Prequel:
What is life, really? Well, it is a tapestry of colours, of sounds, of actions, of
sacrifices and of consequences. The boy knows this, though he doesn't accept it as
truth; at least, not always. That's why the show follows him. Dr. Theo comes to him
in his sleep, when he's awake, and only when he's alone, which is most of the time.
You see, the boy ran away from the comfort of familiarity, his home. Now he is
nomadic, without a home, because of the people who turned against him with a quick
finger snap. They thought he did something. He didn't. But it didn't matter after he
built his wicker boat and floated away. He had something to learn, and when he was
chosen to learn it, the box of objects followed him; they followed for a reason. He
didn't understand life. He only understood loneliness. Every time the show came
around, he was enlightened and while he was no longer alone, he was also taught. He
saw the stars brighter and heard the birds louder. He watched the sun come up
 every morning, and appreciated the lapping of the waves against the coarse sand.
Now it will follow him forever, though he will try to escape it. Dr. Theo knows
that the boy is not done learning, and he won't be, for a while.
Sometimes,
ignorance is bliss.
But other times,
enlightenment is key.
The only clue he has to prove that it is all real is that red mark left on his
chest, and the deep red bottle of medicinal sustenance.  

Sequel:
He gets in his wicker boat, ready to escape. He knows he should toss the box in the
water, in another desperate attempt to leave the show behind. Instead, he keeps it.
It holds the last thing he knows is truly real, the bottle of medicine. It keeps his
heart pumping and his legs moving. It allows him to steer and it allows him to
think. That red juice is the only thing that keeps the boy going anymore. Traveling
to his next short-term location, the boy finds and empty island and prepares himself
for his next period of enlightenment. While he waits, he appreciates that he, like
the island, stands on its own. And thus, the show begins, and the boy is in awe. He
is surrounded by unreal figments of people and an orb of white light. The show has
begun, as has life.

Dear Mr. Buchbinder

In your film Traveling Medicine Show, I believe that the protagonist has experienced Dr. Theo’s show multiple times before the actual film itself begins. It seems as if he has had to deal with Dr. Theo’s escapades before, based off of his briefcase and the belongings inside of it. I fell as if the protagonist comes back to the island every year on the same day to experience the show. It is a ritual, which he must go through to feel reborn, but at the same time instead of feeling like he’s been reborn, it also seems like a test he must pass to go on with his life.

We are left very open ended at the end of the film, where we see the protagonist pack up his now infamous Traveling Medicine show suitcase. I think that as he paddles away in his boat, he is going to inevitably return to the island again. I feel as if the movie is a complete repetitive cycle that must be endured over and over again. So in a year’s time or so the protagonist will return once again merely to endure the same thing all over again. I don’t think the “story” itself will progress in a different direction. Unless we decide to look at “destruction” instead of creation and look at the way things can end.

Before the travelling show begins, the boy is stranded, this time in a small
apartment. The main character has 3 parents: 2 mothers, and one father. They keep
the boy guarded, keep him safe, and keep him inside. He spends his days and nights
watching the 24 hour local news, or as he calls them, “non-news”, on TV, and eating
a specifically planned diet of all four food groups.

One day, the boy looks up from the TV and notices that there is a window he has
never seen before. He goes to the window, opens it, and climbs outside. There is a
ladder. He climbs, up and up, higher and higher, and eventually gets to a hatch at
the top. He opens the hatch… and water rushes down, almost drowning the boy. He
breaks through and starts to swim to the top.

After what seems like a few hours, he breaks through to the top of the water. He
looks around. He sees a little wooden basket, a suitcase, and an oar. He climbs in,
and then looks around. The world is pure around him. He can see no land, no visible
material landing, only sky and ocean. With nowhere to go, and no way to go back
home, he paddles. And then… he reaches an island…

After the travelling show ends, the boy is paddling, slowly, and with ease. He is
not sure as to where he is going, but he calmly smiles, knowing that he has escaped
from the island with his sanity intact, despite what has happened. As he paddles, he
starts to get the feeling that the water is lower than it was before. With each
stroke of the oar, the water sinks lower, and lower, and lower, until there is only
earth, and sand. He looks around. There is nothing around him. He must walk.

He picks up the boat, with the suitcase and oar inside it, and walks in the first
direction he sees. As he walks, time goes slower. It seems that every step he takes
lasts about 3 hours each, and as his breathing gets heavier, his face gets tired. He
stops, for an instant, and looks up. Time is back to normal. The sun is a perfectly
circular, red figure, menacing in its power and glow. The boy is worn out, and with
no end in sight, he collapses and drops the basket/boat. Face down in the dust and
sand, the boy is motionless.

Then his eyes peek up. He sees a dandelion growing out of the ground. He slowly sits
up, and stares at the dandelion. He reaches for it, and touches it. Then he picks
the dandelion. He rubs the petals with his finger, then picks a petal and puts it in
his mouth. He chews it, and swallows. He picks up some sand beside him and runs it
through his fingers.

Suddenly, he is climbing down through the hatch, and shutting it tight. He climbs
down the ladder, down through the window, and into the apartment. He sits down on
the couch and looks at his TV. It is blank. He turns it on, and watches a
commercial.

All of a sudden, it is interrupted by a broadcast of the donkey/ram-eared people. It
appears to be shot by a security camera, or a camera of that quality. The boy looks
on, puzzled, as the donkey/ram-eared people fumble with a remote. They look at the
camera, and point the remote at it. The boy’s eyes widen. Everything goes black.

1- What happened before the film begins?

The Traveling Medicine Show grants the audience the freedom of interpretation as it does not follow a strict narrative structure. Within the initial stages of the film, the audience is introduced to the protagonist, a teenage boy who floats ashore on a small raft carrying with him a suitcase which holds his belongings. His means of transportation and his sense of familiarity with his surroundings allows for the audience to believe that he has visited the deserted island many times before. This very notion supports the assumption that his actions are a part of a ritual in which he continuously visits the island in search of his past or to return to the state of innocence.

Visiting the island fully clothed in modern attire allows for the vivid contrast between the modern and natural world, one which is peaceful and organic. His actions represent his need to run away or to isolate himself from the society which he comes from and belongs to, further supporting the argument that something dramatic has occurred within his life which has significantly altered his path and effected the way in which he perceives his surroundings.

The boy’s connection to the articles within the suitcase and his sense of discovery leads viewers to believe that he was instructed to enter this island in search of the unknown. The suitcase which he carries with him is quite old and encases various items such as a mask and a hand drawn map and compass which he uses to navigate throughout the island. This allows for viewers to assume that although the main character might be unfamiliar to the island and his surroundings, this suitcase has been passed down to him from other generations and that he has been summoned to lead this path, returning to his natural state of being and regaining his innocence. The man within the suit who can be regarded to as a greeter and an individual who is responsible of heightening each visitor’s sense of understanding for the world, granting them wisdom and a new perspective upon life.

The character’s need to rid himself from his sins and to his natural state of innocence in order to be greeted within the island is depicted by his fire rituals in which he cuts of bits off his hair in order to rid himself of his past and to be able to become assimilated with his new environment.

As he is directed to the show, viewers are introduced to the other inhabitants within the island who are all awaiting for the show to commence. This further supports the assumption that all these individuals were summoned to appear within the island through a tribal wisdom reiterating the statement that all individuals come from one source-that is nature.

The bruise on the boy’s stomach represents the feeling of guilt and the wrong doing or sin that he cannot easily wash away further supporting his need to rid himself of his past by being exposed to the show performed by the medicine show, a show that promises to cure any form of disease and perform miraculous tasks.

2- What happens after the film ends?

The lonely world of this young boy is clearly depicted through the juxtaposition of shots within nature (close up of waves hitting the shore, fine grains of sand and animals peacefully living upon the trees). This allows for a sense of internalization within the film as the audience comes to internalize themselves within nature.

The main theme that prevails before the initial stages of the story is the notion of losing touch with civilization and one’s need to return to his or her own natural state of being and consciousness.

What is perceived from the narrative is a young boy’s struggle to overcome a recent obstacle or conflict which has dramatically altered the course of his life. Within the final stages of the film, the audience is introduced to the scar on his chest which signifies guilt and sin, depicting that the boy has committed a wrongful action and a deed which he cannot undue.

The objects that our found in his suitcase (circus objects) reiterate the notion that life is nothing more than show and a circus in which one has to disguise his or her thoughts and emotions and display them in an entertaining manner for his viewers. The film’s mystical structure and the actions that take place on screen support the metaphor for reincarnation or rebirth. Doctor Theo, the individual who leads the boy through his journey within the island allows for him to clearly view the stages of life and to be introduced to the state of being through its very first stages of creation. Commencing his show with the question, “what will be our destiny…what we will create?” he allows for the audience to think critically of what is viewed on screen and to understand the repercussions of each individuals actions within nature and come to gain a greater sense of understanding about the beginning of life and existence.

Focusing upon a white circular object which represents purity upon Earth, Doctor Theo allows for the main character to understand the very basis of his existence by taking him through the various stages of human life: the creation of earth, the story of Adam and Eve, the birth and development of creatures such as worms and crabs and most importantly the creation of mankind as an innocent embryonic creature who is thrust into a tainted world of sin and gluttony which is represented by the rodents who devour upon a birthday cupcake and come to take control over his actions once he is born through the usage of a control switch. This reiterates the notion that mankind is born free and is later tied down by the expectations and the overpowering forces of nature and society which restrict their freedoms and command and control each individual’s actions.

It is winter, lots of snow and wind.  The landscape is covered in white.  There is a dark cave.  Inside there is very little light.  The boy sits there without much to do.  He looks around.  He doesn’t have very many clothes on.  He runs outside the cave.  Without getting very far, he trips and falls into the snow.  He starts gagging and gasping for air.  Back in the cave he sits and stares, almost like he’s meditating.  Next, he is lying down, shivering in the cold.  He crawls out of the cave and collects a handful of snow.  As soon as he brings it back inside, it melts.  The boy weeps.  The boy hears echoes from deep inside the cave: lots of voices whispering loudly.  He starts walking into the cave as he weeps.  The voices get louder, the boy weeps even more.  Rocks come hurling through the cave towards him.  The boy turns around and runs back out of the cave.  We hear the sound of thunder as an avalanche of snow falls on him.  He stops and runs back into the cave.  He sits and meditates and growls.  He picks up a rock and starts smashing it against the ground.  He starts yelling violently.  The walls start crashing down.  Everything starts caving in.  Chaos.  The boy is sitting is sitting silently meditating.  Sunlight shines through the opening in the cave.  He walks outside and sees the sun is shining, all the snow has melted.  Directly in front of him is a mask on a stick and a fire burning underneath.  He studies this.  He walks a little further down and finds a shoreline with a raft resting on the land.  He grabs the raft, pushes it into the water and gets on it.  He looks back at the cave one last time and hears the assembly of whispering voices.  He sails on.

The boy arrives at another shoreline.  The boy travels further inland.  He finds himself in a dessert.  Little people surround him and start dancing.  There is a large festival.  The little people turn the sand into different colours and dance around a fire.  Large puppets and figures emerge and the festival turns into a parade.  Then the little people turn to the boy and put him in the centre.  They start worshiping him and praising him.  They orange trees start growing in the desert.  They all pick the oranges and eat them and get drunk of their flavour.  The next day the boy and the little people wake up to find all the orange trees have rotted.  The little people start screaming in fear and everyone starts crying.  The boy finds a bottle of magic medicine in the sand.  He pours a large amount onto the sand and creates a black thing.  The little people are all in aw, and start worshiping the black thing.  The boy continues to pour the medicine all over the sand and creates more and more different intricate black things.  He makes a black city out of the sand.  The little men are happy and start worshiping the boy again.  But then they realize there is no more sand left to build black things with.  A couple of elephants walk by.  The bottle of medicine is suddenly empty.  The boy hops on an elephant and travels.  He joins the little people at a barren field.  They decide they must make more magic medicine.  They set sail to find a way to make magic medicine.

The scenarios that could potentially unfold precursor to this film are as follows. The protagonist escapes from the ordinary “real” corporate-conglomerate world into one of different values. To me I took this film as a metaphor for life. This thought was solidified by the concrete symbol of a tree at the very beginning of the film. This tree to me represented the tree of life. The protagonist is attempting to leave the normal and uncreative world he has currently been enslaved by to momentarily live a life on this island where his imagination roams free. Although the boy has escaped his old boring world he is still tainted by the “gluttony” of corporative lifestyles. This was showed by the symbol of the creatures dressed in business suits. The story is a metaphor showing how material aspects of life destroy the creative parts that we so often strive to achieve. Humanity, as individuals, are caged into a mindset of acquisitive perspectives.

To me what I perceive to happen once this film ends is the boy returning to the ordinary life of the uncreative. His creativeness has been snuffed out by the creatures in suits thus he must return to the world he previously knew. This film could represent the struggle of an artist in an economically driven society. The boy returns to reality with the crushed ambitions of his ingenuity, succumbing to the norms of society.

1.

It is dark, and Doctor Theo emerges from off screen. Only the mask he is wearing is visible.  He looks around and the sun rises. He is revealed to be standing on a beach holding his trunk. Behind him is forest. Dr. Theo turns around, and behind him the people on stilts are standing to either side of him. Two of them reach to remove Dr. Theos mask. He swats away their hands and storms off. As he walks he touches his mask. From the forest emerge the bull headed creatures, bickering loudly.  They see Doctor Theo and they begin to act towards him with hostility, however they slink off except for one who simply stands and stares at Doctor Theo. Doctor Theo opens his trunk and gives the other bull heads a grabber arm device. The creature that did not cower begins to build a fire as the sunset starts.  Doctor Theo opens his trunk a second time and produces a large bottle (the one containing the red medicine). He opens the bottle and there is a small puff of gas and a hiss as the bottle is opened. Dr. Theo then turns around to face the people who represent the wind. They blow towards Doctor Theo. His clothing whips around from the force of the wind, but Dr. Theo remains impassive. The spirits stop blowing and simply turn away from Dr. Theo. Theo then walks to the right. It is revealed that he is approaching the clay workers. The pair both shovel clay into the bottle, however they seem to strain under its weight. The Doctor is not bothered by the additional wait and simply nods politely. The elder clay work nods as well and the younger one nods upon seeing the elder nod. Doctor Theo walks past the two and towards the water. He reaches into the sea, but arms from the water spirits grab for him, none of them able to grasp his arm. The creatures look at doctor Theo, then at one another then again at doctor Theo. The Doctor then turns around and looks at the fire built by the bull headed creature. On either side of the flame, the blacksmiths stand. Doctor Theo puts the hand with the bottle into the flame and then withdraws it after a few moments un-burnt by the fire. The two spirits bow their heads, and Doctor Theo turns to the Bull headed creature. He pours the contents of the bottle onto the head of the bull creature, and the skull cracks open to reveal the yound man who plays the main character in “Traveling Medicine Show” asleep in his raft, he has a full head of long hair. Doctor Theo smiles at the young man and removes his mask placing it in his trunk along with a map.  He then pushes the raft out to sea.

2.

After the end of “Traveling Medicine Show”, The young man in the raft is left floating on the ocean. However a large storm strikes, and the trunk containing Doctor Theos’ mask and bottle falls into the ocean. He panics, and in his panic flips the boat over and nearly drowns. He awakens on a beach surrounded by the bull headed creatures, he sits up and sees that they have captured the elements and are using the remote controls to control them. The boy stands, only to see that he has become a bull creature himself. As he stands up, the other bull creatures begin to treat him with hostility. It is at this time that the bottle of Dr. Theos medicine washes onto shore. The bull creatures pick up the bottle and proceed to smash it against the rocks, despite the protesting of the beast that had once been the young man. At this time Doctor Theo emerges from the wods. He is vengeful and proceeds to give all of the bull creatures a drink of a blue medicine, which they all fearfully accept. The young man who had become a beast approaches Theo and falls to his knees. Theo looks long and hard at the young man and then forces him to drink the blue fluid. The young man convulses, and all the bull creatures explode. In their wake a large group of the men on stilts stand. They all shuffle over to Theo and turn to face the elements. Doctor Theo simply breaks the remotes, and lets them drift off to sea. The elements leave doctor Theo. Doctor Theo Hangs his head in shame, and the places his mask upon his face and walks away.

What happened before the movie?

The boy sat by the large fire pit, watching the others talking and sharing stories. The groups were divided into two – the adults, over at one side of the pit, and the ones who had yet to pass the ceremony. One of the girls beside him was nodding excitedly.

“I hear he battled a giant wolf and took it down with his bare hands! And he hadn’t even eaten anything for four days! Then he finished the vision quest and now he’s on his way back,” She blushed and swallowed. “And now he’s an adult. Like the others.”

The boy’s face fell a little. Another of the boys there was saying something back. “I heard that’s true. And I hear he’s going to be the leader soon because he’s so strong and smart. Can you believe it? A wolf?”

The boy bristled and finally spoke up. “If he’s been out there on the island for four days, how could anyone know any of this?” He stood up, annoyed. “It’s all just stories.”

He went off to be by himself, refusing to look back at the others. The one who had left for the rite of passage was coming into the circle of people, now, being welcomed by the adults with open arms. He felt defeated and worthless. He wanted to do something exceptional, too.

That night he snuck into one of the tents and stole the map. He packed some of his things up and while everyone was still asleep, stole the raft that the other boy had taken to get to the island. He drifted off into the waters, rowing determinedly. It was to be a long night.

What happened after the movie?

For hours he drifted, paddling the water. It was dark and he was getting more and more worried. He was sure it hadn’t taken as long as it was taking to get to the island. He started to think that maybe he would never find land again.

Shadows on the horizon lifted his spirits. It definitely looked like land. There were trees up there; he could see them not far ahead. Then he frowned. It looked different from the land he knew. The closer he got, the more he started to panic. There was the distant sound of something unfamiliar. He smoothed out his hair, washed his face, and tried to pay more attention.

There seemed to be pathways there, and flashes of color going along them. He’d never left his home before – well, once he went too far trying to hunt for deer. But he felt his stomach clench. What would the rest of the world be like?

He paddled his little raft to the shore and pulled it up onto the grass. He didn’t want it falling back into the water and drifting away. The hum from the road, yes, it must have been a road, was getting louder. He watched the little flashes of color go by and noticed that they all seemed to have people in them. He frowned.

A bunch of them were going one way, and a bunch of them were going the other way. Surely if he followed one of the directions, he’d find his home again. He started walking, wary of the loud machines as they drove past. The air wasn’t as clean there as he was used to – he coughed as one of the cars went by. For hours he walked, until he felt too exhausted to move. It was already well past midday. He swallowed. He needed food. His stomach squealed at him angrily.

Suddenly there was a woman beside him. “Do you need a lift?” She asked. He was too tired to reply, so he just stared at her dumbly. He had no idea what she was talking about. She helped him into her car and they drove off towards the city he’d never been to.

What happened before?

What happened before is hard to imagine. My imagination went wild. I pictured a boy who wasn’t happy with what is life was offering him. A boy who knew there was more out there for him to find, to discover. So this boy left on a search for the world he wanted, one that would fill the space he was missing. He went on somewhat of a spiritual journey. As he left he believed he would lead himself, but fait took over and the boy got lost on his journey. It lead him somewhere that would open his eyes to the world of possibilities around him. It leads him to this island where he found the travelling medicine show. This island was the place where his spiritual search began. This was the first step in his journey. I believed that this was a ritual that someone passed down to him. The suitcase he had, was extremely warn, as if someone had passed it down to him, signifying a ritual that was being passed onto the boy. The travelling medicine show was the first step of his journey and his inspiration to continue on.

What happened after?

Once the medicine show was complete the boy’s spiritual journey had to continue on and he knew it was time to leave the island. I believe his journey was far from complete after experiencing the show. So the boy left the island in search to complete his journey He would continue to travel and let his fait guide him to wherever he needed to go to find what he was looking for. The travelling medicine show was the first step he needed to push him forward. After leaving the island the boy doesn’t even know where his journey will pull him next, all he knows is he must continue and follow the path ahead of him blindly. His search will eventually come to an end but not until every piece of his puzzle is found and pieced together by himself. This must be done alone, and once complete his spiritual journey will end and he will find what he is looking for to. He won’t have a missing piece any more.

What happened before the film began?

When the film began, and the young man paddled to shore, it was open to many interpretations. Coming from the sea leaves the question open ended. What happen before the film began? Personally my mind immediately went to “Cast Away”, starring Tom Hanks. Given the situation and that fact that the boy was alone, gave me reason to believe he was stranded. He could possibly be a survivor of a plane crash or a sunken boat. But, as the story progresses the idea of him being stranded losses its credibility. When we realize that Dr. Theo’s travelling medicine show is located on this island, it hints that the young man came here for just that reason. So to follow this idea, before the film began, the young man may have run away from home to follow Dr. Theo’s medicine show. Proof that the young man has seen the show before, is his ritual before Dr. Theo appears on the beach. The young man has only a couple of long locks of long hair left. He also has a specific ritual, cutting his hair and putting sand in the fire. This suggests that he has done this many times before.

What will happen after the film ends?

The film ends the same way that it begins. The young man leaves the island in his same boat. He has all of the same materials he came with and is very decisive in leaving. This suggests that there is somewhere he has to be. What came to my mind immediately is that there is another part to this film. At the end of the film, there is a title card, saying “1. Creation.”. This suggested that this was only part one of a series of short films. So when the young man packed up his suitcase and left the island, I thought he had to get to another island to see part two. I am not sure what the second short film may contain. But I think that if it is as good as the first, this could be a very successful series.

1.

I interpreted the film as a representation of reincarnation while the protagonist strives to find a sense of identity. Throughout the film, a few elements made it seem like the protagonist has been in this situation before. The rituals, the old suitcase; these are all factors which made me seem like this has happened before. In my opinion, our protagonist has been to many different places repeating these rituals one after the other. He left home knowing that he couldn’t find himself with the distractions of every day routine. Through repetition, the character hopes to one day find a sense of identity and can return home.

2.

As I mentioned before, the character has been on this journey before. At the end of the film, he packs suitcase and gets into the raft and floats away. This represents that he has not yet found his sense of identity and will continue searching. I believe that in the following events, he will truly find his sense of identity. This realization will occur to him while he sits in front of the fire. Instead of giving his hair to initiate the ritual, he will just stare into the mask. From here, he will now understand who he is and will finally be able to go home.

1. What happens before the film begins?

The main character gets into a fight with a boy at school. His consciousness is
permanently altered as a result of several blows to the head. He goes home and takes
a nap.

2. What happens to the character after?

The character receives the secrets to life and why we're all here in his sleep from
a higher power. The boy dies in his sleep roughly around the same time he leaves the
island.

Tales and fables of a world parallel to his own could not quench his thirst. Even the endless horizon of water that cradled him on gentle waves would not satisfy his inner drought were he to drink of it. At Home, those who have returned from this foreign world would pledge silence to its many secrets because they knew no words to describe what their eyes beheld and what their hearts understood. That is why he, a boy in ripe adolescence, chose to seek out this land and drink of it’s mysteries to cease his thirst. His motivation to explore this strange world went deeper than mere curiosity- it was born out of a desire to fill an empty void that he knew not how to fill. For days and days he paddled, his back scorched by the blinding sun, its brilliance planted deep into the cloudless sky. A mile, a thousand miles- it mattered not. He was determined to have no rest until his tongue was cooled by a refreshing drop of water. One drop, he thought, and I will be satisfied.

…

His boat was waiting silently upon the ocean’s plane. The cool of water felt welcoming with its caresses as it beckoned him to step away from the shore. Gingerly, he touched his chest, wincing at a dulling pain that stirred in him something overwhelming and precious. Beneath the healing scar a bubbling spring replaced that hole of drought, that thirst that was no more. His hand then curiously glided toward the nape of his neck where once strands of hair curled loosely about his shoulders. The boy who will be greeted upon his return, he realized, would little resemble the one who left the shores of Home. With this thought in mind, the little boat shook as he stepped into it. In his hand he held the dusty vial containing the crimson tonic. Its contents would always remind him of the intangible water he tasted on the land he was about to part with. Little by little, mile by mile he drew further away from the island. It was true- no matter how many questions would be asked of him back at Home, his mouth would simply be unable to utter a word of explanation. His words, he understood, mattered not. Deed will need to replace speech. And with these final thoughts, he dropped the medicine bottle into the depths of blue.

The Boy walks along a beach. A voice whispers his name and he turns

around to look for the person. There is no one there. He continues walking but the

same voice calls his name again. The boy stops and walks in the opposite direction,

trying to follow the voice. As he walks the voice calls his name more frequently. He

walks until he realizes the voice is now coming from behind him. He turns and walks

the other way but again the direction changes. The boy realizes that the voice is

coming from the sand under his feet. The boy begins to dig in the sand with his

hands. As he gets deeper and deeper the boy realizes his hands are covered in some

sort of red liquid. He notices that the whole he is digging is filed not with water,

but with the red liquid. Ignoring this weird occurrence, the boy continues to dig.

The whole is now five feet wide and five feet deep. The boy has found a box in the

sand. He pulls it from the earth and realizes that it is a briefcase. On the front

it reads, “Dr.Theo’s Traveling Medicine Show.” The voice has now stopped

calling the boys name. The boy opens the brief case and finds a mask, map, and

compass. After looking at both the mask and compass, the boy takes out the map and

examines it. He looks up from the map quickly and looks around him as if the map

leads to somewhere around the area. The boy quickly packs up the brief case and

heads away from the beach.

It is nighttime. The boy slowly and quietly closes his front door to his house. He

opens the brief case and checks to see if he has packed everything he needs for his

journey. The boy gets onto his bike and rides into the darkness.

The boy gets off of his bike and hides it in a bush. From the same bush he pulls out

a circular boat and paddle. He carries it through a forest path, which leads him to

a beach. He places the boat into the water, places his brief case inside, and then

steps into it himself. The boy begins to paddle and disappears into the night.

Sequel

The boy has aged considerable. He is now in is twenties and would be

considered a man. As the man paddles through the water he tries to see through the

dense fog that hovers over the water around him. He looks down at his lap where the

map lay open with the compass on top of it. The compass needle spins continuously in

circles. After a moment the man grunts in pain as he clutches at the scar on his

chest. He opens his brief case and takes out the bottle of Dr. Theo’s Medicine.

He opens the bottle and turns it upside down over his open mouth. A few drops fall

from the bottle and into the man’s mouth. As his pain subsides, the man notices

his paddle has fallen into the water. As he reaches for it, waves push the paddle

out of arms reach. The man begins to paddle with his hands but the paddle disappears

beyond the fog. The small waves become immense waves, which menacingly rocks the

mans boat. As the man tries to balance out the boat a large wave hits the boat and

flips it over.

The man wakes up lying on a beach. He stands and looks left to right. He notices his

brief case twenty meters away and he runs over to it. When he opens it he finds that

it is empty. The man falls to his knees. After a moment voices are heard and the man

looks up. About Fifty meters away, he sees the creatures wearing suits, he had seen

years before, running towards him. He stands and begins to run. After a while the

man slows down as he clutches at his chest. The man falls to the ground in pain. The

creatures in suits catch up to him. One of the creatures takes out a remote control

and commands the man to stand. Another one of the creatures hands the man a spear

and he takes it. The man begins to walk off the beach and into the jungle. The

creatures follow behind him.

Dr. Theo stands on a stage as he talks to an audience. The creatures and the man

hide behind a bush near by. Commanded by the creatures, the man runs out from behind

the bush and throws the spear at Dr. Theo. When the spear hits Dr. Theo in the chest

the creatures in suits turn into smoke. The man is not under control anymore. He

realizes what has happened and he runs over to Dr. Theo. Dr. Theo takes off his mask

slowly and looks into the mans eyes. The Dr puts the mask onto the mans face and

places his hand over the mans scarred chest. Light shines from under the Dr.’s

hand and then he dies. After a moment the man quickly stands up. He looks around and

then shouts “Ladies and gentle men.”

What happened in the beginning?

The sun was beating down on the open water, where a small, oval boat was spinning slowly. Waves rocked underneath, threatening to tip the only oar right into the water. The captain of the boat had put down the oar and was now staring aimlessly at the sky. A bead of sweat ran down his face and his forehead was creased with worry and frustration. The boy had been out on the water for just a few days, but he’d already eaten what little food he brought and was now weak with hunger. The boy had lost track of time a long time ago. The last time he had seen any sort of time telling device was the day he left home.

It had been raining that night, and the boy was sitting up on the roof of a high-rise. It was about the only place anyone could find some decent quiet, assuming planes weren’t flying. Below, sirens blared and cars honked at one another. People walked with umbrellas, looking only like black dots from twenty-six stories above. Life just wasn’t going quite as the boy had hoped, and seeing as his parents weren’t going to help him out, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He had run away exactly sixteen hours and nine minutes ago. He was already exhausted and needed to find a place to dry off. Crawling back down the fire escape he peered into people’s apartments, marvelling at how uncomplicated life seemed when watched through a window; men were watching football, women were feeding children, siblings were arguing, old couples were reading in bed. It was amazing how life continued on as usual, even though his had just turned upside down.

He reached the bottom and was looking around for a shelter of some kind. The boy had never been to this part of the city. He didn’t know how far he had walked, but now was feeling mildly paranoid about being mugged. Of course he didn’t have any valuable possessions with him, but crooks wouldn’t know that. For now, he needed a place to sleep, a place to think things through and come up with a plan. There wasn’t enough for him in this city. Sure there were shops and shows, but nothing of sustenance, nothing meaningful. Hollywood made pointless, plot-less movies that repeated themselves over and over. He loved theatre, but was never going to find any thing worth performing in. The first show he saw on Broadway was supposedly one of the best magic shows done to date. He was just ten years old and even he knew it was that great, everything was fake! The lady didn’t really disappear; the magician didn’t actually conjure a rabbit from mid air. Even the sets and the orchestra were unauthentic; nothing was that beautiful in real life. Spending a few hours in a make believe world, just made it that much harder to get back to reality when it was over. This boy was sick and tired of fakes and phonies; he wanted something in his life that was real.

The boy was soaking wet and entered a twenty-four hour diner. He sat in a booth far back in the corner. He leaned his head back against the red vinyl and propped his feet up on the seat opposite, except something blocked his feet. Curious, he picked up an old, faded suitcase.

A loud cawing woke the boy up from his reverie and looked up to see a large seagull with a crooked leg, flying over head and momentarily blocking the sun. The boy sat up. Birds had to have a home somewhere. He hastily grabbed the oar and began paddling. He followed the bird for a few minutes until he lost sight as it flew over the darkening horizon. The boy began paddling faster, eager to believe that his eyes were telling the truth. Something in the suitcase shifted, and then the hull touched a sandy beach.

What happened after?

Climbing back into the boat with the suitcase, the boy paddled out into the crystal water, this time with a different mission. He wasn’t going home, but he would find a different city, make a different life, and hopefully he would see the other act of the Travelling Medicine Show.

A shadow passed overhead and the boy looked up to see the seagull, perhaps the same that lead him here in the first place. It was hard to tell because its claws were now perfectly aligned, may be it too had been healed by the medicine.

It seemed the ringmaster had done more than just mend scrapes and legs. The boy left the island slightly confused, but still happier. It wasn’t just the show that left the boy exhilarated, but the entire experience. After finding the suitcase in the diner, the boy had met all sorts of interesting people and seen amazing sights. He’d met crazy, mad scientists and learned about treatments and medicines with words so long they wouldn’t fit on the bottles. He’d explored the ocean, stolen food from markets, and lived among the wild and the tame creatures of the world. He had seen the famous landmarks of the world, studied its history, learned about its geography, and experienced different cultures. It had all come together in that one performance.

The performance was strange and bizzarel. He still shivered slightly when he thought about his experience of being apart of the play. It had been disorienting and frightening yet strangely liberating all at the same time. What the boy was most curious about were the people which seemed to appear just as the show began. Did the show come with its own audience as well? The suitcase contained minimal amounts of objects, only a mask and a bottle. No way was an entire audience packed in there! The boy could think of no reasonable explanation, and he settled on magic-the magical creation of life itself. It was the real kind of magic, unlike the Broadway hoax he had seen. This act made you think, feel, believe, appreciate and enjoy what was given to you.

He looked over the side of the boat, hoping to see the maidens painting the globe with the water. He looked back, hoping to catch a glimpse of the sphere being passed back and forth between the elements. He saw no evidence of the night’s events; nevertheless he knew it had happened. This time he wasn’t sad to go back and face the world. The boy had finally found a show worth seeing and he more than anything wanted to be apart of it again.

He wondered where he would go to look for them again. And then he laughed at himself, it sounded strange to his ears, for he hadn’t laughed in a very long time. It had taken the boy months to finally have the courage to settle down and open the suitcase. If he had opened it in the diner, would the doctor in the mask appeared that night? This, of course, the boy would never know, but he would begin his search for the perfect place to open the suitcase once more. And next time, he would go with them when it was over.

The boy kept rowing farther out to sea with his destination unknown. He liked it that way, because you could find much more if you weren’t looking for anything. The seagull flew overhead, keeping the boy company. When it got tired, it sat on the rim of the boat and stared intelligently into his eyes. The boy and bird sailed further into the distance, disappearing into the sunset.

Before the film begins the boy must have been going from island to island, but these islands do not stand for literal islands.  Each island that he encounters is another situation from his life and the world around him that he is experiencing through illusion.  When I was watching the film I didn’t really have a good understanding of what was going on.  So to do this question would be really hard.  Though being creative and imaginative is important, understanding the concept would be as well.  I felt as if it was an experimental film, but then there was also a story included.  I felt as if it was this boy’s life, and he was experiencing situations from his past life through illusion or dream on this island.

After the film, I believe the boy to travel to another island and experience something totally different, but still basing on his life and the world around him.  I didn’t feel as if the islands were real and that this boy was really a cast away.  I felt as if the world the boy was his own brain, and he was going from memory to memory experiencing what we couldn’t see through reality but saw through the illusions of the island.

From island to island as I go,

I stumble up things I don’t know.
Things that I cannot understand
As I go around this world of sand.
Do we really exist?
Are we on the “real” list?
Do we have free will?
Or are we here to fulfill
Our mission?
I feel like each vision
Is colliding with collision.
An maybe the collisions
Are here on their own little missions.

Before…

A small boy in an uncharted world has visions of a far away land in his dreams. He confronts the lands cultural elders who tell him that it is nothing more than a fantasy. When he arrives back at his dwelling, his parents have heard that he has been asking questions about a faraway land. They are very upset with him and lock him away in his room telling him their world is the only world, all else is fallacy. The small boy keeps having visions while locked away. This far away land has technology superior to theirs with a mixed population of humans and mutated humans, some with contorted heads, some with legs two metres tall.

On the fifth night that he is locked away, he has his most vivid vision to date. In this vision, he is shown a map of the land, and his own land, separated by a vast sea. The vision also tells him to bring a suitcase with a white, textured mask, and an elixir, found in his town’s hall, to learn the secrets of this land. Something inside him believes the vision and he is consumed by preparation and plans the entire day. At night, he sneaks out his first floor window and makes his way through a field of corn towards the town hall. As he emerges, he sees two armed guards standing watch at the entrance, their weapons glistening due to the early morning mist and shining streetlight. He swallows deeply, trying not to envision the pain and destruction the weapons could cause to him if the guards were alerted.

Sneaking past the town hall guards is not easy; he attracts a dog to run across to him across the fields of vision of the guards. He then expertly creeps into the town hall and starts to climb the stairs leading to the second floor. He gets up to the second floor and opens the massive one foot inch caste iron doors guarding the elixir room.  They are old and rusty and with every grind and squeak he believes the guards have heard and are making their way upstairs. At last, the doors are open and he sneaks in and snatches the elixir. He slides down the side of the flagpole beside the town hall and makes his way to the town’s only theatre house.

The house had been abandoned some 200 years ago after the blast, or beginning of recorded time in the present era. Tales told of massive explosion that wiped out many in its path and mutilated others. These were however, only rumours, but the vision he keeps having in his head tells of this land of mutants and humans coexisting peacefully. He runs as fast as he can to the harbour and sees the boat he has been working on for about a month now. It was crudely built, without any sail or motor, but now he was committed to the escape and he grabbed an oar and began pushing off. As he paddled out he looked back at the town he was leaving behind. The lights of the town seemed to comforting and close to him, but he could not turn back. He paddled for three days following the map in his head and stopping only to eat food that he had brought along. Finally as dawn began to creep across the sky, he spotted the beach of the foreign land and made for it. In his mind, he was relieved to step back on shore and a sense of calm and security overcame him as he came ever closer to the beach…

After…

Leaving the island, the small boy looks out at the vast expanse of sea around him, and by now the beach is just a spec far away in the distance. He begins to think about his present loneliness. He takes out the mask in his suitcase and stares at it for some time. He imagines that the mask is another person on his small boat swallowed up by the vast expanse of sea around him. He thinks about his adventures on the far away land, and about the medicine show’s leader. He kept talking of creation and the beginning of time. Certainly he was an intriguing character but quite far-fetched in his ideals. He simply could not understand the leader’s message about creationism, but was interrupted by a dark cloud on the horizon.

He didn’t consider what would happen when he set out in a small wooden craft; he simply had a voice inside him, an instinct, and an uncontrollable desire to find this land. Now that the menacing cloud stared him in the face, he began to contemplate his own life, and how he now might never be able to tell his story to his town and make them see that he was not insane as they all thought. He puts his hands in his arms and starts crying, thinking about his family. Yes, it was true that they were ignorant, but so was everyone else in the village, and he loved his mother dearly. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the wind picked up and he looked towards the horizon. Hundreds of lightning flashes illuminated the sky with a brilliance he had never seen before. He figured, if he got struck by a bolt, it would be a quick and easy death without much suffering, not like drowning in the sea.

Suddenly, the coast on his land appears off to the right and he begins to paddle madly towards the coast straining every muscle in his body. Further hope comes after he sees the lights of his village illuminating the water. As rain drops begin to pelt the boat, he becomes ever more anxious to get to shore. No matter how hard he tries to paddle however, the lights still seem to remain the same distance away. He is exhausted and stops rowing. His boat immediately begins to drift to the left; the storm is pulling the boat to the heart of it, away from his town. He tries to row as hard as he can but cannot seem to move anywhere but into the storm.

He finally stops, seeming to accept defeat, but an idea comes to mind. He ties his legs to the sides of the boat and lies perfectly flat along the bottom, hoping to stabilize the violent rocking. It seems to be working and he can feel his boat slowing down. He sits back up after five more minutes to see gray clouds above with moderate precipitation battering the ocean. Remarkably, he has not travelled very far away from the town and begins to row towards it towards the port. He is so frantic about getting on shore that he doesn’t see the rocks poking up through the sea.

His boat collides head on into them tearing a massive hole in the underside and knocking him overboard and underwater. He resurfaces panting furiously and begins scanning his surroundings for his precious suitcase for the elixir. He finally catches sight of it below him, sinking ever deeper into the sea. He has two decisions to make, risk his life by trying to get it, or row to shore. In a second, he makes his choice, plunging deeper and deeper into the frigid waters. He is running out of air, but at last grasps the suitcase and begins to make his way to the surface, the light of day growing ever brighter. His light is suddenly blocked by his sinking boat, which bears down on top of him with considerably force due to its weight. He exhales, no longer able to keep his breath, the bubbles of air escaping his mouth as he closes his eyes are the last thing he sees…

The Travelling Medicine Show: Pre-Sequel

I don’t how long I’ve been paddling. Maybe it has been a couple of days. Possibly even a week.  I’m tired, and hungry, and alone. I’m lost. I don’t know where I am or where I am heading. All I see around me is water. I see no sign of land. I am waiting to be rescued. I mean, my parents would have noticed that I am gone by now. Right? Anytime now a boat is going to appear over the horizon and come to my rescue. I have nothing to worry about. I will just sit here and wait.

I have been waiting for a couple of hour’s now- I think! I have no way of knowing for sure. I don’t have a watch on me. I have not lost hope; I know my parents are searching for me. They will not give up until they find me. I’m sure of it.

It’s getting dark and chilly. I’m a little bit nervous. This is taking a lot longer than I expected. I’m too anxious to sleep, but my eyelids feel as if they weigh a hundred pounds. I think I will take a short nap.

The sun has risen. I guess I was asleep the entire night. Still, all I see surrounding me is what seems like miles and miles of water. This little boat is doing a fairly good job of supporting me, considering I built it with the scrap wood I found around the island. I should never have left the island, but I just hate that island so much. My parents forced me to move there with them. I think it’s a stupid idea to live on an island. Only a couple hundred people or so live there. There is one school, one hospital, one police station, and a grocery store or two. So I built this small boat to go exploring. The island is fairly big and I have never seen all of it. My parents warned me not to go far because the tide would sweep me away and I would lose control of the boat. As much as I hate to admit it, they were right.

My stomach is growling. I’m starving. I haven’t had a decent meal in so long. I have no other choice but to start paddling to see where I end up.

My arms feel like they are going to fall off. I should work on… WAIT…..I think I see something. What is it? Is that an island? YES… yes, I think it is!

The Travelling Medicine Show: Sequel

I must leave the island now. I feel that the island has nothing left to offer me and I have nothing to offer it. I have experienced everything that I was meant to experience. I don`t know where I’m going to go. I`m am going to set out on another journey and see where I end up. I feel that I will be rescued soon, but until then I must occupy myself.

The rocking of the boat is a familiar feeling, only this time it is sort of comforting. I do not feel as afraid as before. I know that whatever happens I will be safe. I will paddle hard to see where I end up. Maybe I will end up back home, maybe I will end up on another island.

The sun is setting and the water is calm. All is silent. Normally I would enjoy this sort of silence, but right now I feel lonely. As the sun sets, I close my eyes in an attempt to relax.

I wake up to the sound of a motor. I look around to see where the sound is coming from. This means that people should be nearby. The sound is getting louder and louder. I look up to the night sky where I see a helicopter approaching. I wave my arms around and yell as loud as I can to get their attention. The helicopter does not stop for me. It passes right over my head and flies out of sight. I feel my eyes tearing. This may have been the only chance of me getting rescued. I cry myself to sleep.

When I get up in the morning, I feel weary. I`m getting homesick and desperately want to get home. I decide not to paddle today and let the ocean drag me along with it. I wait for there is nothing else that I can do. I see something appearing in the horizon. It looks like a sail boat. I grab the paddles and start towards the boat yelling at the top of my lungs. The people in the sail boat see me! They sail towards me. We pull up alongside each other where I explain my situation to a bizarre yet familiar looking person. They offer to get me to civilization. I climb onto their boat. That`s when I look up and see a stranger wearing a mask. It`s the same stranger that I ran into on the island and he is wearing the mask that I have in my suitcase. I hastily grab my suitcase and open it. The mask is gone.

What happens before the story starts?

The whole word is a show, flawless and awe-inspiring in every aspect. Has it always been this way?

The nervous actors impatiently awaited their costumes, all the while going over their parts. The big show was only 7 days away. Everybody had doubts, but tried their best not to let on. The casting of celebrated actors and a well known director promised an “epic” show. However, progress was slow and rehearsals were rarely productive.

Unlike everyone else, the two “Welders” were not waiting for their hand made costumes. They were taking a 5 hour condensed course on the proper handling of welding tools and fire. The production had lost 3 crew members in an incident during the last rehearsal that involved the two actors, a small fire, a hammer, and a girl named Wanda.

The irritated director was having a large amount of trouble with the actors involved with the “Wind” scene. The women seemed to be having trouble concentrating on anything else but the peculiar, abstract shape of the “Planet”. The male actor in the middle had trouble focusing on anything else but the two god-like women beside him. This ultimately resulted in many injuries, and a complete failure of the scene. It was therefore decided, that the shape of the “Planet” be changed to a simpler, spherical shape, and it was ordered that the male actor be trained to carry out his role blindfolded.

On the other end of the grand stage, a group of actors were looking unmistakably smug as they carried their stilts to an open area for practise. They had been on strike for the past week, furious that their roles in the show did not reflect their status as actors. After many arguments, heated debates, and the destruction of many props, the two sides came to an agreement. The play was hastily altered to incorporate the use of stilts, to create taller, more “significant looking” parts for the troubled actors. The actors were absolutely thrilled with the idea of towering over their fellow co-workers.

There was a lot of tension in the props department as well. The artist seemed to think that her yellow, oval shaped masks fit the description of the plot and each role flawlessly. The director however, believed that the masks had to be very abstract; peculiar shapes, painted with dark, more mature colors, and riddled with intricate and unique details. Naturally, holding a position of greater power, the director got his way. Immediate orders were sent out for the old masks to be secretly incinerated, and the deflated artist was quickly put to work.

They were barely into their 993^rd rehearsal, and already, more than half the production team and actors were being treated for minor injuries, and the other half for hurt egos. The props, scenes, and roles had all been drastically altered by the end of the day, yet the plot was left untouched. 7 days were left until the big show, and there was still so much to do.

What happens after the story?

Having perceived the plot of the movie as the creation of Earth, I think it would be most fitting if the sequel showed the destruction of Earth. The scene starts off with the boy arriving at another island; a barren wasteland compared to the previous one that he had visited. He doesn’t hesitate in opening his Travelling Medicine Show bag, and cuts his last strand of hair, and throws it into the fire.

He wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of drums. Excited, he tries to run towards the sound of the beating, which proves to be difficult as the sound seems to be coming from everywhere. He stops, suddenly anguished by the noise, and no longer feels exhilarated. Fear suddenly spreads throughout his entire body, and he no longer feels safe. Stricken with panic, he tries to find his way back to his campfire, feeling the urgent need to feel its warmth.  Instead, he finds the source of the drum beat. Before him is a huge sphere, ablaze and surrounded by 8 individuals. Four of these individuals, chained together, are naked and covered in dirt. It occurs to the boy that these prisoners are neither men nor women, and he is mesmerized by their perfection. An unchained individual, intricately dressed in what is the finest material the boy has ever seen, approaches the chained prisoners. He unchains the first prisoner and drags them towards the fire. “You have failed them,” he whispers. He then throws the prisoner into the fire, and a cloud of black smoke engulfs the island. A second individual, who is wearing blood spattered clothes, approaches the second prisoner and unchains them. They approach the fire and the grave individual whispers, “You have failed them.” He then throws the prisoner into the fire. The third individual, dressed in business attire, approaches the next prisoner. They walk towards the fire together and again, the “businessman” throws the prisoner into the fire after whispering, “You have failed them.” The last individual, who is dressed in black, approaches the last prisoner. Smoking the last of his cigarette, he leads the prisoner towards the fire. He whispers, “You have failed them,” and throws the last prisoner into the fire. Darkness takes over the island. Terrified, the boy tries to scream for help, but no noise escapes his mouth.

Prequel to the Island

My sweaty face looked down with horror as I saw my first kill in Afghanistan.  A young boy’s brown eyes blankly stared at me.  The Afghanistan boy had been running to the U.S safety zone and I had…mistakenly shot him thinking he was an enemy Taliban soldier.  My comrades told me it happened all the time.  Do not worry yourself about it.  But, I did.  It haunted my very movements and plagued my thoughts.  I had killed an innocent boy.  I still saw the blood from running across the parched soil.  And that was not all I had seen.  My heart ached for the children and blameless families that were caught in this endless struggle.  I had seem friends’ body parts blown to pieces and Taliban soldiers shoot little girls in front of their mothers.  When would the horror end?

My parents had been correct.  I was raised in Salt Lake City as a Quaker.  They told me that war was evil and when 911 occurred, they told me not to go to Afghanistan.  But, I thought I knew better than them and I rebelled.  I almost broke my mother’s heart as I donned my uniform and slammed the front door in her face.  I thought I was going to be a hero and save my friends and family from another attack from the terrorists.  I understand the terror of holding a gun and the power of shooting an enemy.  I know how it feels to experience the rush as the bullets fly out of your menacing gun.  Today, with blood from a child stained on my conscience, I have no one to turn to.  I have no one to tell me how to bring him back to life and forgive me.  I can hardly breathe as I look at his huddled body with the scratches on his folded arms.  I lift him into my arms and carry him towards my home bunker.  My “friends” do not understand.  I wait until the shooting zone is free of bullets and then run towards our makeshift graveyard.  I cry as I dig the smallest grave.  Then, I say a prayer and return to my post.  I tell myself that I must go on with my duty.  I must kill others to protect my own.

I lay in bed trying to get the haunting image of the boy’s brown eyes out of my head.  I feel a wave of sleep come upon me…but I cannot fall asleep…I can hear bombs echo in the distance.  I walk outside and see one of my comrades has made a small fire and he invites me to join.  I sit down on the ground and stare with horror at the hot flames flickering in laughter.  I see a man or a devil dancing in the flames and a blank eye staring at me.  I am so distraught that I scream and I shut my eyes to hide these visions.  Suddenly I feel a sea breeze touch my arm hair.  My eyes take in my surroundings and I realize I am in a circular boat drifting in a large ocean.  I catch sight of an island in the distance.  Thankfully, my boat seems to be equipped with a paddle, compass, map and a strange box.  It says “Doctor Theo’s Travelling Medicine Show.”  What is this? Where am I? My eyes take in this strange atmosphere.  I must be dreaming.  I must be searching…searching…searching.

Sequel to the Island

I am now living in the Solovetsky Monastery in the Russian north.  I can feel the frozen winds through my bones in the Arctic Archipelago.  I am 37 years old.  It has been 19 years since that horrific day.  I remember the strange dream as if it were yesterday.  It transformed me into a new person.  In the end of the dream, I am travelling in my little boat on a journey into the rest of my life.  I was searching for the truth and the meaning of my existence.  I have found it.  That dream made me realize who I was and what I was to become.  That magical travelling medicine show helped me discover my guilt and tried to liberate that shame that was weighing on my conscious.  The trumpets and odd magic, the pulling of the endless tides, the mysterious creatures that showed me their story of creation helped me understand the meaning of life.  I am often pulled into a revelry that relives that dream, while I am praying, and I can still feel the hot flames from the magical fire against my skin.  I can still see that terrifying mask that was placed on Dr. Theo to show that I was hiding my guilt.  I didn’t want to admit to the horror of taking someone’s life.  When the mysterious creatures placed me in a brown bag and then injected something, I believe it was a strange type of cupcake, into me, I felt the pain that the little Afghan boy felt.  The scar that was left from that extraordinary injection was in the exact place where my bullet had pierced the boy.  I still look in disgust had my chest now and again.  However, I feel as if my journey to discover God and change my life was for the better.  After my short term in the military, I immediately left on a real life journey on the wide open oceans to discover myself.  At this moment, I sit on a cold stone bench in a dark monastery, free from the Afghanistan sands, the bombs and the mysterious island.  However, I know I am not alone.  I have God now and I am forgiven for what I did those long years ago.  I will always remember that boy and his startled eyes and the blood oozing from his body.  I have gone on a journey since then.  I have talked to others, protected people from danger and comforted those in need.  I feel that this is my calling in life.  Not the army.  And that is why on that scary night near the fire beside my comrade, I had a dark vision that changed my direction in life.  I am very thankful for it.  I still write to my family in Salt Lake City, but I could never return there after all of the horror I have seen.  Sitting on this bench, watching the water around me crash against the ice and the listening to the winds howl gives me a certain peace.  The Afghan boy will always be a part of me, as will my guilt.  The dream, however, is the one thing that helped put my life into motion.  Without it, I daresay, I would have killed myself or gone completely insane.

Before:

It burns my face.

Peels my skin.
It’s that goddamn sun
That keeps my bare body ablaze.
That keeps me feverish with ignorance.
Really,
I don’t know the time
Or the date
I don’t know where the hell I am
What country
What continent
As I said,
I am as ignorant as a baby inside its mother’s womb.

Perhaps I am saner when the goddamn sun goes out.
When the world is dark and the sky fills up with diamonds.
When my subconscience takes over and I am free.
Free of the pain of my sunburnt skin
Free of the ignorance that keeps my mind blank
I just close my eyes and let my subconscience dream
Let it do what it wants
Take me to places beyond my imagination

But the nights end so quickly
My subconscience so rudely interrupted by the break of dawn.
I often try to stay asleep
Hold on to what’s left of my sanity
Refrain from re-entering the numbness of the day
The disgusting boredom.

After:

So many dreams.

Too many.

They all come in a blur now.

And I really can’t tell when I’m conscious.

I’ve been in this boat for countless days

And by countless I mean I literally have no idea how many days I have been on this boat.

Just floating around in this lake,

Or what I think is a lake.

Or what I hope is a lake and not just a figment of a dream.

Lately the days have been more appealing to me.

The sun doesn’t come out much, she hides behind gray clouds

And my skin is definitely healing.

There is less pain.

Soon the night creeps up on me again

With no warning.

Pitch black ‘till the dreams start streaming in

Filling my head like a cup with water

Overloading my brain.

Too many ideas

Memories

Feelings

They interconnect and overlap

Ending only by the bright rays of sunlight that shine through my eyelids

The sweet release of morning.

Before the Island

the boy is ready

he has learned, it is time now

he will understand

he will discover

where his journey will take him

he has been chosen.

look out at the lake

the horizon will lead you

it is time to leave

do not be frightened

embrace the spirit within

and you will prosper.

the fire flickers

the wind and water amble

listen, feel and sense

After the Island

out through the waters

sun soaking into his skin

silent and solemn

the island, a dot

the bottle, in his suitcase

the energy, strong

he swallows and feels

the power flowing inside

now he understands

looks out at the lake

the horizon slowly nears

with each stroke, it nears

the sky, darkening

and the spirits growing strong

guiding him back home

In the beginning. In the beginning there was a boat. And in the beginning there was a boy in the boat.  And in the beginning, before the boy, before the boat, there was water. And in the beginning before that, (before the boy, before the boat, before the water,) there was light. And there was also darkness. And in the darkness, there was a boy, there was a bed. A boy in a bed in the darkness. And he was asleep, but he was also awake. Comatose, yet vividly hallucinating. The boy was dreaming, and he was awake. And in his dream (or was it awakening?) there was water, water where before there had been land; water where before there had been his floor, his warm bed, soft dreams: safe dreams. But the water was not safe, it was cold, and it was dark (or maybe it was day). And there was no ceiling, only sky. And there were no walls, only horizons. And there was no bed, only water; and boat. There was a boat. It was a round boat: a safe boat, (like those safe dreams that had remained in his soft bed). And so the boy in the water became the boy in the boat. And the darkness became day, and the day became darkness. And the boat spun, and the boy spun, and both moved forwards. And both moved backwards. But mostly, they moved forwards. Forwards, through day and the dark, through the light and the day, and the dark and the night. Through time, through space, over the water, under the sky, across the horizons. And at the end of this beginning, (although it was only the beginning the next beginning) the boat went bump, and there was also an island.

In the end. In the end there was a boat. And in the end there was a boy in the boat.  And in the end, after the boy, after the boat, there was water. And in the end after that, (after the boy, after the boat, after the water,) there was light. And there was also darkness. The boy had left, so there was darkness. And it was empty. The Island was empty, the water was empty, the little boat: empty, the sky and horizon: both empty. And there was also a boy, somewhere in that darkness. And the boy grew heavier (or was it lighter?) And he was sinking (or maybe he was just floating away.) And the island was getting smaller, disappearing, into the sky, into the water, across the horizon. Slipping, sliding, gone. And in the absolute of this fleeting darkness, there were sounds. Gentle groans, anguished whispers, loud swishing sounds, quiet smashing sounds, empty thoughts, hoarse voices, a distinct mumbling, an unintelligible diction, the dripping of water, the crunching of glass, the tearing of dreams. And there were also soft sounds, and safe sounds, and familiar sounds. And sounds that had been heard not that long ago (or maybe it was eons before.)  And there was a ceiling. And there were walls. And there was a bed. A bed on a floor in a room with a ceiling and walls. And the water was gone. And the boy woke up. Or maybe he was only falling into a dream.

Prequel to Travelling Medicine Show:

The boy, though young, was keen of mind, and advanced beyond his years. However, he seldom showed his talent, and to many of his people, he was just a regular boy. But deep down, he felt different, and he knew that he was not just a regular boy; he knew that he was destined for great things. Little did he know that his destiny would have him unlock an ancient secret through a fantastic journey in a strange world.

His people, to the rest of the world, seemed like any other people. There appeared to be nothing extraordinary about them, they seemed to be neither the swiftest of foot nor the keenest of mind. And yet, they knew that it would be their people who would unlock mankind’s great secret.

He, along with many others, had been watched for many years. Those watching them were searching for the one that could unlock the secret of creation that man had so long ago lost. Finally, he was chosen, for his courage, his strength, and his ability to bear the weight of the task that no one else could.

The day that began his journey started out like any other day. He was walking along the beach in the afternoon, listening to the gentle cascading of the surf. He had been walking for a few minutes when up ahead he saw something washed up onto the shore. When he came upon the object, he discovered that it was a case, old and battered. On it was written “Dr. Theo’s Travelling Medicine Show.”

He was quite excited and curious, as objects such as this so rarely appeared on the shore. Though he had been warned many times to not touch such objects without them being first examined, his curiosity got the better of him. His hands, trembling, slowly opened the case. Suddenly, a great wind blew, and sky turned black. He had the sensation of falling, and could see darkness eating away at the corners of his vision as he began to lose conscientiousness. Faintly, in the distance, said a voice, “Ladies and gentlemen…”

When he awoke, he discovered himself to be on the beach, looking up, at the afternoon sky, with the case, unopened, beside him. He began to think that it had all been some sort of strange dream, and picked up the case and began walking home. However, he soon discovered that he was not on the same beach, and up ahead in the distance, he could see a small canoe. He walked up to it, and inside were a few objects that appeared to be used for camping.

Suddenly, he understood, this was his destiny. He would be the one that would unlock the secret of creation. He opened the case once again, and noticed immediately a strange mask. He picked it up and examined it closely, mesmerized, and looking for some sort of answer. But the harder he looked, the more they seemed to elude him, and knew that they would not reveal themselves to him there.

He got up, laid the case in the canoe, pushed out, and began his search. He knew not what it was he was looking for, only that when he did find it, he would know. As he paddled through the water, he looked back, and saw the shore becoming smaller and smaller, until it was no more.

Sequel to Travelling Medicine Show:

As the boy paddled through the water, he reflected on what he had seen. His memories puzzled him, entranced him, and made him wonder about his journey. He had not found what he was looking for, he knew that much, but not much more: How much longer would he have to search, and what was the point of it all?

This last question began to bother him quite a bit, as it made him wonder what the point of anything was. To distract himself from his troubling thoughts, he drank some of the red medicine. As the mysterious drink ran down his throat, it soothed him, and made him feel much better.

He continued to paddle along, though the daunting water seemed to stretch on forever. He paddled for days, though, strangely, not succumbing to the effects of hunger or fatigue. In fact, he felt quite well. After days of paddling, he saw, for the first time, something in the distance. As he got closer, he saw that it was another island, and, eager to be off the water, began to paddle faster towards it.

When he got to the island, he jumped out of his canoe and pushed it onto the shore. He took out his map and compass, and began to walk down the beach. However, he did not go more than a few steps before turning back to set up his camp.

Before long the sun began to sit. He sat in front of his fire, his hands running absent-mindedly over the case. He questioned himself as to if there was anything more he was supposed to do in order to complete his journey, or whether or not it was simply a matter of time. He decided to try something different, as he reasoned that if it was simply a matter of time, his trying would not delay him from completing his journey.

He once again opened the case and removed the strange mask. And once again he set it on a stick and peered intently at it, as its eyes, glowing from the fire, appeared to peer intently back. He began looking for answers within the mysterious mask, like he had so many days ago, but whatever answers were there would not reveal themselves to him.

Disheartened, he stood up, wondering what it was, if anything, he was supposed to do. As he paced along the shore, the darkness of night fell. He found his way back to his camp from the light of his fire, and once again sat in front of the mask. The mask still seemed to peer at him, almost beckoning to him, in a way. Suddenly, he began to reach forward. He lifted the mask from the stick, and slowly began to lower it onto his face.

I exist.

Why do I say that?  Because I can.  And because I can and because I did, I exist.  How is this possible?  It does not have to be.  How is it not possible?  Well, that is the wrong question to ask.

What is the point to my questions if the answers are never going to be clear?  Because the answer to the question does not exist.  The question exists, and that is a form of answer in itself.

The meaning of life is not the foundation of life.  To know of the meaning of life is relevant to the life, but is not completely necessary.  People can still live without knowing the meaning of life.  I can say that with a certain dignity because I do not know the meaning of life, yet I still live.  If the meaning of life is relevant to life, then what happens to those who do not know?  How fortunate are we that we will never know!

In some cases, many believe that the pursuit of the meaning of life is the only meaning of life.  But to know of that requires the meaning of life to prove this theory; therefore, the pursuit of the meaning of life is a meaning of life.  Yet what if it was the only meaning of life?  How fortunate are we that we will never know!

Now compare this to “The Travelling Medicine Show”.  What had really happened before the beginning of the film and after the ending?  My answer is that we will never know, should not be given the answer, and should not even discuss the answer with any of our colleagues.  As I am but a naïve student, I will explain why.  If you are questioning why I am even doing this, as this may violate my previous claims, it is because I am always lying.  If I am lying, then I am lying that I am a liar, therefore being truthful.  If I am being truthful, then I am lying.

The mind works as a failsafe for reality.  We cannot prove that someone exists by our own senses because we cannot relate that to anyone else’s.  This is because that if one person in the entire world believes that something exists while everyone disagrees, there is still a possibility that that one person is telling the truth.  Think of Darwin, with his new ideas about natural selection.  We now believe that Darwin may be on to something, yet we cannot prove that his theories are true at this particular moment.

Yet, if everyone on the face of this earth believes that something exists, how can one truly prove that it exists?  What if a squirrel believes that it does not exist?  Do we bash the squirrel for arguing with us, that there is a one to 7 billion chance that the squirrel is right? No!  The world moves in mysterious ways, and again and again, people have been disproved of theories that they had hold dear to themselves.  This logic can be applied to reality.  Until we can prove that a box is not a box, we cannot truly think that a box is a box.  We cannot prove this as there are countless possibilities to why this would happen, most beyond our knowledge.  To bash this simple rule is human, and, to many people, can seem absurd.  This simple rule violates human psychology, as if this was true, there is no way of knowing that we exist!

The mind works in a way that we can think of possibilities.  We can speculate, analyze and dream.  Reality, in theory, exists indefinitely.  Reality, in reality, might not be reality to everyone, so there is a fault in life itself.  The mind tries to ignore that fault.  We are able to think about the meaning of life.  We are able to think around that rule, to think of a way to disprove that reality is an illusion.  That, in itself, is a meaning of life.  There may be more, but what is the use of more?  Our mind automatically kicks in, saying, “well, here are some reasons why:…” It is our failsafe for reality, in case reality actually is an illusion so that we may distract our minds on other activities than to just pursue a theory that, in modern-day times, cannot be proven nor can it be disproved.

Back to the assignment.  The reason why Ms. Giardine shoved this assignment into our minds is because she wanted us to busy ourselves, thinking of possibilities that may or may not exist.  This is great as it stretches our mental capabilities to include those that may prove useful in her course in the future.

I refuse to do this assignment because there is a possibility that someone may prove entirely that there is only one possibility for the events before and after the film.  If someone does prove this, people may become disheartened at the reality of the reality.  What, really then, is the point of this assignment, but to argue your way across that your possibility should be correct.  This is why Amnon Buchbinder wanted us to keep our possibilities to ourselves after watching the film, and to only discuss it to him and our teachers.  This is because he is the only person in the world that has enough power to prove or disprove any of our possibilities.  Also, he may want to look for inspiration for future projects.  Mr. Buchbinder, as this assignment is addressed for you, and that you wish for potential storylines and ideas for upcoming projects, I will provide you with what I was trying to aim for in this assignment.

Create symbolism in your next project so that it will make the audience ponder on whether reality truly exists or not.  Compliment your project with the idea that the film provides only the essential text or image that will force the audience to imagine.  At the end, ask them what the film was for.  Those who realize that the film was for imagination and imagination alone will be satisfied that they have been given a gift to imagine.  Those who do not realize this hidden message will continuously ponder about this until they realize the message.  That will be reward itself, as those who have taken longer in finding the message of the film will now have interesting ideas and hypotheses that, although may be wrong, have provoked imagination in their minds, which they can keep by their side until their deathbed.  The symbols can be anything, but I did adore your use of masks and magnificent costumes.  I beseech you to continue to use that medium while creating a storyline that provokes imagination and the pursuit of the meaning of imagination itself.

To say what I think of the events before and after the film commences and finishes will be disheartening.  If you look closely, you will realize that I have already told you what I think the events were.  However, do not misunderstand me.  Do not look with your eyes, but with your imagination.  To quote from “The Little Prince”, “what is essential is invisible to the eye.  It is only with one’s heart that one can see clearly.  Let the audience see, not with your eyes, but with their hearts.  Only then will you and your audience realize why I will end this paper with this:

I do not exist.

I am,

I am incomplete.

I look for the unseen,

Long for the forbidden;

It is

The search for immortality.

On this journey,

This pursuit of all things

Unearthly,

I look for the Medicine Man,

A god, they say he is.

I must know why

The sun burns so bright,

Why death steals and swindles

And why to this I must comply.

I must ask for

The key to forever,

The secret of the Invincible,

Insuperable,

Indestructible.

The Medicine Man is a god

So they say;

He clenches the threads of

Life and death

In the palm of his gloved hands.

The dead man lives,

The broken heals,

And

Magic, they whisper,

Miracles! they cry.

The Medicine Man,

This luminary, I am bound to find;

I fear pain,

I fear death,

I fear fear,

With him I will share.

I am,

I am incomplete.

I look for the unseen,

Long for the forbidden,

Hunt for the Medicine Man,

For I must know why.

Sequel

“So, that’s it?”

The boy questions,

Eyebrows furrowed, lips tightened.

He holds the glass bottle with both hands –

The boy’s reflection against its smooth black surface

Wavers, taunting him: Yes, this is it.

But this is not the recipe for infinity,

He wants to complain.

This is not the secret to Godly powers.

Days and nights of incessant pursuit for something,

Simply crumbles down to nothing.

The boy feels stranded,

His pathetic refuge floating lifelessly on the blue canvas.

Where will he go?

What will he tell them?

The boy ponders,

‘What if this was all just a dream?’

The red scar is still outlined faintly across his stomach,

And the mask smells feebly of smoke and medicine,

And the boy knows it couldn’t have been

Just a dream.

Misery ignites in the pit of his guts;

Voices chant an eerie mantra:

Failure, failure, failure.

The boy pushes the thoughts of disappointed faces out of his head,

Of his proud mother,

Of his silent father,

Of the desperate elders;

They all search for Forever.

So the boy does not paddle;

He has no destination,

No direction.

The compass nestles in the corner of the boat,

Untouched,

The map remains crumpled in his pocket.

Abruptly,

The boy shoves the bottle into the suitcase,

Weeping, screaming, whimpering.

The boat rocks violently and the silence of the sea shatters.

He lifts the suitcase above his head,

Arms awkwardly stretched and

Face distorted with anger.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale –

The boy hurls the tattered valise;

It plunges,

The sea engulfs it in one swallow.

Stillness follows.

The boy drops to the stained floor of the boat,

Eyes closed and face shimmering with water and sweat.

He is too tired to have second thoughts.

The rays of sunshine bleed into the boat,

It caresses his cheeks,

His body,

His heart.

“That’s it.”

And the boy realizes,

This is the gift of the Medicine Man.

I believe what happens before the film begins is the people on the island were from another planet that land on Earth not too many years ago.  To us they are strange beings yet to them, we are the strange beings.  They come from a world where the people believe in unity and peace and they come to earth to spread their way of life.  Deciding what planet they should visit first, they decide on the strange blue and green planet.  When they first arrive it is difficult for them to adapt, from the big yellow circle in the sky, to the gleaming blue liquid surrounding the island.  But everything about earth fascinates them.  What fascinates them the most was the butterfly. It is so small and delicate yet so amazing.  They love seeing nature on earth and they decide to stay for a while because they see magnificence and beauty in the natural world.  They have lived on this island for several years in hopes of spreading their beliefs to other people and other planets.

The boy that is also on the island is running away from home searching for answers.  He felt lost, and he felt without purpose and meaning when he was at home.  The night he leaves, he packs only a compass and a map of an island, so he can start life completely refreshed from his past.  He travels for days through the harshest of waters. He starts to doubt himself after days of travelling but nowhere to stop.  Suddenly, he sees the tropical island that he envisioned and decides to stop and live there.  He is hungry and tired.  When he arrives and sees these seemingly eccentric people, he is mystified, scared, and intrigued.  He wants to learn more about who they are and where they come from.

After the film ended, the boy is still perplexed by the others on the island.  He watches them for months trying to understand them, yet he does not.  He sits thinks about his journey while absentmindedly throwing rocks at the water.  One of the women wearing a big mask with blue hair asks him why he is hurting the water.  He is shocked that she can speak.  She tells him that she is the only one of her people that knows of the English language.  She explains their people’s ambitions of changing the universe one world at a time.  He is amazed with her story and he sees a way of life.  Most importantly, he found the answers he was originally trying to discover.  He asks if he can live with them and she thought for a few minutes and said he can, but he is not allowed to hurt the water anymore to which he enthusiastically agreed. The boy joined them and he helped them spread their way of life.

1. The boy was from a first nations group, a descendent from a great warrior. He had just turned 15, which meant he had to prove he was now a man. To be accepted as a man in his village he had to pass a test. The test of “manhood” involved going to a stranded island and living there until he got a vision. In recent years many people have gone missing or found dead at the island. A vision is unique to each individual; it answers their deepest questions and desires. Having feared this day since his early childhood the boy rejected this tradition. His reason, he told the village chief, was that he believed he was already a man. He continued by saying that there is no test that can truly prove what it means to be a man. His family, especially his father, were shocked. He had been the first in generations to defy a sacred tradition. The boy was so certain he was a man that he was willing to prove it in any means necessary.

The elders came together that same night to decide on the fate of the boy. The village had been in an uproar following the boy’s announcement. The leaders had to make the right decision or the village would lose its culture. After four hours of long hard debate, the boy saw the village leaders leaving the sacred ground and heading back home. The boy knew immediately that his fate was in their hands. The next day the elders informed the boy of his fate; the only way they would accept him as a man was if he could defeat his father in battle. That same day at around midnight the father and son began their battle. This announcement not only shocked the boy but the whole village. The last time a father and son battle was announced was at the beginning of their tribe when they had to decide a chief, ten generations ago. The village leaders gave him 24 hours to prepare. If the boy lost he either left the village or followed through with tradition. The night of the battle draw near and the boy was in constant panic. He had barely gotten any sleep and he was to battle in three hours. When the battle finally commenced the boy ended up losing in mere seconds. The boy’s father still furious with his son, cut the boy’s chest with a dagger so he would never forget the importance of traditions. Having lost the match, the boy had to now choose between continuing with the test of manhood and being banished from the tribe. The boy chose the test for he still had friends that he didn’t want to abandon. The day of his journey was decided and he had 2 weeks to prepare. The elders trained him important survival skills and the customs of the tribe. The day he was to depart for his journey he was given a suitcase. Inside the suitcase were supplies he would need. The supplies included a map, a compass, matches, a mask and special medicine. The mask represented the god that was to watch over him and provide his vision and the medicine was so he would stay healthy through his journey. At exactly noon he was put in the boat and set out to sea.

2. As the boy paddled through the clear waters, the island was nothing but a small speck behind him. On his journey home he was putting together the vision he had the night before. It was all a mystery to him, what was he to do? What had this vision meant to tell him? Who was the man in the mask? As he got farther away from the Island many more questions started to enter his head. As hours past he started to feel the sun’s rays burning his bare skin. He felt ready to faint and believed that he was approaching the end of his life. At that very moment, the boy finally understood what the vision had been about. This knowledge acted as fuel for his body, nothing could stop him now.

He arrived 3 days later at the shore of his home land. After landing he got out of the boat and dropped to the warm sand underneath him. His mind filled with the joy and awe from his vision. He couldn’t wait to tell the village. He started to get thoughts of walking into the village as a hero, and no longer the “shameful boy”. He then got up after a moments rest and started his walk back home. When he could see the outskirts of his village he started a furious run. It had been exactly 2 weeks since he had gone and he had missed his parents dearly. In running inside his house, his father asked him of his vision. The boy hesitated; he could still feel the anger in his father’s voice. The boy was still did not understand the vision to a degree in which he could explain to others. His father seeing this in his expression told his son to sleep and to let the heavens guide. That night the boy had the vision again. Unlike at the island, the vision was vivid and clear. The next morning he woke up with a sense of pride and understanding. He ran around yelling he knew how the world began. This not only woke his tribe but gut hold of their interest as well. He sat at the centre of the village with everybody sitting around him waiting for an explanation. He started by telling them that he had a vision on creation. He then went on to tell his story. This came to a big surprise to everyone. Even the wisest of the elders was bewildered. This was the first time anybody had heard of such a tale. The boy was now regarded as a prophet having seen what only god had witnessed. This gave him huge privileges as he was now regarded as “god’s eyes”. After being granted such a title, another was soon bestowed upon him. This new title was the chief of his tribe.