DAY
Thoreau and John scramble up the steep boulder scree of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. John yells as the wind howls...
JOHN
What about the clouds?
THOREAU
If you’re scared then go back.
JOHN
You don’t know where you are going!
THOREAU
How many summits can there be to one mountain?
JOHN
Remember: reaching the top is only half the trip. We have to get back down!
Thoreau pushes on. John pauses before following.
EXT. SUMMIT OF MOUNT WASHINGTON - MOMENTS LATER
The wind makes it nearly impossible to hear each other. One or two other hikers are hiding behind boulders.
JOHN
Please!
Thoreau isn’t defying the weather, he is attempting to embrace it. He stands and spreads his arms as the wind lashes his clothes. Thoreau’s consciousness lifts off from the ground and soars over the White Mountains. When he “comes down” he is rejuvenated and empowered. Finally, John pushes Thoreau toward the path. The wind catches John’s hat and carries it off the mountain and into the misty oblivion.
EXT. MERRIMACK RIVER - DAY
Thoreau and John sit in the canoe again, this time paddling south with the current. Thoreau is re-living his flight. John is trying to keep the sun out of his eyes.
THOREAU
I’ll buy you a new hat when we get home.
John sulks.
JOHN
It was my favorite hat. Ellen liked that hat. I owned that hat for years...
THOREAU
That hat smelled like an old dog. Consider it an offering to Mount Washington.
John splashes Thoreau “accidentally”. Thoreau angrily splashes John.
JOHN
You’d better quit.
THOREAU
Or what?
John stands up, making the boat unstable.
JOHN
I don’t care if you are a pacifist, Henry, I’ll still thrash you.
THOREAU
Then I’ll be resurrected as a shark and I’ll swim up the river and bite you on the ass.
Thoreau splashes John with some more water.
JOHN
Stop the boat.
Thoreau shrugs and fakes a yawn.
THOREAU
Make me.
John clumsily walks to Thoreau and grabs him by the coat.
JOHN
Apologize!
Thoreau pushes John back. John loses his balance and reaches out to Thoreau. Thoreau is set against helping him and watches as John falls and FLIPS THE CANOE in the process. They both fall into the water along with all their possessions.
EXT. MERRIMACK RIVER - DAY
After some thrashing and effort, Thoreau drags the canoe to the shore. Their gear is scattered along the banks. Thoreau looks frantically for his brother.
THOREAU
John! John!
John appears, walking upstream on the bank. He is drenched and angry.
THOREAU
John! Look what you did! My journal is all wet. How rude!
Without a word, John punches Thoreau in the jaw. Lights out.
FADE OUT.
SHOT: CONCORD RIVER - DAY
CHOIR (V.O.)
(singing)
On this green bank, by this soft stream, We place with joy a votive stone, That memory may their deeds redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
FADE IN:
EXT. CONCORD RIVER - NIGHT
A campfire. Drying clothes. Drying bags. The overturned canoe. John is sitting under a blanket. Thoreau, who is laying nearby, wakes up.
John sneezes and coughs. Thoreau rubs his jaw and shivers.
THOREAU
I have a voice, John, but no one can hear it.
JOHN
Who has an ear for “the geology of the soul?” No one. Better to write one idea everyone can understand than a hundred ideas that one person can understand. It can’t happen overnight. It takes...
THOREAU
...time. I know about time. I...see time.
John frowns.
THOREAU (cont'd)
In the water. I see it; the past; the future. I am a traveller in time, divided by it, around it, never a part of it.
Thoreau looks nervously at the water.
THOREAU (cont'd)
I see time...and it terrifies me. John, I’m sorry I provoked you.
JOHN
No harm done.
Thoreau feels his jaw.
THOREAU
Speak for yourself.
JOHN
The bonds of brotherhood aren’t complete without a good brawl now and again.
John finishes this comment with a watery cough.
EXT. CONCORD ACADEMY CLASSROOM - DAY
A student is reciting a portion of Chaucer’s Summoner’s Tale from memory. Only two other students are seated at their desks.
ACADEMY STUDENT #2
(monotone)
That is to say, you shall all die, all three!’ And to the first knight right...thus spake he, ‘I damned...I...”
THOREAU
Pause! This is verse. Verse! Not a recipe for bread pudding. Listen.
(in verse)
That is to say, you shall all die, all three!” And to the first knight right thus spake he,
Thoreau encourages the student to recite the verse with him, almost conducting him in a song. Thoreau then plays the part of the Judge and points to each student in the classroom.

The student takes over alone.
ACADEMY STUDENT #2
And to the third knight thus he sayeth,
'Thou hast not done what I commanded thee.'
And thus he did slay them all three.
THOREAU
Yes!
ACADEMY STUDENT #2
(beaming)
It’s like a song!
THOREAU
In the 15th century Chaucer was as popular as the pope. You can’t memorize it if it doesn’t sing. Yes? Good. Commentary please.
ACADEMY STUDENT #2
I don’t think the judge was fair. He made a mistake and instead of admitting his mistake he had all three knights executed.
THOREAU
Lesson?
ACADEMY STUDENT #2
Uh, don’t become a knight?
THOREAU
That’s one interpretation. Tomorrow, our local scholar, Mr. Heywood, will regal us with the Squire’s tale. Have ye memorized thy assignment, Heywood?
Heywood hides his head in his arms.
THOREAU
I’ll take that as a no. Ye may utilize thy notes, young squire.
Heywood smiles.
THOREAU
Class is dismissed.
The students move toward the door as Ellen walks in. She approaches Thoreau. A student looks back.
ACADEMY STUDENT #1
Henry has a girlfriend!
Thoreau gives the student a look.
ELLEN SEWALL
I’m afraid Edmund is in bed with a fever. He’ll be absent.
Thoreau puts on an air of confidence.
THOREAU
I’ll personally bring him his assignments and some hibiscus tea. At this rate the student:teacher ratio will soon be one-to-one.
ELLEN SEWALL
Edmund can’t stop talking about building huts and bird watching. He’s enjoyed your class so much he wants to be a teacher now. I wish I was young again and could join him.
THOREAU
You aren’t so old. Besides, what’s stopping you? There’s plenty of room.
ELLEN SEWALL
My mother. He told me not to talk to, “those radical Thoreau boys.”
THOREAU
And here you are.
ELLEN SEWALL
Yes. Your mother said John’s been sick since your trip?
(off Thoreau’s nod)
You miss him?
THOREAU
I love him.
ELLEN SEWALL
Oh, I thought you might be interested in this.
Ellen hands Thoreau a marble-sized musketball.
THOREAU
Hello. You’ve been walking near the great meadows. I’d say this is a Minuteman musket ball...“The shot heard ‘round the world.”
ELLEN SEWALL
Henry! What a clever remark! You’d better write it down before someone else thinks of it.
Thoreau reacts.
INT. EMERSON’S PARLOR - DAY
Emerson is silently reading a manuscript while Thoreau paces in front of him. Waldo Jr. (7) is playing with a stuffed puppet nearby. Emerson puts the manuscript on his lap.
THOREAU
Well?
EMERSON
It isn’t awful.
THOREAU
But?
EMERSON
But it isn’t clever enough to fool anyone.
THOREAU
It’s a first draft.
Waldo Jr. hands Emerson a wooden puppet.
WALDO JR.
Can you fix this?
Emerson struggles to fix the puppet. Thoreau eventually takes it and instantly fixes it. He hands the puppet back to Waldo Jr. Emerson then holds up the manuscript and reads:
EMERSON
Listen: “To the virtuous man, the universe is the only sanctum sanctorum, and the penetralia of the temple are the broad noon of his existence.
(beat)
Why should he betake himself to a subterranean crypt as if it were the only holy ground in all the world he had left unprofaned?”
WALDO JR.
I like it! Read it again, pa.
EMERSON
Henry, you’re writing at the reader, not for him. Consider your audience. This is far too cerebral.
THOREAU
Would you prefer I write about buried treasure instead? Or vampires?
Thoreau enters a performance mode as he tries to scare Waldo Jr. by ominously reciting a passage from Poe’s latest work.
THOREAU
“...there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments...of the House...of...
Waldo!”
Thoreau leaps at Waldo Jr, pretending to bite his neck. Waldo Jr. squeals in fear. Casually, Thoreau turns to Emerson.
THOREAU
How did you find your voice?
EMERSON
I didn’t. When I was ready, it found me.
INT. CONCORD ACADEMY CLASSROOM
John sits at the front desk as Thoreau walks in.
THOREAU
You should be in bed.
JOHN
We need to advertise in Boston. Maybe in Hartford too.
THOREAU
Let me worry about that. I’ll talk to Margaret today. You still aren’t well.
JOHN
I wish I could help.
INT. DIAL OFFICE - DAY
Margaret Fuller sits reading Thoreau’s manuscript in the Concord office, situated in a small building in downtown Concord. Several COPIES of The Dial lay on her desk. A door opens up onto the street. Emerson paces in front of her.
MARGARET FULLER
We can’t publish this. Not while I’m editor.
(reading from the manuscript)
“Our vices lie ever in the direction of our virtues, and in their best estate are but plausible imitations of the latter. ‘Securus quò pes ferat, atque ex tempore vivit,’ is the motto of a wise man.”
(beat)
My lord! This is a word puzzle about a seventeen hundred year old satire. It’s irrelevant.
EMERSON
We have to publish it.
Outside, Thoreau has crossed the village common and is approaching the office.
MARGARET FULLER
(reads from another manuscript)
Listen: “Great is the man whom his age despises. The gratitude of mankind achieves its marvels in the shades of life...
(savors each word)
...remote from the babble of crowds.”
(beat)
That is Bronson Alcott. Brilliant. Concise. Thoreau’s work...it’s like I’m picking fruit off the ground. With yourself and Alcott, I’m picking fruit off the branch.
Thoreau, standing just outside, has heard this remark.
EMERSON
To suggest he’s overripe is giving him more credit than he deserves. Henry needs encouragement and support.
MARGARET FULLER
I like him too, but he’s no writer. This belongs in a private journal, not in a public quarterly.
EMERSON
But the next one may improve.
THOREAU (o.s.)
Why bother? Why waste your time?
Emerson and Margaret turn to see Thoreau in the doorway.
THOREAU
I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself picking up my thoughts, Margaret.
Thoreau walks away. Margaret runs after him.
EXT. DIAL OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER
Margaret catches up to Thoreau.
MARGARET FULLER
Don’t resent me. It’s my job to edit the publication, not grant favors.
(Thoreau turns)
Wait! Every Cherokee in Georgia was forced to march a thousand miles to an empty prairie because a white man found a tiny nugget of gold. These are the issues of the day. We don’t need commentary on obscure poems.
THOREAU
Culture is built on the foundations of...
MARGARET FULLER
Damn the foundations! Our publication gives us a platform to debate current issues. Your essay is off topic.
THOREAU
Off your topic.
MARGARET FULLER
What’s that supposed to mean?
THOREAU
Maybe what they’re saying about him is true. Maybe Emerson is a...fraud, drawn to publicity like a moth to a flame.
MARGARET FULLER
Ralph Waldo Emerson is a great man.
THOREAU
Indeed, America has many great men. But it’s time for a man to make America great.
Thoreau walks away. Margaret does not go after him. She looks back at Emerson, who leans in the doorway of The Dial office.
EXT. DOWNTOWN CONCORD - MOMENTS LATER
Thoreau walks down the road, kicking the dirt in frustration. A man in a hooded cloak calls out to him from an alley.
ABOLITIONIST #2
You ready to taste blood?
THOREAU
(thinks it’s Channing)
I’m not in the mood for games, Ellery.
ABOLITIONIST #2
Don’t run away. Bring the fight to them!
THOREAU
I told you I’m not in the mood!
Thoreau pushes the hood off the man to reveal  a battle worn man, a pistol and dagger in his belt. The abolitionist looks around to make sure he isn’t being watched.
ABOLITIONIST #2
A plantation owner from Georgia is staying in Lexington. Wouldn’t it be a shame if he had an accident?
The Abolitionist hands Thoreau the dagger. Thoerau backs away.
INT. THOREAU HOUSEHOLD - SAME DAY
John, mid-shave, carefully sharpens his straight-edge razor. Thoreau bursts in the door.
THOREAU
Everyone is insane!
John is startled and cuts his left ring finger with his razor.
JOHN
Henry! Damn you.
John examines his finger. It isn’t cut badly, but it bleeds.
THOREAU
Now I know what happened to Rome before it self-destructed. We’ll bury ourselves in waste or else assassinate each other!
John isn’t concerned with the cut anymore as he begins to shave.
JOHN
Are you done?
THOREAU
Yes.
JOHN
Good. I was worried you’d become a pessimist.
(beat)
Oh, I asked Ellen to marry me today.
Thoreau tries to digest this information.
THOREAU
What?
JOHN
Yes, I thought if we could have enough children our Academy would be saved.
THOREAU
Married? Then...congratulations.
JOHN
For what? She said no. I suspect she wants to marry you.
Thoreau perks up.
THOREAU
Don’t tease me.
JOHN
It’s true. Women adore their projects as much as men. You present quite a challenge. I’m already normal.
John moves his left hand.
JOHN
Any more students show up today?
Thoreau’s look says it all.
JOHN
Just as well, Pa needs help in the shop.
INT. THOREAU HOUSEHOLD BASEMENT - DAY
Thoreau stands near his father, staring at a large clock ticking loudly.
PA THOREAU
Hand me that plane.
(Thoreau doesn’t react)
Henry!
THOREAU
Shouldn’t a clock turn the other way? Subtracting minutes rather than adding them?
PA THOREAU
Oh, David Henry. I hope I raised you right.
MA THOREAU (O.S.)
Pa? Sam’s here!
Pa stops.
PA THOREAU
Sam? Oh! Taxes due! Never a good time for that. Henry, take my advice and squirrel away some coin for the tax man. You’ll thank yourself later on...coming Ma!
Pa climbs the stairs as Thoreau stares at the clock again.
EXT. ELLEN SEWALL’S HOUSE - SAME DAY
Thoreau strides to the door. He sees Edmund in an upstairs window. Thoreau waves. Edmund looks very sad and doesn’t wave back.
Thoreau knocks on the door. He brushes his coat clean while he waits. Ellen answers the door.
ELLEN SEWALL
Henry?
Thoreau bends to one knee.
THOREAU
Ellen Sewall, will you marry me?
ELLEN SEWALL
This feels remarkably familiar.
THOREAU
I can be very practical, you know. I can tend a garden and build chairs and survey land. I will try...to be...normal.
ELLEN SEWALL
Normal?
THOREAU
Yes. Normal.
Ellen shrewdly pretends Henry’s proposal is a good idea.
ELLEN SEWALL
Then tell me your opinion on lace.
THOREAU
Lace?
ELLEN SEWALL
For our wedding ceremony. What lace pattern should we choose? I’m partisan to holly and ivy. And you?
Thoreau’s eyes widen. He chokes back his criticism.
THOREAU
Where to begin...
ELLEN SEWALL
And for the ride to and from church we’ll need to rent the finest carriage. A man is defined by his carriage, don’t you think?
Thoreau grits his teeth and forces out a weak...
THOREAU
Unquestionably.
ELLEN SEWALL
Henry, the world already has too many normal people.
MRS. SEWALL (O.S.)
Is he back again, Ellen?
Mrs. Sewall stomps to the door and opens it. She is surprised to find Henry, instead of John.
MRS. SEWALL
Oh, the other Thoreau boy. Your family isn’t too bright, is it?
ELLEN SEWALL
Mother!
Thoreau is confused.
THOREAU
Do you have a quarrel with my family?
MRS. SEWALL
Not as long as Emerson’s druid philosophy stays in your family.
You have seen the last of Edmund. He’s had quite enough poems and wildflowers. He’ll attend Exeter in the fall, so he can learn something practical.
(beat)
Ellen!
Ellen moves back inside. Mrs. Sewall slams the door shut. Thoreau backs away from the door, dazed. Thoreau looks up at a window and sees Edmund again. Thoreau waves weakly, hopefully. Edmund walks away from the window. Thoreau is crushed. He turns and drags his feet toward the road. Then we hear a knock on the window. Thoreau turns around and sees Edmund standing at the window holding an Indian arrowhead against the glass. Edmund smiles and holds the arrowhead to his chest. His smile says goodbye...and thank you.
EXT. EMERSON’S HOUSE - WINTER 1841 - DAY
A depressed Thoreau walks up to Emerson’s house. LYDIA EMERSON (35).
LYDIA EMERSON
Mr. Emerson has requested no visitors.
THOREAU
Lydia, I want to talk to him. I feel terrible for doubting him.
LYDIA
Our boy is ill with the scarlet fever.
THOREAU
Who? Little Waldo?
Thoreau is stunned. He moves to go inside.
THOREAU
He’ll want to see me.
She stands in his way.
LYDIA
The doctor has ordered no visitors. I’m sorry, Henry. All we can do is wait.
Thoreau is brokenhearted but turns and leaves.
INT. CONCORD ACADEMY CLASSROOM WINTER 1841- DAYS LATER
Thoreau sits in an empty classroom holding a maple leaf. He looks out the window.
CHANNING (O.S.)
“But since we sailed some things have failed...”
Thoreau turns to see Ellery Channing at the door. Ellery has groomed himself and is wearing clothes that appear to bind his spirit.
THOREAU
“...and many a dream gone down the stream.”
(beat)
The last student is gone. It’s over. The academy will close.
CHANNING
In times like this my uncle always says, “Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow by conflict.”
(off Thoreau’s reaction)
I thought it was bunk too.
THOREAU
1000 years ago, this academy would have prospered without limit.
CHANNING
Ah, nostalgia brightens trees and hair on hills and heads that were not there.
THOREAU
Did the Pacific Ocean live up to it’s name?
Channing grows melancholy. He examines a book of poems.
CHANNING
A widow gave birth to twins...near a town called Chi-ca-go. That’s French for “uninhabitable”. I stayed behind with her while the party went on. A month passed and I thought less and less of California. What is “the west” but an empty space within ourselves, a fantasy we forever chase? We’re leaves on the wild river; the current guides us to a mysterious destiny.
THOREAU
Maybe we should go to Greece.
CHANNING
Oh, now you want to go? After I’m married and own a house? I’ve  children at home who expect me to be their father! I’m completely terrified of them!
THOREAU
You are an unconventional man.
FADE TO:
IMAGES OF A NEW ENGLAND WINTER: SNOW COVERED PINE TREES.
THOREAU (v.o.)
As I went forth early on a still frosty morning, the trees looked like airy creatures of darkness caught napping, on this side huddled together with their grey hairs streaming in a secluded valley, which the sun had not penetrated, on that side hurrying off in Indian file along some water-course, while the shrubs and grasses, like elves and fairies of the night, sought to hide their diminished heads in the snow...
FADE TO:
INT. THOREAU HOUSEHOLD 1842 - NIGHT
JOHN’S BEDROOM:
John lays in bed. His face is pale. His left hand is bandaged. He coughs into a rag and a case of Lockjaw makes it hard for him to speak. Thoreau continues reading from his journal.
THOREAU
...The river, viewed from the high bank, appeared of a yellowish green color, though all the landscape was white.
Thoreau frowns helplessly as he closes the journal.
JOHN
(hoarsely)
That almost sounds like you know what you’re doing.
THOREAU
It’s just a first draft. And it’s “off topic.”
JOHN
Henry, don’t be discouraged by the fears of other men.
Thoreau presents a new hat (like the one John lost) and gives it to John.
THOREAU
For when you’re well again.
JOHN
Our trip to New Hampshire...
THOREAU
I’m so sorry. I’m...
JOHN
...was the happiest time of my life.
As John drifts off to sleep, Thoreau is overcome.
EXT. CONCORD RIVER. WINTER 1842 - DAY
Winter has descended on Concord. The Concord River is partly frozen and covered with snow. The North Bridge monument stands bravely in the bleak midwinter. Thoreau and Channing walk slowly along a nearby trail.
CHANNING
(making conversation)
So I bought a few acres of land and built a cabin. I planted apple seeds but they didn’t grow. Wolves ate the pigs. Cold killed the chickens. I did see one buffalo...as it was trampling my garden. Then I met my wife. Worst day of her life. You know, her sister lives around here. Margaret Fuller. She edits Emerson’s publication. She says my poems are “overly-talented”, whatever that means.
Thoreau focuses on a leaf in the sluggish water. The leaf drifts downstream on the...
RIVER OF TIME:
1. A silhouette of Thoreau’s half built Walden cabin.
2. John’s hat flying through the air.
3. The Musketaquid overturned on the river.
THOREAU
John!
Thoreau turns and runs through the woods.
INT. THOREAU HOUSEHOLD - MOMENTS LATER
Thoreau bursts in the door, out of breath. A DOCTOR walks out of John Jr’s bedroom. The DOCTOR shakes his head. Pa and Ma Thoreau clutch one another. Thoreau sees the covered body of his brother.
EXT. CONCORD RIVER - DAYS LATER
Thoreau stands by the shore of the icy river delivering a short eulogy as the family listens. Thoreau pushes a replica model boat into the river and watches it drift upstream.
THOREAU
Where ever thou sail’st who sailed with me, though now thou climbest loftier mounts, and fairer rivers dost ascend, be thou my muse, my brother.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - WINTER 1842 - DAY
Margaret approaches Thoreau, who stands on the shore. Thoreau now wears a full beard and mustache.
MARGARET FULLER
Will it improve your mood to know that I’ll be leaving the Dial? Ellery Channing has expressed interest in the job.
(Shakes her head)
Since Emerson’s boy died...
Thoreau’s reaction tells Margaret that he didn’t know little Waldo had died.
MARGARET FULLER
Of course...with your brother’s funeral, you hadn’t heard. He passed peacefully.
Thoreau looks out across the frozen pond.
THOREAU
Why wouldn’t you publish my essays, Margaret?
MARGARET FULLER
You’re a bold writer. Perhaps the boldest I’ve known. But...
Thoreau is looking at the forest, absorbed.
MARGARET FULLER
What do you see?
THOREAU
Diversity and similarity. Harmony and chaos. Peace and violence. The Hindu believe all life returns to its origin.
MARGARET FULLER
That’s an essay I would publish.
They share a moment looking across the pond.
THOREAU
Where do your plans take you?
MARGARET FULLER
And I’ve been offered a desk at the Tribune...in New York City. Literary criticism.
THOREAU
A small victory for Margaret, a giant victory for Margarets everywhere. Congratulations.
MARGARET FULLER
“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
Thoreau reacts.
Margaret walks away and Thoreau picks up her journey on the surface of the pond in a River of Time:
1. Margaret climbs aboard a canal boat and walks to the bow, facing the west.
EXT. EMERSON’S HOUSE - SPRING 1842 - DAY
Emerson carelessly hammers fence boards. He is distraught and has no skill as a carpenter. The boards are all crooked. Thoreau hurries over and takes the hammer from him.
THOREAU
Waldo!
Emerson ignores Thoreau and stumbles to a hole he has been digging with a post hole digger. He digs carelessly until he collapses.
EMERSON
I know how fragile life is. I know that we are mortal, but the way little Waldo went...he didn’t die, he ascended. I would have liked to see him grow up. Such a humble boy.
Thoreau comforts Emerson.
EMERSON
Stay here with Lydia and the children. They need a man with skills. Not me.
Thoreau looks at the crooked fence.
THOREAU
You need a carpenter. No debate. Of course I’ll stay. It’s just...
(beat)
I’m sorry I questioned you. You’ve given me so much.
Lydia Emerson approaches the pair.
LYDIA
Mr. Emerson, are you attempting to transfer your responsibilities to our kind Henry?
THOREAU
I don’t mind. As soon as I can I’ll straighten the fence.
LYDIA
Never mind that. We’ve rented the Old Manse to a very important pair of newlyweds. I’d like to give them a special gift.
EXT. OLD MANSE - SAME DAY
Lydia and Thoreau are examining a plot of land in front of the house.
LYDIA
And over there will be the tomatoes, and a row of carrots and corn. And flowers, so the air is filled with Concord’s finest perfume.
Thoreau nods.
THOREAU
It’s the work of a easy week, and a thoughtful gift.
LYDIA
Here come the recipients now.
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE (42) and SOPHIA HAWTHORNE approach Thoreau.
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
Lydia, you’re determined to spoil us.
LYDIA
The Old Manse is no mere quarters for your horse and hat. A nation was born in your backyard. It is the soul of Concord.
Sophia extends her hand to Thoreau.
SOPHIA HAWTHORNE
I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Sophia Hawthorne. This is my husband Nathaniel.
Thoreau gracefully gestures to the couple.
THOREAU
Henry Thoreau, at your service. Think of me as your resident cricket, a mere chirp in the grass.
LYDIA
A transcendental gardener. Only in Concord.
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
The honor is ours.
EXT. CONCORD CEMETERY - DAY
Thoreau lays a bouquet of wildflowers on John’s grave.
THOREAU
We didn’t teach enough Plato. That was the problem. Plato and Aristotle...and Chaucer! Everyone needs to read Chaucer.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - SAME DAY
Thoreau walks to the edge of the water and looks into the...
RIVER OF TIME:
1. Margaret sits on the shore of a great lake. She’s writing a letter to Thoreau
MARGARET FULLER (v.o.)
A great migration is under way. No corner of land will be untouched and that story will be recorded by many. You alone remain as secretary to the pine trees, the robins, the river trout and the pond turtle. Be faithful to those voiceless creatures.
Hypnotized, drawn to Margaret, Thoreau steps into the water until he is surprised by...
SURVEYOR (O.S.)
Hey!
THOREAU
Sons of Socrates!
A SURVEYOR (60) looks at Thoreau from the edge of the pond.
SURVEYOR
Where I come from we take our shoes off when we go swimming.
The surveyor splashes some water in his face and hikes up a hill.
THOREAU
Where are you from?
SURVEYOR
Rhode Island.
THOREAU
(indicating the hill)
What are you doing up there?
SURVEYOR
Come see for yourself.
Thoreau follows him up the hill and finds himself on a path cleared through the forest with surveyor flags leading east and west. The surveyor looks through a scope to an ASSISTANT placing flags in the distance. A rustic shed full of surveying supplies sits nearby.
THOREAU
A new road?
SURVEYOR
Railroad.
THOREAU
To Concord?
SURVEYOR
Concord’s a depot between Boston and Vermont. Then Canada. Then Chicago. Then a place called
(consults map)
Oak-land, Cali-fornia. Sounds pretty.
(on Thoreau’s reaction)
It’s not just me. Another team will start in Cali-fornia. We’ll meet in the middle.
THOREAU
But that’s ...that’s Mexico.
SURVEYOR
Not for long. It’s not the Mexicans or the Indians that are going to stop us. It’s the rivers. Rivers out west you can’t see across, let alone span with a bridge. But we’ll git there.
Thoreau is disarmed by the man’s laconic attitude. He just continues looking through his surveying scope and writing in a notebook.
THOREAU
Why are you doing this? You can’t ever see it finished.
SURVEYOR
In fifty years I haven’t seen anything finished. Engineers never hammer the last nail or drive the last spike or lay the last brick.
(beat)
There is no last brick; there are just more bricks. Engineers build big objects with little, little pieces. That takes...a lifetime...
(shrugs)
...or more.
Thoreau absorbs this.
EXT. EMERSON’S HOUSE - DAY
Thoreau hammers the fence boards up. He uses a long piece of twine to level each board in place. Later, Thoreau tends the garden. Later, he chops wood. Later, he brings in buckets of water. Emerson meets him on the porch.
EMERSON
I saw Sophia at the market. She’s nearly a grown woman now.
THOREAU
Keeps ma on her toes.
EMERSON
I’ve a tedious task for you, Henry. I’m reluctant to even ask. I’d like to build a church on my property near Walden Pond. You’re familiar with that area. You could survey it and you would be in charge of construction.
THOREAU
A church? Did God send you a sign?
EMERSON
Yes.
THOREAU
I will make it a top priority. However, if you ask me to build you an ark then I’ll need more proof.
Thoreau walks away. Lydia emerges from the house and stands with Waldo as they watch Thoreau stack wood.
LYDIA
What scheme are you devising? You never mentioned a church to me.
EMERSON
It will be a transcendental church, built by one man’s ideas. The first and only of its kind.
They look at Thoreau, who has paused for a moment to study a bird in a tree.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - SPRING 1845 DAY
Thoreau walks through the thin woods to Walden Pond. He admires the pond.
INT. EMERSON’S HOUSE - EVENING
Thoreau and Emerson sit at the dinner table. Emerson writes a few words on a piece of paper, then scratches them out.
LYDIA (O.S.)
I heard that, Waldo. No working at the dinner table.
Emerson leans toward Thoreau.
EMERSON
(quietly)
Henry, how’s this: “Nothing can bring peace but the triumph of justice.”
Thoreau shrugs.
THOREAU
How about, “Nothing can bring peace...but the triumph of principles.”
Emerson smiles and begins to write. Thoreau coughs as Lydia enters.
LYDIA
You will hand that to me.
EMERSON
But I’ll forget it.
LYDIA
Then it wasn’t worth remembering.
Emerson hands Lydia the manuscript and they begin to eat.
EMERSON
So, Henry, how is the Walden surveying?
THOREAU
It will be easier in the spring, when I can see the lay of the land.
EMERSON
Would it be more convenient if you had a hut of your own near the pond? As an office of your own?
THOREAU
I enjoy the commute.
EMERSON
It’s just a suggestion. We’ll need to build a storehouse for supplies eventually.
Lydia looks from Thoreau to Emerson. Emerson is watching closely for a reaction.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - DAY
Thoreau examines the spot where he will build his hut. He respectfully touches a tree that he plans to cut down. Then he takes aim and hacks away. The axe handle breaks on the first cut.
EXT. THE WAYSIDE - DAY
BRONSON ALCOTT meets Thoreau on the front porch.
THOREAU
Mr, Alcott, uh, can I borrow an axe?
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - DAY
Thoreau takes another hack at a tree and watches it fall.
EXT. CONCORD LUMBER YARD - A FEW DAYS LATER
The Concord Curmudgeon and Concord Optomist shuffle down the street.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
I don’t like it.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
That ain’t news to this corner of the world.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
You tax a man to build a road? Yes. You tax a man to repair the school roof? Yes. You tax a man to invade Mexico? No.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Easy...
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
I said no.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Shall Texas become a slave state or not?
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Not, of course.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Well, there’s considerable debate on the matter.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
If Texas wants to break the rules then let them fight for themselves. Don’t send a Concord boy where a Concord boy don’t belong.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Well, according to you, that would be everywhere but Concord.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Exactly.
The pair pass Thoreau, who stands before a LUMBER MAN. They both are looking at a list of materials.
LUMBER MAN
Building a woodshed?
THOREAU
No. It’s my house.
LUMBER MAN
Why do you want joists for a woodshed?
THOREAU
I said it isn’t a woodshed. It’s my house.
Lumberman points to a nearby two-story house with a little woodshed on the side.
LUMBER MAN
No. That’s a house. And that’s a woodshed. These materials are enough to build a woodshed.
THOREAU
It’s my house.
Long pause.
LUMBER MAN
Why do you want to live in a woodshed?
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - DAY
Thoreau stands near the old surveyors shed. He hands a man some money and then begins to dismantle the shed, placing the old lumber in a pile.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - DAY
Thoreau assembles the old and new building material into a 8 X 10 hut near the north shore of Walden Pond. CHANNING digs a shallow trench for the foundation. It’s hard labor, but the men bend their backs diligently. Later, Thoreau nails on the sideboards as Channing hands them to him. Later still, Thoreau places a window into the frame. It fits perfectly.
EXT. WALDEN POND. DAY
Thoreau washes his face in the pond. He imagines Margaret in her New York Gazette office. She’s seated at a desk piled high with paper.
MARGARET FULLER (v.o.)
A critic lives a solitary life, that’s for certain. Thankfully I’ve been offered the foreign correspondent position in France or Italy. The stories we’ll exchange when we meet again...
Margaret’s image and voice fades out as we cut to...
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - DAY
Channing and Thoreau carry a small wooden cot along a narrow path in the woods.
CHANNING
“Come help build my cabin,” he says. “It’ll be fun. You need the exercise.” Henry, my splinters have splinters.
THOREAU
Complaining is the lowest form of self-expression.
Channing puts his end of the cot down.
CHANNING
There. Is that low enough for you?
THOREAU
You’d rather spend the day with your wife?
Channing thinks for a moment. Then he pushes Thoreau out of the way.
CHANNING
You’ve got the light end. That’s the problem. He talks a big talk about simplicity, but what about Ellery? Poor Ellery is the one who has to pick up the slack. Dig a foundation. Clear the field. Catch the fish. Carry the bed. Stack the lumber. Chop the wood.
As Channing continues to rant, Thoreau picks up the other end and they move off.
EXT. THOREAU’S HUT. DAY
Channing and Thoreau and Emerson admire the complete hut that features two windows and a wood shed in back. The hut is empty and has no chimney yet. Channing examines the hut.
CHANNING
Definitely keep a journal, Henry, we’ll need a record of how you starved to death.
EMERSON
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Channing has a thought.
CHANNING
If Ellen kicks me out, can I sleep on your floor?
Channing is serious. On Thoreau’s surprised reaction we...
SERIES OF SHOTS:
EXT. BEAN GARDEN - SUMMER 1845 - DAY
Thoreau plants seeds in a small field. His cabin is nearby. Thoreau hoes a mature bean garden. Thoreau carefully waters the beans with a bucket. A train whistle blows in the distance.
EXT. THOREAU’S HUT - DAY
Thoreau squeezes a big chair into the hut. Thoreau immediately carries the big chair out of the hut. Then he methodically chops the chair into pieces.
INT. THOREAU’S HUT - DAY
Thoreau sits on a small stool as he writes in his journal. He examines a green bean on the desk.
EXT. BEAN GARDEN - DAY
While picking weeds out of his garden, Thoreau finds evidence of an animal eating his cabbage.
Later, Thoreau is flat on his belly holding a rope. The rope leads to stick holding up a box.
THOREAU
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
A woodchuck comes sniffing through the forest. It sees the bait in the trap and moves in to get it.
THOREAU
A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck WOOD!
On this last word he pulls the string, which detaches from the stick. The woodchuck eats the bait in the shade of the box.
EXT. THOREAU’S HUT - DAY
Thoreau takes notes as he watches birds and chipmunks eat the crumbs he has left them.
INT. THOREAU’S HUT - DAY
The hut is complete and is furnished with a stool and a desk and a cot. Pieces of the big chair smolder in the fireplace. Thoreau straightens a charcoal portrait of his brother. He runs his finger across the top of the frame where dust collects. Thoreau frowns and takes the picture down. A knock on the door. Thoreau opens the door to find SAM STAPLES (40), the town tax collector and constable, standing outside.
SAM
Will it survive the winter, that’s the question.
THOREAU
What brings you to the forest, Sam.
SAM
I was double checking the tax records today and I saw that you were passed due on your poll tax.
Thoreau yawns.
SAM
Perhaps you thought your father paid it for you? Or Emerson?
Thoreau shakes his head.
SAM
Then you forgot to pay it?
Thoreau shakes his head.
SAM
The books don’t lie, friend.
THOREAU
I didn’t forget. I haven’t paid my taxes in six years.
(beat)
Deliberately.
SAM
That kind of defeats the purpose of the tax, Henry.
THOREAU
I thought it might.
SAM
You’ve heard of the trouble down in Texas.
THOREAU
You mean Mexico?
SAM
Hasn’t been Mexico for a decade.
THOREAU
(sarcastic)
Ah, well that settles it.
SAM
Now, Henry, if you’re hard up living in this hermit’s shack then we can work something out...an arrangement.
THOREAU
This arrangement works perfectly for me.
SAM
I see.
(beat)
Do you read the bible, Henry?
THOREAU
I read lots of books. The bible? Let me think...is that the one about the frog who turns into a prince?
Sam forces a smile.
SAM
The lord expects us to be humble, and to obey the state.
THOREAU
Perhaps when the state learns the difference between right and wrong, that’s exactly what I’ll do.
Sam back away from the cabin.
SAM
It’s a nice shack. I’d hate to see anything happen to it, Henry. The law has long arms...
THOREAU
...and narrow vision. A dangerous combination, if you ask me.
Thoreau watches Sam walk away.
EXT. BEAN GARDEN - DAY
Thoreau waits for the woodchuck to eat the bait under the box. As soon as it does, Thoreau pulls the string and the box falls. Thoreau whistles as he walks up to the box, thinking he caught the beast. He peeks under the box to find... no woodchuck.
EXT. CONCORD MAIN STREET - DAY
Thoreau is creeping around some shrubs near a brook. A MAN stops behind him.
CONCORD MAN #1
Henry, I need a bit of surveying done on the farm.
THOREAU
Sorry. Can’t help you now. Maybe next spring.
CONCORD MAN #1
Oh. You’re busy?
THOREAU
Yes...and no.
Thoreau picks up a grass specimen and examines it. The confused man waits for a moment and then leaves.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - WINTER - DAY
Thoreau chops wood near his hut. He stops to admire the snowy landscape when he sees a FUGITIVE SLAVE creeping through the forest. The SLAVE sees Thoreau. There is a tense moment until Thoreau gently waves him over and then goes to his hut. The SLAVE comes over hesitantly. Thoreau brings out a loaf of bread and a coat. He hands them both to the SLAVE who then understands he is safe. Then Thoreau invites the slave inside.
INT. THOREAU’S HUT. DAY
Thoreau silently serves the slave a stew dinner and the slave eats heartily. Thoreau packs a bag with clothes and food. Thoreau draws a map of Massachusetts. He sits next to the slave and shows him the map. Thoreau points where Concord is and where Canada is. He gestures directions to get to Canada.
EXT. CONCORD RIVER. DAY
A boat with TWO MORE SLAVES floats in the river. Another MAN guides the boat to the shore with two oars. Thoreau introduces the SLAVE to the three men. The SLAVE gestures thanks.
The SLAVE steps into the boat, but Thoreau stops him and hands him his own hat, the hat he gave to John, off his head. The SLAVE puts it on and steps into the boat with his new coat, bag of food and hat. Thoreau watches the boat glide up the river.
INT. CONCORD LYCEUM DAY - WINTER DAY
Thoreau stands on stage reading from notes.
THOREAU
The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels.
It is revealed that Thoreau is speaking to a small audience. Thoreau’s voice echoes off the stone walls.
THOREAU
How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! A million complications distract us. We multiply our labors but not our rewards.
A MAN stands up and walks toward the door.
THOREAU
It’s not as bad as that, is it, Bob?
BOB
Not at all. Fahm’s ovah run with the green worm. Ahm just in due to the misses; she sez I’m needing cultcah.
Thoreau nods.
THOREAU
You planted third week of April?
BOB
Reckon so.
THOREAU
Robin and wren chicks don’t hatch until the first week of May.
BOB
How’s that?
THOREAU
If you postpone planting for one week the robin hens will pick every worm off your crop before they become a nuisance.
The farmer absorbs this advice. Thoreau turns to a FEMALE AUDIENCE MEMBER.
THOREAU
Your husband fishes the Sudbury in the spring?
FEMALE AUDIENCE
Yes, he does.
THOREAU
He ought to fish in the shallows. The trout are drawn to the warmth there.
FEMALE AUDIENCE
What a clever young man you are.
THOREAU
Why does an oak tree springs up when a pine tree is cut down? Because the acorn, buried by a squirrel the previous autumn, patiently awaits a moment. Remove the shade of the pine and the oak will appear as though summoned.
(beat)
There are mysteries in nature, but no surprises. Every action leads to a timeless and predictable destiny.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - 1846 - SUMMER DAWN
Title: “1846”
Thoreau awakens to find the fire has gone out. He walks outside as the sun begins to rise through the woods. Instead of getting firewood, Thoreau watches the sun clear the horizon and warm the pond. A rooster crows in the distance.
EXT. BEAN GARDEN - DAY
Thoreau watches the woodchuck in the garden. He observes the woodchuck eating leaves and writes a note in his journal.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - LATER THAT DAY
Later in the day Thoreau measures tree trunks again. He stumbles over a stump and finds he has torn the sole loose from his shoe.
EXT. EMERSON’S HOUSE - SAME DAY
The Concord Couple shuffle past Emerson’s house.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Give a woman a vote? Are you mad?
CONCORD OPTIMIST
I’m being progressive.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Progressive is what led to the War in Mexico. Progressive is what the devil calls “victory”. My Pa wasn’t progressive.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
Give me one reason a woman should be prohibited from voting.
The Curmudgeon pauses. He can’t think of a reason.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
By God, man...(whispers) My wife already tells me who to vote for. It wouldn’t be fair.
The couple shuffles down the road as Thoreau walks past the porch with one shoe on and one shoe off.
EXT. EMERSON’S HOUSE - SAME DAY
HAWTHORNE is sitting on Emerson’s porch. HERMAN MELVILLE sits in another chair. MELVILLE is a robust, bearded man of 27 years.
HAWTHORNE
It’s a cruel time to return to America.
MELVILLE
When I made land in New York, I thought we’d been invaded. Hawaiians resolved to banish the superficial from their lives. Apparently Americans have resolved to cultivate the superficial.
HAWTHORNE
I was referring to the war in Mexico.
Thoreau appears on the nearby street. He has his shirt tied around his head and is still walking with one shoe on and one shoe in his hand. His trousers are rolled above the knee. In short, he looks mentally deficient. Melville does a double take.
MELVILLE
What’s this?
HAWTHORNE
What?
MELVILLE
That!
Thoreau stops and waves.
HAWTHORNE
It’s Waldo’s gardener. Henry! Dropping off your laundry again?
THOREAU
No, I have a maid by once a week. She tidies up, organizes my notes, does my laundry.
(beat)
Yes, and then she gets on her broom and flies back to Salem in time for Witching hour.
HAWTHORNE
How is the cabin?
THOREAU
I don’t know how I managed before with so little free time. Do most people work to live - or the other way around?
MELVILLE
In many cultures there is no word for work.
HAWTHORNE
Henry, meet Herman Melville. He has just returned to America from...where was it?
MELVILLE
The Marquesas, Tahiti, Hawaii. Tribal, primitive, and utterly desirable.
THOREAU
Is Waldo home?
HAWTHORNE
You’re welcome to join our waiting party. He left a note for you.
Hawthorne hands Thoreau a note. He reads it.
THOREAU
The front door is sticking again. It’s the humidity. I’ll plane it when I return from the village.
HAWTHORNE
Mr. Melville is a writer, Henry.
THOREAU
Ah, that seems to be a prerequisite for Concord citizens.
HAWTHORNE
He has finished several admirable travel logs.
MELVILLE
Whale hunting was a breathtaking study in hubris.
THOREAU
Yes, the world doesn’t have nearly enough scrimshaw letter openers.
HAWTHORNE
You should read his work. Offer some advice. Henry writes a bit.
THOREAU
Advice? Don’t write about events, Mr. Melville; write about ideas.
MELVILLE
Why not write about both?
Thoreau raises a finger to respond, then he looks at the shoe in his hand.
THOREAU
I’ll have an answer for you when I return.
EXT. CONCORD MAIN STREET - SAME DAY
Thoreau enters Concord square where he passes a joyful reunion between a ONE-LEGGED SOLDIER and his FAMILY. A young former student from the Concord Public school is watching a small crowd near the church.
THOREAU
Has the carnival come to town?
YOUNG STUDENT #1
Mr. Thoreau! I found a raspberry patch near Brister’s Hill.
THOREAU
Brister’s? A seed finds a way, that’s the truth. John and I once...
Thoreau is distracted by a memory.
YOUNG STUDENT #1
I can show you where it is.
THOREAU
I’d like that. Allow me to have my shoe fixed and we’ll be off. I’ll need thick soles to journey in a berry patch...
Thoreau investigates the crowd to find a BLACK ABOLITIONIST speaking to a hostile group of Concord farmers.
ABOLITIONIST
Each day, fugitive slaves arrive in Toronto. No language can describe their awful journey. Butchered are their features, their souls tortured.
CROWD MEMBER #1
Go back to Canada!
CROWD MEMBER #2
Or we’ll send you back.
Thoreau stands behind the crowd.
ABOLITIONIST
Listen, Canadians implore you to raise your voice in protest.
CROWD MEMBER #2
We have no slaves in Massachusetts.
ABOLITIONIST
Nevertheless, the institution of slavery must be stopped and only you have a voice in Congress.
The student looks up at Thoreau. Thoreau sighs and begins to walk away.
YOUNG STUDENT #1
Should we do something?
THOREAU
The affairs of men are no longer my concern.
Thoreau continues to walk away. The student trails behind and finally stops.
ABOLITIONIST
Dear sirs, you must stop this sickness before it spreads.
CROWD MEMBER #1
I’ll not stand here while a Canadian tells me how to run my country.
The mob begins to move in.
THOREAU (O.S.)
THEN WILL YOU LISTEN TO THIS AMERICAN!
Crowd stops. All eyes on Thoreau. Thoreau stands resolved to his fate. The young student is scared but he also stands his ground.
THOREAU (cont'd)
I know you don’t own slaves. But our highest law permits them. Our highest law? If that isn’t our responsibility, then what are we but helpless children? You may not be fighting in Mexico, but you supply the means for others to fight. This man, this Canadian, is right. We are no more innocent than the plantation owner. You don’t hate him, you hate your own fear.
CROWD MEMBER #1
No one asked for the opinion of a recluse. You’re only one person.
YOUNG STUDENT #1
Two people!
The young student puffs his chest out to appear more menacing. There is a pause while the mob decides what to do.
YOUNG STUDENT #1
Mr. Thoreau, is this like that time you pretended to send us to Florida?
THOREAU
No.
There is a momentary showdown. Slowly, the crowd disperses with a grumble. The abolitionist nods gratefully. Thoreau breathes a sigh of deep relief. He has stood his ground as never before. The young student is also relieved.
THOREAU
Now, lets go see about those raspberries, shall we? I’ll wager my mother will bake us a pie if we turn the soil in her vegetable garden.
With one shoe in his hand and one shoe on his left foot Thoreau turns and immediately runs into Sam Staples.
SAM
Good afternoon, Henry. Through causing trouble?
THOREAU
Oh, I’m just getting started, Sam. How’s the tax business?
SAM
Spend a dollar to save a dime.
THOREAU
Exactly how many more wars can we afford, Sam?
SAM
As many as are needed to keep us free.
(beat)
Remember those taxes we talked about up at your...wooden ink well.
THOREAU
It’s my house and I’ve got the money here in my pocket. I aim to get my shoe fixed with it. That’s a more attractive alternative to funding an unprovoked war...
(to student)
...don’t you think?
YOUNG STUDENT #1
The raspberries.
Thoreau starts to walk off with the student. Sam grabs his arm.
SAM
Henry, don’t make this difficult. Emerson pays his taxes without a debate.
THOREAU
Well, I’m not Emerson.
SAM
It’s your duty.
THOREAU
To finance land thieves? No. My only duty is to fix my shoe so I can go pick raspberries with my friend.
SAM
Pay with coin, or pay with days in jail. Those are the rules.
(to student)
You don’t disobey the rules, do you son?
YOUNG STUDENT #1
Any fool can make a rule, and every fool will follow it.
Sam frowns.
THOREAU
The law is but one crooked yardstick by which to measure my morals. The war in Mexico will have to continue without my assistance. Either let me go or arrest me.
Sam casually handcuffs Thoreau, who turns to the student.
THOREAU
I’m afraid we’ll have to pick the raspberries another day.
INT. CONCORD JAIL CELL. - DAY
Thoreau is led down the jailhouse hall.
SAM
If Mr. Polk said we’ve been invaded, then I won’t question him.
THOREAU
But...
SAM
Presidents don’t lie just to start wars. Now, in you go.
Sam pushes Thoreau into a jail cell. Two cots are arranged on either side of the cell. One cot is occupied. Thoreau rubs his wrists as the handcuffs are removed. Sam slams the door closed, locks it, and walks away.
THOREAU
I’ll give you one more chance to do the right thing, Sam. Think of the Mexicans. Sam?
Sam is gone. The INMATE (50) sits up. He is a weathered man with weathered clothes.
INMATE
Keep the noise down!
THOREAU
Oh, I’m sorry.
INMATE
Too late now. You got any tobacco?
THOREAU
No.
INMATE
What are you in for?
THOREAU
I refused to pay my poll tax.
INMATE
That’s illegal?
THOREAU
Yes.
INMATE
News to me. Do you live in Concord?
THOREAU
I live in a cabin by a deep green pond. The crickets and frogs are my only neighbors. The wind crashes through the forest and the rain plays music on my roof.
The inmate lays back down.
INMATE
That sounds nice. Tell me some more.
THOREAU
Walden pond has noble sires. It belongs high up on the side of a mountain, its bottom far above the surface of other lakes. In the morning Walden throws off its clothing of mist, like ghosts stealthily withdrawing in every direction into the woods, as at the breaking up of some nocturnal gathering. It’s form is ever changing.
Thoreau looks over to make sure the inmate is still listening.
INMATE
What do you eat?
THOREAU
The fruits of my garden. Bean stew. Cabbage. River trout.
INMATE
Boiled?
THOREAU
Grilled over a fire. With fresh potatoes with parsley and garlic.
INMATE
N’ a pint?
Thoreau begins to shake his head when he realizes the inmate wants to imagine a pint.
THOREAU
Yes.
The inmate smiles dreamily and begins to snore.
Hours later, Thoreau snoozes on his bunk. He imagines Margaret on porch in Italy. She helps a small child assemble a puzzle.
MARGARET FULLER (v.o.)
He has his father’s eyes...and your curiosity. Children are innocently conceived but casually corrupted. Society’s values, good and bad, are effortlessly transferred. How quickly our bad habits are embraced by the young. And how quickly are we to denounce them. We reap what we sew.
Margaret’s husband climbs the stairs of the porch and lays down a rifle.
MARGARET FULLER (v.o. cont'd)
My husband speaks of visiting America soon. I believe you will enjoy his company.
Margaret, her husband and child fade away as we hear...
EMERSON (O.S.)
Henry! Henry!
Thoreau looks around, hopeful that he has started a trend.
THOREAU
Waldo! Did they get you too?
EMERSON (O.S.)
Out here.
Thoreau stands up to walk to the small window on one wall. He looks out the window where Emerson stands carrying a lantern. Thoreau is disappointed to see Emerson is outside.
THOREAU
Oh. There you are.
EMERSON
How much tax do you owe?
THOREAU
You can’t pay it for me. Not when it will load a rifle in Florida or Texas. The powerful should protect the weak, not steal their land.
EMERSON
I agree with you, Henry, but this isn’t a practical solution. What about Walden?
THOREAU
I’m no less content here.
EMERSON
But you can reach more hearts through lectures. Who’s your audience in there? A vagrant?
INMATE
(grumbling)
I prefer the term “transient.”
EMERSON
I owe you for all the work you’ve done for me. Allow me to pay the tax.
THOREAU
I feel as though I’m the only man in Concord who has paid his tax.
EMERSON
We can’t lose you on account of a petty debt to land thieves!
THOREAU
I haven’t heard you talk like this since your son died.
EMERSON
Well, you’ve made me angry.
THOREAU
Welcome back, Waldo.
EMERSON
It’s my fault you’re so stubborn.
THOREAU
Waldo, this cell will only accommodate two more people. Then what?
Emerson pounds his fist against the jail wall.
EMERSON
Then what? Then they’ll build a bigger jail. And tax me for it! Henry, think of what you are you doing in there!
THOREAU
Waldo, think of what you are doing out there!
(beat)
We must defend every man, not just every American.
INT. CONCORD JAIL CELL. LATER THAT EVENING
Thoreau is back on his bunk. In his imagination he returns to Walden and dives into its depths like a kingfisher. We swim through Walden’s green black waters, coursing over the sandy bottom and back up into the light of the rising sun.
INT. CONCORD JAIL CELL. - MORNING
Thoreau awakens with the sun. He is still laying on the same cot. His cell mate is laying on the other cot snoring. Thoreau shuffles to the window and looks out at the rising sun. He sniffs the air outside. Someone has scrawled on the side of the wall: “Only that day dawns to which we are awake.”
Sam opens the cell door.
SAM
You’re safe for another year, Henry. Out you go.
THOREAU
What? I told Waldo not to pay the tax.
SAM
It wasn’t Waldo. I can’t tell you who it was, but you’re paid up. Come on. You can save Concord a bowl of porridge if you leave now.
Thoreau crosses his arms.
THOREAU
I won’t leave.
INMATE
If he won’t go, can I go in his place?
SAM
You’ve still got ten days, pops. Let’s go, Henry. Don’t make me throw you out.
Thoreau steps out of the cell and stares at Sam.
THOREAU
Wouldn’t you prefer a government that built a fleet of freedom ships to return Africans to their country, instead of cannons and wagons to steal land from Mexico?
SAM
The country’s got to grow; we all can’t be hermits and philosophers.
THOREAU
Mexico has no claim on its soil?
SAM
Yesterday it was Spain, today it’s Mexico, tomorrow it’s Texas. The one thing that stays the same, is change.
INT. CHANNING HOUSE - DAY
ELLEN CHANNING sits across Ellery at the dining table.
ELLEN CHANNING
You spend too much time with that hermit.
CHANNING
Yes, dear.
ELLEN CHANNING
He’s a criminal.
CHANNING
Yes, dear.
A boy, Channing’s son, walks in the room.
ELLEN CHANNING
He ought to leave if he isn’t happy.
CHANNING
(to child)
What’s your name?
ELLEN CHANNING
Are you listening to me? He ought to leave if he isn’t happy.
Channing is miserable as his son walks to his mother.
CHANNING
Yes, dear.
INT. CONCORD LYCEUM. DAY
Thoreau stands at the lectern finishing his lecture.
THOREAU
I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least". Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe--"That government is best which governs not at all"
Emerson and Channing listen as Thoreau continues.
THOREAU
The law will never make men free; it is men who will make the law free. Galileo proved the earth is not the center of the Universe. Someone must now prove America is not the center of the Earth.
Channing sits up in another part of the lecture hall. Emerson and Channing are the only two members of the audience. Thoreau pauses for effect. Channing bursts into applause.
EXT. CONCORD LYCEUM - MOMENTS LATER
Channing and Thoreau stand outside the hall.
THOREAU
You attend one of my lectures and the audience is doubled.
CHANNING
Uh, Henry, I was wondering...can I come live at the hut with you?
Thoreau blinks.
CHANNING (cont'd)
Just for a few days. Ellen has...
(he drops it)
Don’t get married, Henry. Ever.
THOREAU
I’ll always have room for you, Ellery.
On Thoreau’s sympathetic smile we cut to:
INT. THOREAU’S HUT. NIGHT
Channing sleeps on Thoreau’s cot. An open copy of All’s Well That Ends Well lays on his chest. We travel out the open door to find Thoreau laying on a bundle of blankets on the ground. He stares up at the canopy of stars over Concord. A train whistle blows in the distance.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - MORNING
Channing stirs a pewter mug full of stewed beans. Eats a small spoonful.
CHANNING
(sarcastic)
Ah! More beans. How delicious.
THOREAU
You’ve been spoiled.
CHANNING
Yes. All that boiled corn and bread. What delicacies!
THOREAU
We’ve got lots to do today. The tomato patch needs weeding, firewood to gather, and Emerson’s asked me to review his latest essay.
Channing eats another small spoonful of beans. He clutches his stomach.
CHANNING
You’d better point me in the direction of the outhouse before Mt. Vesuvius erupts in my trousers.
THOREAU
Outhouse? My boy, we’re in the woods. Walk over that hill and dig a hole. This isn’t Rome, you know.
Channing looks around at the wilderness.
CHANNING
Right now I’d settle for Pompeii. 1800 years of human innovation and you ignore all but the most primitive...
Channing grips his stomach again as a spasm shudders through his bowels. He runs over the hill and out of sight.
CHANNING (o.s.)
(distantly)
...all but the most primitive accessories of civilization.
EXT. BEAN GARDEN - DAY
Thoreau watches the woodchuck again. This time the woodchuck has several smaller woodchucks with it. Thoreau watches these animals eating until...a SHOT rings out, surprising Thoreau. The large woodchuck drops. The others scatter. Thoreau runs up to find the dead woodchuck. A HUNTER approaches with a rifle.
HUNTER
Good day! I believe that’s my game.
Thoreau turns and clenches his fists. The farmer stops. Thoreau grabs a nearby hoe and begins to walk, with evil intent, toward the hunter. The hunter begins to back away.
HUNTER
I...I could be mistaken.
The hunter turns around and runs away. Thoreau returns to the woodchuck.
Later, Thoreau stands near a mound of dirt.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS. - DAY
Thoreau ambles through the forest, casually placing surveyor stakes in the ground. He makes notes regarding the size of the church. When he hammers in the next stake he sees a pine cone on the ground. He picks it up.
At that moment a breeze kicks up through the forest. Thoreau looks up innocently. He has seen trees rocking in the wind a thousand times but this time he sees something different. A steam whistle blows at the Concord Rail Depot.
EXT. BOSTON HARBOR - SAME TIME
Channing steps aboard a steamship (whistle blowing). He hands his ticket to a steward and looks back at Boston Harbor.
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - SAME TIME
Thoreau stands motionless. The air is filled with pollen dust. Thoreau examines the pine cone and then watches the pollen. He is on the verge of a realization that will answer the question he has asked his whole life. He now clearly sees the mechanics of nature, a squirrel carrying an acorn to bury near a pine tree, a bird eating berries off a bush, a brook bringing water through the forest, the wind carrying the pollen to fertilize the pine cone that he now holds. A symphony of interconnected images and sounds and he is part of it.
THOREAU
How could the patient pine have known - the morning breeze would come?
Thoreau looks again at the pollen in the breeze and then at the pine cone in his hand. Thoreau looks around at nature’s magical workshop.
INT. THOREAU’S HUT - MOMENT LATER
Thoreau bursts in, excited.
THOREAU
Ellery? I just saw...
No one is home. Ellery and his belongings are gone. On the desk near the window is a note and a small box. He picks up the note.
THOREAU
“Dear Henry, gone to Rome.”
(beat)
Rome?
(beat)
“Have faith in a seed. Your friend, Ellery. ”
Thoreau opens the box and finds an acorn. He looks back at the note.
THOREAU
“And sorry for eating the last of the apple pie.”
An empty pie tin is laying on the stove.
INT. THOREAU’S HUT - EVENING
Thoreau and Waldo stand near the fireplace.
THOREAU
How could he leave? We’d planned to visit Maine and Canada.
EMERSON
Ellery said it was his destiny to drift on the river of time, to explore land and ocean.
THOREAU
You mean he’s irresponsible and reckless.
EMERSON
That too.
(beat)
I also have to say goodbye, for now. Our ideas have outgrown Concord. I’m lecturing in France and England. I hope you’ll watch after Lydia and the house.
Thoreau looks out the window at the forest.
THOREAU
All this time - I’ve hypothesized a grand design to the forests. But it’s much more haphazard, almost lucky yet still inevitable. Fragile, but unyielding.
EMERSON
For nearly a decade I have strived to see the forest through your eyes, but I confess, I merely see different shades of green and brown, animals running in trails of great chaos.
THOREAU
No! Waldo, it’s all as orderly as an account book! There is nothing, not a leaf or icicle that doesn’t belong. It is all exactly as it must be.
EMERSON
I know. I know, but I can’t see.
THOREAU
I’ll show you. Let’s go! We’ll start in the river meadows. In half a century I guarantee that will be a mixed maple forest. Why, the hibiscus blooms once a year, for this week only.
EMERSON
Henry, I’m going to Europe.
THOREAU
Please...this will only take an hour...or two. Maybe five hours. Alright, one day...two days at most. A week if you want to be complete...
(pause)
Well, you will have to see each season...twice. Ok, so it might take three of four years.... although some cycles last nearly a decade...
Thoreau’s voice trails off as he realizes the scope of his understanding. He is out of breath from excitement.
EMERSON
I could spend the rest of my life with you in the forest and never see what you see. But I can learn to appreciate it, to value it, to share your discoveries. I realize it is a task for a lifetime, but promise me you will try to...celebrate the world you see. Don’t keep it a secret.
Thoreau pauses to contemplate the request. A thunder storm passes on the horizon. Emerson looks out the front door.
EMERSON
The country is unsettled right now, it’s growing like a teenager. One day it will fit its skin and a time for reflection will come. And then your work may have its moment.
(beat)
The thunderbolt falls on an inch of ground, but the light of it fills the horizon.
THOREAU
Did you just think of that this moment?
EMERSON
No. I’ve been working on it all summer. Was it too much?
Thoreau pretends to be unimpressed.
THOREAU
Average.
EMERSON
About that church at Walden, at your pond...
THOREAU
There are several suitable locations: flat; good drainage; ample acreage, as far from the railroad as possible. I’ve already outlined a sample footprint. I’ll show you when you get back.
EMERSON
I’ve decided...the pond itself is the church and shall remain as it is.
Thoreau looks closely at Emerson, deducing the truth behind the “Church”.
THOREAU
Until now, I thought this cabin was my idea.
EMERSON
It is you idea.
THOREAU
The woodchucks of Walden thank you.
EMERSON
Welcome to your country, Henry David Thoreau.
INT. THOREAU’S HUT - SPRING 1847 - EVENING
Thoreau is seated at his desk writing by candlelight as a fire burns in the fireplace.
THOREAU (V.O.)
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I...
Thoreau pauses. He hears something in the distance.
MARGARET FULLER (O.S.)
(in the distance)
Henry! Henry!
Thoreau is at first happy. He think Margaret has returned to Concord.
MARGARET FULLER (O.S.)
(urgently)
Henry!
Thoreau realizes Margaret is in danger. He runs out of the cabin.
EXT. WALDEN POND - MOMENTS LATER
Thoreau runs to the shore of the pond.
Across the water he sees a vision through the fog, a half submerged steamship. Passengers jump into the water. Margaret, her husband and her child are clinging to the rail. Margaret attempts to hold onto both her child and to her wooden chest of belongings. The chest slips out of her hands and plunges into the water. It opens and all her manuscripts tumble into the water, floating near other pieces of debris and bodies.
Thoreau doesn’t waste a moment, he dives into the water and swims at full speed across the pond. The fog thickens as he gets closer to the shipwreck. He passes pieces of debris and hears the cries of the doomed passengers. He swims and swims but the cries are soon faded. Thoreau calls out for Margaret but now there is no reply. He searches but only winds up back on the shore of Walden Pond.
Near his feet are some washed out pages and a waterlogged bonnet that Margaret was fond of wearing. He looks back across the pond, which has returned to normal. All trace of the shipwreck is gone.
Thoreau reflects on this vision for a moment. His breathing slows down. His troubled face becomes calm. He sees the death of one or a million as part of nature’s law. All life ends, grief changes nothing.
THOREAU (V.O.)
...and see if I could not learn what it had to teach....and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
The image of Thoreau’s gravestone “HENRY” fades in and out on the surface of the pond but Thoreau turns to admire the landscape, he transcends the landscape, he is part of the landscape.
THOREAU (V.O)
I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear.
FADE TO:
EXT. WALDEN WOODS - SPRING 1847 - DAY
Thoreau is gathering up the church stakes. A BOY (12)  explores nearby.
THOREAU
Enjoying the day, young man?
The boy shows Thoreau a split nautilus fossil.
THOREAU
This is thousands of years old. I know a man at Harvard who will pay you for it.
BOY
He collects them?
THOREAU
For the museum of natural history. We can only learn what we all see together. Where did you find it?
EXT. WALDEN POND - MOMENTS LATER
The boy is pointing at the shore where a small hole has been dug. Thoreau holds the fossil delicately.
THOREAU
It’s a Nautilus. The creature lived inside it and built the walls as it grew. All this land was once covered by an ocean.
(beat)
And one day...it will be again.
The student tries to understand. Thoreau looks at the surface of the pond. Then, from his coat pocket, he takes the ring box that Channing gave him. He opens it and takes out an acorn.
THOREAU
A seed was encased in sap thousands of years ago. A botanist uncovered it and he was still able to grow a tree. The right seed can survive... for centuries.
In this acorn, Thoreau sees the universe. Thoreau hands the acorn to the boy.
THOREAU
What do you see?
INT. THOREAU’S HUT - SPRING DAY
PIECE OF PAPER: “CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE BY HENRY D. THOREAU”
Thoreau is at his table, writing. He looks to put another log on the dying fire. There are no more logs.
EXT. THOREAU’S HUT. DAY
Thoreau walks 30 feet from his hut to find a few sticks for kindling. This is a routine he is familiar with. He passes an Oak sapling with a small, handmade sign: “CHANNING’S GROVE”.
THOREAU (V.O.)
I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one.
Thoreau turns around and begins to walk back when he sees:
FOOT PATH WORN IN THE DIRT LEADING TO THE DOOR OF THE HUT
Thoreau takes a long look at this path he has made with his daily travel. He shakes his head in amused disbelief. No matter how gently he tries to walk, he will leave his mark. Thoreau strides deliberately back to his home.
THOREAU (cont'd)
I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world...
Thoreau enters the hut, leaving the door open. He sits down as we back away over the pond.
THOREAU (cont'd)
...for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains.
The 1847 hut and the pond fade into MODERN DAY Walden Pond, surrounded by a dense maple tree forest in green summer splendor. A full moon rises over the trees.
FADE TO BLACK.
EPILOGUE:
Margaret Fuller published several books and became a foreign correspondent in Italy. She died in 1850 with her husband and son when her steamship sank near Long Island, New York.
William Ellery Channing published the first biography of Thoreau in 1863.
Henry David Thoreau remained in Concord, surveying and lecturing. His book “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers” was published in 1849. “Walden” was published in 1854. The natural specimens collected by Thoreau are still on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Thoreau died of tuberculosis in 1862 when he was 45.
Of Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his 1862 eulogy...

“His soul was made for the noblest society; he had in a short life exhausted the capabilities of this world; wherever there is knowledge, wherever there is virtue, wherever there is beauty, he will find a home.”
Thoreau’s writings influenced John Muir, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
Thanks to conservation efforts by The Walden Woods Project, Walden Pond is now a protected State Reservation.
Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 The Poet-Naturalist “For such as he, there is no death.”
FADE IN:

TAG:
EXT. CONCORD TRAIN DEPOT - MORNING
The old Concord Couple prepare to board a train.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Is it safe? It doesn’t look safe.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
There’s only one way to find out.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
My Pa never rode a train. If we wreck I’m going to blame you.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
In less than one hour we’ll be in Boston. And we’ll return to Concord before dark without getting mud on our trousers. Could your Pa ever say that?
The steam whistle blows as the Curmudgeon cautiously steps onto the train. He feels the security of the train beneath him but is still reluctant.
CONCORD CURMUDGEON
Is this what it feels like to commit a sin?
The Optimist pushes the Curmudgeon in then steps onto the train as it begins to move. He looks toward the eastern horizon, wind in his gray hair.
CONCORD OPTIMIST
No, no. This is what it feels like...to be an American.
FADE TO BLACK.
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Man in the Van by Oggy Bleacher is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.