SYNOPSIS:

True life story of a refuge fleeing war torn regions of the Horn of Africa. Instead of finding humanities open arms, she is thrust into the maw of hell. Living in fear for the lives of her children, as well as herself.

MARY'S MILE

Sample only OPENING SEQUENCE A young Ethiopian teenager runs across a desert. Her clothes are ratty and she is clearly in need of water. The girl is making a beeline for a corpse of trees. She comes across a jeep, unmanned, and calls out for help. A Somali man runs to her, and hands a water bottle to her. She drinks greedily. The jeep speeds across the sands, girl asleep next to the man. It enters a compound of some sort. Around it, young men brandishing rifles sit in the shade. The girl is thrown into a room, with the man smiling a dark smile. She looks back at him confused. He slams the door shut. She runs to it, bashing at the wood to no avail. She drops to her knees clutching a small Cross, crying. Fade to black. SMALL VILIAGE SOMALIAN BOARDER (EXT) – NIGHT The village is just like any other in the Horn of Africa. Located on the Ethopian/Somalian boarder, it has been far from immune from the ravages of war. The shanties and shacks show they have been constructed with whatever was available. On the edge of the village, a number of Somalia men, women and children flee. MARY, an Ethiopian woman, a mother, and a living embodiment of the term survivor, guides them out of the village into the adjacent savannah. The sounds of tanks and machine gun fire comes closer to the village. As the last woman JUTA? enters the scrub, Mary returns to the village. NADIFA, a Somali woman from the village, aged but still agile, attempts to stop Mary, who shrugs her off. The village is in chaos. People and livestock lay dead on the ground. Fire has destroyed many of the buildings. Mary walks into the village as a Tank bursts through a shanty. It has an Ethiopian Flag on it, as well as markings from the Oromia region. It stops when the driver sees Mary. The cannon of the tank spins around to face the woman. A number of Ethiopian soldiers brandishing rifles walk out from behind it. A jeep appears from no where, a sergeant sitting in the back. The jeep rolls up to Mary. A man in the back trains a machine gun onto the woman. SERGEANT What are you doing here, get back home girl! MARY This was my home. SERGEANT (shocked) You slept with them? The sergeant nods his head at a smoking ruin, a building smashed to the ground. MARY This was my home! SERGEANT That is not what I meant! MARY I was married, yes! SERGEANT You disgust me. MARY Why are you doing this? SERGEANT These cowards attacked our homes two days ago. Salted our crops, killed our children. We were not even there to defend them. SOLDIER Killed my children. MARY (angry) That was not me, it was not these children! SERGEANT Eye for an eye. But very well girl. Flee, we will give you ‘til the ‘morrow. But you are not one of us anymore. Mary turns around, and starts walking to the savannah. SOLDIER Girl, I see you again, you be one of them. The soldier makes a gun out of his hand and “shoots” a carcass on the ground. Mary starts to run. Machine gun fire erupts behind her, as the soldiers start to shoot into houses. The tank moves again. She bursts into the scrub and Nadifa pulls her into hiding. NADIFA You insane woman. MARY No Nadifa, they won’t hurt me. NADIFA You one of us now. ‘Course they would. Mary shakes her head. The tank in the distance starts unloading its shells into homes. Rifles fire into the air. MARY We best be going. NADIFA I agree. MARY There is a camp I believe south of here, not sure... NADIFA The others may know! Mary and Nadifa continue through the scrub and underbrush until they come to a large group of people, the Somali’s Mary lead out of the village, over 200 men, women and children. An elderly woman has two children in hand, Mary’s children. Mary kisses them, as they cling to their mum in fear. MARY We think there is a camp south of here, would it be safe. A tall man from the decimated village with a long rifle, Korfa speaks up. KORFA Yes. My cousin said it is a refugee camp, but not sure who is there! MARY Is it far? The tank continues to unload into the village, the sounds of explosions a fire rip through the sky. An intense glow from dancing flames appears. KORFA I don’t know! MARY We have no choice, we have to go. The others nod. Machine gun fire cracks through the air. The children cling tighter to their mother. Other kids in the group do the same to their parents. NADIFA Agreed. KORFA Mary, you have done this before, you lead us now? The others voice agreement. MARY It was a long time ago Korfa, and I was... lets go. KORFA What of your husband? MARY I… do not know. Booms from the tank startle them. SMALL VILIAGE SOMALIAN BOARDER (EXT) – EARLY MORNING The village is totally alight. Fire dances from the shanties and huts, reaching up to the sky. Any building that isn’t alight is nothing more than ash and smoke. The tank is at rest now as men brandish their guns into the sky. The Sergeant sits on the hood of his jeep, his silhouette looking not at his men, but at the path Mary and her fellow refugees had fled. SERGEANT (Pointing at the groud) Look at that, what does that tell you? SOLDIER More than just that girl went that way! SERGEANT Yes it does. SOLDIER So that girl, she was a distraction! SERGEANT Indeed. Any of you find Korfa? The men shake there heads. SOLDIER What are your orders! SERGEANT No one rests until that bastard’s head is on a stake.